Chess: Gawain Jones wins London Classic amid recovery from tragedy
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British champion completed a remarkable treble a year after the death of his wife Sue Maroroa Jones. Gawain Jones, the British and English champion, who turns 37 on Wednesday, completed a remarkable year of recovery from tragedy when he won the £25,000 first prize in the XTX Markets London Classic, played at the Emirates Stadium.
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Last year Jones’s wife, Sue Maroroa Jones, died following complications after the birth of their second child, and he withdrew from competitive play for several months. Returning this year, he won the English title at Kenilworth in June, and the British crown at Hull in August, then scored 5.5/9 for the England team at the Budapest Olympiad in September, before completing his treble last Saturday.
Jones scored an unbeaten 5/7 and finished a full point clear of the field. The veteran eight-time British champion, Michael Adams, 53, was runner-up on tie-break while Nikita Vitiugov, 37, the former Russian who emigrated to north London last year, was third. All three Englishmen finished ahead of the tournament favourites and world title candidates Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, of Azerbaijan, and Vidit Gujrathi, of India.
Jones’s best win came in the final round, where his white knight proved superior to the black bishop of the women’s world champion Ju Wenjun, who resigned at move 41 when faced with a lost rook ending. England’s only failure at the Classic was Shreyas Royal, 15. Britain’s youngest ever grandmaster had a rare setback, scoring only 1/7, and will hope to do much better when he competes at the £10,000 Caplin Hastings Masters, which starts on 28 December.
