Howell Wins

Based on notes from 2009

The only surprise was that securing the half-point no points he needed took about two and a half four hours instead of the thirty minutes max that I'd expected, but David Howell wakes up this morning as the new British Champion.

Howell finished up on 9 9.5/11, only half a point and a half clear of his nearest challengers although his victory seemed much more comprehensive than that. For the record Mark Hebden and Gawain Jones and Simon Williams Stephen Gordon finished second equal on 8.5 8/11.

Not much in the way in rook endings from Our Champion. Of the 60+ in Torquay, in fact, Howell contributed only this ...

... so let's just say that while his opposition might have seemed familiar to him, his pairings were as tough as they could be.

Howell at the British 2013

GM Jones 

GM Gormally 

GM Williams 

GM Hebden 

GM Wells 

GM Gordon 

GM Ward 

IM Ghasi 

IM Zhou 

IM Rudd 

Howell at the British 2009 

GM Conquest 

GM Williams

GM Wells 

GM Gormally 

GM Jones 

GM Gordon 

GM Hebden 

IM Lane 

IM Palliser 

IM Trent 

IM Littlewood

Howell about to close out the tournament

So congratulations Davey boy. Enjoy the £5,000. But, how about a rook ending or two next time? Some of us have got blogs to fill, you know?




PS: Champion's photo from www.papiermache.co.uk/