Day 6, Tuesday 5th August, saw round 4 of the British Championship proper and the Major Open, and round 2 of Over 50 and Over 65 Championships, all four scheduled to start at 14.30 p.m.

Championship

On top board, 16-year-old Shreyas Royal, representing the cream of up-and-coming English chess youth, had White against 38-year-old Nikita Vitiugov who is currently England’s number 1 player. It was clear there was going to be no early draw without a fight. On board 2, however, where GM Ameet Ghasi had White against 17-year-old IM Yichen Han, the game was a 19-move draw (which seems not unfamiliar from some game in an earlier round). After two hours of play, there was no other sign of an early result on any board. The game on board 3 was the second to finish, featuring an instructive assault by Matthew Wadsworth as White against William Claridge-Hansen’s king-side black-square weaknesses. Click here to play through the game on screen. Back on board 1, Royal seemed to be developing the slight advantage regarded as his birthright as White, but in time Vitiugov whipped up counterplay with threats of his own, and after over 5 hours’ play, things fizzled out to a draw. Click here to play through the game on screen. On board 4, Adams as Black engineered a won largely blockaded K + R + Ps ending by forcing an entry by his king and/or rook. Click here to play through the game on screen.

Sheng Liang Bernard Chan appeared to have won by default, affording him a “rest day” which is otherwise not n the playing schedule.

The following gives results of all those who had 3 or 3½ points after 4 rounds, or were among the 11 top players as ranked by rating (marked “T”), or are identified as Northern players (marked “N”).

Title	Name		Rd.4 Result	Total ex 4
GM	Nikita Vitiugov	T	½	3½
GM	Michael Adams	T	1	3½
GM	Ameet K Ghasi	T	½	3½
GM	Shreyas Royal	T	½	3½
IM	Matthew J Wadsworth	T	1	3½
IM	Maciej Czopor		1	3½
IM	Yichen Han		½	3½
GM	Gawain Maroroa Jones	TN	1	3
GM	Daniel H Fernandez	T	1	3
IM	Jonah B Willow		½	3
IM	Peter T Roberson		1	3
IM	Marcus R Harvey		½	3
IM	Siva Mahadevan		½	3
IM	Richard G Pert		1	3
IM	Rajat Makkar		1	3
IM	Tarun Kanyamarala		1	3
FM	Gordon Frederick Waldhausen		½	3
FM	William Claridge-Hansen		0	3
GM	Glenn C Flear		1	3
FM	Lorenzo Fava		½	3
CM	Jude Shearsby		1	3
GM	Stuart C Conquest	T	½	2½
IM	Svyatoslav Bazakutsa	TN	1	2½
GM	Stephen J Gordon	TN	1	2½
IM	David J Eggleston	N	½	2½
IM	Brandon Gi Clarke	T	0	2
IM	Andrew J Ledger	N	½	2
	Sheng Liang Bernard Chan	N	+	2
	Owen Crawford	N	0	1½
	Marek Korsinskij	N	½	1½
CM	Edward Jackson	N	0	1

Major Open

Early draws were more evident in the Major Open.

The following gives results of all those who 3 or more points after 4 rounds, those who were among the 12 top players as ranked by rating (marked “T”), and those identified as Northern players (marked “N”).

Title	Name		Rd.4 Result	Total ex 4
	Arjun Kolani	T	1	4
	Livio Cancedda-Dupuis		1	4
	Sanchez Luis Ortiz		1	4
	Adam A Taylor	T	1	3½
FM	Tim P Wall	TN	1	3½
	Remy Rushbrooke	T	½	3½
	Tetsuaki Sanada	N	1	3½
	Bohdan Terler		½	3½
	Finn Schell		1	3½
	Adam Sieczkowski		1	3½
	Sooraj Menothuparambil Raju	T	1	3
	Koichi B Nicholas	T	0	3
	Ali Reza Jaunooby	TN	0	3
	Adam Sefton		1	3
	Zack Norris		1	3
	Michael Green		½	3
	Alexandre Km Lee		1	3
	Toby Quaite	N	½	3
	Zac Welling		½	3
	Louis Buckland		1	3
	Colin J Davis		½	3
	Kumar Advait Keerthi		1	3
	Sithun De Silva	N	1	3
	Fahim Nasiri	T	0	2½
FM	Jonathan P Nelson	TN	0	2½
	Liam D Varnam	T	½	2½
CM	Jonathan W Arnott	TN	½	2½
	Alan Peart	N	½	2½
	Sai Vaddhireddy	N	½	2½
	Patrick Joseph	N	0	2½
	Andrew Savage	N	½	2½
	Michael McDonagh	N	1	2½
	Chris Izod	N	½	2½
	Aaron Rich	N	½	2½
	Damian M McCarthy	N	½	2½
	Mahin Rughani	N	1	2½
	Junhao Xian	T	1	2
	Alfie Melia	N	0	2
	Nikolas Korsinskij	N	1	2
	John P Williams	N	½	1½
	Dennis Owen	N	½	1½
	Leo A Keely	N	½	1½
	Joshua Blinkhorn	N	0	1½
	Dylan Mize	N	½	1½
	Seth Woozeer	N	½	1½
	Joel Bartlett	N	0	1
	Cameron Storey	N	0	1
	Charlie Wainwright	N	1	1
	Ved Sudeep Boganadham	N	-	1
	Sanjoy K Banerjee	N	0	1
	Samidh Saxena	N	0	1
	Aytek Koyun	N	0	1
	Adam Bedi	N	0	½
	Laurence Coe	N	0	½
	Albert Eldridge	N	0	½

