Gawain Maroroa Jones wins English Championship 2026

by Stefan Liebig
11/3/2026 – The open tournament at this year’s English Championships was dominated by the two top seeds. Gawain Maroroa Jones won convincingly, finishing unbeaten with 7½ points out of 9. In round five, he drew with Michael Adams, who also remained undefeated and secured second place, one point behind the winner. In the women's event, Elmira Mirzoeva claimed the title with the same one-point margin over runner-up Anusha Subramanian. | Photos: Official website / Melinda White
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This year’s English Championships took place from 24 October to 1 November in the eastern English city of Peterborough. The first two days were reserved for the rapid competitions, while the final day was devoted to the blitz championship.

Open

Gawain Maroroa Jones more than lived up to his seeding: unbeaten with six wins and three draws, he finished ahead of veteran Michael Adams and secured the 2026 English Championship title. Since 2023, the two leading players have alternated as champions. The 38-year-old first won the English Championships in 2012, jointly with Stephen Gordon. This was Maroroa Jones's fourth title overall, while Adams has won seven since 2007. England's two highest-ranked players in the world rankings, David Howell (50th) and Nikita Vitiugov (53rd), did not take part - both have mostly retired from professional competitive chess. The tournament winner is therefore currently England's only active top-100 player. He is ranked 92nd. IM Brandon Clarke finished third, level on points with Adams and Daniel Gormally.

Michael Adams (pictured here at an earlier tournament) finished second this year | Photo: Official website

On the final day, the open winner also managed to secure the blitz title (see below).

Final standings after 9 rounds

Rk. Name TB1
1 Maroroa Jones, Gawain 7.5
2 Adams, Michael 6.5
3 Clarke, Brandon Gi 6.5
4 Gormally, Daniel W 6.5
5 Ghasi, Ameet K 6
6 Harvey, Marcus R 6
7 Roberson, Peter T 6
8 Willow, Jonah B 6
9 Badacsonyi, Stanley 6
10 Crawford, Owen 6

...58 participants

Women

In the women's event, second seed Elmira Mirzoeva secured her second title after 2024, when she also triumphed at the same time as Maroroa Jones. She also won the blitz championship. Top seed Susan Lalic finished third behind Anusha Subramanian. Young star Bodhana Sivanandan did not take part in the championship. Perhaps the tournament began too soon after the end of the European Club Cup, in which she competed successfully.

Final standings after 9 rounds

Rk. Name TB1
1 Mirzoeva, Elmira 7.5
2 Subramanian, Anusha 6.5
3 Lalic, Susan K 5.5
4 Rida, Ruqayyah 5.5
5 Nguyen, Lam Vy Le 5.5
6 Hariharan, Shambavi 5
7 Jackson, Sheila 5
8 Varney, Zoe 5
9 Van Neerven, Yvon 4
10 Gunarathne, Miheli 3.5
11 Gampa, Dyuthi Sri 3
12 Patel, Diah 2.5
13 Mehta, Sophie 1.5
14 Patel, Parisa 1

Seniors 50+

Final standings after 7 rounds

Rk. Name  TB1 
1 Crocker, Philip J 6
2 James, Russell A 4,5
3 Brett, Andrew R 4,5
4 Rasalingam, Haran 4
5 Dargan, Paul A G 4
6 Birtwistle, Nigel 4
7 Byron, Alan M 4
8 Henderson, David 4
9 Nelson, Abiodun 3,5
10 Bowers, Francis J 3,5
11 Richards, Simon 2,5
12 Jones, Graeme 2,5
13 Letton, Rob 2
14 Clarke, Duncan 1
15 Rubeck, Jonathan 0

Seniors 65+

Final standings after 7 rounds

Rk. Name TB1
1 Snape, Ian L 7
2 Hughes, Roy 5
3 Bonafont, Philip R 4.5
4 Oswald, Graeme 4
5 Chandler, Cliff R 3.5
6 Spanton, Tim R 3.5
7 Myall, Ivan J 3.5
8 Kane, Robert 3.5
9 Gallagher, Sean 3.5
10 Kenning, Paul H 3
11 Hall, Alan A 3
12 Bellers, Chris Jv 2.5
13 Winter, Kevin 2.5
14 Erdogan, Hassan 2
15 Konig, Jon 2
16 Collins, Nigel 2

Blitz - Open

Final standings after 15 rounds

Rk. Name TB1
1 Maroroa Jones, Gawain 12
2 Cancedda-Dupuis, Livio 11
3 Ghasi, Ameet K 10.5
4 Harvey, Marcus R 10
5 Willow, Jonah B 10
6 Banerjee, Supratit 10

...66 participants

Blitz - Women

Final standings after 15 rounds

g. Name Elo Country 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 TB1
1
WGM Mirzoeva, Elmira 2151 ENG *** 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 + 12.5
2
WFM Hariharan, Shambavi 1996 ENG 0 ½ *** 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 + 12
3
WFM Varney, Zoe 1922 ENG 0 0 0 ½ *** 0 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 8
Oudet, Charlotte 1560 ENG 0 0 0 0 1 1 *** 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 8
5
WGM Jackson, Sheila 1918 ENG 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 0 *** 1 1 1 0 1 1 6.5
6
Gampa, Dyuthi Sri 1537 ENG 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 *** 1 0 1 1 5
7
Vijayendra, Samyuktha 1302 ENG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 *** 1 + 4
8
Chow, Luna 0 ENG 0 - 0 - 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - *** 0

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Topics: Gawain Maroroa Jones, Michael Adams
Stefan Liebig, born in 1974, is a journalist and co-owner of a marketing agency. He now lives in Barterode near Göttingen. At the age of five, strange pieces on his neighbour’s shelf aroused his curiosity. Since then, the game of chess has cast a spell over him. Flying high in the NRW youth league with his home club SV Bad Laasphe and several appearances in the second division team of Tempo Göttingen were highlights for the former youth South Westphalia champion.
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