The British Chess Championships have started in Hull

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
7/28/2024 – The 110th edition of the British Chess Championship is taking place from 27 July to 4 August in Hull. The main event is a 9-round Swiss open featuring 86 participants. Defending champion Michael Adams is one of four players rated 2600 or above - David Howell, Gawain Jones and Luke McShane are the remaining three. The winner of the two previous editions among the women, Lan Yao, is also in the mix.
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The 110th edition of the Championship

The English Chess Federation is the organiser of the 2024 British Championships, currently taking place at the Hull City Hall and the DoubleTree by Hilton in Hull City Centre. The main event is the 110th edition of the British Chess Championship, a tournament that was organised for the first time in 1904.

With 86 participants, the Championship is a 9-round Swiss tournament, with rounds taking place daily from 27 July to 4 August (there are no rest days). The action kicks off at 14.30 local time for the first 8 rounds, while next Sunday's final round will begin 4½ hours earlier, at 10.00 local time.

Four players rated 2600 or above are the clear favourites to take the title: David Howell, Michael Adams, Gawain Jones and Luke McShane. Out of the four, only McShane has not won the championship in the past. Jones is a 2-time champion, Howell is a 3-time champion, while Adams has won the event 8 times and is the defending champion. Adams is, in fact, one victory away from tying Henry Ernest Atkins' record of 9 wins - the great English amateur is best known for having achieved the record in only 11 attempts, from 1905 to 1925.

The women in the 86-player field are fighting for the title of British Women's Champion. Lan Yao, who won the last two editions, is the top seed among the women, followed by Elmira Mirzoeva and Katarzyna Toma. Bodhana Sivanandan, the 9-year-old prodigy who has been stunning the chess world the last few years, is also participating.

Bodhana Sivanandan

Bodhana Sivanandan | Photo: European Chess Union

Saturday's first round saw most rating favourites claiming full points. The huge exception was Adams, who was held to a 51-move draw by CM Thomas Villiers.

On board 8, Bodhana played black against other well-known youngster, Shreyas Royal, who won the game in 33 moves. At 15, Royal is looking to get his third GM norm in Hull. About a month ago, Royal crossed the 2500-rating mark in Tenerife.

On boards 2 and 3, both Howell and Jones grabbed rather quick wins with black. Jones' victory was particularly flashy - out of a Benko Gambit, he out-calculated his opponent, untitled Scottish representative Declan Shafi.

22...Ra3 is a killer, good-looking blow. There is little White can do against the threat of ...Nd4+, with a discovered attack against the queen.

There followed 23.Ng5 gxh6 24.Ne6 Nd4+

This is already mate-in-11 for Black. Resignation came three moves later.

Standings after round 1

Rk. Name  TB1 
1 Howell, David Wl 1
Jones, Gawain Cb 1
Mcshane, Luke J 1
Conquest, Stuart C 1
Ghasi, Ameet K 1
Bazakutsa, Svyatoslav 1
Royal, Shreyas 1
Grieve, Harry 1
Gasanov, Eldar 1
Wadsworth, Matthew J 1
Williams, Simon K 1
Willow, Jonah B 1
Motwani, Paul 1
Han, Yichen 1
Lutsko, Artem 1
Hebden, Mark L 1

...86 players

All games

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.