Chess: English prodigies have proud record of giantkilling across the generations

The Guardian Sport Friday 30 October 2026, 08:00 UTC By Leonard Barden 1 min read

Key Points

From Jonathan Penrose to Bodhana Sivanandan, young talents have specialised in defeating established starsNearly half a century ago, at Brighton 1977, the 10-time British champion Jonathan Penrose faced a 12-year-old boy, Nigel Short, in round three of the national title contest. Short already had a fast-growing reputation after defeating the legendary Viktor Korchnoi in a simultaneous display in London the previous year. David Bronstein, watching that game, compared the winner’s rook...

From Jonathan Penrose to Bodhana Sivanandan, young talents have specialised in defeating established stars

Nearly half a century ago, at Brighton 1977, the 10-time British champion Jonathan Penrose faced a 12-year-old boy, Nigel Short, in round three of the national title contest.

Short already had a fast-growing reputation after defeating the legendary Viktor Korchnoi in a simultaneous display in London the previous year. David Bronstein, watching that game, compared the winner’s rook infiltration via the fifth rank after move 40 to José Capablanca’s strategy against Aron Nimzowitsch at New York 1927.

English (ORG) Jonathan Penrose (PERSON) Bodhana Sivanandan (PERSON) Brighton (LOCATION) British (ORG) Nigel Short (PERSON) Viktor Korchnoi (PERSON) London (LOCATION) David Bronstein (PERSON) José Capablanca’s (PERSON) Aron Nimzowitsch (PERSON) New York (LOCATION)

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Chess: English prodigies have proud record of giantkilling across the generations

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