8/10/2026 – Shreyas Royal and Bodhana Sivanandan claimed the main titles at the 2026 British Chess Championships in Coventry, bringing the largest edition in the event's history to a record-breaking conclusion. Royal, 17, won his first overall British title after finishing ahead of Luke McShane and Michael Adams, while 11-year-old Sivanandan became Britain's youngest-ever women's champion after defeating Trisha Kanyamarala in a rapid playoff. | Photos: Yury Krylov
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YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before. FRITZ is more than just a chess engine – it’s a training revolution! Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
€49.90
Breaking records left and right!
Press release by the English Chess Federation
Records tumbled at the biggest-ever British Chess Championships as the nine-day event in Coventry ended with two record-breaking young superstars winning the two top prizes.
Seventeen-year-old Shreyas Royal scooped the overall British title. He topped the table after nine rounds, finishing half a point ahead of two of England's more seasoned grandmasters, Luke McShane and nine-time champ Michael Adams. It was Royal's first British title and the result underlined his status as an emerging world-class talent.
You will learn how Black's dynamic piece activity and structural counterplay more than compensate for White's extra tempo in the colour-reversed setups. The Benoni family of openings has toppled world champions, decided match games under the highest pressure, and rewarded those brave enough to play them with some of the most electrifying chess imaginable. In this Fritztrainer, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov - continuing his successful series "Understanding Middlegame Structures" - takes you deep inside the complexities of the Colour-Reversed Benoni, the Colour-Reversed Benko Gambit, and the Colour-Reversed Blumenfeld Gambit.
Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: Colour Reversed Banoni - Game 1
Meanwhile, England’s 11-year-old prodigy Bodhana Sivanandan, another superstar-in-the-making, became Britain's youngest-ever Women's Chess Champion. Her only loss in the tournament was to Royal in round six.
In a tense, rapid-chess playoff between the top female players, Sivanandan defeated Ireland's 14-year-old Trisha Kanyamarala, a hugely promising talent herself and the first Irishwoman to hold the WGM title.
You can watch the finale here:
Grandmaster Danny Gormally, commentating on the event for the English Chess Federation, said in the closing moments:
Unreal! Bodhana has won. She is unbelievable, a generational talent.
Gormally went on to predict Sivanandan will return to challenge for the overall title in the next few years.
Royal and Sivanandan's victories provided a remarkable finale to the biggest British Chess Championship in the event's 122-year history, with more than 2,600 entries across all events at the University of Warwick.
For Royal, the title represents the latest major milestone in a remarkable rise through British chess. The 17-year-old from south-east London became Britain's youngest-ever grandmaster in 2024 and has since established himself as one of the country's leading young players. At this year's championship, he quickly showed that he could compete with the established elite, moving into outright contention for the title as the tournament progressed.
After seven rounds, Royal had taken the sole lead on 6/7, putting the teenager firmly at the centre of the championship race. His performances against experienced opposition underlined his growing status at the top of British chess. Royal took a quick draw against English chess legend Adams in the penultimate round, before a final-round win over IM Harry Grieve secured him the title.
Top boards - Round 9
Shreyas Royal defeated Harry Grieve on Sunday to claim outright tournament victory | Photo: Yury Krylov
In this course, we will learn how to identify passively placed pieces in any given situation and how to improve their health by bringing them into active squares.
Top seed Luke McShane got the better of Simon Williams to climb to shared second place | Photo: Yury Krylov
Nine-time British champion Michael Adams also scored a full point on Sunday, beating prodigy Supratit Banerjee to finish tied for second with McShane | Photo: Yury Krylov
Now Royal has converted his promise into his first British Championship title. Sivanandan's achievement is equally extraordinary and, in one respect, unprecedented.
The 11-year-old has become the youngest-ever British women's champion after overcoming Kanyamarala in a playoff to take the title. In the faster formats of the game, Sivanandan is already the reigning UK Open Women's Blitz Champion and joint British Women's Rapid Champion. Victory in the classical event gives her an incredible triple crown of titles.
Before the championship, Sivanandan had been identified as the player to watch, with organisers highlighting her chance to break the record held by Elaine Pritchard, who won the British Women's Championship outright in 1939 aged 13. Akshaya Kalaiyalahan had subsequently shared the title in 2013 when she was just days short of her 12th birthday. Sivanandan has now surpassed them both.
