UK versus China

So soon after the Staunton Memorial, it's particularly good to see high-class international chess once again being played in England: up in Liverpool, an 8-board UK team that includes Michael Adams and Nigel Short is taking on a team from China. For historical reasons that I have not quite gathered, the event is title The 800th Anniversary Summit Chess Match, and it started on Tuesday and finishes this Sunday. The top six boards will play each other in a Scheveningen format - meaning, each player meets all six opponents once. The other two women's boards will also be a Scheveningen format, but with each playing the other not once but thrice.

The full UK team consists of GMs Michael Adams, Nigel Short, Jonathan Rowson, Nick Pert, Gawain Jones & David Howell, and IMs Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant & Jovanka Houska - an average of 29 and average Elo of 2551. With an average age of 20 and average Elo of 2571, the Chinese team consisting of GMs Wang Yue, Bu Xiangzhi, Ni Hua, Zhang Pengxiang & Wang Hao, and WGMs Hou Yifan & Shen Yang, and WFM Ding Yixin looks on paper both younger and stronger. And so far the results bear this out, with China ahead 10-6.

Nonetheless, there's a lot of chess still to be played. The third round has just started in fact, and you can follow it live from the link on the tournament homepage - which also features more background, some photographs, and Steve Giddins's entertaining daily reports. Oh, and after two draws with black, Michael Adams has his first white of the event on board 1...