5th Kingston Invitational: Round 8 (21 August 2026)

As the final day dawned on the 5th Kingston Invitational, with two rounds to go, Henry Adams was the overnight leader with 6/7 and paired against second-placed Graeme Buckley who was half a point behind on 5½. Eight other players on 5 still had a realistic chance of taking the top prize.

By the end of round eight, the Adams-Buckley game was drawn which meant that Henry Adams retained his sole leadership on 6½/8, and four players had 6 points: Graeme Buckley, Danny Gormally, Jai Kothari and Mikhail Sedykh. The ultimate winner(s) will therefore come from the above-named.

But first let's celebrate the arbiters, without whom there would be no chess...

Chief arbiter IA Paul McKeown, flanked by Alex Chmelev (left) and Kai O'Neill who received FIDE Arbiter norm certificates for their excellent work at this event.

The fourth member of the arbiting team, deputy chief arbiter IA Jake Hung

A great feature of the tournament has been the wallchart: a retro touch employing 21st century technology. Very classy: every tournament should have one.

The Kingston Invitational is fortunate to have such a splendid team of officials. Before round eight began, chief arbiter IA Paul McKeown presented two assistant arbiters, Alex Chmelev and Kai O'Neill, with FIDE Arbiter (FA) norm certificates. This was Alex's second FA norm, Kai's first. Both are licensed by FIDE as National Arbiters on request of the English Chess Federation. They have both done great work here and played a key part in creating a pleasant atmosphere for the players.

The top board clash between Adams and Buckley ended in a draw so Adams remained sole leader

Adams-Buckley began with a Benoni. CHESS magazine editor IM Richard Palliser, following play remotely, commented: "I fear that few dark-squared bishops, on both sides, have enjoyed a Benoni less than in H.Adams-G.Buckley!" It did seem strange to see those bishops disappear quite so early. The Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Dark-Squared Bishops has been informed. The game was well contested but as material became depleted, so did chances for either side to win. An accurately-played game was drawn in 37 moves. Adams thus retains his half-point lead going into the final round. Adams-Buckley (LiChess)

A 500+ rating point differential proved too great a hurdle for Isaac Lam vs Danny Gormally

Isaac Lam, rated only 1884, has had an incredibly good tournament and his reward today was a pairing against GM Danny Gormally with Black. OK, "reward" might not be quite the right word. The opening was an Anti-Marshall Ruy Lopez, following theory for some 14 moves. White obtained the usual nagging Lopez pressure and the first crisis arose when Black attempted to be more activity with 35...d5 when it might have been better to continue manoeuvring. Gormally replied with 36 d4! at which point all four centre squares were occupied by pawns. After exchanges the white rooks suddenly swung into action and threatened mayhem on the seventh rank. While it was possible for Black to defend against the direst threats along the rank, in doing so he had to abandon his pawns for the white queen to gobble up. Black tried a desperate fling with his rook but it was never going to work. Gormally has had a quiet tournament so far but might yet mount a bid for first place in the final round this afternoon. Gormally-Lam (LiChess)

Peter Finn vs Thomas Villiers was well contested and ended in a draw.

Finn-Villiers started as a Catalan and calmed down after a lively start, finally reaching a queen endgame with an equal number of pawns each. Earlier in the game White could have tried a sneaky tactic with 14 Bd6!? which might have worked out in his favour. Drawn in 44 moves. Finn-Villiers (LiChess)

Mikhail Sedykh won to put him into a four-way tie for 2nd place on 6/8

Sedykh-Johnson followed QGD Tarrasch theory for some 14 moves, with Black getting some compensation for his gambit pawn. On move 20 Black had a nice trick, 20...Bxb4, followed by a rook sacrifice, 21...Rd2, to deflect the white queen and achieve a perpetual check. But maybe he was playing for more. Not an unreasonable decision at the time, but as things progressed, Black's compensation for the pawn diminished. Then, once again, the prospect of perpetual check came into view and now Black felt he had to pursue. It was achievable with best play but a misstep on move 42 cost him dear. A second pawn was lost and with it the game. Sad for Daniel Johnson, who had been tournament front-runner for so long, but a great reward for Mikhail Sedykh and his steady play. Sedykh-Johnson (LiChess)

Jai Kothari reached 6/8 in spectacular style. He is now in 2nd= place with a chance of the top prize and also leads the challenge for the Barden Cup awarded to the best scoring player under 18.

Jai Kothari was the overnight front runner for the Barden Cup awarded to the highest scoring under 18 player - which he won in 2025. He strengthened his bid to retain the cup by beating Arya Cont with Black as well as putting himself in the group of four players half a point behind the leader. The opening was a King's Indian Attack, but Black, with an early h5 and g5, was the one doing most of the attacking. White tried countering this with 13 g4 but this allowed Black to open the h-file for his rooks to invade, happily sacrificing a pawn to speed up the process. It was by no means a straightforward win and White might have done better to launch his own offensive on the queenside. With his heavy pieces massed round the white king, Black found a neat queen sacrifice to complete the breakthrough and emerge with an extra piece. Cont-Kothari (LiChess)

Round 8 Results (chess-results)

Round 8 Games (LiChess)