Round 11 9th August 2002

The Indian's took away the main prizes in the Smith & Williamson British Chess Championships. RB Ramesh captured the £10,000 first prize, Humpy Koneru took the Women's Championship for the second time and world number 46 Krisnan Sasikiran emerged with his third British Under 21 title. The last visitor to win the title was the late Abe Yanofsky from Canada in 1953. Ramesh became the first Indian to triumph since the legendary Sultan Khan, who won in 1929 and 1933.

The Indians had a clean sweep in the final round with a 5-0 against non-Indian opposition. On top board Ramesh outplayed Luke McShane with some provocative moves in the opening that came at very high speed and placed six pawns along the third rank while delaying his development. The position cried out for a quick attack but McShane chose a slower plan which allowed his opponent to consolidate.

A double pawn sacrifice from McShane generated some counterplay but his attack foundered on a counter sacrifice of rook for knight which gave Ramesh such a dominating position the material had to be returned immediately and the resulting position was hopeless for England's top junior. Ramesh, who also scored a GM result is clearly a great talent and finished with 8.5/11.

Defending Champion Joe Gallagher of Switzerland had another fine tournament and bamboozled Stewart Haslinger with the Hippopotamus to finish level with Sasikiran in second place on 8/11. Haslinger was the one bright point for British chess in the event scoring a GM norm. Gallagher was the only one of his seven Grandmaster opponents to defeat the 21 year old from Southport. Aside from Luke McShane, Haslinger's generation has not produced any great talents so his emergence is all the more welcome.

The dominance of the Indians and the fact that they are subsidised by their federation to take part as preparation for the Chess Olympiad will inevitably lead to more calls for the scrapping of the outdated rule, introduced in the time of Empire, to allow any strong player from the Commonwealth to compete. As your correspondent, and many others have been proposing, it is time to transform this fine event, run so professionally by Neil Graham, into the Commonwealth Championship and run a separate English championship with the participation of all the English top players.

McShane,L (2544) - Ramesh,R (2456) [B30]
British Chess Championships Torquay (11), 10.08.2002

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.d3 Ne7 6.Qe2 f6 7.Nh4 g6 8.f4 Bg7 9.0-0 0-0 10.c4 [ 10.Nf3 e5 ( 10...Rb8 11.c4 d6 12.Be3 e5 13.fxe5 fxe5 14.Qd2 Bg4 15.Nc3 Bxf3 16.Rxf3 Rxf3 17.gxf3 Kh8 18.Rf1 Ng8 19.Ne2 Nf6 20.b3 Qd7 21.Kg2 Rf8 22.Ng3 h5 23.h3 Kh7 24.Ne2 Ne8 25.Qe1 Nc7 26.Qg3 Ne6 27.f4 exf4 28.Nxf4 Nxf4+ 29.Bxf4 Qf7 30.Qf3 Qe6 31.Qe2 d5 32.Rf3 Re8 33.cxd5 cxd5 34.Bg3 Kg8 35.Qc2 Bd4 36.Rf4 Qd7 37.exd5 Re3 38.Re4 Qxd5 39.Bf4 Re1 40.Qc4 Qxc4 41.bxc4 Rg1+ 42.Kf3 Rf1+ 43.Kg3 Rd1 44.Re6 Rxd3+ 45.Kg2 Kf7 46.Ra6 Rc3 47.h4 Bf6 48.Bg3 Rxc4 49.Kh3 Rc3 50.Kg2 c4 51.Bf2 Rd3 52.Rxa7+ Ke6 53.Rc7 c3 54.Be1 Rd2+ 55.Kf1 Rxa2 56.Rc6+ Kf5 57.Rc5+ Kg4 58.Rc6 c2 59.Bd2 Bxh4 0-1 Vokarev,S-Shariyazdanov,A/Moscow RUS 2002/The Week in Chess 379 (59). ) 11.fxe5 fxe5 12.Be3 ( 12.Qf2 d6 13.Qh4 Rb8 14.Bg5 Rb7 15.Nbd2 Kh8 16.b3 Be6 17.Nc4 Rd7 18.Nxd6 1-0 Bergstrom,R-Aarthie,R/York 2000/CBM 79 ext (18)) 12...d6 13.Nbd2 h6 14.a3 Rb8 15.b3 Be6 16.Nc4 g5 17.b4 1/2-1/2 Shariyazdanov,A-Perunovic,M/Subotica 2000/CBM 81 (17). ] 10...d6 11.Nc3 h6 12.Be3 g5 13.Nf3 gxf4 14.Bxf4 e5 15.Bd2 Rb8 16.Nh4 Rxb2 17.Nd1 Rb7 18.Ne3 d5 19.Rad1 Black already looks better here. 19...Rb2 20.Qh5 Qe8 21.Qf3 d4 22.Nef5 Bxf5 23.exf5 Kh7 24.g4 [ 24.a4] 24...Rxa2 White now has to get something on the Kingside. 25.Qh3 Rh8 26.Nf3 Qd7 27.Rf2 a5 28.Rdf1 a4 29.Nxe5 fxe5 30.f6 Rxd2 31.Rxd2 Ng6 32.fxg7 Kxg7 33.Qh5 Qe7 34.Rdf2?

