French GM Jules Moussard won both the Super Rapid and Blitz at the Army and Navy Club Pall Mall Masters, held last weekend and sponsored by Chess England. The event was a rare test of UK chess skills against strong foreign opposition in central London.
Moussard's double victory
Moussard scored 7.5/10 in the Super Rapid, with GM Gawain Maroroa Jones a strong second on 6.5 after both performed well at the Samarkand Olympiad. The Frenchman also won the Blitz on 7/10.
In the Challengers Rapid, US GM Praveen Balakrishnan tied with GM Ameet Ghasi on 6/9, and he won the Challengers Blitz outright on 6/9 ahead of IM Marcus Harvey on 5.5.
Impact on UK chess
The event came only a few days after the Olympiad, which seemed to affect GM Luke McShane, who was in contention for an individual medal with the England team in Uzbekistan but was in poor form in Pall Mall.
The Rapid and Blitz were held on the same weekend with civilised starting and finishing times of 10am and 7pm. This could be a solution to the well-known phenomenon where players in a single classical or rapid tournament are out of contention after three rounds on Saturday and then decide to withdraw, in some cases abandoning congress play permanently.
Upcoming championships
The English Championships in classical, rapid and blitz versions have been announced for Peterborough from 24 October to 1 November, with an increased prize fund of more than £20,000. At the moment the championship contest looks a straight fight between GM Jones and the nine-time British champion GM Michael Adams, with GM Ghasi as the main challenger.
Qualification has also been completed for the UK Blitz Championships, where 16 cities each produced a qualifier, with London having three. Defending British women's champion Bodhana Sivanandan won all her 17 games in the Belfast qualifier. The Open event is less predictable, with defending champion GM Danny Gormally, GM Ghasi, IM Aaravamudhan Balaji and juniors FM Stanley Badacsonyi and FM Supratit Banerjee all having chances.
