British Championship: Royal and Jones share the lead

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
7/31/2024 – Two players still have a perfect score after four rounds at the British Championship in Hull: 2017 British champion Gawain Jones and 15-year-old Shreyas Royal. While Jones defeated Matthew Wadsworth with white, Royal stunned top seed David Howell with the black pieces. Stuart Conquest, Ameet Ghasi and Svyatoslav Bazakutsa stand a half point behind the leaders. | Photo: Melinda Wilde

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Royal takes down Howell

Already twice this year, 15-year-old Shreyas Royal fell just short of grabbing his third GM norm, first at the Hastings Congress and then at a 10-round tournament in Tenerife. Now, after four rounds, he is sharing the lead at the British Championship in Hull. Royal still has a perfect score after achieving a memorable victory with black over top seed David Howell.

Sharing the lead with the youngster is Gawain Jones, the third seed in the traditional event. Jones defeated Matthew Wadsworth on Tuesday, the player who had stunned Luke McShane - one of the favourites to take the title - in the previous round. At 36, Jones is looking to win the British Championship for a third time in his career, as he has already won the event in 2012 and 2017. The man from Keighley won the English Championship earlier this year.

Standing a half point behind the leaders are Stuart Conquest, Ameet Ghasi and Svyatoslav Bazakutsa, ranked 5th, 6th and 7th in the tournament, respectively. A half point further back, still with good chances of catching up with the leaders, is an 8-player group which includes Howell, Wadsworth and defending champion Michael Adams.

The top scorers among the women are Lan Yao, Elmira Mirzoeva and Tirsha Kanyamarala, with 2½/4 points each.

Shreyas Royal

Shreyas Royal | Photo: Dennis Dicen / English Chess Fedearation

Howell 0 - 1 Royal

Standings after round 4

Rk. Name  TB1 
1 Jones, Gawain Cb 4
Royal, Shreyas 4
3 Conquest, Stuart C 3,5
Ghasi, Ameet K 3,5
Bazakutsa, Svyatoslav 3,5
6 Howell, David Wl 3
Adams, Michael 3
Wadsworth, Matthew J 3
Han, Yichen 3
Hebden, Mark L 3
Kanyamarala, Tarun 3
Golding, Alex 3
Salmons, Calum 3
14 Mcshane, Luke J 2,5
Grieve, Harry 2,5
Gasanov, Eldar 2,5
Williams, Simon K 2,5
Willow, Jonah B 2,5
Pert, Richard G 2,5
Motwani, Paul 2,5

...86 players

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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.
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