Round 5 of the British Championship proper saw the pairing Badacsonyi v Badacsonyi: brothers, 19-year-old Frankie as White v 15-year-old Stanley as Black). The result was an early 14-move draw.

The most crucial 3 pairings were perhaps Vitiugov v Wadsworth on board 1, Adams v Royal on board 2, and Maroroa Jones v Han on board 4. In the event, there were draws on all four top boards except board 2 where Adams scored a win, so moving into the sole lead.

Click here to play through Vitiugov v Wadsworth on screen.

Click here to play through Adams v Royal on screen.

Click here to play through Maroroa Jones v Han on screen.

The following gives results of all those who had more than 3 points after 5 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.5 Result	Total ex 5
GM	Michael Adams	T	1	4½
GM	Nikita Vitiugov	T	½	4
GM	Ameet K Ghasi	T	½	4
GM	Daniel H Fernandez	T	1	4
GM	Matthew J Wadsworth	T	½	4
IM	Marcus R Harvey		1	4
IM	Maciej Czopor		½	4
IM	Yichen Han		½	4
IM	Siva Mahadevan		1	4
GM	Gawain Maroroa Jones	TN	½	3½
GM	Stuart C Conquest	T	1	3½
GM	Shreyas Royal	T	0	3½
IM	Svyatoslav Bazakutsa	TN	1	3½
GM	Stephen J Gordon	TN	1	3½
IM	Jonah B Willow		½	3½
GM	Simon K Williams		1	3½
IM	Peter T Roberson		½	3½
IM	Richard G Pert		½	3½
IM	Tarun Kanyamarala		½	3½
FM	William Claridge-Hansen		½	3½
GM	Glenn C Flear		½	3½
IM	David J Eggleston	N	1	3½
GM	Peter K Wells		1	3½
WGM	Elmira Mirzoeva		1	3½
FM	Supratit Banerjee		1	3½
IM	Brandon Gi Clarke	T	1	3
IM	Andrew J Ledger	N	½	2½
	Owen Crawford	N	1	2½
	Sheng Liang Bernard Chan	N	½	2½
	Marek Korsinskij	N	0	1½
CM	Edward Jackson	N	-	1

Major Open

An interesting game from the writer’s point of view (as an exponent of Alekhine’s Defence) was Toby Quaite’s game with White, wherein Black resigned when facing a rook sacrificed followed by mate in 5 of loss of his queen. Click here to play through the game on screen.

The following gives results of all those who had more than 3 points after 5 rounds, or were among the 12 top players as ranked by rating (marked “T”), or are identified as Northern players (marked “N”).

Title	Name		Rd.5 Result	Total ex 5
	Arjun Kolani	T	1	5
	Livio Cancedda-Dupuis		1	5
FM	Tim P Wall	TN	1	4½
	Remy Rushbrooke	T	1	4½
	Adam A Taylor	T	½	4
	Ali Reza Jaunooby	TN	1	4
	Adam Sefton		1	4
	Zack Norris		1	4
	Alexandre Km Lee		1	4
	Toby Quaite	N	1	4
	Bohdan Terler		½	4
	Colin J Davis		1	4
	Sanchez Luis Ortiz		0	4
	Liam D Varnam	T	1	3½
	Koichi B Nicholas	T	½	3½
WCM	Kanishka Bhatia		1	3½
	Jack Pilley		1	3½
	Tetsuaki Sanada	N	0	3½
	John M Potter		1	3½
	Nicolas Skettos		1	3½
	Patrick Joseph	N	1	3½
	Finn Schell		0	3½
	Selikem Pj Amoako		1	3½
	Jainill Vadalia		1	3½
	Josh Sharma		1	3½
	Leonardo Gupta		1	3½
	Adam Sieczkowski		0	3½
	Om Reddy Jayar		1	3½
	Fahim Nasiri	T	½	3
	Sooraj Menothuparambil Raju	T	0	3
FM	Jonathan P Nelson	TN	½	3
	Sai Vaddhireddy	N	½	3
	Andrew Savage	N	½	3
	Michael McDonagh	N	½	3
	Chris Izod	N	½	3
	Aaron Rich	N	½	3
	Sithun De Silva	N	0	3
CM	Jonathan W Arnott	TN	0	2½
	Alan Peart	N	0	2½
	John P Williams	N	1	2½
	Damian M McCarthy	N	0	2½
	Leo A Keely	N	1	2½
	Mahin Rughani	N	0	2½
	Junhao Xian	T	0	2
	Dennis Owen	N	½	2
	Alfie Melia	N	0	2
	Charlie Wainwright	N	1	2
	Nikolas Korsinskij	N	0	2
	Samidh Saxena	N	1	2
	Joel Bartlett	N	½	1½
	Joshua Blinkhorn	N	0	1½
	Albert Eldridge	N	1	1½
	Dylan Mize	N	0	1½
	Seth Woozeer	N	0	1½
	Laurence Coe	N	½	1
	Cameron Storey	N	0	1
	Ved Sudeep Boganadham	N	0	1
	Sanjoy K Banerjee	N	0	1
	Aytek Koyun	N	0	1
	Adam Bedi	N	0	0½

Over 50

The following gives results of all those who had more than 1½ points after 3 rounds, or were among the 9 top players as ranked by rating (marked “T”), or are identified as Northern players (marked “N”).

