Local Grand Master checks in for city's biggest chess match

Simon Thake - YorkshireSun, July 12, 2026 at 9:00 AM UTC

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Gawain Maroroa Jones is a three-time British champion who lives in Sheffield

As Sheffield sporting venues go, it may not be as celebrated as the Crucible Theatre, Hillsborough or even Ponds Forge.

But this past week a conference room on the second floor of the Hampton by Hilton Hotel on West Bar Green has played host to a contest dubbed the "strongest ever chess match" to take place in the city.

It involved two Grand Masters - the "local hero", three-time British champion and 2020 European Online Blitz Champion Gawain Maroroa Jones who lives "just up the road" in Hillsborough, and the reigning Polish champion, Szymon Gumularz.

Local organisers were very excited.

An international junior tournament has also been taking place in Sheffield across the week

Jonathan Arnott adjusts the knot on his thick blue tie.

It is 30C outside and this is a big deal for him. The chair of the Sheffield Chess Centre is the organiser of the event and he has made an effort.

"I wouldn't normally be in the suit for a chess event but this is elite," he smiles, wiping sweat from his brow.

"This is definitely the biggest match ever played in Sheffield," he says excitedly.

"We did have the British Championships in 2011, but this is the strongest match-play game ever played in Sheffield.

"It's huge for us, and it really does put Sheffield on the map when it comes to international chess."

This is a unique experience for the local Grand Master too.

"It is a bit strange taking the children to school and nursery in the morning and then coming to play just up the road," Jones says.

Now 38, Jones began playing chess at the age of four, competing in his first tournaments at six.

"I loved every kind of board game and they eventually taught me chess to shut me up but I got obsessed," he says.

He previously gained notoriety and featured on the front page of The Guardian newspaper when aged just nine, becoming the youngest player in the world ever to beat an International Master in an official tournament game.

Now Jones is going head-to-head in three different types of chess game.

His preferred format the "classical game", which can last five hours, forms the bulk of the competition.

There will also be a blitz game, sometimes referred to as "speed chess", and games of rapid chess which last over 10 minutes but less than 60 minutes.

Jonathan Arnott is chair of the Sheffield Chess Centre

Jones admits to feeling a little "rusty" of late.

"I play a lot less than I used to. I've got young children so I'm staying home and looking after them," he says.

The match also acts as a warm-up for the upcoming Olympiad in September in Uzbekistan, a biennial international chess tournament, where Jones will be representing England.

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As well as the head-to-head games between the two Grand Masters, the Sheffield hotel is also hosting an international junior tournament.

The rise in popularity of the game among young people is something that the Yorkshireman has had to reluctantly accept.

"I keep losing to younger and younger players," he laughs, adding: "I think they can play online basically 24 hours a day."

The "buzz" in the junior tournament is all around Supratit, a 12-year-old boy who is hoping to follow in the footsteps of fellow Londoner Bodhana Sivanandan, who has gained worldwide recognition in the game over the last few years.

Up-and-coming chess star Supratit, 12, is chaperoned for the week by his father, Sudhir

Supratit is chaperoned for the week by his father Sudhir who works in finance.

He admits to spending a lot of time "pacing around hotel rooms with his laptop".

Being flexible around work has been a necessity as his son progresses in the game.

"All our leave is used on travelling to tournaments," he says.

"We've been to Georgia, Hungary, Germany, Norway... but we are always sitting in our hotel room waiting for his game to be over.

"If anyone asks us for holiday tips I tell them we know about airports and hotels but don't ask us about sightseeing."

The schoolboy, who practises 20 hours a week around his studies, manages to win enough games in Sheffield to gain his second norm.

In chess a player needs three norms to become a chess master.

Arnott is convinced he will be a "star of the future".

The chair of the Chess Centre, which has swelled to more than 80 members in recent years, is hoping to be in attendance at the Olympiad, albeit in a coaching capacity.

"I've been working with the Papua New Guinea national team," he says.

"I can't suddenly make them much better players but we go through potential moves and focus in detail on potential opponents."

Jones too is looking forward to competing in Asia in the autumn.

After narrowly losing to Gumularz in Sheffield, the former British champion says he is "feeling sharper".

"I think you can lose a bit of focus when you get older but I've still got ambitions," he says.

"I've won the British Championships a few times and I'd like to challenge and try and win it again and just see how it goes, hopefully as the children grow up a bit I can regain my focus on chess and just see what level I can get to."

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