Next Online Open arenas: Wednesday 7:30 & 8:45pm. Good turn out expected
How to join in and the schedule for the next 7 days
Lichess: Ringwood make Weds evening & Fri afternoon “Open” to local clubs
26 March Update. 15 players from various clubs participated in the first Wednesday Open evening. Read more in the results page. The more the merrier so do consider joining the Wednesday evening or Friday afternoon sessions. 24 March ’20: Martin Clancy has reported the inaugural Ringwood club evening on Monday was fun and ran well, with 9 […]
Dorset Rapidplay attracts 48 entrants in exciting day of chess: GM Matt Turner wins
Sunday 15th March 2020 at Greyfriars, Ringwood In what might be the last chess congress nationally for some time because of the current virus crisis, the 25th Dorset Rapidplay was very competitive and had a great atmosphere. All 48 competitors went home with a prize. A record for this competition of £920 cash was paid out […]
Dorset Junior Chess Championship 2020
A fantastic day of junior chess with over 50 participants from across Dorset and a few from Hampshire.
Lots of enquiries asking “what congresses are coming up?”
20 Feb: Just recently, there has been a surge of interest in regional weekend chess congresses, especially from parents, following the success of the Dorset Junior Championships last Saturday. Coming up in Dorset there is the Closed Congress at Merley on 24 May ’20. Ian Clark runs this and will be publishing information on the website in […]
B&DCL Senior Inter-School Championship
Entries now open! This annual Bournemouth & District Chess League (B&DCL) competition between senior school chess teams takes place in Term 2, with the first rounds in weeks commencing 2nd and 9th March and the final just before the Easter holiday break. We currently have Poole Grammar, Lytchett Minster School, Highcliffe School, Ringwood School and […]
3rd Simon Bartlett Memorial Congress, Torquay 24-26 Jan
27 Jan: 6 players who regularly play in Dorset league chess took part, plus Oscar Garcia, who still plays occasionally for Poole – but now lives out of the area. The event was at the sea front located Livermead House Hotel. Results can be accessed via utuswiss.co.uk The Open was again won by Keith Arkell. Oscar […]
Kevin Goater’s fantastic performance in Bucharest includes beating Russian GM
23 Nov: Dorset player Kevin Goater is achieving fantastic results in the World Seniors as reported by Allan Pleasants immediately below:- Kevin Goater is playing in the World Seniors in the Romanian capital of Bucharest. Kevin started the 11 round competition that has 20 grandmasters and many other titled players in it in fine style […]
ECF drive to encourage more women and girls to play chess
27 Nov: The ECF are strongly committed to see more women and girls playing chess, whether in a chess club, junior clubs, school or university – or just enjoying social chess in libraries and cafes etc. To this goal, they have appointed a Women’s Recruitment Officer, Tim Wall ([email protected]) Tim wrote to all chess organisers […]
3rd Dorset Closed – Postponed (was Sunday, 24 May 2020)
The 3rd Dorset Closed which was due to take place take place on Sunday 24th May 2020 has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Depending how the virus proceeds, the event may be held laterin the year at the Merley Community Centre, near Wimborne. Eligibility rules require entrants to have met at least one of these […]
Bacchus Bournemouth East will get underway from January with 3 teams & 2 “new” clubs
17 Nov: All set for an extra Bacchus division in the New Year as Southbourne, Highcliffe and Ringwood all give the go-ahead. For Highcliffe, it will be an additional team in Bacchus, whereas Southbourne and Ringwood are entering for the first time. The teams will be known as Highcliffe Castles, Southbourne Seagulls (tbc) and Ringwood Gambits. […]
55th Dorset Open Congress, 16-18 October 2020, Bournemouth
Christmas present solved?! – Game Changer is ECF Book of 2019
7 Oct: This fascinating book focusses on issues around Artificial Intelligence (AI), not only in chess but in wider society. It is written by GM Matthew Sadler and WIM Natasha Regan. They especially explore the extraordinary new software AlphaZero (AZ). There is a comprehensive collection of games. The book is said to be very readable, beautifully […]
Dave Lockwood Memorial event highly successful & fitting tribute; 37 take part
19 Aug: Excellent report from Dave Fuller on a great day of quick-play chess held Sat 17 Aug ’19 at Poole to remember Dave Lockwood (pictured immediate left) who had been such an outstanding and loyal member of Poole Chess Club. He had been a member for over 50 years and played in the Parkstone and […]
Mike Waddington games
A selection of fascinating games from one of Dorset’s strongest and most active players.
