English Chess Forum

We now have a date and place for these.

They are over the Spring Bank Holiday weekend, starting on the 26th May (Friday) and finishing on the 29th May (Monday). It doesn't say how many rounds, presumably 7 or 8.

It's at the Holiday Inn Kenilworth which was last year's venue as well.

Unlike the Cambridge Open, there's minimum ratings of 2000 for the Open and 1800 for the Women's.

Calendar link
https://www.englishchess.org.uk/event-c ... 00?popup=1

These start on Friday 26th May

https://chess-results.com/tnr771194.aspx?lan=1
https://chess-results.com/tnr771195.aspx?lan=1&art=0

The seedings would seem to be using the higher of the May FIDE list and the May "Original" ECF list.

This could result in some first round pairings towards the bottom where the player's FIDE ratings are about equal even if their ECF ratings are a couple of hundred points apart.

Good start from Roger.

Is this the same event?

Round 5 is currently in progress, the Forum has two threads which require merging, Adams is about to lead with 4.5/5, but I'm watching 8-year-old Kushal Jakhria who is having a fine tournament.

Leonard Barden wrote: ↑

Sun May 28, 2023 12:38 pm

but I'm watching 8-year-old Kushal Jakhria who is having a fine tournament.

Kushal Jakhria together with Bodhana Sivanandan dominate the ECF Under 8 rating list at


2032A and 1971A respectively.

I'd be interested in Leonard telling how these two stack up compared with other similar aged English juniors since the 1970s.

Do they stand out from the crowd?

Leonard Barden wrote: ↑

Sun May 28, 2023 12:38 pm

Adams is about to lead with 4.5/5

Two pawns up in a rook ending, but didn't he show yesterday that this isn't enough?

John Upham wrote: ↑

Sun May 28, 2023 1:17 pm

Leonard Barden wrote: ↑

Sun May 28, 2023 12:38 pm

but I'm watching 8-year-old Kushal Jakhria who is having a fine tournament.

Kushal Jakhria together with Bodhana Sivanandan dominate the ECF Under 8 rating list at
2032A and 1971A respectively.
I'd be interested in Leonard telling how these two stack up compared with other similar aged English juniors since the 1970s.
Do they stand out from the crowd?

From the Guardian, 21 April:

England’s gold standard for its youngest talents is Luke McShane’s 1993 world under-10 championship at age nine, outpacing a field which included several future elite grandmasters. Also in the frame are David Howell’s blitz victory at eight years nine months over John Nunn at the 1999 Mind Sports Olympiad, the youngest ever win against a GM in an official event, and Howell’s subsequent qualifying for the 2000 British Championship and scoring a 2200-plus rated performance there at nine.

All that was 20-30 years ago. Nobody has approached the McShane and Howell landmarks since, until last weekend, when Kushal Jakhria and Bodhana Sivanandan, both aged eight, made quantum leaps.

Jakhria was the youngest entrant at the powerful Menorca Open, won by India’s 16-year-old star Dommaraju Gukesh, and was seeded a lowly 196 out of 200, but he scored 4.5/9, earning a 2213 master level tournament rating plus a best performance prize.

Sivanandan, who shared the England women’s blitz championship last December at seven, scored 6/11 to tie for second woman in the British Rapidplay at Bradford, where the overall champion was IM Ameet Ghasi on 10/11. Her rating performance was 2130, the level of a Women’s Fide Master, and this strategic endgame was impressive.

These are not yet results at the level which McShane and Howell achieved at eight and nine, but both children only had their eighth birthdays in March. They are likely to be ranked the world Nos 1 and 2 under-nines when Fide publishes its May rating list next weekend.

There is currently no official backing for chess, despite a vigorous campaign by the charity Chess in Schools and Communities, but Jakhria and Sivanandan receive help from the ECF’s Accelerator Programme for elite talents. Both are being supported by the John Robinson Youth Chess Trust, while Sivanandan’s coaching is sponsored by the biotech company e-therapeutics, whose chief executive is IM Ali Mortazavi.

Roger is doing well.
Currently on 2 and a half points, out of 5.

Adams escaped with a draw after an exchange sacrifice from Willow, who might have missed a win near the end, so wins outright with 6/7. Tied on second were Harvey and Wadsworth, who both won, on 5.5/7.

Simon Rogers wrote: ↑

Sun May 28, 2023 4:29 pm

Currently on 2 and a half points, out of 5.

I managed to finish on 50% with 3 and a half.

Really good performance by the English juniors.
Worth mentioning (points as per chess-results, may not be accurate)

• Jude Shearsby on 4.5, +36 pts (I expect him to now qualify for the British Championship through the British Grand Prix)
• Badacsonyi, Stanley on 4, +77pts
• Ismail, Mohammed Aayan on 4, -25pts (played 3 strong juniors and dropped points along the way)
• Hobson, Kenneth on 4, +55 pts
• Murawski, Jan on 4, +65 pts
• Southcott-Moyers, Indy on 4, +20
• Badacsonyi, Frankie on 4, -8
• Jackson, Edward on 4, -2

Worth noting also Kushal's performance on 3.5pts, with +112 points and a performance rating of 2245.

Well done to all of them and to the many ones I know and did not mention!

Roger de Coverly wrote: ↑

Mon May 29, 2023 3:11 pm

Simon Rogers wrote: ↑

Sun May 28, 2023 4:29 pm

Currently on 2 and a half points, out of 5.

I managed to finish on 50% with 3 and a half.

Any thoughts Roger on how the venue compares to previous versions? Is the format the same? Well done, by the way

Mick Norris wrote: ↑

Mon May 29, 2023 5:45 pm

Any thoughts Roger on how the venue compares to previous versions? Is the format the same? Well done, by the way

I didn't play in the English last year, only at the English Seniors. The Seniors at was in Kenilworth last year, Leamington this year. The Women's event was in a separate room and unless the hotel have some other rooms, it was more or less at comfortable capacity with around 64 in the Open. All the recent events have been seven rounds with 90 30 move rates and two rounds most days.

The hotel in Kenilworth has the advantage over some other venues that it's on the main street, so no need to feel confined to the hotel.

If it were nine rounds, could it for Norms? There might be a problem that the British Championship is already claiming exemption from the need to play non-ENG players.