Young Talent Shines as Grandmasters Gather in Liverpool

The British Chess Championship has attracted a record-breaking 1,600 players, with a host of top grandmasters set to compete in the nine-round tournament at St George’s Hall in Liverpool. Among the entries is 10-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan, who has made headlines with her impressive performances on the international stage.

Sivanandan, a Harrow primary schoolgirl, achieved a Fide women’s grandmaster performance with 4.5/9 at the Aix-en-Provence tournament in France last Sunday, breaking a historic age record set by Judit Polgar in London in 1988. Her achievement was all the more impressive given that she faced a strong field, including a grandmaster and five international masters. The young player’s performance was marked by a particularly impressive defense in a tricky pawn-down rook endgame against 2488-rated GM Ortik Nigmatov of Uzbekistan, which was captured on video by ChessBase India.

The young player’s performance has sparked excitement among chess fans, with many tipping her as a potential winner of the women’s championship. However, she faces stiff competition from the likes of former world girls champion Harriet Hunt, English woman champion Elmira Mirzoeva, and defending co-champion Lan Yao. The women’s championship at Liverpool is incorporated within the open event, and winning the title this year could be a bridge too far for Sivanandan, given the strength of the competition.

The men’s championship is also expected to be fiercely contested, with top-seeded Nikita Vitiugov, the national No 1, and defending champion Gawain Jones, 37, among the favorites. The tournament will see a mix of established grandmasters and rising stars, including 16-year-old Shreyas Royal, who is England’s youngest ever grandmaster. Michael Adams, 53, the world senior champion and England’s No 3, is also in action, having won the English title in July and defying the years with his impressive form.

Meanwhile, the chess world is abuzz with news of a new tournament, the Esports World Cup, which has made its debut in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with a prize fund of $1.5m. The quarter-finals and semi-finals have already taken place, with Magnus Carlsen, the world No 1, emerging victorious in his quarter-final match against Nihal Sarin. The final will be played on Friday, with the games live and free to watch on chess.com. The quarter-finals saw a dramatic turn of events, with Nodirbek Abdusattorov v Jan-Krzysztof Duda lasting just five moves due to a mouse slip.

The recent surge in popularity of chess, driven in part by the success of Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit, has led to a significant increase in participation at all levels. The British Chess Championship is just one of many events that are capitalizing on this renewed interest, with organizers hoping to attract a record-breaking crowd to the tournament in Liverpool. The tournament’s popularity has been fueled by the easy availability of online blitz games, the popularity of Carlsen, and the success of The Queen’s Gambit, which has helped to introduce chess to a new generation of fans.