The English Rapidplay Championship was held in Peterborough, with IM Marcus Harvey emerging as the winner after defeating IM Jonah Willow in a playoff. The two players had finished the 11-round tournament tied on 9 points, ahead of top seed Michael Adams.

The championship was part of the English Chess Championships, which include national championships in classical, rapid, and blitz chess, as well as the English Seniors Championship. The rapidplay competition was an 11-round Swiss tournament with a time control of 15 minutes per player plus a 10-second increment per move.

Harvey and Willow exchanged wins in the rapid and blitz stages of the playoff before the title was decided in a decisive Armageddon encounter. Harvey had the white pieces in the final game and needed a victory to secure the championship, which he managed to do.

The starting list for the tournament was headed by Michael Adams with a rapid rating of 2614, narrowly ahead of Gawain Maroroa Jones. Harvey and Willow were seeded fifth and tenth, respectively, but they outperformed their seeds to reach the playoff.

Adams was held to a draw in the final round, which left him out of contention for the title. He finished in sole third place, while Daniel Gormally climbed to sole fourth place after beating Advait Keerthi Kumar in the eleventh round. The playoff between Harvey and Willow was a closely contested affair, with both players winning games with the white and black pieces.

The Armageddon encounter proved to be the decisive game, with Harvey winning with the white pieces to become the 2026 English Rapidplay Champion. The championship was decided after a series of closely contested games, with Harvey emerging as the winner after a strong performance in the playoff.