British Championship: Howell and Jones co-leaders with one round to go

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
8/3/2024 – Two of the big favourites to win the British Championship clinched crucial victories on Saturday to go into the final round in shared first place - top seed David Howell and third seed Gawain Jones. Only the co-leaders or Matthew Wadsworth, who is the one player standing a half point back, have chances of grabbing the title, as Howell and Jones will face each other in Sunday's final round. | Photo: Dennis Dicen

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Three contenders for the title

Not once has a player grabbed the sole lead throughout 8 rounds of play at the 2024 British Championship in Hull. However, going into the final round, there are only three players with chances of taking home the title: David Howell, Gawain Jones and Matthew Wadsworth. Howell and Jones are sharing the lead with 6½ points each, while Wadsworth is the only player standing a half point back.

Coincidentally, both Howell and Jones defeated the King's Indian Defence on Saturday, as Ameet Ghasi (against Howell) and Svyatoslav Bazakutsa (Jones) bravely decided to play the sharp opening while facing their higher-rated opponents with black. The all-or-nothing approach backfired in both cases, though Howell and Jones needed to show good endgame technique to convert the advantages they got in the early middlegame - especially Jones, whose victory came in a 95-move encounter.

Ghasi and Bazakutsa had entered the round in the leading pack, much like their respective opponents - and Wadsworth, who signed a 49-move draw in his game against defending champion Michael Adams. Since none of the players who entered the penultimate round with 5 points obtained a victory, only Wadsworth kept his chances of claiming the title alive.

In the final round, set to start 4½ hours earlier than usual (at 10.00 local time), Jones will get the white pieces against Howell, while Wadsworth will play black against Richard Palliser, the 21st seed in the field.

Round 9 pairings

Bo. Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name Rtg
1
GM Jones, Gawain Cb 2640 6½ 6½ GM Howell, David Wl 2675
2
IM Palliser, Richard Jd 2369 5½ 6 IM Wadsworth, Matthew J 2456
3
GM Adams, Michael 2672 5½ 5½ IM Royal, Shreyas 2487
4
GM Mcshane, Luke J 2617 5½ 5½ IM Merry, Alan B 2423
5
IM Bazakutsa, Svyatoslav 2490 5½ 5½ GM Conquest, Stuart C 2510
6
IM Ghasi, Ameet K 2495 5½ 5½ IM Han, Yichen 2414
7
FM Czopor, Maciej 2361 5½ 5 IM Grieve, Harry 2477

In case of a tie for first place, a rapid and blitz playoff will follow. As per the regulations:

The playoffs will be run on a knockout basis, and matches within this format will be played in one of the following formats:

Format 1 – Two players are tied

Round 1 Two games, G/20 + 10’.
Round 2 If still tied, two games, G/5 + 3’.
Round 3 If still tied, an Armageddon game, white G/5, black G/4, 2’ from move 61

Format 2 – More than two players are tied

Round 1 Two games, G/10 + 5’.
Round 2 If still tied, an Armageddon game, white G/5, black G/4, 2’ from move 61

Standings after round 8

Rk. Name  TB1 
1 Howell, David Wl 6,5
Jones, Gawain Cb 6,5
3 Wadsworth, Matthew J 6
4 Adams, Michael 5,5
Mcshane, Luke J 5,5
Conquest, Stuart C 5,5
Ghasi, Ameet K 5,5
Bazakutsa, Svyatoslav 5,5
Royal, Shreyas 5,5
Merry, Alan B 5,5
Han, Yichen 5,5
Palliser, Richard Jd 5,5
Czopor, Maciej 5,5
14 Grieve, Harry 5
Gasanov, Eldar 5
Williams, Simon K 5
Trent, Lawrence 5
Motwani, Paul 5
Lutsko, Artem 5
Hebden, Mark L 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.