British Championships: round two and Torquay

by ChessBase
8/1/2013 – A substantial number of readers will know Torquay – from the classical comedy series Fawlty Towers. It was here that Basil Fawlty tortured his guests, and it is here that the 100th British Championships are being held. After three rounds five players – three GMs and two IMs – lead with a perfect score. We bring you a selection of round two games and a historical review of the 1908 Championship.

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A record-breaking number of over 1000 players are taking part in the 2013 British Championships, attracted by a combination of the beautiful venue and the fact that it’s the 100th in a series stretching right back to 1904. This year it is taking place in the Riviera International Centre in Torquay.

Torquay, population 65,000, is a seaside town in Devon, England, 38 miles (61 km) north-east of Plymouth. The town's economy was initially based upon fishing and agriculture, but in the early 19th century Torquay began to develop into a fashionable seaside resort, frequented by the crème de la crème of Victorian society and earned the nickname of the English Riviera. The famous writer Agatha Christie lived most of her life in Torquay. And it was while staying at the Gleneagles Hotel with the Monty Python team in 1971 that John Cleese found inspiration for the popular sitcom Fawlty Towers (1975, 1979).

A room with a view: John Cleese quotes the famous Torquay scene

There are 23 different sections at the 2013 British Championships, catering for all ages and abilities, but the main focus of interest is on the Championship itself. There are 106 players taking part, of whom 33 are titled players, including thirteen grandmasters. The Championship runs from 29th July to 10th August 2013.

Selection of games from round two

Select games from the dropdown menu above the board

Game of the Day Rd 2 GB Ch 2013

Top ranking after round three

# Name
Score
Rating
TPR
1 GM Howell, David
3.0
2639
3052
2 GM Gordon, Stephen
3.0
2521
2986
3 GM Gormally, Daniel
3.0
2496
2967
4 IM Zhou, Yang-Fan
3.0
2469
2939
5 IM Fernandez, Daniel
3.0
2346
2953
6 GM Hebden, Mark L
2.5
2555
2489
7 IM Hawkins, Jonathan
2.5
2517
2472
8 GM Lalic, Bogdan
2.5
2489
2442
9 GM Wells, Peter K
2.5
2479
2437
10 IM Ghasi, Ameet K
2.5
2459
2469
11 GM Kosten, Anthony
2.5
2458
2402
12 IM Palliser, Richard
2.5
2453
2474
13 FM Chapman, Terry
2.5
2308
2416
14 IM Kolbus, Dietmar
2.5
2288
2533
15 Osborne, Marcus E
2.5
2269
2453
16 IM Meszaros, Gyula
2.5
2255
2392
17 GM Jones, Gawain
2.0
2643
2389
18 GM Williams, Simon
2.0
2481
2346
19 GM Flear, Glenn C
2.0
2456
2220
20 GM Arkell, Keith C
2.0
2444
2366
21 GM Ward, Chris G
2.0
2432
2424
22 IM Lane, Gary W.
2.0
2401
2384
23 IM Bates, Richard A
2.0
2375
2224
24 FM Eggleston, David J
2.0
2363
2330
25 IM Knott, Simon J B
2.0
2318
2300
26 IM Rudd, Jack
2.0
2280
2384
27 Longson, Alexander
2.0
2279
2357
28 FM Eames, Robert S
2.0
2244
2200
29 Mackle, Dominic
2.0
2216
2339
30 FM Storey, Charles
2.0
2214
2499
31 Brown, Martin
2.0
2203
2271
32 Weaving, Richard
2.0
2196
2272
33 Shaw, Peter
2.0
2164
2155
34 Hackner, Oskar A
2.0
2063
2348
35 De Coverly, Roger D
2.0
2036
2415
36 Horton, Andrew P
2.0
2032
2382
37 Broadley, Henry
2.0
1953
2281

Full results and rankings of all 106 players here

In the lead, together with four other players and a perfect 3.0/3 score: David Howell

Top seed and 2012 British Champion Gawain Jones conceded two draws and has 2.0/3

Stephen Gordon vs Dominic Mackle in round two

Photos provided by Brendan O'Gorman and Keverel Chess

To really appreciate how far the event has come in its 100 years, one needs to take the opportunity to look back at some of the milestones on the way – the great characters, the champions and their games. To do this, IM Andrew Martin is using his computer skills to pick out some key games from the past and run his expert eye over them. Similarly, Bob Jones, local chess history writer, is compiling a set of ten pages, each on a past champion and one of his/her games. These will appear, one at a time, in the daily championship bulletins.

