Last Updated: Tuesday, 14 August 2007 16:16

Photographs
 

The Opening Ceremony

The Mayor and Lady Mayor, Mrs. & Mrs. Paul Garod, flanking ECF President
 Gerry Walsh, with defending champion GM Jonathan Rowson

Great Yarmouth College Principal, Mr Robin Parkinson,
welcomes everyone to the 94th British Chess Championship.
 

It's official - Dave Welch becomes Mr. Chess.
Gerry Walsh presents Dave Welch with the President's Award for chess.
 

The Mayor suggests 1.d4, which Rowson is happy to go along with.
Good advice as it turned out as Rowson won.
 

Simon Knott responding to the Mayor's suggested opening, but is eventually undone.
 

Rd. 1: Peter Sowray, ECF Director of International Chess,
faces seasoned professional Mark Hebden.
 

Fresh from his mid-morning TV interview, Yarmouth-born,
former British Champion, Robert Bellin, gets down to serious action.
 

The overall strength of this year's tournament is such that there were few easy games,
even for the top players, as Stuart Conquest can attest, having to face the mercurial
Jack Rudd in Rd. 1. In fact, the GM was happy to settle for a draw after a difficult game.
 

An interested crowd watch Rudd v Conquest on Bd. 2
 

The Morning Events

The Playing Hall
Under 125 in the foreground
 

The Playing Hall
Under 125 in the foreground
 

Under 175
Commencement of round 1
 

Tuesday 31 July

Connor Woods (above and below) on his way to the British Under 15 title.

Airdrie-born Connor, a member of Hamilton Chess Club,
has been playing since the age of 10.

GM Chris Ward awaiting the arrival of Kosten at the start of play in round 2.




Conquest v Charles Storey and Howell with Andrew Martin
in the background looking out for a good game.

Bristol-born David Le Moir, now long-time East Anglian and Vice Chairman
of the Norfolk Chess Association, playing in the Major Open.

 

Thursday 2 August

Conquest against Chris Ward at the start of their long drawn out round 4 game


Friday 3 August



British U-13 Champion 2007 - Rhys Cumming, joint winner with Akash Jain.
 

Isaac Sanders of London, seen here with his trophy, became the
new British Under 9 Champion with a perfect score of 7 points.


Saturday 4 August





Aagaard's fighting draw against Rowson.




Conquest v Haslinger, round 6 game of the day, gets under way.




The defending and 3 times ladies champion, Kete Arakhamia-Grant,
starting her tough 6th round game against Mark Hebden.
Seldom can four knights have worked so hard in one game!

 

Monday 6 August

Front row (l-r): Radha Jain; Lateefah & Hyacinth Messam-Sparks; Tom Pym; Robbie Coats.
Middle row: Josh hall; Nicola Thomas; Marrisa Stenning; Dominic Foord.
Standing: Lyall Bayliss; Matt Lunn; Toby Hall; Akshaya Ahuja; Xi-Yang Guo.
 

Tuesday 7 August



Stepehn Gordon makes a move on his way to an unexpected
win against defending champion Rowson.




14 yr old Sheila Dines in action in the morning in the under 14 event.
Sheila also plays in the afternoon Major Open event,
a game she won to move on to 3 / 8 pts.



Wednesday 8 August

Sheila Dines is one of the first to wear the Championship T-Shirt.
 

Sheila Dines (left), England International junior player, and Lateefah Messam-Sparks,
British Under 16 Girls Champion, model the Great Yarmouth British Championship
 T-Shirt (above) and the Battle Chess T-Shirt (below).

North West England based players Haslinger (left)and Gordon
face each other on board 1, but had to settle for a draw
 

Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant, defending Ladies Champion at the start of her
round 9 game against 1979 Champion Robert Bellin of Great Yarmouth.
The game finished in a breathless time scramble, but when the
dust settled, Bellin was able to force a draw by repetition.

Thursday 9 August

On the top table Aagaard (left), on 7½ points, meets Stephen Gordon (7).





Jack Rudd (white) of Bideford, N. Devon, England, plays his first game on
 the boards beyond round 1 against defending champion Jonathan Rowson.

 

Settled and concentrated on beating Rowson....

 

The distinctive figures of Conquest and Hebden meeting on board 5.

Former BCF President David Anderton (left) and former BCF Chairman Stewart Reuben
meet each other on top board in the penultimate round of the Seniors Championship.
 It was a see-saw game which Reuben won.

Also in the Seniors Tournament is Gillian Moore (left), former British Ladies Champion, of Hants.
and Dinah Norman, who was British Ladies Champion, in an earlier life, as Dinah Dobson.



Friday 10 August




Top boards in the British Seniors get their final game under way.
At the end of the round, Reuben and Anderton share the title.

 

Megan Owens in action on top board in the British Under 12's.
 

Stephen Gordon has white on top board, where he simply needs a win to
get the GM accolade or a draw to get him to a rating of 2500.
What ever the result, he must surely be Britain's next GM.




At the start of the final round, Aagaard seems to be thinking
"Here's another fine mess I've got myself into, Ollie".

Haslinger at the start of the final round.

 

Rowson plays 1.d4 in a final defence of his British title against Pert.

Alexandra Wilson, 21, starting her final game in this year's championship.
Aly, resident near Croydon, and a regular on the congress circuit,
although she is registered as a Swiss player through her Swiss mother.

 

Meri Grigoryan-Lyell, former ladies champion of Armenia at all age levels,
 here playing on a lower board in the final round of the British.
 Her hobbies include languages (she speaks six), playing the
 guitar, painting and opera - oh yes - and playing chess.
 

All Photographs by Bob Jones, British Championship Press Officer, unless otherwise stated.
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