Chess: British Championships this week as Bodhana Sivanandan, seven, shines

Torquay is the most popular venue for the English Chess Federation’s annual congress and its 2022 version has attracted over 1,000 entrants. The learning company Chessable, part of the Play Magnus Group, is the sponsor.

Due to a near overlap of dates none of the five grandmasters who represented England at the Chennai Olympiad is taking part in Torquay. In their absence the defending champion GM, Nick Pert, is the top seed in a contest where many have chances.

After six of the nine rounds the old and the new generations share the lead. GM Keith Arkell, 61, and the Cambridge maths student Harry Grieve, 21, are both unbeaten on 5/6, half a point ahead of the field. Grieve won in powerful style in round six.

Before that the U16 championship sparked controversy when the leader was disqualified during the seventh and final round. Allegedly, it was a clear case of Igors Rausis syndrome (mobile phone in the toilet), and there was dissatisfaction because players and parents had complained to the arbiters from round two onwards.

There was an eye-catching performance in the Open Rapid, the fast time limit championship. The youngest entrant Bodhana Sivanandan, seven, began with a stunning sequence of two wins against 2100s, a draw against a 2200 Candidate Master, and a win against the British U12 champion.

In round six (of seven), with 4/5, she was promoted to board two, facing Arkell, a legend of English chess, he of the World 50+ Teams double gold, the current fifth round British Championship leader, author of the acclaimed Arkell’s Endings, and the man who always scores with rook and bishop against rook.

“I won only because of her inexperience,” he said. “She got a passive position defending a queen and two rooks ending, but she