British Champions & Their Games - No. 2

1908 - Tunbridge Wells

Henry Ernest Atkins will be remembered as having entered the British Championship eleven times, winning it nine times. He had just missed out becoming the first BCF Champion in 1904 by a whisker to Napier, but quickly made up for that by winning the following year and the six after that, adding two more titles in 1924 & ’25. He even played in 1937 at the age of 65, coming 3rd= behind Fairhurst and Sir George Thomas.

Henry Ernest Atkins (centre in black jacket) facing Mackenzie

Like Napier he opted for a respectable career rather than the precarious life of a professional chess master, but unlike Napier, Atkins played in his summer holidays and at weekends. Although his work as a teacher denied him an international stage (he was maths teacher in Leicester and from 1909 was Principal of Huddersfield College), his appearance at Hannover 1902 established his credentials by coming 3rd ahead of Mieses, Napier, Chigorin, Marshall and a host of others. On his death in 1955, he was universally considered the strongest British player of the first half of the 20th century.

Arthur John Mackenzie (1871–1949) was one of the great pioneers of organised British chess. He was a founding father of the Warwickshire C. A., the Birmingham League and the Midland Chess Union, and wrote a chess column for the Birmingham Post for 40 years.

BCM said this game "had been justly admired as an example of the gospel according to Lasker, as interpreted by Atkins". In his biography of Atkins, R. N. Coles said it was "a fine example of a close game in which the actual front is narrow, but where there are potential activities on all sides".

[Event "British Championship"] [Site "?"] [Date "1908.07.17"] [Round "?"] [White "Mackenzie, A. J.."] [Black "Atkins, H. E.."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A53"] [Annotator "R. N. Cole"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2013.07.15"] [SourceDate "2013.07.17"] {BCM said this game "had been justly admired as an example of the gospel according to Lasker, as interpreted by Atkins". In his biography of Atkins, R. N. Coles said it was "a fine example of a close game in which the actual front is narrow, but where there are potential activities on all sides".} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nc3 Nbd7 4. f4 c5 5. d5 e5 6. e4 g6 7. Nf3 a6 8. fxe5 dxe5 9. Bd3 Bg7 10. O-O O-O 11. Bg5 h6 12. Bh4 ({Better was} 12. Bd2 {as the text allows Black to continue pressing on the K-side, as White's pawns block the centre.}) 12... g5 13. Be1 Ne8 14. h4 Nd6 $1 15. hxg5 hxg5 16. Nh2 $2 {too passive, allowing Black to assert control.} b5 17. b3 b4 18. Ne2 f5 19. Ng3 ({If} 19. exf5 e4 {hitting rook and bishop.} 20. Bc2) 19... f4 20. Nh1 Nf6 21. Nf2 Rb8 22. Qe2 Nf7 23. Nfg4 Nxg4 24. Nxg4 Qd7 25. Nh2 g4 26. g3 Ng5 27. Kh1 Rb6 28. Qf2 Qe7 {Defending his knight against possible attack.} 29. Bd2 Rh6 {Utilising his flexibilty, every Black piece is involved in the attack.} 30. gxf4 Nf3 31. f5 Rxh2+ 32. Qxh2 Nxh2 33. Kxh2 (33. Kxh2 Qh4+ 34. Kg2 Qh3+ 35. Kf2 Qxd3 {and mate cannot be avoided.}) 33... Qh4+ 0-1


Links

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