Definitely not good. White probably had to try: [ 34.Re2; 34.Re1] 34...Nf4 35.Rxf4 exf4 36.Kh1 a3 37.Rg1 Qg5 38.Qh3 a2 39.Qg2 Ra8 40.Ra1 Qf6 41.Qf3 Ra6 42.Kg2 Qe5 43.Qf2 Qe3 44.Rxa2 f3+ 45.Kg3 Rxa2 46.Qxa2 f2+ 47.Kg2 f1Q+ Trading into a clearly winning endgame. 48.Kxf1 Qxd3+ 49.Kg2 Qe4+ 50.Kg3 d3 51.Qa7+ Kf6 52.Qd7 Qe3+ 53.Kh4 d2 54.Qxc6+ Qe6 55.Qf3+ Kg7 56.Kh3 h5 57.Qb7+ Kh6 58.Kg3 Qxg4+ 59.Kf2 Qd4+ 0-1

Final Standings:
  1 RAMESH,R.B...............   150  8½ 2330 212

  2 GALLAGHER,Joseph G.......   238  8  2818 256
  3 SASIKIRAN,Krishnan.......   252  8  2764 251

  4 BARUA,Dibyendu...........   241  7½ 2585 235
  5 FLEAR,Glenn C............   245  7½ 2558 233
  6 HASLINGER,Stewart G......   222  7½ 2693 245
  7 KUNTE,Abhijit............   245  7½ 2464 246
  8 MCSHANE,Luke J...........   246  7½ 2700 245

  9 GANGULY,Sura Sekhar......   150  7  2195 200
 10 GORMALLY,Daniel..........   240  7  2546 231
 11 HARIKRISHNA,Pentala......   238  7  2576 234
 12 KONERU,Humpy.............   228  7  2592 236
 13 LALIC,Bogdan.............   248  7  2564 233
 14 SANDIPAN,Chanda..........   150  7  2229 203
 15 SPEELMAN,Jon.............   253  7  2693 245
 16 TURNER,Matthew J.........   237  7  2609 237
 17 WELLS,Peter..............   232  7  2678 243

 18 GRANT,Jonathan...........   150  6½ 2165 197
 19 HEBDEN,Mark..............   245  6½ 2489 226
 20 KNOTT,Simon JB...........   219  6½ 2474 225
 21 LANE,Gary................   224  6½ 2406 219
 22 MUIR,Andrew J............   194  6½ 2456 223
 23 PERT,Richard.............   218  6½ 2194 219
 24 ROWSON,Jonathan..........   244  6½ 2544 231
 25 SUMMERSCALE,Aaron........   236  6½ 2241 224
 26 WARD,Chris G.............   237  6½ 2570 234
 27 WOHL,Aleksander H........   224  6½ 2448 223

 28 BUCKLEY,Simon............   218  6  2288 208
 29 COLLINS,Sam..............   215  6  2284 228
 30 D'COSTA,Lorin............   225  6  2378 216
 31 EAMES,Robert.............   201  6  2192 199
 32 EMMS,John M..............   243  6  2409 219
 33 EVANS-QUEK,Suan Shiau....   197  6  2312 210
 34 LEE,Graham...............   211  6  2421 220
 35 LITTLEWOOD,Paul E........   218  6  2346 213
 36 MCDONALD,Neil............   218  6  2330 212
 37 PERT,Nicholas............   234  6  2501 227
 38 SHERWIN,James............   207  6  2277 207
 39 SOWRAY,Peter.............   213  6  2206 201
 40 WEBB,Laurence............   202  6  2147 215

