The main playing area at the British Championships, Torquay 2022. [Photo: Brendan O'Gorman]

Essex at the British 2026

The British Chess Championships 2026
at University of Warwick, Coventry Campus
1st to 9th August 2026

Welcome to the 2026 edition of our regular feature following the fortunes of Essex players at the British Chess Championships. Essex interest names are listed in the side panel below and in bold in the pairings and results.

Keep up to date with Essex players’ scores down the right side panel below and all game results in the main panel below.

Just a word on how to read this page. The page is in “accordion” format, which is to say that each day has a title bar but after Day 1 the contents of the previous days collapse. The current day is expanded by default. This will become clear after, say Day 3; the title bars will resemble an accordion bellows.

To open closed Days, simply click on the title bar. Within each day, the content is arranged as follows:

  • Multiple events are arranged in time blocks Morning, Afternoon, Evening, from bottom to top;
  • Events within each time block are arranged in the order of the Summary Scores in the right column;
  • Rounds within the same time block are in “blog” format, which is to say that, the latest items are at the top.

In short: read the page from bottom to top.

Key to pairings: Board No. – White’s Title – White’s name – White’s rating – White’s score at the start of the round – score for game – Black’s score at start of round – Black’s Title – Black’s name – Black’s rating.

Afternoon

Section on course of construction

Morning

Section on course of construction

Afternoon

British Championship

Round 2

BdTitleWhiteRtgScrResultScrTitleBlackRtg
13FMBadacsonyi, Frankie22521½ – ½1IMPert, Richard G2410
40WFMRida, Ruqayyah207000 – 10WGMToma, Katarzyna2208

Major Open

Round 2

BdTitleWhiteRtgScrResultScrTitleBlackRtg
3 Fang, Brandon Jun Qiao193411 – 01 Pereslavtsev, Alexandr2117
28FMPert, Max P2183½1 – 0½ Fearnhead, Ben1848
37 Keerthi Kumar, Advait1995½½ – ½½ Berkley, Stephen W1744
38 Coote, Trevor D1978½1 – 0½ Sriram, Gautam1742
44 Bhaduri, Aviraj1702½0 – 1½ Anjulan, Ashwin1917
49 Mehta, Sophie1661½0 – 1½ Gopikrishna, Ashwin1891
58 Flynn, David181000 – 10FMEames, Robert S2144
69 Mittal, Advik187101 – 00 Colclough, Ryan1750

PM U2050

Round 1

BdWhiteRtgScrResultScrBlackRtg
15Johal, Aseece Joraver169400 – 10May, Paul1864

PM U1750

Round 1

BdWhiteRtgScrResultScrBlackRtg
3Sheikh, Amaan150200 – 10Scola, George1708
4Hall, Alan A16930½ – ½0Green, Alfie1498
15Vernon, Colin G145000 – 10Ren, Jason1607
22Walshaw, Matthew159100 – 10Gampa, Dyuthi Sri1337
29Choung, James Alexander122001 – 00Wang, Hantin1554

PM U1450

Round 1

BdWhiteRtgScrResultScrBlackRtg
3White, Nigel14110½ – ½0Nguyen, Khoa1191
4Sharma, Gavin117201 – 00Jestico, John V1403

Morning

U16

Round 1

BdTitleWhiteRtgScrResultScrBlackRtg
1FMPert, Max P218301 – 00Warimwe, David1832
5NMPereslavtsev, Alexandr211701 – 00Bhatia, Jai1738
17 Catabay, Mae18810 0not paired 

U14

Round 1

BdWhiteRtgScrResultScrBlackRtg
5Dhingra, Kanvansh19090½ – ½0Shiva, Shrishti1670
7Gopikrishna, Ashwin189101 – 00Garg, Manik1637
12Wang, Hantin161200 – 10Nguyen, Lam Vy Le1848
26Agarwal, Anaadi13780– – +0Ren, Jason1685
28Catabay, Rezin18180 0not paired 

