English Chess Forum

Thanks, Alex.

I was thinking of my ECF rating, I should have made that clear.

Hi Keith,

what did you think of the Dieppe Congress? I played in it a few years ago and enjoyed it, but I was surprised how few ENG players there were (4, I think).

Would you recommend it?

If you win or lose a game due to a phone default, can you expect this game to be included in your rating calculation? Does it depend on the rules of the rating system or decision of the event organiser? The reason I ask is because by opponent's phone sounded in the last round of the 4NCL Easter Cong...

Robert Plant visited a junior tournament in Bewdley:-

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly914w625xo

I think he needs to do a bit of work on his openings.

Today's Wizard of Id cartoon:-

https://www.gocomics.com/wizardofid/2026/07/24

I recently played in the Open des Vins in France. This was a relatively small tournament over 9 rounds of around 70 players, ranging from 2314 to 1299, all in one section. So you are bound to get some mismatches in the 1st round, but things settle down after that. Experienced organisers might have a...

It's not hard to be infinitely better than Thames Water.

Unfortunately for Barry Hymer, there are no board prizes this time.

I believe Barry was the highest scoring player in the entire event.

Good that the event is taking place. Peterborough is not such a great place for me, it's a two and a half hour drive, as I found out during last year's 4NCL. Still, it's fair to move these events round the country. I'm surprised that Monday is the 2 round day, staring at 10:00. If you have any dista...

Liverpool ... hmmmm. Much less convenient than Kenilworth. But at least it would be more evidence of the northern powerhouse.

Does anyone have any news of the 2026 English Seniors at Kenilworth?

I'm pleased to report that Oxford 3 will be participating in Division 4. This despite the loss of our amazing captain, Tim Dickinson.

I played 2 kids wearing these phones and there was nothing to suggest they were getting any help. I don'tknow if there were electronic or not. I also don't know if they had approval to wear them from the arbiters.

Does anyone see any problems with juniors wearing noise cancelling headphones? I saw this happening in a couple of tournaments I played in France recently.

Oxford 2 won all 3 matches over the final weekend to pull clear of the relegation zone. A very creditable achievement.