English Chess Forum

It is interesting to speculate why the entry was low. For my part, I would say it was too close after the British (less than 3 months). Also, the previous English Seniors was an event in its own right, rather than a side event to the English Championship. This event looked like a mini ‘festival’, wi...

Geoff Chandler wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 02, 2026 4:04 am

Fell asleep in the armchair at 20:30ish wife tip-toed to bed. Just woke up and am wide awake at 03:45 in the morning.

So you thought, “I know, I’ll see what’s going on at the English Chess Forum”.

As a French Defence addict I enjoyed this win from Jonah Willow against Brandon Clarke.

https://lichess.org/broadcast/english-c ... S/9xagc9mJ

This starts tomorrow in Peterborough. In the meantime the Rapid Championship is being played over the weekend, with 6 rounds yesterday and a further 5 today. After 7 rounds Jonah Willow and Marcus Harvey are leading with 6/7, ahead of the usual suspects. Live coverage at Lichess: https://lichess.org...

There is a *lot* of chess stuff on YouTube, and needless to say it is of variable quality. (though yes, the best is very good) Indeed, and a lot of it is very bad. My feed seems to think I need to see videos on how to get my rating above 1000, which might turn out to be prescient before long. I wil...

[quote="Nick Burrows" post_id=331126 time=<a href="tel:1791876803">1791876803</a> user_id=6328] I have duly screenshotted and framed the league table with us sitting above Wood Green for posterity. :mrgreen: Well deserved, unlike yourselves we were in some danger of not even making it to 4 match po...

That is interesting, Lawrence - ok, I admit, I was an accountant in a former life. To Kevin’s point about reporting spend to the government, that document would probably be the extent disclosed, although they might retain the right to audit.

JustinHorton wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 30, 2026 3:11 pm

John Eddershaw

Nice article. He could have played in the seniors at the British, but perhaps, at the age of 93, did not fancy playing all those juniors.

Kevin Thurlow wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 29, 2026 2:02 pm

I had the immense honour of playing Alex Chernaiev some years ago. At first he didn't want to play me as I was too weak, then wanted extra money to play me, but then subsided…

Did these negotiations happen at the board?

Excellent report, John, thank you. The organisers have put together what looks like a tournament with a lot of strength in depth. An interesting innovation, presumably made possible by sponsorship, or free venue, or other financial considerations, is that there is no entry fee, if I read that correc...

I really enjoyed the comms and commentary. As DG has said he'll be playing in the British next year, it might be worth exploring whether the ECF could bring in someone with a profile similar to Gotham Chess to join the commentary team. I would like to see the return of Andrew Martin! The difference...

LawrenceCooper wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 08, 2026 10:37 am

Round 9 now underway: https://lichess.org/broadcast/scheldemo ... 3/SuknARJR

You had me worried! I thought you were referring to the British, which starts early on Sunday, and I haven’t left home yet!

Jonathan Rogers wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 06, 2026 10:04 pm

He'll have to raise his game, he has looked less impressive than all of the other players on 5/6 thus far.

On the other hand, Adams won those endings in rounds 5 and 6, by sheer determination as well as technique. I still think he will be involved in a play-off.

First impressions very good; a bit hot in the main playing hall, but the tables are well spaced. Plenty of breakout space for the parents of juniors to spread out, but I couldn’t see a bar of any kind near to the playing hall, presumably because most students have gone. The play looks good so far. I...

MJMcCready wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 03, 2026 4:44 pm

I was surprised to learn that even titled players can resort to such underhand tactics to get a win. I thought that sort of thing only really went on at club level.

The difference is they are professional players - look at the gamesmanship/cheating which occurred at the football World Cup.