Michael Adams’s long reign as England No1 received a surprise boost this week when the No2 David Howell, who at 24 is two decades younger than the Cornishman, was twice defeated by lower-ranked opponents in the opening rounds of the European Club Cup in Skopje, Macedonia, whose final round can be viewed free and live on the internet on Saturday afternoon.

It was a bitter blow for Howell, who in recent months has crept steadily closer to Adams in the rankings and who after last week’s Isle of Man event had narrowed the gap to a mere dozen rating points.

His two defeats, one after an 80-move marathon and the other to a king’s side attack against his favourite Grunfeld 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5, not only cost Howell his valuable 2700 elite rating but dropped him out of the world top 50. Howell will surely recover, but it could take several months.

Adams is also in Skopje, playing No4 for SOCAR Baku, the galacticos squad financed by the Azeri state oil company, who have won the Eurocup two years out of three and are again the No1 seeds. SOCAR are led by the 2016 world title candidates Veselin Topalov, Anish Giri and Fabiano Caruana while Adams, who beat a strong Russian in round one by subtle and precise endgame play, is backed up by the four best Azeri GMs.

SOCAR have two serious rivals: Siberia, a mix of Russians and Chinese led by the former world champion Vlad Kramnik, and Padua, nominally Italian but in fact a polyglot mix from Hungary, Russia, the US and France.

However, the major shock of the first round came when Hikaru Nakamura, fresh from victory in Millionaire Chess in Las Vegas, fell into a deeply researched novelty by his Swiss opponent, lost and dropped from world No2 to No4.

After Thursday’s fifth round, when Siberia beat SOCAR 3.5-2.5 while Adams, who beat China’s Li Chao, was the only winner for the top seeds, the title looks set to change hands.

Against this mass of GMs from the 2700-rated elite, England fields White Rose from the North, Cheddleton from the Midlands and Blackthorne Russia, a rare UK-sponsored squad, from the South. Realistically our teams have zero chance of featuring near the top of the table and the main question is whether the York student James Adair, 22, and Adam Hunt, who teaches chess at Woodbridge School, Ipswich, can achieve their third and final GM norms. Ezra Kirk, 19, of Brighton, began with 4/5 and is poised for an IM result.

Adair and Hunt also began well, Adair with 2/2 and Hunt with a dazzling sacrificial draw against Vasily Ivanchuk, who only last week checkmated world champion Magnus Carlsen at blitz in Berlin. Hunt sacrificed, first a pawn, then a knight, then a rook. It was enough for perpetual check, though 20 Bc3?! was a touch adventurous (20 Re4!) and Black might have tried for more by 20...Qd7!?

Adam Hunt v Vasily Ivanchuk

1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 exd5 cxd5 4 c4 Nf6 5 Nc3 e6 6 Nf3 Bb4 7 cxd5 Nxd5 8 Bd2 O-O 9 Bd3 Nc6 10 O-O Be7 11 Re1 Bf6 12 Ne4 Bxd4 13 Neg5 g6 14 Nxd4 Nxd4 15 Nxh7! Kxh7 16 Qh5+ Kg8 17 Bxg6 Nf6 18 Qh6 fxg6 19 Qxg6+ Kh8 20 Bc3?! Nf3+?! 21 Kh1 Nxe1 22 Qh6+ Kg8 23 Qg6+ Kh8 24 Qh6+ Kg8 25 Qg6+ Kh8 26 Qh6+ Kg8 Drawn

3413 (a).1 Qe2 Nxh4 (if Qxd6 2 Qxf3) 2 Qe7! holds. The game ended 1 Qd3?? Qc1+ 2 Ke2 (if 2 Kg2 Ne1+ and Nxd3) Ng1 mate.