The English Championships concluded last weekend in two dramatic playoff matches. In the open event, Gawain Jones defeated last year’s winner Michael Adams by 1.5-0.5. The first game saw Adams pressing in a complex queen endgame, but he lost after an astonishing oversight which allowed mate in one move. Though Adams pushed hard for a win in the second game, patient defence from Jones secured the draw and the title.
In the women’s championship, last year’s winner Katarzyna Toma faced Elmira Mirzoeva, the formerly Russian woman grandmaster who transferred her federation to England earlier this year. In the rapid playoff games, Mirzoeva took the lead with a convincing victory, but the second game saw Toma turn the tables with an unlikely counterattack in a lost position. So they went to blitz games, where Mirzoeva won by 1.5-0.5.
Both tournament winners fashioned wins from unpromising positions earlier in the event.
Peter Roberson-Gawain Jones
English Championships, Kenilworth, June 2024
The chances seems to lie with White, but Jones unearths unexpected counterplay. 36… Bh4! threatening mate with Bh4-g3+ 37 Ne4 Re1! 38 d6 Cunningly played, since 38…Bg3+ 39 fxg3 fxg3+ 40 Nxg3 Rxe8 41 Nxf5+ gxf5 42 d7 wins. But Jones’s powerful response shows that it was better to defend the Re8, e.g. 38 Re8-e6. 38…Ng3! 39 fxg3 fxg3+ 40 Nxg3 Rxe8 41 d7 Re3 42 Nf1 Re1 In case of 42…Rd3 White is saved by a profusion of forks: 43 Ne5! Rd5 44 Ne3! 43 Nd2 Rd1 43…Rc1! was stronger. 44 Ne4 44 Nf3! Bf6 45 Nfd4 leads to an odd impasse where neither side can make progress. Rxd7 45 g3 Rc7 46 Ne5 Rc2+ 47 Kh1 Re2 48 Ng4+ Kg7 49 gxh4 Rxe4 White resigns
Zoe Varney-Elmira Mirzoeva
English Women’s Championships, Kenilworth
Mirzoeva was in huge trouble earlier in the endgame, but by this point she is pushing for the win. Now 54 f7! draws by a hair’s breadth: 54…Rb8 55 Rxb2+ Kxb2 56 Kf6 Kc3 57 Kg7 Kd4 58 f8=Q Rxf8 59 Kxf8 Ke5 60 Ke7 Kf5 61 Kd6 Kg4 62 Ke5 Kxh4 63 Kf4 with a draw. The immediate sacrifice of the rook cost White a critical tempo. 54 Rxb2+ Rxb2 55 f7 Rb8 56 Kf6 Kd3 57 Kg6 Ke4 58 Kxh5 Kf5 59 Kh6 Kf6 60 Kh7 Kxf7 61 h5 Rb6 62 h6 Kf8 White resigns
On Sunday 7 July, ChessFest will return to Trafalgar Square in London, run by the charity Chess in Schools and Communities. The event is free, open to all, and runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Professional actors will enact a game of living chess with an Alice Through the Looking Glass theme, while visitors will be able to join in a simultaneous display and free chess lessons, among other events.
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