Adams loses first British Championship game since 1988 – teen Bazakutsa ends 87-game unbeaten run

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The Taunton grandmaster had been unbeaten in 87 games in a row, during which time he had won all his nine titles

Michael Adams, the 54-year-old Taunton grandmaster aiming for a record-equalling 10th British title, began with three wins but in round four suffered his first championship defeat since 1988 when he resigned a lost rook endgame after 60 moves to the rising Ukrainian talent Svyatoslav Bazakutsa, 18, who lives in Liverpool.

Adams has won nine British titles, one short of Jonathan Penrose’s record, but missed many championships in the 1990s and 2000s when he was campaigning for the world crown.

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