Adams and Short top the British Championship

The scene in the final round (official site)
The strongest British Championships for years, featuring virtually all the leading players, has been taking place in Sheffield, England. The top two seeds, Michael Adams and Nigel Short, finished neck-and-neck on 8½/11. A rapidplay match tomorrow will determine the overall champion for 2011.

Draws by the leading two gave the chance to Jonathan Hawkins and Gawain Jones to catch up with the leading pair.

Jonathan Hawkins seemed to be always comfortable, but was never in a position to push for an advantage.

Gawain Jones on the other hand pushed long and hard for the full point, and only conceded the draw after 144 moves!

The last round pairings at the top were full of tension, but all drawn:

Table White Score Fed. Rating Black Score Fed. Rating Result
1 GM Adams, Michael 8.0 ENG 2715 IM Zhou, Yang-Fan 6.5 ENG 2444 ½-½
2 GM Gordon, Stephen J 6.5 ENG 2533 GM Short, Nigel D 8.0 ENG 2687 ½-½
3 GM Jones, Gawain C B 7.5 ENG 2606 GM Pert, Nicholas 7.0 ENG 2555 ½-½ 
4 GM Wells, Peter K 6.5 ENG 2489 IM Hawkins, Jonathan 7.5 ENG 2457 ½-½

In the final standings, the top twenty were all English, although the event is open to players from the nations in the British Isles and also non-British residents:

Rank Name Score Fed. M/F Rating ELo +/- (mostly x10) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
1 GM Adams, Michael 8.5 ENG M 2715 +0.19 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½
2 GM Short, Nigel D 8.5 ENG M 2687 +0.64 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½
3 GM Jones, Gawain C B 8.0 ENG M 2606 +0.85 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 0 1 ½ 1 ½
4 IM Hawkins, Jonathan 8.0 ENG M 2457 +2.28 1 ½ ½ 1 1 0 1 1 ½ 1 ½
5 GM Howell, David W L 7.5 ENG M 2625 +0.08 1 1 1 1 ½ 0 1 0 1 0 1
6 GM Pert, Nicholas 7.5 ENG M 2555 +0.17 ½ 0 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½
7 GM Gormally, Daniel W 7.5 ENG M 2519 -0.68 1 1 0 ½ 0 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1
8 GM Gordon, Stephen J 7.0 ENG M 2533 +0.14 1 1 1 0 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 ½ ½
9 GM Hebden, Mark L 7.0 ENG M 2533 -1.73 1 0 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1
10 GM Conquest, Stuart C 7.0 ENG M 2519 -0.39 1 1 ½ 0 1 1 ½ 0 0 1 1
11 GM Wells, Peter K 7.0 ENG M 2489 +0.05 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 0 1 1 0 ½
12 IM Palliser, Richard J D 7.0 ENG M 2454 -0.96 0 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 0 1 ½
13 IM Zhou, Yang-Fan 7.0 ENG M 2444 -0.83 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 0 1 ½
14 IM Houska, Jovanka 7.0 ENG F 2418 +0.60 0 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1
15 IM Buckley, Graeme N 7.0 ENG M 2380 +0.29 1 0 0 ½ 1 1 1 0 1 ½ 1
16 IM Bates, Richard A 7.0 ENG M 2373 +1.33 1 0 1 1 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½
17 GM Williams, Simon K 6.5 ENG M 2528 -1.76 0 1 1 ½ 1 1 0 ½ 0 1 ½
18 GM Summerscale, Aaron P 6.5 ENG M 2415 +0.67 ½ 1 0 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½
19 IM Rendle, Thomas E 6.5 ENG M 2386 +0.29 1 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 0
20 FM Eggleston, David J 6.5 ENG M 2318 -0.38 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 0 1 0 1

Jonathan Hawkins was the big surprise in this year's event and could well be England's next GM.

The prize-giving is at 09h30 local time (that is 10h30 in Paris) folowed by a play-off between the top two. Check out the official website for the Live coverage.

For more information go to the official site:

http://www.britishchess2011.com/events_championship_2011.htm


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