Michael Adams edged nearer the all-time record for British Championship titles yesterday when the Taunton, Somerset-based grandmaster won his ninth national championship at Liverpool.
Adams has now equalled Henry Atkins’s total from the first half of the last century, but he remains one short of Jonathan Penrose’s 10 crowns from the second half. Adams’s first British title was in 1989, but he only competed twice in the next 20 years as he gave preference to the Fide world knockout, where he ultimately fell just short, losing in the final in 2004. Between 2010 and 2019 Adams won the British crown five times, setting up his current record attempt.
Adams’s subtle fourth round rook endgame against Nigel Davies was a classic, while in round five he exploited Shreyas Royal’s hesitant opening to establish early dominance.
The pre-tournament favourite and top seed was Nikita Vitiugov, but the former Russian champion struggled to find his best form and was decisively defeated by Stuart Conquest in the final round, in an encounter which was later awarded the joint Best Games prize.
The 2025 championship was keenly fought, with six players sharing the lead at the start of the final round. Adams won after a speed tiebreak with fellow veteran Conquest, 57. Final leading scores were Adams, Conquest, and Peter Roberson (eliminated in the first round of tiebreaks) 7/9, Gawain Maroroa Jones, Svyatoslav Bazakutsa, and Jonah Willow 6.5.
The championship also marked a breakthrough for junior talent. England’s youngest ever grandmaster Royal, 17, was among the leaders for seven rounds before falling into a trap against Conquest, while the 10-year-old prodigy Bodhana Sivanandan finished tied third in the women’s championship, and achieved her third and final women’s international master norm.
In the final round, Sivanandan achieved a historic record as she became the youngest girl ever to defeat a grandmaster in a classical game when GM Peter Wells overstepped the time limit in a lost position. At 10 years five months, Sivanandan was six months younger than the previous record holder Carissa Yip of the US, who defeated GM Alexander Ivanov at the 2014 New England Open aged 10 years and 11 months. Yip is now the reigning US women’s champion.
Supratit Banerjee did best of all the rising stars. The Surrey 11-year-old achieved his first international master norm, easily a UK age record, defeated two grandmasters in succession, and displayed remarkable maturity and stamina, including drawing a 145-move game.
Last month chancellor Rachel Reeves announced £1.5mn of government support for elite chess talents over the next three years, which should benefit the talented trio and also encourage others. The funding will be split between the Department for Education and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Puzzle 2636
IM Igor Kowalski v GM Michal Krasenkow, Polish team championship 2005. White to move and win.
Click here for solution
Read the full article here