ECF new grades out, but gremlin in the system has duplicated some B&DCL results; update @ 24 July
24 July: Phil has today updated his message below. He explains the grades affected should be corrected by the start of the season. And adds those players who played several games in the B&DCL Sept-Dec ’18, and had a performance about the same as their grade, will probably see no difference when the grades are corrected. It’s […]
James Forster in state of shock after winning a strong Dorset “Closed” Open at Merley, Sun 7 July
7 July: According to informed sources, James was a reluctant late entrant for the Open Championship – he felt out of practice, the season is over etc. But enter he sportingly did, fearing the worst, as the Open section was so strong. But with 3/4 he played some great chess and won – much against […]
DCCA AGM 26 June ’19 – Officers report successful season – Highcliffe achieve a cup & league “double”
27 June: All participating clubs were well represented at the Dorset County Chess Association AGM, which took place at RBL, North Road, Poole Weds 26 June. There were reports on 3 successful congresses and the 3 league divisions were well contested, with 2 newcomers, Ringwood and Highcliffe becoming champions for the first time in Divisions […]
Well attended B&DCL AGM at Tuckton 19 June ’19 – Meeting outline, including competition winners
B&DCL Rules following AGM 19 June ’19 – both summary and detail of what has changed
Image: John Belinger, New Milton (on the right) at the AGM presentation. Pete Donaldson, B&DCL Secretary presenting. Steven Disney was the successful captain. New Milton B had the best points and games record of any team in the 5 divisions and will play in B&D 3 next season. These are the […]
Martin Clancy annotates
Below are three games from Martin Clancy played in local congresses, each illustrating his entertaining attacking style.
ECF: Entries invited for European Senior Team Championships in Croatia from 18-26 Sept ’19
European Senior Team Chess Championships (taken from ECF Newsletter 8 June ’19) Stewart Reuben writes – The European Senior Team Chess Championships take place in Croatia from 17-27 September 2019. The arrival date and registration for the event are 17 September, with play taking place every day at 15.00 from 18-26 September. Departure is 27 September. The […]
B&DCL AGM: Weds 19 June ’19; request for any rule change proposals to be sent in soonest please
4 May ’19: Martin Simons, B&DCL Chairman role has sent out this message to club secretaries: The B&DCL AGM will be held at 7.30pm on Wednesday 19th June 2019 at the Tuckton Social Club (home venue of Southbourne Chess Club), 222 Tuckton Road BH6 3AA and all members of B&DCL clubs are welcome. It is […]
Highcliffe riding high after 3-1 win at Dorchester B secures County 2 – in debut season
12 April: Many congratulations to Highcliffe after their success last night, made possible with wins on the top 2 boards, and draws on 3 & 4. It was always going to be a key fixture, bringing together 2 strong teams and mindful Dorchester B were the one team to have beaten Highcliffe, at fortress Greystones, back in […]
Monthly grading moves closer as ECF embarks on consultation process
The ECF is consulting about grades being calculated and published monthly instead of twice a year. Details are on the ECF website, but the main document is reproduced below. There is also a suggestion to adopt the Elo system, so that would mean 4 digit grades, instead of 3. The move to monthly grading lists […]
Poole Knights 4.5 Poole Bishops 1.5 – Bacchus – “kids hog the limelight!”
Tarik reports on 17 Jan: Poole Knights names first Graham Morris 0.5 – 0.5 Steve Bailey Harry Rowbotham 1 – 0 Teo Borsa Ben Howard 1 – 0 Josh Leggatt Zack Little 1 – 0 Felix Wyatt Samuel Williams 0 – 1 Jamie Doyle Matthew Bailey 1 – 0 Jake Doyle POOLE KNIGHTS 4.5 POOLE […]
13 Jan: Wessex teams all lose on Sunday, but still doing well in 4NCL
Sunday: Something of a reversal of fortunes compared with the success of the day before – this time, Wessex A, B & C all lost. In 2B round 4, Wessex A lost to Grantham Sharks (2) by 2.5-5.5. But following promotion they are holding their own well with 2/4 and sit mid-table Wessex B & […]
When do the ECF charge Game Fees for grading non-members?
