Kata Toma has made history by becoming the first woman to win the Worcestershire Chess Individual Championship.
The tournament was held at the King's School Worcester last weekend.
The championship, which has been played almost every year since 1920, saw Toma and defending champion, Joe Friar, competing fiercely until the final game, which decided the title.
After four rounds, only Toma and Friar had perfect scores.
In the final round, Toma, playing with the black pieces, opted for a Sicilian defence against her opponent’s king pawn opening.
Despite Friar maintaining an initiative until the late middle game, the match entered a bishop and pawn ending with bishops on opposite coloured squares.
This type of ending is usually a draw, but Toma's advanced connected passed pawns tested Friar's defences.
Despite the pressure, Friar managed to hold off Toma, and the players agreed to a draw in the last game.
Both players ended the tournament with 4½ points, but the tie-break favoured Toma, declaring her the winner.
Despite missing the British Championship earlier this month due to an injury, Toma acknowledged the tough competition in Worcester and praised the play of Worcestershire Junior Champion James Allsopp in the first round.
Toma, who was born in Poland and played for her country, is now resident in Birmingham and represents England.
She was the English Women's Chess Champion in 2023 and was awarded the title Woman Grandmaster by the International Chess Federation in 2011.
Elsewhere in the tournament, James Allsopp from Hereford Sixth Form College retained his junior title by beating rival Muhammed Mahmood from Windsor High School, Halesowen, finishing with 3½ points in the final round.
Muhammed won a consolation prize for being the best newcomer.
Julie Wilson from Stourbridge also retained her title as Worcestershire Women's Champion for the sixth time.
The Senior Champion is Matt Gillings from Redditch, who also won a prize for his game against club mate Nigel Towers.
The Veteran Champion is John Wrench from Kidderminster, while the Minor Champion, the best player rated below 1650, is local Worcester player Sean Conway.
Ian Clarke from Malvern was awarded the slow starters’ prize, and James Nicholl from Worcester had the best score after losing his first two games.
The President of the Worcestershire Chess Association, Ray Collett, thanked the King's School for providing facilities, and to tournament arbiters David Smith and Monty Woodhouse, along with the congress organiser Scott Oxtoby.