U10

Round 1

BdWhiteRtgScrResultScrBlackRtg
9Cawdery, Mary16530½ – ½0Lin, Liantai1256
17Sheikh, Amaan156701 – 00Gardner, Daniel1046
28Puddicombe, Leo62400 – 10Gampa, Dyuthi Sri1508

U8

Round 1

BdWhiteRtgScrResultScrBlackRtg
9Abraham, Kian120901 – 00Cawdery, Sarah712

AM Open

Round 1

BdTitleWhiteRtgScrResultScrTitleBlackRtg
1CMVilliers, Thomas228701 – 00 Anjulan, Ashwin2005
2 Willoughby, Christopher19970½ – ½0NMCont, Arya2276
13WCMPert, Nina P208900 – 10 Mize, Dylan1912

AM U1900

Round 1

BdWhiteRtgScrResultScrBlackRtg
5Scola, George170800 – 10Virgin, Jack1873
19Walshaw, Matthew159100 – 10Willoughby, Andrew P1736
21Green, Alfie149800 – 10Prabhakaran, Anvikkashri1735

AM U1600

Round 1

BdWhiteRtgScrResultScrBlackRtg
7Dumigan, Owen153500 – 10White, Nigel1411
8Jestico, John V14030½ – ½0McCauley, Paul1531

Day 1 of a new British Championships and immediate success for Essex players!

Afternoon

Unusually, Round 1 of the flagship British Championship began on Day 1, together with the Major Open; hitherto, these have awaited until the Monday before setting sail, but this year the British has been telescoped (that’s a nautical telescope) into nine days instead of the previous 11.

In the Championship this year, just two Essex entrants, IM Richard Pert and WFM Ruqayyah Rida. Richard started with a win, but Ruqayyah, facing GM opposition in Nigel Davies, came second.

Keeping with the nautical mataphor for a moment, there is a raft of Essex interest in the Major Open, with Max Pert, Bob Eames, Alexandr Pereslavtsev, Trevor Coote, Ashwin Anjulan, Ashwin GopiKrishna, Ryan Colclough and Steve Berkley all going in the Major Open. Max, Trevor, Ashwin (1) all gave a half against the ratings, while Bob went the whole hog. Steve Berkley was on the other end of a draw, overcoming a near 200 rating points difference; Ryan, with a similar rating deficit was not so fortunate. Only Alexandr seems to have finishd with the right result. Ashwin (2), playing in the U14 Rapid, was allowed a half point Bye.

British Championship

Round 1

16IM Pert, Richard G241001 – 00Kolani, Arjun2158
36GM Davies, Nigel R227601 – 00WFM Rida, Ruqayyah2070

Major Open

Round 1

3 Waterfield, Mark B18830½ – ½0FMPert, Max P2183
6FMEames, Robert S214400 – 10 Faulkner, Adam1880
8 Pereslavtsev, Alexandr211701 – 00 Mittal, Advik1871
31 Mize, Dylan18120½ – ½0 Coote, Trevor D1978
52 Anjulan, Ashwin19170½ – ½0 Crosby, Ben1698
43 Colclough, Ryan175000 – 10 Faulkner, Martin J1945
45 Berkley, Stephen W17440½ – ½0 Lancelot, Nathanael1940
80 Gopikrishna, Ashwin18910½  Bye 

Morning

The Championships kicked off with the Junior Rapids in the morning. With no Essex interest in the U16 Rapid, attention settled on the other three sections, U12, U10 and U8.

In the U14, Ashwin GopiKrishna, Wanstead’s double Club champion, kicked off with three wins off the reel, before having to give best to Advait Keerthi Kumar in R3. Ashwin steadied himself with a draw in the next round, then won his last two to finish on 5½/7 for a share of second spot. Colchester’s Jason Ren scored a creditable 3½/7.

Wanstead continued in the limelight with Zoe Veselow in the U12 Rapid. Zoe also scored 5½/7 and, like Ashwin, came =2nd. Chelmsford’s Joshua Buka had a rocky start after winning his first round, following with 0, ½, 0 and found himself on 1½/4. However, he rallied and won his last three games to finish on 4½/7 and a share of 13th place out of 65 starters.

