England’s grandmasters are in action on Saturday, as round one of the British Championship gets under way at St George’s Hall in the centre of Liverpool. Former Russian Nikita Vitiugov, 38, the national No 1, is top seeded while the No 3 and world senior champion, Michael Adams, is the man in form after the 53-year-old from Taunton, Somerset, won the English title in July.
The continuing chess boom, reflecting the easy availability of online blitz games, the popularity of the world No 1, Magnus Carlsen, and the success of Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit, have combined to spark a record entry of over 1,600 players for the championship and its subsidiary tournaments.
