University of York chess star James Adair was crowned British Under 21 Champion yesterday after finishing 14th at the 2012 British Chess Championships.
The fresher, who studies mathematics, secured the honour after drawing his final match against International Master Jovana Houska to finish on 6.5 points after 11 rounds.
Fellow York student, Martin Brown, finished 24th with a solid 6/11, winning four of his last five games in what was possibly the club’s greatest ever chess achievement.
The tournament, held over two weeks at the Parks Leisure Centre in North Shields, attracted 65 of the best chess players from across the country.
Adair qualified for the event having scored over six points at last year’s competition, but missed out on the Under 21 title. This time, though, he made amends in emphatic style.
He began with an astonishing draw against Grandmaster David Howell as black, despite being on the back foot for over 100 moves. The match, which began at 2.30pm, did not finish until 10pm.
Adair followed this up in round 2 with a win over IM Dietmar Kolbus and, despite suffering losses to Grandmasters Matthew Turner and Stuart Conquest in rounds 3 and 5, Adair remained unbeaten in the final six rounds to cap an excellent tournament.
“The British Championship has always been a great learning curve for me and it’s given me the confidence to take on super GMs”, said Adair.
“It doesn’t matter what the result should be on paper, if you play a good game they are only human and can’t do anything to stop you.”
In addition to this title, Adair increased his already meteoric rating from 2262 to 2277, now just over 100 points below the rank of International Master.
With 30-second increments being added to players’ times per move, some of the games lasted many hours and Adair said the experience pushed him to his limits.
“It’s very tough, and I was feeling very tired towards the latter stages of the game. I’m personally a believer that keeping physically fit is very beneficial to chess because you feel a lot fresher and have more stamina for it.
“My morning routine would be a couple of hours or so of prep, and then I’d go for a good 30 minute jog, and just forget about the game completely. Also, I made sure I was eating well and took a lot of fruit with me to the games.”
On the possibilities of becoming a Grandmaster one day, Adair said: “I’m not sure, I would need to play and practice a lot more to reach that, although it’s not impossible. I think IM is a realistic aim for me.”
President of the University of York Chess Society, Alex Taylor, said he didn’t know the last time any university players participated in the British Championships: “We haven’t had anyone as serious about their chess as James and Martin for a while.”
For now, Adair will take a break from the board and return to York in October to represent the university in its matches against other local clubs.