But the greatest cheers for Essex supporters came for the U10, where Essex took first and second places outright. Once again Wanstead figured prominently with Mary Cawdery winning the section outright with 6½/7 and a performance rating of 1942 off her starting rating of 1583. Fantastic! Chingford’s Amaan Sheikh came 2nd outright with 6/7, having recovered from a loss in R3. The U10 section had the largest entry, with 94 youngsters taking to the boards.

In the U8, the Wanstead duo of Sarah Cawdery and Arwin GopiKrishna, signalled their first step on the ladder following their older siblings with, respectively, 3/7 and 2/7.

In total, 306 youngsters took part in the Junior rapids today.

U14 Rapid

ROUND 7       
2Gopikrishna, Ashwin18574½1 – 05Salman, Haytham1939
13Ren, Jason16533½ – ½3Sewart, Daniel1637
        
ROUND 6       
5Gopikrishna, Ashwin18573½1 – 03½Liu, Jacob1852
10Van Neerven, Yvon141631 – 03Ren, Jason1653
        
ROUND 5       
3Ding, Yicheng16803½ – ½3Gopikrishna, Ashwin1857
14Ren, Jason165321 – 02Reja, Rebeka1474
        
ROUND 4       
1Gopikrishna, Ashwin185730 – 13Keerthi Kumar, Advait1985
5Saxena, Reyansh182021 – 02Ren, Jason1653
        
ROUND 3       
3Boganadham, Ved Sudeep172420 – 12Gopikrishna, Ashwin1857
15Ren, Jason165311 – 01Ethayakuma, Ethayaven0
        
ROUND 2       
3Gopikrishna, Ashwin185711 – 01Ben-Eshak, Djad1695
8Chandrashekhar, Druha179811 – 01Ren, Jason1653
        
ROUND 1       
4Subash, Suriya156600 – 10Gopikrishna, Ashwin1857
23Ren, Jason165301 – 00Eru, Jake932

U12 Rapid

ROUND 7       
2Sennaroglu, Djan18455½ – ½5Veselow, Zoe1826
12Buka, Joshua16453½1 – 03½Blin, Eliza1413
        
ROUND 6       
2Veselow, Zoe182641 – 04½Kryshtafor, Maksym1856
18Mun, Jasper164820 – 12½Buka, Joshua1645
        
ROUND 5       
4Babu, Abhinandan163830 – 13Veselow, Zoe1826
22Wierenga, Haijo Deyou105920 – 11½Buka, Joshua1645
        
ROUND 4       
1Veselow, Zoe182630 – 13Kennedy, Aden1961
17Buka, Joshua16451½0 – 11½Ganesh, Krishiv1580
        
ROUND 3       
5Veselow, Zoe182621 – 02Mun, Jasper1648
13Chauhan, Kabir14671½ – ½1Buka, Joshua1645
        
ROUND 2       
5Raj Konwar, Daryan163810 – 11Veselow, Zoe1826
1Buka, Joshua164510 – 11Kennedy, Aden1961
        
ROUND 1       
5Veselow, Zoe182601 – 00Balakrishnan, Akshata1485
19Buka, Joshua164501 – 00Thakur, Abhigyan 962

U10 Rapid

ROUND 7       
1Condron, Leonardo16065½ – ½6Cawdery, Mary1583
3Sheikh, Amaan155451 – 05Ghanshala, Aarav1581
20Gampa, Dyuthi Sri14343½ – ½3Balaji, Yughan1656
        
ROUND 6       
1Cawdery, Mary158351 – 05Saxena, Advik1690
5Sanderson, Scarlett163040 – 14Sheikh, Amaan1554
34Ogah, Joel87520 – 12Gampa, Dyuthi Sri1434
        
