France and United States prevail in rapid and blitz at Army and Navy Club Pall Mall Masters

France and the United States dominated the rapid and blitz sections of the Army and Navy Club Pall Mall Masters in central London, played last weekend and sponsored by Chess England. The event featured both elite and challengers sections across two days of speed chess.

The Pall Mall Masters is a new tournament staged at central London clubs and organised by Chess England, arriving shortly after the Samarkand Olympiad. London’s clubland hosts notable fixtures — the RAC clubhouse has long hosted the Oxford v Cambridge Varsity match, and the Athenaeum was the venue in 2023 when Bodhana Sivanandan defeated former British champion Peter Lee. ChessFest in Trafalgar Square continues to attract more than 20,000 visitors each year, while Chess England runs frequent tournaments in north-west London and surrounding areas. A short break after the Olympiad appeared to affect GM Luke McShane, who had been in contention for an individual medal with the England team in Uzbekistan but was in poor form in Pall Mall.

France’s GM Jules Moussard won the Super Rapid with 7.5/10, with GM Gawain Maroroa Jones finishing second on 6.5; both players had performed well at the Olympiad. Moussard also took the Blitz title on 7/10. Those results anchored the elite section’s top placings over the weekend.

In the challengers events, GM Praveen Balakrishnan of the US and GM Ameet Ghasi tied in the Challengers Rapid on 6/9. Balakrishnan then won the Challengers Blitz outright on 6/9, with IM Marcus Harvey second on 5.5. The challengers’ outcomes delivered a US presence alongside the French victories in the elite section.

The Rapid and Blitz were scheduled on the same weekend with 10am starts and 7pm finishes for rounds, an arrangement organisers suggested could reduce mid-tournament withdrawals seen in longer events. The report noted that speed chess produces more checkmate finishes than slower time limits because players continue to the bitter end in the hope of a blunder or simply not noticing mate threats. 4045: 1…Qxe5! and White resigned. If 2 dxe5 Ne2+ 3 Kc2 Bg6+ 4 Qe4 Bxe4 mate. Other replies leave White at least a rook down.

Qualification for the UK Blitz Championships was completed, with 16 cities each producing a qualifier and London providing three. The domestic championship picture was sketched out by organisers as a likely contest between GM Jones and nine-time British champion GM Michael Adams, with GM Ghasi cited as the main challenger. The Open title remained classified as less predictable with several named contenders.

Sivanandan enters the British women’s championship as the defending champion and was described as a strong favourite after travelling to Belfast for a qualifier and winning all her 17 games there. The Open field was listed to include defending champion GM Danny Gormally, GM Ghasi, IM Aaravamudhan Balaji and juniors FM Stanley Badacsonyi and FM Supratit Banerjee as contenders for the title.

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. Full details of how to enter are here.