From time to time clubs ask for clarification on this. The actual ECF ruling, as applicable to Leagues like ours, is given below from their website. The current annual ECF membership fee for Bronze Membership is £16. Non ECF members are allowed to play up to 3 games in any one League without the ECF […]
NewsKnights
This article looks back on the history of NewsKnight which was founded by Alan Dommett and Martin Simons in 1993 and ran for 13 to bring us chess news.
Relaxed and informal chess at Swanage: moves temporarily to Chococo from now until early Feb ’19
4NCL Sun 18 Nov ’18 Div 4 (South) – Wessex B storm to another big win; Wessex C win and draw in same day
Wessex B had an incredibly successful weekend. They followed up their 5-1 win on Saturday going even better on Sunday – beating CSC 3 by 5.5-0.5! And this time Wessex C had a better day themselves, in 2 reduced boards matches – beating Oxford 4 by 2-1. With a different team, they drew with Barnet Knights […]
2nd Dorset Blitz – 30 competitors & big success; Further Steve report + cross-tables + photo links
Organiser Steve Peirson reports on a most successful day on Sun 16 Sept ’18 at Furzebrook, nr Wareham “Everything went very well – we had 3 groups of 10 players and we extended the time limit to 10 mins + 5 sec increment. These are the prize winners:- Group A (please see […]
2 Towns 12 Sept: Poole 17 Bournemouth 12; 1st Poole win in 4 years – Martin: “Great evening, well done Poole!” Score details
Please note results details at foot of this report 12 Sept. Poole Captain Eric Sachs Reports: On a most enjoyable night as the season commenced with the traditional curtain raiser, Poole beat Bournemouth 17-12 to win the trophy for the first time in 4 years. Quote from the losing captain Martin Simons “it was a great night, […]
24 thoroughly enjoy Southbourne 10 sec competition; Bruce wins with 6/7 but Reenen & Grzegorz close behind
“Fun” 10 Second Buzzer Tournament Results on Fri 7 Sept ’18, Tuckton Martin writes Good turnout, 24 players. Pleasing to see players from other clubs and also some people who don’t normally play. Great fun, everyone enjoys the buzzer (I think!). Bruce Jenks (180) was in good form to win with 6 points out of […]
Steve Bailey reports on Barbados VI cricket tour
UK Women’s Visually Impaired Cricket Team – Barbados Tour, 5-15 July ’18 Steve coaches England to series win Written by Steve Bailey 18 visually impaired women with an age group range of 15-70 and 4 visually impaired coaches of which Steve Bailey (Dorset Dolphins Coach and Captain) was Head Coach. (Steve, of course is also an active member […]
Poole AGM honours members’ success in winning 5 trophies in 8 months; Bournemouth Echo report 1 Aug
This photo was taken at the recent Poole AGM. Chair Eric Sachs commented “I would like to mention it is not intended to highlight trophy and glory hunting for Poole; the intention is to record the success and connection with all members at the club and chess in the area to increase the profile”. On […]
ECF July ’18 Grades are out!
Thurs 26 July: link http://www.ecfgrading.org.uk/new/menu.php This link will appear on the top menu bar through the season. Under the rules of both the County League and B&D, only a few grades of course, change at 1 Jan. Typically, these are grades that were estimated, shown as “L” for local, at the start of the season. […]
Highcliffe Castles win Keith Bateman Memorial Trophy; Final Table
24 players in 6 teams from Salisbury, Highcliffe & Ringwood, including players from Southbourne, packed into the White Hart Ringwood Thurs night, 5 July. They were taking part in the inaugural Keith Bateman Memorial Trophy. It was excellently planned, organised and run by Ringwood’s Pete Donaldson, who in his opening welcome remembered the life of popular Keith […]