ROUND 5       
2Cawdery, Mary158341 – 03½Delfaud, Christian1598
11Sheikh, Amaan155431 – 03Robinson, Tim1085
21Gampa, Dyuthi Sri143420 – 12Yap, Martin Tate1584
        
ROUND 4       
2Nguyen, Minh171230 – 13Cawdery, Mary1583
11Ghanshala, Aarav158121 – 02Gampa, Dyuthi Sri1434
14Tarihalkar, Shrisha143620 – 12Sheikh, Amaan1554
        
ROUND 3       
2Sheikh, Amaan155420 – 12Nguyen, Minh1712
6Cawdery, Mary158321 – 02Mao, Jack Shuocheng1516
34Gampa, Dyuthi Sri143411 – 01Desmond, Tadhg0
        
ROUND 2       
9Maksak, Liubava146810 – 11Cawdery, Mary1583
15Elischberger-Ong, Marcus145110 – 11Sheikh, Amaan1554
32Cooke, Dana74000 – 10Gampa, Dyuthi Sri1434
        
ROUND 1       
2Gampa, Dyuthi Sri143400 – 10Nguyen, Minh1712
15Cawdery, Mary158301 – 00Iyengar, Anish1049
23Sheikh, Amaan155401 – 00Alekseev, Ruslan893

U8 Rapid

ROUND 7       
23Cawdery, Sarah7122½½ – ½2½Anwar, Zara696
31Lai, Ka Ming44010 – 11Gopi Krishna, Arwin0
        
ROUND 6       
18Ho, Minh9472½1 – 02½Cawdery, Sarah712
31Gopi Krishna, Arwin010 – 11Cooke, Teagan432
        
ROUND 5       
13Cawdery, Sarah7122½0 – 12Green, Alexander1053
28Saxena, Rinzen50511 – 01Gopi Krishna, Arwin0
        
ROUND 4       
13Azizoglu, Kemal11352½ – ½2Cawdery, Sarah712
31Gopi Krishna, Arwin001 – 00Bonavita, Giacomo395
        
ROUND 3       
12Cawdery, Sarah71211 – 01Garnsworthy, Riyaan1583
29Mandair, Iyla43401 – 00Gopi Krishna, Arwin0
        
ROUND 2       
23Gardner, Grace40000 – 10Cawdery, Sarah712
29Gopi Krishna, Arwin000 – 10Balakrishnan, Skandavel587
        
ROUND 1       
5Cawdery, Sarah71200 – 10Grygorenko, Philip1556
28Shitharth, Yugan Sai98801 – 00Gopi Krishna, Arwin0

Summary Scores

“None” under any of the events listed means
no Essex interest. This may of course change.

Apologies to anyone we’ve missed.

* indicates the latest scores in events which are in play

Championship – 1-9 Aug.
Pert, Richard G, Brentwood, 1½/2*
Rida, Ruqayyah, Colchester, 0/2*

Major Open – 1-9 Aug.
Pert, Max P, Brentwood, 2/2*
Eames, Robert S, Hackney/Loughton, 0/2*
Pereslavtsev, Alexandr, Upminster, 2/2*
Coote, Trevor D, Brentwood, 1½/2*
Anjulan, Ashwin, Wanstead, 1½/2*
Gopikrishna, Ashwin, Wanstead, 1½/2*
Colclough, Ryan, Wanstead, 0/2*
Berkley, Stephen W, Barking/East Ham, 1/1

Over 50
Lewis, Andrew P, Manningtree

Over 65
Moore, John C, Writtle
Myall, Ivan J, Chelmsford
Kenning, Paul H, Braintree

U16 – 2-8 Aug.
Pert, Max P, Brentwood, 1/1*
Pereslavtsev, Alexandr, Upminster, 1/1*
Catabay, Mae, Colchester Juniors

U14 – 2-8 Aug.
Gopikrishna, Ashwin, Wanstead, 1/1*
Catabay, Rezin, Colchester Juniors
Ren, Jason, Colchester, 1/1*
Wang, Hantin, Basildon, 0/1*
Shiva, Shrishti, Chelmsford, ½/1*

