WINTON
BRITISH CHESS SOLVING CHAMPIONSHIP

Written by Michael McDowell

The Final of the 2007-2008 Winton Capital British Chess Solving Championship took place at Oakham School on 16 February. 34 solvers took part, including for the first time all six titled British solvers, and two guests from overseas, Dutch GM Dolf Wissmann and ex-World Champion Piotr Murdzia, from Poland. The British title was expected to be a duel between the defending champion and current World Champion John Nunn and Jonathan Mestel, himself a former World Champion.

The event consists of six timed rounds, each involving a different type of problem, and saw a return to form for Piotr Murdzia, who had a poor 2007 by his elevated standards. Murdzia led throughout, and won the event by a big margin. Nunn had a disastrous second round, dropping 6 of the 10 points on the mates in 3, which left him in 7th place overall, 6 points behind Mestel. A determined fightback fell just short, and Mestel took the title by a ½ point, the fifteenth time he has won the British title. Wissmann pulled ahead of Nunn in the last round to tie with Mestel on points, though with a slower time.

A tough set of problems had been selected, necessary to separate such a strong field. The Reilly two-mover has a generous key that abandons the rook and allows a check. The Sabinin was the easier of the two studies for solving, but claimed notable victims in Mestel, Wissmann and Lee, all of whom dropped 3½ of the 5 points by failing to find the suicidal looking 3.Kb3. The 5-mover by Vetter, where the black queen is decoyed in front of the bishop, proved straightforward for most of the leading solvers, but was enjoyed for its artistry.