.jpeg)
Two IMs and one GM are tied for first place after five rounds at the British Championhip in Hull. Two-time champion GM Gawain Jones is sharing the lead with IMs Ameet Ghasi and Shreyas Royal. The latter obtained an upset victory over David Howell in the previous round and drew Jones in Wednesday's clash of co-leaders to remain atop the standings. Ghasi, on his part, beat Stuart Conquest in round 5 to join the leading pack.
The two top seeds in the event grabbed wins in the fifth round to remain within touching distance of the leaders - Howell bounced back from his loss against Royal by beating Alex Golding, while defending champion Michael Adams got the better of Calum Salmons. Joining Howell and Adams in the chasing group is Matthew Wadsworth, who took down Svyatoslav Bazakutsa out of a King's Indian Defence.
Thursday's round 6 will see Jones playing white against Ghasi on the top board, while Royal will play black against Wadsworth on board 2. Top seeds Howell and Adams will face each other on board 3, with Howell getting the white pieces in the all-important clash.
Lan Yao now has a full-point lead over the women players standing closest to her in the tournament table. The 23-year-old defeated Scottish GM Paul Motwani in round 5.
9-year-old prodigy Bodhana Sivanandan is one of four players standing a full point behind Lan in the fight to claim the title of British women's champion.
Lots of strong results in round 5 from the younger players including a draw for Bodhana Sivanandan against GM Nigel Davies; Stanley Badacsonyi and Kenneth Hobson draw; and wins for Theo Khoury and Supratit Banerjee - photos of Stanley and Bodhana from Rd 1 Dennis Dicen pic.twitter.com/9ak7vM0B9U
— ECF (@ecfchess) July 31, 2024
| Ghasi, Ameet K2496 | 1–0 | Conquest, Stuart C2510 | |||||||||||||||||||||
 | British Championship 2024 Hull31.07.2024[CC] | | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Rk. | Name | Rtg | TB1 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM | Jones, Gawain Cb | 2640 | 4,5 | |
| IM | Ghasi, Ameet K | 2495 | 4,5 | ||
| IM | Royal, Shreyas | 2487 | 4,5 | ||
| 4 | GM | Howell, David Wl | 2675 | 4 | |
| GM | Adams, Michael | 2672 | 4 | ||
| IM | Wadsworth, Matthew J | 2456 | 4 | ||
| 7 | GM | Mcshane, Luke J | 2617 | 3,5 | |
| GM | Conquest, Stuart C | 2510 | 3,5 | ||
| IM | Bazakutsa, Svyatoslav | 2490 | 3,5 | ||
| GM | Gasanov, Eldar | 2469 | 3,5 | ||
| IM | Han, Yichen | 2414 | 3,5 | ||
| IM | Lutsko, Artem | 2414 | 3,5 | ||
| IM | Palliser, Richard Jd | 2369 | 3,5 | ||
| FM | Czopor, Maciej | 2361 | 3,5 | ||
| FM | Derakhshani, Borna | 2351 | 3,5 | ||
| IM | Kanyamarala, Tarun | 2337 | 3,5 | ||
| WGM | Yao, Lan | 2325 | 3,5 | ||
| FM | Balaji, Aaravamudhan | 2316 | 3,5 | ||
| FM | Richardson, John R | 2299 | 3,5 | ||
| IM | Pein, Malcolm | 2274 | 3,5 |
