British Championships: Adams, Short and Jones Lead
Both Michael Adams and Nigel Short had to work hard to win their games, but they pulled it off, while Gawain Jones had a breezier path to the (shared) lead:
Jones (2606) - Bates (2373), British Championship Round 6:
1. e4 c5 2. d3 Nc6 3. f4 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Be2 d6 6. O-O Bg4 7. Qe1 c4 8. dxc4 Qb6+ 9. Kh1 Bxb2 10. Bxb2 Qxb2 11. Nc3 Bxf3 12. Bxf3 Qb4 13. Rb1 Qxc4 14. Rxb7 Nd4 15. Nd5 Rc8 16. Rxa7 Nxc2 17. Qb1 Qc5 18. Qb7 Qc6 19. Nc7+ Kd7 20. Qxc6+ Kxc6 21. e5+ Kb6 22. Rb1+ Kxa7 23. Rb7# 1-0
The leading trio has 5/6, but it's not clear if the long-desired Adams-Short showdown will take place on Monday (Sunday is a rest day) as they have a color clash (they're both due for White). One can hope!
Tournament website here.
Reader Comments (2)
Just a heads up about the Politiken Cup if you fancy covering it, Dennis.
http://www.ksu.dk/politiken_cup/default.aspx?aar=2011
American readers of the Chess Mind will be interested to know that young Robert Hess is playing; presumably his last tourney before he starts his freshman year at Yale (iirc) in the fall. Current Women's Champion Anna Zatonskih and her husband, German GM, Daniel Fridman are also playing. Anna survived a right scare in round 1. She could have been mated in two but her 1900 rated Norwegian opponent allowed her off the hook and she drew by sacrificing two queens(!) to force a stalemate. There is also a large contingent of players from the Marshall C.C.
There have been a few surprises but otherwise the first two rounds have seen the GMs et al putting away their much weaker opponents.
[DM: Thanks, Graham. I feel a bit "covered out" at the moment, but I'll take a look.]
Dennis,
you should take a look at Jonathan Hawkins-Nigel Short from round 6. Such a beautiful ending. Incredible play from Nigel. In an email, he told me it took him half an hour to come up with the idea of b7-b5, and then rook to b7-b5-c5. This for me is the ending of the year.
Regards,
Jonathan