Juniors at the British – bexhillchessclub.co.uk

Bexhill Juniors recently competed successfully at the British Championship tournaments at St George’s Hall Liverpool. It was a prestigious venue and a vast field of competition.

LUKE CHAPMAN played in the Rapid u-16 , finishing in 6th place ( having started ranked 9th) with a score of 5/9. Here is his game against the tournament winner, who vastly out-rated him. After Luke’s speculative aggessive opening counter-attack which gave White good chances, in the complex tactical battle which followed, White came unstuck and it looked as through Luke could consolidate a clear win, a piece up, and with White in a passive position. Maybe it was the time factor that led Luke to go for a Rook sacrifice and perpetual check.

Editor – I’m now having problems with Fritz copying and inserting diagrams into this website page, so my apologies

British Ch. – Rapid u-16
2025.08.01
Round 5
White Badacsonyi, Stanley
Black Chapman, Luke
Result 1/2-1/2
Annotator – FRITZ program
ECO A04
White Elo 2343
Black Elo 1830

Nf3 f5 2. d3 d6 3. e4 e5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. exf5 Bxf5 6. d4 e4 7. Nh4 Bg4 8. Be2 {White is better.} Bxe2 9. Qxe2 d5 10. Bg5 {Black must now prevent Bxf6.) Bb4 11. Qb5+! Nc6 12. Qxb7 (White is more active.) Nxd4 ({Black should play} 12… Kd7) 13. O-O-O (13. O-O Qb8 14. Qa6 (14. Qxb8+ Rxb8 15. Bxf6 Bxc3 ( (Remove Defender}) 14… Bxc3 (14… Nxc2 15. Qe6+ Kf8 16. Bxf6 (14… O-O 15. Nxd5 {Decoy} Nxd5 16. Qc4 ) 15. Bxf6 (15. bxc3 Qb5 ) 15… O-O (15… Bxb2 16. Bxd4 Bxd4 17. Qa4+ c6 18. Qxc6+ Kf8 19. Rad1 16. Bxg7 Kxg7 ) (13. Bxf6 gxf6 (13… Nxc2+ 14. Kd1 14. O-O-O Bxc3 15. bxc3) 13… Rb8 (13… Bxc3 {should be considered.} 14. bxc3 Rb8 15. Bxf6 Rxb7 (15… gxf6 16. Qa6 ) 16. Bxd8 Nb5) 14. Bxf6 $16 (14. Nf5) 14… Bxc3 15. Bxd8 (15. bxc3 is forced if you want to stay better.} gxf6 (15… Qxf6 16. Qxb8+ Kd7 17. Qxh8 ) 16. Qa6 (16. Qxa7 Nb5 ) 15… Ne2+ (15… Rxb7 16. bxc3 Nb5 17. Nf5 (17. Rxd5 Nxc3 18. Re5+ Kxd8 17… Nxc3 18. Bg5 (18. Nxg7+ Kxd8 19. Rdf1 Rg8 ) 16. Kb1 Rxb7 17. b3 Kxd8 18. Rxd5+ Kc8 19. Nf5 Bf6 {Inhibits Ne7+.} 20. Rc5 Rd8 {Prevents Nd6+.} 21. h4 Nc3+ {Deflection} 22. Kc1 Rb6 23. Ra5 Ne2+ 24. Kb1 Rd2 {aiming for …Rc6.} 25. Rf1 Rxb3+ {Fritz gives 25…Rc6 or ..Kb7 for a clear win for Black.} 26. cxb3 (26. axb3 Kb7 27. h5) 26… Rb2+ 27. Ka1 Rc2+ (27… Rxb3+ {mates} 28. Re5 Bxe5+ 29. Nd4 Bxd4#) 28. Kb1 Rb2+ (28… Rd2 29. a4 Rb2+ Weighted Error Value: White=0.54/Black=0.23 (precise) An unexpected result. Loses game: White=3 — Mistake: White=1 Black=2 OK: White=10 Black=8 Best: — Black=3 Strong: White=1 —} 1/2-1/2} Rxb3+ $2 {Fritz gives25…Rc6 or ..Kb7 for a clear win for Black.} 26. cxb3 (26. axb3 $16 Kb7 27. h5) 26… Rb2+ 27. Ka1 Rc2+ $2 (27… Rxb3+ {mates} 28. Re5 Bxe5+ 29. Nd4 Bxd4#) 28. Kb1 Rb2+ (28… Rd2 19 {( -> …Rb2+)} 29. a4 Rb2+ 30. Ka1 Nf4) 29. Ka1 {0 Weighted Error Value: White=0.54/Black=0.23 (precise) An unexpected result. Loses game: White=3 — Mistake: White=1 Black=2 OK: White=10 Black=8 Best: — Black=3 Strong: White=1 — 1/2-1/2
Here is Luke’s choice of his best standard play game at the event, a deep Q sacrifice which achieves a draw by perpetual check

Chapman, Luke (1921) – Gunatilake, Vinuda (1851)
2025 British Chess Championships: Weekday AM Open (Holiday Inn Liverpool), 06.08.2025

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.a4 e6 6.e5 d6 7.Bb5 dxe5 8.Bxc6+ bxc6 9.fxe5 f5 10.OO Ba6 11.Re1 Ne7 12.d4 cxd4 13.Nxd4 Kf7 14.Bg5 Re8 15.Kh1 Rc8 16.b4 h6 17.Bxe7 Rxe7 18.b5 Bb7 19.bxc6 Bxc6 20.Ncb5 Bxb5 21.axb5 Rd7

22.Nc6 Rxd1 23.Rexd1 Qh4 24.Rxa7+ Kf8 25.h3 Qg3 26.b6 Bxe5 27.Nxe5 Qxe5 28.b7 Rb8 29.Rd7 Ke8 30.Rh7 Kd8 31.Ra8 Qe1+ 32.Kh2

1/2-1/2

ROSE BECOMES u-14 JUNIOR CHAMPION

Here is Karen’s account of Rose’s experience at Liverpool :

“It was a great experience. She was happy with her win against Shreyas as he’d beaten her during round 2 of the U-1750 She got 3 points in the U-14 and 3.5 in the U-1750.

It was good to see so many girls at the British and Sussex girls doing well,. Only Rose and Spriha Punjabi came away with titles for Sussex…”

..”St George’s hall was a spectacular venue, a beautiful hall to play in and importantly, the chairs were comfortable. The players were pleasant and the tournament was well-organised with everything running to time. We spent well over an hour chatting to Thalia Holmes who won TV’s Chess Masters earlier this year. She went through her games with Rose and showed her some behind the scenes photos and gossip.”