Last week I pointed to the fact that games played at accelerated time limits are acquiring an official imprimatur that threatens to rival the well-established ratings, rankings and titles of chess played at classical time controls. This year’s British Championship (the 104th) last weekend concluded in Llandudno with a four-way tie for first place. In order to separate the top four, a rapidplay play-off was necessary. So the British Championship title for the coming year has now been decided by games at faster speeds.
The final leading scores in the championship and the final involving the top four were as follows: Gawain Jones 10½; Luke McShane 9½; Craig Hanley and David Howell both 7; Richard Palliser, John Emms and Ameet Ghasi 6½.
Jones-McShane: Llandudno 2017
(diagram 1)
Black has two pawns and some attack for a piece but White’s coming coup shattered his illusions. 20 Rxb7 Qa1+ If 20 … Kxb7 21 Ba6+ wins the black queen.
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