Juniors make up nearly half the field, including a nine-year-old top seed, while in Kolkata Magnus Carlsen surged to victory in the Tata Steel Rapid

Finals of the annual UK Blitz Championships take place in Leamington Spa on Saturday (noon start), when the open and women’s titles will be decided by two 16-player all-play-all competitions and 15 rounds of speed chess.

The 32 finalists are survivors from an original entry of more than 500, who competed at eight regional qualifying competitions across the UK. Four grandmasters are in the field: Eldar Gasanov of Ukraine, the 2472-rated defending champion; Danny Gormally, the 2490-rated top seed; the veteran Peter Wells, and England’s youngest GM, Shreyas Royal, 15.