U12 – 2-8 Aug..
None

U10 – 2-8 Aug – 2-8 Aug.
Cawdery, Mary, Wanstead, ½/1*
Gampa, Dyuthi Sri, Chelmsford Juniors, 1/1*
Amaan Sheikh, Chingford, 1/14*

U8 – 2-8 Aug.
Sarah Cawdery, Wanstead, 0/1*

U16 Rapid – 1 Aug 2026
None

U14 Rapid – 1 Aug 2026
Gopikrishna, Ashwin, Wanstead, 5½/7; =2-3/49
Ren, Jason, Colchester, 3½/7, =22-29/49.

U12 Rapid – 1 Aug 2026
Veselow, Zoe, Wanstead, 5½/7, =2-6/65
Buka, Joshua, Chelmsford Juniors, 4½/7, =13-16/65

U10 Rapid – 1 Aug 2026
Sheikh, Amaan, Chingford, 6/7, 2nd//94
Cawdery, Mary, Wanstead, 6/7, *1st/94*
Gampa, Dyuthi Sri, Chelmsford Juniors, 3½/7, =44-53/94.

U8 Rapid – 1 Aug 2026
Cawdery, Sarah, Wanstead, 3/7 =36-52/67;
Gopi Krishna, Arwin, Wanstead, 2/7, =54-62/67.

U16 Blitz
Pert, Max P, Brentwood
Johal, Aseece Joraver, Chelmsford Juniors

U14 Blitz
Ren, Jason, Colchester
Gopikrishna, Ashwin, Wanstead
Wang, Hantin, Basildon

U12 Blitz
Veselow, Zoe, Wanstead

U10 Blitz
Sheikh, Amaan, Chikngford
Cawdery, Mary, Wanstead
Gampa, Dyuthi Sri, Chelmsford Juniors

U8 Blitz
Cawdery, Sarah, Wanstead
Gopi Krishna, Arwin, Wanstead

W/e Open Atkins
Latypova, Olga L, Chelmsford

W/e U2000 Penrose
Shaw, Matthew H, Southend

W/E U1750 Soanes
Butcher, Kenneth J, Braintree
Green, Alfie, Wanstead

W/e U1500 Yates
None

AM Open
Pert, Nina P, Brentwood, 0/1*
Willoughby, Christopher, Brentwood, ½/1*
Anjulan, Ashwin, Wanstead, 0/1*

AM U1900
Willoughby, Andrew P,Brentwood, 1/1*
Scola, George, Chelmsford, 0/1*
Green, Alfie, Wanstead, 0/1*

AM U1600
White, Nigel, Wanstead, 1/1*
Jestico, John V, Wanstead, ½/1*

PM U2050
Johal, Aseece Joraver, Chelmsford Juniors, 0/1*

PM U1750
Wang, Hantin, Basildon, 0/1*
Sheikh, Amaan, Chingford, 0/1*
Gampa, Dyuthi Sri, Chelmsford Juniors, 1/1*
Ren, Jason, Colchester, 1/1*
Scola, George, Chelmsford, 1/1*
Green, Alfie, Wanstead, ½/1*

PM U1450
White, Nigel, Wanstead, ½/1*
Jestico, John V, Wanstead, 0/1*

Sunday Rapid Open
None

Sunday Rapid U2000
None

Sunday Rapid U1750
None

Sunday Rapid U1500
Vidyarathi, Vivek, Essex CA

Saturday Blitz
Scola, George, Chelmsford
Vidyarathi, Aryav, Chelmsford Juniors

Tuesday Blitz
Gopikrishna, Ashwin, Wanstead
Scola, George, Chelmsford
Catabay, Rezin, Colchester Juniors
Catabay, Mae, Colchester Juniors
Ren, Jason, Colchester

Thursday Blitz
Scola, George, Basildon
Catabay, Rezin, Colchester Juniors
Catabay, Mae, Colchester Juniors