Title	Name		Rd.3 Result	Total ex 3
FM	John Merriman	T	1	3
CM	David C Okike	T	1	3
NM	Philip J Crocker	TN	1	3
FM	Richard J McMichael		1	3
GM	Keith C Arkell	T	½	2½
FM	Michael Dougherty		½	2½
	Nigel J Moyse		½	2½
FM	Chris R Duncan	T	½	2
IM	Chris W Baker	T	1	2
	George DA Neave		1	2
WIM	Natasha K Regan		½	2
	Andrew R Brett		0	2
	Alan Minnican		0	2
	Jeff R Smith	N	0	2
CM	Stephen C Ledger		0	2
	Stephen J Homer		1	2
	Christopher J Archer‑Lock		½	2
	Michael R Handley	N	½	2
	Alan M Brown		1	2
	Richard Jennings		1	2
	Mike J Coffey	N	½	2
	Peter Jaszkiwskyj		1	2
	Nigel RE Alldritt		1	2
	Saket Singhal		1	2
	Robert Thomas	TN	1	1½
	Neil R Farrell	T	½	1½
	Steve Kee	N	½	1½
	Glenn Trueman	N	0	1½
	Eric D Gardiner	N	½	1½
	Phil Cook	N	0	1½
	Paul May	N	½	1½
	Richard Kelly	N	1	1½
	Steven Potter	N	0	1
	Rob Letton	N	0	1
	Simon Richards	N	0	1
	Jonathan Miller	N	0	1
	David Tuke	N	0	½
	Derek Rooney	N	0	½

Over 65

The thing about the Over 65, for spectators who are themselves over 65, is that a large number of the participants are familiar from the distant past. One such (among many) in the case of the writer (Steve Mann) is Nigel Povah who as a student at Leeds University played for Leeds University in the Woodhouse Cup (Division 1 of the Yorkshire League) around 50 years ago, as illustrated in this cutting from the YCA Bulletin No. 175.

In round 3 of the Over 65, the 73-year-old former Leeds University player conjured up threats of which his opponent was evidently blissfully unaware, with resulting fireworks. Click here to play through the game Mark Page 0-1 Nigel Povah on screen.

The following gives results of all those with more than 1½ point after 3 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.3 Result	Total ex 3
FM	Andrew P Lewis	T	1	3
IM	Nigel E Povah	T	1	3
FM	Terry PD Chapman	T	1	2.5
IM	Craig W Pritchett	T	1	2.5
	M Paul Townsend	TN	½	2.5
	Russell G Granat	T	½	2.5
	Phil J Brooks	T	½	2.5
FM	Peter Varley	T	1	2.5
FM	Andrew P Smith	T	1	2.5
	Mike J Surtees	N	½	2.5
	Roy Hughes		½	2.5
	Philip R Bonafont		½	2.5
	Dave J Bray		½	2.5
	Simon Johnson	N	½	2.5
	Stephen Pickles		½	2
FM	Philip M Giulian		½	2
	Brian WR Hewson		1	2
	Michael J Hardman	N	1	2
	Mark E Page		0	2
	Jeff R Dawson		0	2
	Paul A Hutchinson	N	1	2
	Tim R Spanton		½	2
	John T Fletcher	N	1	2
	Steve R Hodge	N	1	2
	De Coverly Roger D		1	2
	Ivan J Myall		½	2
	Robert A Newton	N	1	2
	Ed H Goodwin		1	2
	Alan R Prince		1	2
WGM	Sheila Jackson	N	½	1.5
	Ian Campbell	N	½	1.5
	Ian Paul Stephens	N	½	1.5
	Steve Clare	N	½	1.5
	Geoffrey W Sage	N	0	1
	Brian R Ewart	N	1	1
	Mark I Collinson	N	0	1
	Brian Stevens	N	0	1
	Alan A Hall	N	1	1
	Joe W Butterworth	N	½	1
	Julian C Clissold	N	1	1
	James N Hawkins	N	0	0.5
	Janos Mak	N	0	0
	David Barnes	N	0	0