Review of Rd. 7:
Jones and Howell are joint leaders going into Rd. 7, but they've already played each other and can't repeat that. Howell was drawn against Wells and a time scramble was forecast both in the daily bulletin and on the main website. How right that proved to be. As the first time control approached there was a flurry of moves in front of crowds of onlookers, before they retired toa quite corner of the room to reconstruct the correct sequence of moves, only to discover that Wells had not made the required number of moves and so had lost on time - a vital point for Howell to guarantee him at least a share of 1st place going into Rd. 8.
Jones kept pace with a win over Trent, giving the two winners joint leadership on 6/7. Simon Williams won to become clear 3rd on 5.5. Needing and getting wins to keep in touch with these top 3 were Conquest, Palliser, Eggleston, Gormally, Rendle and Paul Littlewood, all now on 5/7. The leading pack is thus reduced to 8, but it looks like Simon Williams is the one on a hot streak at the moment. Can he keep it up?
Regular visitors No. 2:
Another of the more regular visitors to this event over the years is John Calvert of Bilborough, Nottingham, this being his 28th visit since the 1970s.
He was born in Chandlersford, Hants, but his family moved to Nottingham where they initially lodged with a Polish family who taught the young John to play chess.
He joined the Nottingham Mechanics Institute club in 1969 and has remained with them ever since. He is a Lib Dem candidate for the City Council, thus being a political colleague of Tony Gillam, the man who has almost single-handedly published more chess books than anyone else in the country, if not the entire world.
At the British he usually enters one of the afternoon lower-rated sections, and also visits Hastings most years, and frequents the bookstall at both events.
Jones and Howell are joint leaders going into Rd. 7, but they've already played each other and can't repeat that. Howell was drawn against Wells and a time scramble was forecast both in the daily bulletin and on the main website. How right that proved to be. As the first time control approached there was a flurry of moves in front of crowds of onlookers, before they retired toa quite corner of the room to reconstruct the correct sequence of moves, only to discover that Wells had not made the required number of moves and so had lost on time - a vital point for Howell to guarantee him at least a share of 1st place going into Rd. 8.
Jones kept pace with a win over Trent, giving the two winners joint leadership on 6/7. Simon Williams won to become clear 3rd on 5.5. Needing and getting wins to keep in touch with these top 3 were Conquest, Palliser, Eggleston, Gormally, Rendle and Paul Littlewood, all now on 5/7. The leading pack is thus reduced to 8, but it looks like Simon Williams is the one on a hot streak at the moment. Can he keep it up?
Regular visitors No. 2:
Another of the more regular visitors to this event over the years is John Calvert of Bilborough, Nottingham, this being his 28th visit since the 1970s.
He was born in Chandlersford, Hants, but his family moved to Nottingham where they initially lodged with a Polish family who taught the young John to play chess.
He joined the Nottingham Mechanics Institute club in 1969 and has remained with them ever since. He is a Lib Dem candidate for the City Council, thus being a political colleague of Tony Gillam, the man who has almost single-handedly published more chess books than anyone else in the country, if not the entire world.
At the British he usually enters one of the afternoon lower-rated sections, and also visits Hastings most years, and frequents the bookstall at both events.
Below: John Calvert watches John Littlewood in action.
