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The University Arms Hotel in Cambridge
The event was organised by ECF Events Director Shohreh Bayat with generous support from the University Arms, and an experienced arbiters team consisting of IA Shohreh, IA Matthew Carr and FA Satish Gaekwad.
The University Arms Ballroom ready for round 1
The event was staged in the hotel ballroom and has proven itself to be one of the most sought-after events in England, with entries reaching capacity a full month before the event, with a waiting list of over 50 players looking for a place.
The tournament was played over 9 rounds with 121 players from 19 different federations taking part, and players coming from as far away as the USA and Vietnam.
The majority of players were English, with 93 out of the 121 from the host nation. Leading the charge and top seed for England was Michael Adams, the England number 1 for many years.
WIM Natasha Regan provided commentary on the event - in round 6 and round 8 with GM John Emms, and in the 9th and final on Sunday morning with WIM Lan Yao.
You can follow the commentary replay on the ECF Twitch Commentary channel: https://www.twitch.tv/ecf_commentary and also the ECF’s Youtube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/EnglishChessFederation
In round 1 Michael surprisingly only drew against his namesake Henry Adams, who was much lower-rated.
But after this upset, Adams proceeded to win his next 7 games and powered his way through to first place. Adams completed the event with a draw in round 9 to finish first with 8.0/9.
Here is Mickey’s critical 6th round win against early leader GM Daniel Fernandez after which Mickey took the lead for the first time. The opening was a Sicilian Najdorf with a sharp middlegame where Adams shows the power of the two bishops in an open position.
Final standings for the top 20 places are as below with Adams finishing in top place on 8 points, just clear of GM Fernandez in second place on 7.5 and a group of four players including the reigning British Champion IM Harry Grieve on 7 points alongside GM Oleg Korneev, IM Boris Golubovic and FM Nghia Bao Dong. Harriett Hunt was the highest placed female player with 5.5 point, followed by WCM Nina Pert on 5 points and Julia Volovich also on 5.
Cambridge International – Final Standings
| No. | Name | Country | Elo | ||
| 1 |
|
GM | Adams, Michael | ENG | 2757 |
| 2 |
|
GM | Dardha, Daniel | BEL | 2612 |
| 3 |
|
GM | Korneev, Oleg | ESP | 2589 |
| 4 |
|
IM | Clarke, Brandon G I | ENG | 2588 |
| 5 |
|
GM | Bosiocic, Marin | CRO | 2564 |
| 6 |
|
GM | Fernandez, Daniel H | ENG | 2519 |
| 7 |
|
FM | Czopor, Maciej | POL | 2519 |
| 8 |
|
IM | Grieve, Harry | ENG | 2514 |
| 9 |
|
GM | Hebden, Mark L | ENG | 2510 |
| 10 |
|
IM | Roberson, Peter T | ENG | 2510 |
| 11 |
|
GM | Arkell, Keith C | ENG | 2506 |
| 12 |
|
GM | Gormally, Daniel W | ENG | 2493 |
| 13 |
|
GM | Turner, Matthew J | SCO | 2487 |
| 14 |
|
IM | Lutsko, Artem | UKR | 2414 |
| 15 |
|
FM | Dong, Bao Nghia | VIE | 2414 |
| 16 |
|
Ismail, Mohammed Aayan | ENG | 2353 | |
| 17 |
|
IM | Golubovic, Boris | CRO | 2349 |
| 18 |
|
IM | Hunt, Harriet V | ENG | 2349 |
| 19 |
|
FM | Bazakutsa, Svyatoslav | UKR | 2330 |
| 20 |
|
FM | Wall, Tim P | ENG | 2305 |
| 21 |
|
CM | Villiers, Thomas | ENG | 2295 |
| 22 |
|
Shafi, Declan | SCO | 2265 | |
| 23 |
|
Saunders, Aron | ENG | 2260 | |
| 24 |
|
FM | Anand, Batsukh | MGL | 2239 |
| 25 |
|
Bonn, Thomas | FRA | 2237 |
Cambridge International Winner GM Michael Adams with Chief Arbiter and Organiser Shohreh Bayat | Photo: Satish Gaekwad
Second placed GM Danny Fernandez with Shohreh Bayat | Photo: Shohreh Bayat
IM Harriett Hunt won the prize for best female player
Julia Volovich was the third best women player
