I just wanted to promote the 2nd Cheadle Open 2026 (Tuesday, February 3rd @ 10:00 am - Thursday, February 5th @ 7:00 pm). I set this tournament up to have everything I want from a competition:
- Spacious high quality venue
- DGT live boards with International arbiter Matthew Carr
- Free snacks and water in playing hall
It's also a bit niche in that there are no juniors as it's during school time so caters for retired players or those with young children (like me) or those who struggle getting to competitions at weekends. Prize fund will be increasing as someone has offered some extra money for the event. The event doesn't aim to break even; the priority is a high quality event!
Feedback from last year:
Susan Caldwell
I would just like to say thank you very much for organising such a lovely tournament, and for your very warm welcome. I was a little overwhelmed at how nice everyone was to me, and I'm glad I didn't embarrass myself in the games! The atmosphere in the playing hall was great and the event had a nice friendly feel about it. Also I thought there was a good mix of players, and it was nice to see the women doing well in an open tournament.
Simon Richards
I thought the event was brilliant! I've never played in such a mid-week event and it had such a great atmosphere with a splendid mix of "professional" playing conditions and opportunity to chat & socialise with some of the other players. N.B. Opening up the second "analysis" room was a really good idea.
The venue was excellent, although parking was a slight challenge and I'm not sure how many more players it could accommodate!? Admin was flawless and Matt was superb.
Honestly, I've not enjoyed myself so much in years, for which you must take great credit.
Please please run this again next year, or indeed more events of a similar nature in the area.”
Michael Cook:
“You not only organised the tournament perfectly, as far as I can see, but you also jumped up to help whenever anybody needed help, in addition to playing yourself and all the while having a bad cold. I don’t suppose that all that helped you much as a player, but I did enjoy both of your sacrificial kingside attacks. Details are important in organisation: so thank you for great communication before the event, thank you for the daily biscuits, which I think was an amazingly hospitable touch, and I’d also like to thank you personally for extending such a great welcome to Sue who was playing her first tournament in 40 years.”
Link to enter:
https://ukchess.fillout.com/t/3CdQP58DmTus
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