Raymond Keene

The 99th British Championship in North Shields is reaching its midway point. The favourites are grandmasters Gawain Jones (my personal tip for the top), David Howell, Keith Arkell, Stuart Conquest and Stephen Gordon. This week a game by three-times British champion Harry Golombek in his favourite English Opening. Golombek-Wood: British Championship 1947; English Opening 1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 Nf6 3 g3 d5 4 cxd5 Nxd5 5 Bg2 Nb6 6 d3 This game features the white development with Nh3 – a plan pioneered by Golombek. Another example of the move Nh3 is the following: 6 Nh3 Nc6 7 d3 Be7 8 0-0 0-0 9 f4 Bxh3?! 10 Bxh3 Bc5+ 11 Kh1 Nd5 12 Nxd5 Qxd5+ 13 Bg2 Qe6? 14 f5 Qd7 15 Qa4 which was good for White in H.Golombek-Scholtens, Leeuwarden 1947. 6 ...

This week I continue with extracts of play from the new book on the English Opening by Steve Giddins. The timing is solicitous in that the British Championship commences next week in North Shields with grandmasters Gawain Jones, David Howell, Stephen Gordon, Keith Arkell and Simon Williams. Timman-Ernst: Wijk aan Zee 2012; English Opening 1 c4 c6 2 Nf3 d5 Black angles for a Slav Defence. 3 g3 The text is the main attempt to dodge regular Slav lines and preserve a recognisably ‘English’ structure. 3 ... Nf6 4 Bg2 dxc4 5 0-0 Nbd7 This is probably Black’s best, and initiates a plan of defending the c4-pawn with pieces. 5 ... Be6 is another version of the same idea, of holding c4 with pieces. Play then continues 6 Ng5 Bd5 7 e4 h6 8 exd5 hxg5 9 dxc6 Nxc6.

The English Opening was essentially invented by Howard Staunton in the mid-19th century. The strategic point is to commence with c4, then fianchetto White’s king’s bishop and eventually to strike at the central and queenside light squares. This week’s game is a perfect example of this strategy in action. White’s light-squared bishop dominates proceedings and White combines this with pressure along the b-file in order to increase his domination. A sacrifice of rook for knight then emphasises his complete control of the board. The game is taken from an illuminating new book from Steve Giddins, Move by Move: The English (Everyman Chess).

This year’s British Chess Championship will be held from Sunday 22 July to Saturday 4 August 2012 at the Parks Leisure Centre, Howdon Road, North Shields, NE29 6TL (information can be found at www.britishchesschampionships.co.uk). Compared with last year’s star-studded field, this year lacks the defending champion Michael Adams and Nigel Short, who was only defeated in the tie-break in 2011. So far, five grandmasters have indicated that they will play. The favourites are Gawain Jones and David Howell (see this week’s game and position) while stiff opposition will be provided by Stephen Gordon, Simon Williams and that indefatigable virtuoso of the endgame Keith Arkell.

Magnus Carlsen, the Norwegian chess superstar, has added to his numerous laurels by winning the Tal Memorial in Moscow, ahead of most of the world’s elite. The absentees were Anand and Gelfand, presumably exhausted after their strenuous efforts in the World Championship, also held in Moscow, just before the Tal. Magnus escaped, as if by a miracle, from a couple of lost positions against Kramnik and Morozevich, but ultimately he went through unscathed to seize first prize. Top scores were Carlsen 5½/9; Caruana and Radjabov 5; Morozevich, Aronian and Kramnik 4½. England’s Luke McShane was invited by popular demand and defeated the elite trio of Kramnik, Aronian and Morozevich in this one event, a rare if not unique feat.

Black to play. This is from Anand-Gelfand, rapid-play play-off, World Championship, Moscow 2012. Gelfand eventually lost, but he had a clever chance here to make a clear draw. How? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 26 July or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk or by fax on 020 7681 3773. The winner will be the first correct answer out of a hat, and each week I shall be offering a prize of £20. Please include a postal address and allow six weeks for prize delivery.

The latest Sherlock Holmes film, A Game of Shadows, starring Robert Downey jr and Jude Law, pays distinct homage to Conan Doyle’s one direct reference to chess in the Sherlock Holmes canon. Although in The Dying Detective Holmes and Watson repair for ‘something nutritious’ at Simpson’s-in-the-Strand, then the traditional hub of London chess, the only actual mention of the game comes in The Retired Colourman, where Holmes asserts that chess expertise is the mark of a scheming mind — a quote that makes it into the film script. A Game of Shadows revolves around a chess game between the two super-brains, Holmes and Professor Moriarty, that ultimate schemer.