 41 ADDISON,Bret C...........   197  5½ 2261 206
 42 ASHTON,,Adam.............   190  5½ 2212 201
 43 BERRY,Neil M.............   203  5½ 2371 216
 44 DEVEREAUX,Maxim L........   214  5½ 2258 205
 45 HOWELL,David W...........   203  5½ 2156 196
 46 JONES,Gawain C...........   206  5½ 2284 208
 47 LEDGER,Dave J............   201  5½ 2196 200
 48 MEENAKSHI,Subbaraman.....   182  5½ 2302 209
 49 RAMSAWAMY,Aarthie........   196  5½ 2152 196
 50 SARAVANAN,Venkatachalam..   224  5½ 2193 199
 51 TAN,Desmond..............   210  5½ 2286 208
 52 THIPSAY,Bhagyashree......   150  5½ 2060 187
 53 VIJAYALAKSHMI,Subbaraman.   216  5½ 2214 201
 54 WALL,Gavin...............   210  5½ 2331 212
 55 WILLMOTH,Robert..........   197  5½ 2059 187

 56 BIGG,Andrew J............   196  5  2125 193
 57 COX,John.................   205  5  2117 192
 58 HANLEY,Craig.............   223  5  2181 198
 59 HUTCHINSON,Paul A........   206  5  2193 199
 60 LYELL,Mark...............   198  5  1986 181
 61 MASON,Don................   191  5  2142 195
 62 NIXON,Thomas CM..........   197  5  1976 198
 63 RUDD,Jack................   200  5  2251 205
 64 SHAW,David A.............   187  5  2119 193
 65 SIMPSON,James............   195  5  2277 207
 66 THOMAS,Nicholas..........   203  5  1904 190
 67 WILLIAMS,Simon K.........   226  5  1938 215
 68 WU,Li....................   187  5  2082 189

 69 DHAR-BARUA,Saheli........   201  4½ 1975 180
 70 GOLDBERG,Jeff............   181  4½ 1979 180
 71 GREGORY,Stephen J........   202  4½ 1964 179
 72 HUTCHINSON,Norman........   185  4½ 2061 187
 73 JONES,Richard S..........   191  4½ 2020 202
 74 MARTYN,Rafe..............   191  4½ 1982 180
 75 RICHARDS,Heather.........   199  4½ 2195 200
 76 SNAPE,Ian L..............   187  4½ 2098 191
 77 TAYLOR,Peter P...........   202  4½ 2058 187
 78 WHEELER,John F...........   170  4½ 1979 180
 79 WOODWARD,Timothy.........   200  4½ 2177 198

 80 COOTE,Trevor D...........   178  4  1956 178
 81 DORRINGTON,Christopher...   187  4  2007 182
 82 DOUGLAS,Timothy..........   185  4  1972 179
 83 GHATE,Swati..............   150  4  1926 175
 84 MUTTON,Jonathan B........   203  4  2034 185

 85 BUCKLEY,Melanie..........   187  3½ 2004 182
 86 BURNETT,Jim..............   193  3½ 1868 170
 87 MCMASTER,Richard.........   169  3½ 1906 173
 88 TAYLOR,Robert Mark.......   187  3½ 1926 175
 89 TRENT,Lawrence...........   209  3½ 2018 183

 90 EVANS-QUEK,Debbie........   164  3  1915 174
 91 HARBORNE,Matthew J.......   165  3  1836 167
 92 TATLOW,Stephen...........   178  3  1828 166
 93 TRUMAN,Richard G.........   172  3  1767 161