The north-west London player has spent the past year rewriting the record books and establishing herself among Britain's strongest female players despite being only 11. She also produced one of the standout results of the championship by defeating GM Ameet Ghasi.
Her playoff victory over Kanyamarala now adds the biggest domestic title yet to an already remarkable list of achievements.
Playoff games - Sivanandan v. Kanyamarala
Trisha Kanyamarala and Bodhana Sivanandan shake hands after drawing the first game of the rapid playoff | Photo: Yury Krylov
Ganguly introduces conceptually fresh directions in several key lines – even in the most played main lines. The Ragozin Defence (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4) has become a cornerstone of modern chess theory. With 3.Nf3 gaining popularity as a way to avoid Nimzo-Indian setups and the challenges Black faces in the Queen’s Indian, the Ragozin offers a solid and dynamic alternative.
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bf4
The two prodigious British representatives smile as they hold the championship trophy | Photo: Yury Krylov
Bodhana Sivanandan, the youngest-ever British women's champion, with her father, Siva | Photo: Yury Krylov
Royal and Sivanandan's victories are particularly striking because both were among the young players attracting attention before the championship began, and both have left Warwick as British champions.
Their success also reflects the changing face of British chess.
The 2026 championships were billed as the biggest in the event's 122-year history, with more than 1,750 entries and a record £34,000 prize fund for the open championship. The women's prize fund was also more than doubled, while organisers expanded the festival programme with junior training, social events and competitions for players ranging from under-8s to seniors.
The tournament brought together players across generations, from established grandmasters to some of Britain's most promising juniors.
And at the end, the two names at the top of the results were Royal and Sivanandan.
Two generations of British chess superstars - Luke McShane sharing a laugh with Shreyas Royal | Photo: Yury Krylov
The aim of these Dvd's is to build a repertoire after 1.c4 and 2.g3 for White. The first DVD includes the systems 1...e5, the Dutch and Indian setups. The second DVD includes the systems with 1...c5, 1...c6 and 1...e6.
8/8/2026 – Shreyas Royal has taken the sole lead at the British Chess Championship after seven rounds in Coventry. The 17-year-old followed a draw against Svyatoslav Bazakutsa with consecutive wins over Bodhana Sivanandan and top seed Luke McShane to reach 6/7. Bazakutsa is among five players half a point behind. Royal will face nine-time British champion Michael Adams in Saturday's penultimate round. | Photo: Yury Krylov
8/5/2026 – Svyatoslav Bazakutsa took sole possession of the lead at the British Chess Championship after defeating nine-time champion Michael Adams in round four. The 18-year-old Ukrainian now has a perfect 4/4, half a point ahead of a five-player chasing group. Among them is 11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan, who continued her strong start by beating fifth seed Ameet Ghasi with the black pieces. | Photo: Yury Krylov
‘New ideas in the Najdorf – a Power Play 18 Update’ aims to complement Daniel King’s popular DVD from last year ‘The Sicilian Najdorf - a repertoire for Black’. Such a dynamic and popular opening as the Najdorf is developing the whole time. On this download, Daniel King updates lines that were included on his DVD but also responds to viewers’ requests, considering lines that he omitted from his original repertoire. The lines examined on this update are:
• 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 h3 e5 7 Nde2
• 5….a6 6 Bc4 in combination with the English Attack (Be3, f3 etc)
• 5…a6 6 Be3 and the …a5 variation
• 5…a6 6 Be2 and 9 Re1
• 5 f3 (instead of 5 Nc3)
It isn’t necessary to have seen the original Najdorf DVD to understand the lines examined here – but it would help as they form part of a complete repertoire.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
While tactics decide the game in concrete moments, strategy guides the entire battle. Understanding how to improve your pieces, create weaknesses, execute maneuvers, and steer the game toward favorable structures is what defines strong players.
The Italian Four Knights is the ideal choice. It combines the solid foundation of classical openings like the Ruy Lopez or the Italian Game with an active, initiative-driven style of play.
IM Andrew Martin shows why this 19th-century opening weapon still is a fantastic choice for club players. The Evans produces exciting chess and teaches the art of attack.
The major part of the material on which the Petroff Defence Powerbook 2026 is based comes from the engine room of playchess.com: 357 000 games. This imposing number is supplemented by another 17 000 from Mega and from correspondence chess.
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