Over 50

In round 2 of the Over 50s, there were no early draws, but there were at least three elementary blunderings away of a piece leading to early wins. Hull’s Eric Gardner won early when his opponent’s blundering away of a piece in fact was converted into a mate. Click here to play through the game on screen. Meanwhile, Sheffield’s Michael Handley opted for two minor pieces for a rook on move 18, and won 21 moves later. Click here to play through the game on screen.

The following gives results of all those with more than 1 point after 2 rounds, those who were among the 9 top players as ranked by rating (marked “T”), and those identified as Northern players (marked “N”).

Title	Name		Rd.2 Result	Total ex2
GM	Keith C Arkell	T	1	2
FM	John Merriman	T	1	2
CM	David C Okike	T	1	2
NM	Philip J Crocker	TN	1	2
FM	Richard J McMichael	T	1	2
FM	Michael Dougherty		1	2
	Andrew R Brett		1	2
	Alan Minnican		1	2
	Jeff R Smith	N	1	2
CM	Stephen C Ledger		1	2
	Nigel J Moyse		1	2
FM	Chris R Duncan	T	1	1½
WIM	Natasha K Regan		½	1½
	Christopher J Archer‑Lock		1	1½
	Michael R Handley	N	1	1½
	Mike J Coffey	N	1	1½
	Glenn Trueman	N	1	1½
	Phil Cook	N	½	1½
IM	Chris W Baker	T	0	1
	Neil R Farrell	T	1	1
	Steve Kee	N	0	1
	Eric D Gardiner	N	1	1
	Steven Potter	N	0	1
	Paul May	N	1	1
	Rob Letton	N	½	1
	Simon Richards	N	1	1
	Jonathan Miller	N	0	1
	Robert Thomas	TN	½	½
	Richard Kelly	N	½	½
	David Tuke	N	0	½
	Derek Rooney	N	½	½

Over 65

York’s Paul Townsend outplayed Chris Fegan in a rook and pawn ending, ending up giving up a rook to secure two unstoppable connected advanced outside passed pawns. Click here to play through the game on screen,

The following gives results of all those with more than 1 point after 2 rounds, those who were among the 11 top players as ranked by rating (marked “T”), and those identified as Northern players (marked “N”).

Title	Name		Rd.2 Result	Total ex2
FM	Andrew P Lewis	T	1	2
IM	Nigel E Povah	T	1	2
	M Paul Townsend	TN	1	2
	Russell G Granat	T	1	2
	Phil J Brooks	T	1	2
	Mike J Surtees	N	1	2
	Mark E Page		1	2
	Jeff R Dawson		1	2
	Roy Hughes		1	2
	Philip R Bonafont		1	2
	Dave J Bray		1	2
	Simon Johnson	N	1	2
	Stephen Pickles	T	1	1½
FM	Terry PD Chapman	T	1	1½
IM	Craig W Pritchett	T	1	1½
FM	Peter Varley	T	½	1½
FM	Andrew P Smith	T	½	1½
FM	Philip M Giulian		½	1½
	Tim R Spanton		½	1½
	John D Wager		1	1½
	Paul F Habershon		½	1½
	Ian G Kelly		1	1½
	Maurice E Lawson		½	1½
	Ivan J Myall		1	1½
	Michael J Hardman	N	½	1
WGM	Sheila Jackson	N	½	1
	Paul A Hutchinson	N	0	1
	John T Fletcher	N	0	1
	Steve R Hodge	N	0	1
	Geoffrey W Sage	N	1	1
	Ian Campbell	N	1	1
	Mark I Collinson	N	0	1
	Ian Paul Stephens	N	1	1
	Robert A Newton	N	½	1
	Brian Stevens	N	1	1
	Steve Clare	N	0	1
	Gerald Moore		0	½
	James N Hawkins	N	0	½
	Hassan Erdogan		0	½
	Bernie Tedd		0	½
	Joe W Butterworth	N	0	½
	George A Wright		0	½
	Brian R Ewart	N	0	0
	Alan A Hall	N	0	0
	Janos Mak	N	0	0
	David Barnes	N	0	0
	Julian C Clissold	N	0	0