Senior moments 

The 2025 British Chess Championship, held in Liverpool earlier this month, ended with a reminder that age still counts for something. The winner was 53-year-old Michael (“Mickey”) Adams, taking his ninth national title. His opponent in the final play-off was 58-year-old Stuart Conquest, also a former champion. 

Between them they had beaten a string of younger players, including Britain’s newest grandmaster, the 15-year-old Shreyas Royal. In the end Adams beat Conquest 2–0. Youth triumphed, if one can call 53 youthful. 

Adams plays chess by quiet strangulation. His games are rarely decided by a violent combination. Instead, he sets up positions in which his opponents have no good moves, and waits. Kasparov’s style was more like Napoleon’s — decisive, overwhelming blows. Adams, sometimes called “Spidey”, is closer to Louis XI of France, known as “the Universal Spider” for his web of plots and informers. 

It is a relief to note that chess players, even in extreme old age, seem to escape the worst of Alzheimer’s disease. Spanish journalist and chess master Leontxo García, who writes for El País, confirms this from both research and experience. Dementia is one of the great modern afflictions. In 2015, there were an estimated 46.8 million cases worldwide. In Britain alone the annual cost is £26.3 billion. 

Some studies suggest chess may help to keep the brain active and guard against dementia. In 2019, a group of Spanish academics argued as much in The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health . Certainly there are examples. Emanuel Lasker, who was World Champion for 27 years, was still beating future champions in his sixties during the 1930s. Vasily Smyslov, born in 1921, reached the final of the Candidates’ tournament against Kasparov in 1984. Viktor Korchnoi, born in 1931, beat Fabiano Caruana in 2011 when Korchnoi was 80. 

At the highest level chess is a sport as well as a game. Physical stamina matters. International tournaments are as much about endurance as calculation, even if the British government, unlike most European counterparts, has never recognised chess as a sport. 

Though Conquest finished second, his play was strong. In my own career he is the only British champion against whom I have a losing record. Against others — Harry Golombek, Michael Haygarth, Julian Hodgson, Stefan Fazekas, William Watson — I had only draws. Against sixteen more I came out ahead: Penrose, Nunn, Peter Lee, Eley, Hartston, Botterill, Mestel, Klein, Wade, Barden, Speelman, Bellin, Yanofsky, Paul Littlewood, Miles, and Basman. 

Michael Basman’s case deserves resurrection. In 1973 he shared the title with Bill Hartston for six months while the Federation delayed a play-off. Astonishingly, he was never officially recognised as co-champion. It is a small injustice, but still an injustice, and worth remembering.

This year the veterans gave the lesson. Shreyas Royal, Britain’s youngest grandmaster, was beaten by both Adams and Conquest. In chess, as in politics, experience still counts. 

Michael Adams vs. Shreyas Royal  

British Championship, Liverpool, 2025, rd. 5 

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. Be2 

The ever-enterprising Adams takes Royal off the beaten path. 

3 … Nc6 4. O-O Nf6 5. Nc3 d5 6. exd5 exd5 7. d4 Be6 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 cxd4? TN This novel move is natural a mistake. Black does best to complete his development with 9 … Be7. The text move activates the centre before Black has had an opportunity to castle. 

10. Nxd4 Be7? 

Having opened the centre, this move is no longer adequate. Black has options that at least hold the status quo. Either, a) 10… Bc5 11. Nxe6 fxe6 12. Bh5+ Kf8; or, b) 10… Nxd4 11. Qxd4 Be7 12. Bb5+ Kf8 13. Rad1 Qb6 14. Qxb6 axb6, retain a foothold. 

11. Nxe6 fxe6 12. Bh5+?! 

White relaxes too soon – this move is premature. After 12. Bxf6! Bxf6 13. Bh5+! whether Black continues with, a) 13… g6 14. Bxg6+ Kd7 15. Re1 Bxc3 16. bxc3 Qf6 17. Bh5) 14. Re1 Bxc3 15. bxc3 Rf8 16. Bg4; or b) 13 … g6 14. Bxg6+ Kd7 15. Re1 Bxc3 16. bxc3 Qf6 17. Bh5; White increases his advantage significantly. 

