| |  | The 97th Championships of the British Isles Organised by the English Chess Federation Sunday 25 July to Saturday 7 August, Sports Centre, University of Kent Canterbury, CT2 7NL An English Chess Federation Grand Prix Event  |  |  |
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| Congratulations to GM Mickey Adams British Champion 2010 and IM Jovanka Houska British Womens Champion 2010
King of British Chess
England’s No 1, Michael Adams, is the King of British Chess again. The 38 year old Cornishman won his third title at the 97th British Chess Championships, which have been taking place at the University of Kent, Canterbury over the last fortnight. Adams gave a masterly performance, seeing off his grandmaster and international master rivals one after another. He collects the title and the £5000 first prize with a score of eight wins and three draws from eleven games. His 9½ points is just half-a-point short of the record set by former champion Julian Hodgson in 1992. The mild mannered Adams doesn’t look too fearsome across the board, but he’s put up one of the most domineering performances ever seen at the British Championships. Finishing two points clear, he never appeared under pressure and constantly created problems for his rivals. His progress being slowed by draws against grandmasters Nick Pert, Peter Wells and international master Adam Hunt. Even at the highest level Adams makes chess look simple. There are few flashy moves, just relentless exploitation of small advantages, such as a knight outpost in front of a backward pawn, or manoeuvring his forces to isolate and then capture one of his rival’s vulnerable pieces. Adams remains one of the world’s ‘super grandmasters’ and he’s been at the top of his game for the last two weeks. His performance at Canterbury was no fluke and follows victory at an international grandmaster event in Gibraltar earlier this year. |
Final scores: 1st Michael Adams 9½, 2nd Nicholas Pert 8, 3rd= Stuart Conquest, Andrew Greet, Jonathan Hawkins, Adam Hunt, Richard Pert and Alexei Slavin 7½ ... 78 players. Click for full details.
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Prizegiving
This will take place on Saturday 7th Aug in the Sports Centre at 9.30am lasting no more than about 45 minutes. Please try to attend. All welcome. Click to see a list of the main prizewinners 2010.
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British Championships 2011
The 98th British Chess Championships will take place at Ponds Forge, Sheaf Street, Sheffield, S1 2BP, 24th July to 6th August 2011.
Ponds Forge International Sports Centre
Ponds Forge is conveniently placed for access in Sheffield City Centre. Within 5-10 minutes walking distance of the bus & train interchange, the complex is also served by the nearby tramstop of Fitzalan Square/Ponds Forge. The Sheffield Parkway is a conveniently placed dual-carriageway that runs directly from Park Square to junction 33 of the M1 motorway.
Further information will be available soon at www.britishchess2011.com.
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Returned forms
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Murder Mystery Evening by Kevin Staveley
Contrary to popular opinion the murderer at the "play" last night turned out to be the Vicar - the event attracted an audience of about 50 ... more
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British Championship - Norms achieved
Adam Hunt achieved a 9 Round GM norm when he drew with Mickey Adams, he needed only to play to get the norm.
Rafal Tymrakiewicz achieved a 9 Round IM norm by beating Keith Arkell.
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LIVE games start at 2.15pm daily. The intention is to broadcast up to 20; spectators are very welcome. The games take place in the Sports Centre, CT2 7NL. [Google Map]
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Photos by Ray Morris-Hill.
Click to see round 7 pictures from this London based top photographer, specialising in portraits, fashion, wildlife and sports. Contact: ray@raymorris-hill.com for further information.
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Campus Victorianus by Alec Toll
To bat or not to bat, that was the question that confronted ECF Cricket XI captain Andrew Martin on the occasion of the 29th Annual match at Kent University. Traditionally, the middle Sunday of the British Championships allows most of the weary players a day’s respite from the 64 squares; some however chose to do battle on the cricket square. This by now well-established tradition has seen the team challenge local sides situated close to the playing venue in such diverse places as Douglas, Isle of Man, Millfield School in Somerset and in the city centre of Edinburgh. On this occasion, the latest opponents were the staff of the University - which exempted the players from a long drive to an away venue - when normally half the team get lost en route!. Old stagers Martin and Toll assembled a motley crew ... more
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| Clare Furness |
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One of this weekend’s side shows, the cycling competition, proved a huge success; fun and pain enjoyed (probably in equal measures) by all.
