5th Kingston Invitational: Round 9 (21 August 2026)

The 5th Kingston Invitational tournament has concluded and we have a winner. Congratulations to 20-year-old Henry Adams who came through to score 7½/9 ahead of a field which included one GM and three IMs as well as plenty of other strong players. For an untitled player rated 2174 that is a splendid achievement. His performance rating was 2391 and it gained him 47.6 rating points. 

2026 Kingston Invitation tournament winner Henry Adams

Henry first gave indications of his chess strength when he drew in the first round of the February 2023 Cambridge International with his legendary namesake, GM Michael Adams. Since then his academic studies have occupied most of his energies. He achieved four A* grades in his A-levels at Brighton College in 2024 and he's just completed his first year at New College, Oxford, where he is studying PPE. He played for Oxford University in the 2026 Varsity chess match and will be their captain in next year's match, in which it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that he will face his brother George (2100 ECF) who is going up to Trinity College, Cambridge, in a few weeks' time.

Henry Adams receives the trophy and first prize cheque for £500
from John Foley, president of Kingston Chess Club

Inspired by his result in Kingston, Henry tells me he hopes to devote more time to studying and playing in the near future and building on this achievement. We hope so, too, Henry.

Pre-game handshake: Jai Kothari (right) and Henry Adams

The Kothari-Adams game started with the players knowing that one of them would be the tournament winner (possibly shared). Last round pressure on the top board of a tournament is always tough, as if chess isn't hard enough anyway. After a steady start the game came to life. The opening was a line of the Caro-Kann which Bobby Fischer championed more than half a century ago. Adams advanced his pawns boldly on the queenside but when Kothari chose to do something similar on the kingside, in front of his castled king, it may have been a little too risky. Adams carried on with his queenside minority attack while Kothari continued with g5 and then g6, hoping to menace the black king. But it proved to be too gung-ho. Adams jumped in with 24...Qd4! and when White eventually played gxf7+, simply hid his king behind the f7-pawn on f8 where it was relatively safe. Not so the white king: once Adams' rook swung in at c3, there were too many threats and the game was soon over. Kothari-Adams (LiChess)

Commiserations to Jai Kothari who also had a great tournament and is once again the proud holder of the Barden Cup on tie-break from Rock Yu.

Rock Yu and Jai Kothari receive their £150 prizes for the best scores by under 18s from John Foley...

... while Jai Kothari picked up the Barden Cup for the second year in a row (on tie-break)

Joint third in the under 18 category were Raman Vashisht-Pigem and Danbe Luk on a very creditable 5½/9.

Raman Vashisht-Pigem and Danbe Luk received £25 each for finishing 3rd= in the Under 18 category

Back to the tournament proper: Graeme Buckley secured the second prize of £250 after beating Mikhail Sedykh. As on the top board, this was a Caro-Kann (Buckley had White) but with the 3 e5 advance line to which Black responded with 3...c5. Without looking it up, I think this became fashionable in a Botvinnik-Tal world championship match, but it has also been played by modern-day elite players. Black's development looked a little slow compared to Buckley's who typically didn't stop to defend a loose pawn while completing his own development. Then he let a second pawn go, which I didn't readily understand. 

Graeme Buckley vs Mikhail Sedykh: signs of last-round tiredness in this strange game

However, there must have been something catching in this profligacy with material as Sedykh, in what seemed to be a reasonably defensible position, played a couple of incomprehensible bishop moves that left him a piece for a pawn adrift. Buckley, having previously been cavalier with his pawns, changed tack and became a materialist, mopping up a series of pawns that were left in his wake. By now Black's position was a ruin and he duly fell on his sword, allowing a mate. A baffling game in some ways, but perhaps typical of a last round when tiredness always plays a major part. Buckley-Sedykh (LiChess)

A draw against Jack Rudd brought Danny Gormally the third prize.

Rudd vs Gormally was a Nimzo-Indian with an early f3. Tiredness perhaps played a part here too, though manifested in a slightly different way. A lot of material was exchanged in the early middlegame with Black rounding on White's isolated d-pawn without being able to find a convincing way to annex it for free or in a way that promised more than a pawns-on-one-side drawn endgame. Thus thwarted, Black acquiesced to a draw on move 34. Jack Rudd was happier with his performance than at the British Championship, while Gormally went through the tournament unbeaten but conceded too many draws to get into contention. Nevertheless he went home with a cheque for £100 for finishing third on his own. Rudd-Gormally (LiChess)

White's opening in Rock Yu vs Peter Finn may not have surprised Black but it surprised me: 1 c4 c6 2 Qa4. A database check showed me that it has been played a number of times. The queen retreated to c2 a few moves later which suggests that it isn't the sharpest of lines. Things became a little more spicy when White gave up a pawn for some pressure along the d-file. A second pawn was offered but Black thought better of that one and instead offered White the chance to get the pawn back. The game didn't last much beyond that, being drawn in 19 moves. The half-point earned Yu a share of the Under 18 first prize money Yu-Finn (LiChess) 

Avyukt Dasgupta and Raman Vashisht-Pigem shared the best game prize (£25 each)

Last but not least, there was the matter of the best game prize. Last year we had GM Daniel King on hand to pass judgment but this year, after inviting players and tournament followers to make recommendations, it came down to a joint decision between the chief arbiter Paul McKeown and me. We had a lot of fun sifting through the submissions, finally settling on a game that we both agreed was totally bonkers but hugely entertaining, played by two young men overflowing with youthful exuberance and imagination. They are pictured above. Whether the game was sound or not... well, frankly, who cares. It was a lot of fun and played in the right spirit. Do play through it - there are 97(!) moves to enjoy. 

It was a great tournament, expertly organised and run by Stephen Moss with his superb team of arbiters and helpers. I had great fun preparing these reports, hope you enjoyed them.

Players who finished with 5½ or more points (click here for the complete crosstable)

Round 9 Results (chess-results)

Round 9 Games (LiChess)

Henry Adams, 2026 Kingston Invitational winner. We salute you!