12 … Kf8? 

Black lets White off the hook with a premature move of his own. Necessary first, was the exchange, 12 … Nxh5! 13. Qxh5+, and only now, 13 … Kf8, when he is worse, but the game remains within bounds. 

13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. Re1 Be5 15. Qg4 Qg5 16. Qh3 Ke7?!

The king heads for the centre when it should seek refuge on the flank. After, 16… Kg8 17. Qxe6+ Kh7 18. Qg4 Qxg4 19. Bxg4 Rhe8 20. Kf1 Bxc3 21. Rxe8 Rxe8 22. bxc3 Kg6, Black has at least equalised down to an endgame with some compensation. 

17. Bg4 Nd4 18. Rad1? 

This routine move is an error. Far stronger is 18. Bxe6 Nxe6 19. Nxd5+ Kf7 20. Qf3+ Nf4 21. g3, when White is already close to winning. But even after the text, White is much better. 

18 … Rad8 19. g3 h5 20. Bxe6 Nf3+ 21. Kf1 Nxe1 22. Nxd5+ Kf8? 

The text is a serious mistake. Black does best to restrict White with, 22… Rxd5 23. Rxd5 Nxc2 24. f4 Qg6 25. Rd7+ Kf8 26. fxe5 Ne3+ 27. Ke2 Qe4 28. Rf7+ Ke8 29. Bd7+ Kd8 (but not 29 … Kxf7?? 30. Qe6+ Kf8 31. Qe8#) 30. Qh4+ Qxh4 31. gxh4 Ng4, when Black is no worse off. 

23. Rxe1 Bxb2 24. Qg2 h4 25. Qe4 a5?? 

The game was gone, but this move nailed it shut. Black should prefer, 25… Rd6 26. Nf4 Rh6 27. Bc4 Be5 28. Qxb7 Qe7, when the slippery downward slope is less steep. 

26. Nf4 Rh6 27. Qxb7 Qf6 28. Nd5 Qxe6 29. Rxe6 Rxe6 30. Nf4 Black resigns 1-0 

Stuart Conquest vs. Shreyas Royal  

British Championship, Liverpool, 2025, rd. 8 

1. b3 Nf6 2. Bb2 c5 3. e3 d5 4. Nf3 e6 5. d4 Nc6 6. Nbd2 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O b6 9. a3 Bb7 10. Ne5 Rc8 11. f4 Ne7 12. Qf3 b5 13. dxc5 Bxc5 14. b4 Bb6 15. Nb3 Ne4 16. Nd4 Nf5 17. Rad1 Qe7 TN 

Only now do we deviate from theory, with Royal varying from 17 … Nxd4, played in Halkias-Balogh, 2017, Greek Team Champ. Black is marginally better situated.

18. Kh1 a6 19. Qh3 Nfd6 20. f5 f6? 

Black had the ascendency up until this blunder. While the text stops White playing f6, the text undermines the support of the e6-square.  

21. Ng6 hxg6?? 

A second successive blunder terminally compounds Black’s position. The capture is verboten as Black must cede material, not grab it! Both 21 … Qf7 and … Qe8 lose the exchange, but salvage some hope. For example, after 21 … Qf7 22. Nxf8 e5 23. Nfe6 exd4 24. Bxd4, Black’s material disparity is tolerable in the closed position. 

After the text move, the former champion gives short shrift to his young opponent. 

22. fxg6 Ng5 23. Qh5 Rfd8 24. Nf3 Ngf7 25. gxf7+ Nxf7 26. Qh7+ Kf8 27. Nh4 Ke8 28. Ng6 Black resigns 1-0 

Ray’s 206th book, “ Chess in the Year of the King ”, written in collaboration with Adam Black, and his 207th, “ Napoleon and Goethe: The Touchstone of Genius ” (which discusses their relationship with chess) can be ordered from both Amazon and Blackwells. His 208th, the world record for chess books, written jointly with chess playing artist Barry Martin, Chess through the Looking Glass, is now also available from Amazon.

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