Players, arbiters and general ‘championship goers’ all pulled together to raise over £300 for the Motor Neurone Disease Association in memory of my father, and former principal arbiter, Richard Furness.
Riders spanning 6 to 78 years challenged themselves over the 1km distance; many tackling both the sprint and climbing specialities.
The Tour de France inspired competition reached a climax on Sunday afternoon, with the lead changing hands on numerous occasions in both the adult and youngster categories. Meanwhile it was the early pace setters from Saturday morning who won through in the individual climbing and sprint events. I would like to thank all participants not just for their donations but also for the huge efforts put in.
 | Download Clare's full competition review (258kb) |  |
| | Download the competition results (319kb) |
To make an online donation ahead of my ‘London to Paris Cycle’ next month visit www.justgiving.com/clares-tourdefrance Alternatively to keep abreast of my training exploits or maybe ‘wish me luck’ visit www.clares-tourdefrance.blogspot.com
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Representatives from Gibraltar and the UK launching the brochures for two major events in Gibraltar.
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Monday 27th - pairings
These are now online for all morning events including the under 11's, 13's and 16's, the Championship, the Major Open and Week 1 afternoon event (the latter revised 09:54 today) http://www.britishchess2010.com/results_pairings.htm
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Rapidplay 25th July
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| Round 5, Bd1: James Adair (left) v Rhys Cummins | IM Andrew Greet |
The 1st rapidplay again proved to be a popular curtain raiser to the British Championships with 60 entries.
Going into the final round (6) top seed IM Andrew Greet on 3½ faces Nathan Talbot and Chris Briscoe and James Adair battle it out for a share of first place. Both have 5/6.
Final scores: BRISCOE, Chris M 189A 6/6, ADAIR, James, 211C, COMBIE, Alexander, 183B, SALIMBENI, George PW, 194* 5/6 ... 60 players.
Detailed results to follow.
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Two more GM entries
GM's Nick Pert 2551 and Danny Gormally 2480 have entered this year's Championship at the last minute. Confirmation from both players has been received by the Congress Secretary.
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'The country's top chess players are arriving in Kent for the British Chess Championships.
It's the 97th time the British Chess Championships have been held and this year the University of Kent in Canterbury is playing host to the hundreds of competitors and spectators.' [Read more]
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Kings and Queens come to Canterbury
The Championships start next Monday and will run until 7th August. This is the first time they have been held in Kent since Ramsgate in 1929.
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| GM Mickey Adams |
Grandmaster Michael Adams, Britain’s No 1, heads the field and will be doing battle with some of the country’s other elite Grand Masters, including former champion Stuart Conquest.
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| | CJ de Mooi |
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CJ de Mooi of BBC Eggheads fame is President of the English Chess Federation. He says in his programme notes “A great number of players consider the Championships as central to their season and we are delighted to see so many returning year after year for all the tournaments that make up this fantastic event.”
More than 800 players will be competing for various other titles. Never mind X-boxes and Playstations, there’s a rising tide of young, clever, chess boys and girls who’ll be fighting over the chessboard for the honour of becoming champion for their age groups.
The increasing popularity of chess among the young is uncovering some emerging talents.
One of these is 7 year-old Zheming Zhang who warmed-up last week by beating a field of adults in Middlesbrough. Zheming has to stretch to reach the other side of the board but he’s favourite to take the Under 8 title, and he’s also attempting to take on the Under 9 and Under 10's too.
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The public are welcome to come and watch. Games are in progress from 9.30am for morning events with the Championship itself starting daily at 2.15pm (round 1 is on Monday 26th July).
Each afternoon throughout the Championships International Master Andrew Martin will provide a commentary on the games of the Grandmasters and other leading players. He’ll explain the reasoning behind the moves and be offering prizes in “predict the next move” competitions.
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