 94 WHITE,Ian R..............   174  2½ 1785 162

 95 CHIRUKANDATH MANOJ,Arjun    191  2   688 172

 96 MORDUE,A. Tyson..........   203  0   152 152
 97 REES,Ioan................   172  0   147 147


Round 11 results
  1 MCSHANE,Luke J        (7½)  0 - 1  RAMESH,R.B            (7½)    6  23
  2 HASLINGER,Stewart G   (7½)  0 - 1  GALLAGHER,Joseph G    (7)    41  14
  3 SASIKIRAN,Krishnan    (7)   1 - 0  WELLS,Peter           (7)     1  18
  4 SPEELMAN,Jon          (7)   0 - 1  FLEAR,Glenn C.        (6½)    2   9
  5 HARIKRISHNA,Pentala   (6½)  ½ - ½  GANGULY,Sura Sekhar   (6½)    3  12
  6 ROWSON,Jonathan       (6½)  0 - 1  KUNTE,Abhijit         (6½)    4  19
  7 WOHL,Aleksander H     (6½)  0 - 1  BARUA,Dibyendu        (6½)   25   7
  8 LALIC,Bogdan          (6½)  ½ - ½  GORMALLY,Daniel       (6½)    8  11
  9 TURNER,Matthew J      (6)   1 - 0  LITTLEWOOD,Paul E.    (6)    13  26
 10 KNOTT,Simon JB        (6)   ½ - ½  SUMMERSCALE,Aaron     (6)    30  15
 11 SANDIPAN,Chanda       (6)   1 - 0  PERT,Nicholas         (6)    16  22
 12 WARD,Chris G          (6)   ½ - ½  PERT,Richard          (6)    17  33
 13 EVANS-QUEK,Suan Shiau (6)   0 - 1  KONERU,Humpy          (6)    48  20
 14 MUIR,Andrew J.        (6)   ½ - ½  LANE,Gary             (6)    43  21
 15 D'COSTA,Lorin         (5½)  ½ - ½  EMMS,John M           (5½)   54   5
 16 HEBDEN,Mark           (5½)  1 - 0  JONES,Gawain C        (5½)   10  62
 17 SHERWIN,James         (5½)  ½ - ½  MCDONALD,Neil         (5½)   34  28
 18 GRANT,Jonathan        (5½)  1 - 0  WALL,Gavin            (5½)   74  31
 19 LEE,Graham            (5½)  ½ - ½  COLLINS,Sam           (5½)   32  38
 20 SARAVANAN,Venkatachal (5)   ½ - ½  MEENAKSHI,Subbaraman  (5)    29  49
 21 BUCKLEY,Simon         (5)   1 - 0  HANLEY,Craig          (5)    61  35
 22 SOWRAY,Peter          (5)   1 - 0  MASON,Don             (5)    36  50
 23 ASHTON,,Adam          (5)   ½ - ½  DEVEREAUX,Maxim L     (5)    85  37
 24 EAMES,Robert          (5)   1 - 0  SIMPSON,James         (5)    40  60
 25 TAN,Desmond           (5)   ½ - ½  ADDISON,Bret C        (5)    44  68
 26 BERRY,Neil M          (5)   ½ - ½  RAMSAWAMY,Aarthie     (5)    53  45
 27 LEDGER,Dave J         (5)   ½ - ½  WILLMOTH,Robert       (5)    47  77
 28 WEBB,Laurence         (5)   1 - 0  MORDUE,A. Tyson       (0)    52  99
 29 VIJAYALAKSHMI,Subbara (4½)  1 - 0  DHAR-BARUA,Saheli     (4½)   27  67
 30 THOMAS,Nicholas       (4½)  ½ - ½  COX,John              (4½)   58  39
 31 RICHARDS,Heather      (4½)  0 - 1  HOWELL,David W        (4½)   46  70
 32 THIPSAY,Bhagyashree   (4½)  1 - 0  WOODWARD,Timothy      (4½)   51  72
 33 LYELL,Mark            (4½)  ½ - ½  SHAW,David A          (4½)   56  79
 34 BIGG,Andrew J         (4½)  ½ - ½  WU,Li                 (4½)   57  86
 35 MUTTON,Jonathan B     (4)   0 - 1  HUTCHINSON,Paul A.    (4)    71  55
 36 WHEELER,John F.       (4)   ½ - ½  GOLDBERG,Jeff         (4)    63  90
 37 GHATE,Swati           (4)   0 - 1  NIXON,Thomas CM       (4)    64  80
 38 SNAPE,Ian L           (4)   ½ - ½  TAYLOR,Peter P.       (4)    73  66
 39 RUDD,Jack             (4)   1 - 0  DORRINGTON,Christophe (4)    87  69
 40 HUTCHINSON,Norman     (3½)  1 - 0  TRENT,Lawrence        (3½)   88  59
 41 MARTYN,Rafe           (3½)  1 - 0  BUCKLEY,Melanie       (3½)   75  81
 42 GREGORY,Stephen J     (3½)  1 - 0  TAYLOR,Robert Mark    (3½)   83  78
 43 MCMASTER,Richard      (3)   ½ - ½  BURNETT,Jim           (3)    95  76
 44 TRUMAN,Richard G.     (3)   0 - 1  DOUGLAS,Timothy       (3)    94  82
 45 HARBORNE,Matthew J    (3)   0 - 1  COOTE,Trevor D.       (3)    96  91
 46 WHITE,Ian R.          (2)   ½ - ½  TATLOW,Stephen        (2½)   93  92
 47 CHIRUKANDATH MANOJ,Ar (1½)  ½ - ½  EVANS-QUEK,Debbie     (2½)   98  89