The established order at the top of British chess could change this year after nearly two decades of supremacy by the world title finalists Michael Adams and Nigel Short. Short's golden period was 1990-95, when he beat the all-time No3 Anatoly Karpov in a chess match and challenged Garry Kasparov for the world chess championship. Adams reached the semi-final of the Fide version of the title in 1997 and the final in 2002, where he missed a one-mover which would have won the crown. Adams stayed for some years around the top ten and a 2750 world rating, but has recently slipped back and now struggles to maintain 2700. He seems to have lost some competitive ...

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