50th Guernsey 2026

[Kevin Thurlow]

Live Boards

https://guernseychessfestival.org.gg/th ... ve-boards/

Results

https://s2.chess-results.com/tnr1404779 ... 0&SNode=S0

We started today, with a few people missing, but we're optimistic that some of them will arrive. My first opponent was Chris Holland, that I previously played six times between 1983 and 1993. He then moved to Guernsey. For anyone watching live, the feed was working, but he took 46 minutes for move 11! He had had the white pieces every time. There were more lively games, board 2 is well worth a look.

The carpet in the venue appears to have been designed by Edvard Munch...

[Ronnie Burton]

Thanks for information. The hotel made big mistake with cost of staying their. Imagine many players are not staying ay hotel. Good luck for the rest of the tournament

[Kevin Thurlow]

There are only 62 players this year, and many are staying elsewhere. The food, accommodation and service are all very good. If you check prices on suitable internet sources, you will find they are all higher than pre-Covid.

Regulars may be interested to know that Robert Bellin was spectating yesterday and today, and a trip to the Occupation Museum revealed that Richard Heaume (who started it, and I first met in 1978) is still running it. "Oh yes, I started collecting items for it 75 years ago." I felt young for about 5 minutes...

[Kevin Thurlow]

Open top pairings for Rd 4 are

1 Mark Davey (2,5) - Katarzyna Toma (2.5)
2 Polle van Arendonk (2.5) - Stephen Dilleigh (2.5)
3 Alain Van Leeuwen (2) - Jan M Van Den Boogaart (2.5)
and 5 more on 2

Challengers

1 Geoffrey Brown (3) - Nigel Dennis (2.5)
2. Peter Kirby (2.5) - Tom Adams (2.5)
and 7 on 2

[Ian Thompson]

There are only 62 players this year, and many are staying elsewhere. The food, accommodation and service are all very good. If you check prices on suitable internet sources, you will find they are all higher than pre-Covid.

Is there anything, other than the chess, going on at the hotel, or in Guernsey, that would justify a public hotel rate of £196 per night this week compared to £96.30 for nearly every other night in November? Is the hotel nearly full this week?

[Kevin Thurlow]

It seems a popular lunch venue, but otherwise is not crowded. Staying at the Peninsula, there is a choice of dinner there or the pub opposite, so many people have opted to stay in St Peter Port, which has a great choice of places to eat, but an awkward commute to the venue. Buses stop about 6,30 pm, and the local paper contains many complaints about the service. The tradition of finishing the game, and having a drink and a chat, is more or less absent.

Driving on narrow and unfamiliar roads is exciting in daylight, and horrible at night! I am not aware of much happening on the island, most places of interest have close for winter.

[Roger de Coverly]

Staying at the Peninsula, there is a choice of dinner there or the pub opposite, so many people have opted to stay in St Peter Port, which has a great choice of places to eat, but an awkward commute to the venue.

Wasn't it more the prices at the Peninsula that put people off staying there? Were there any Flight + Accommodation or Ferry + Accommodation packages on offer?

[Tim Spanton]

It seems a popular lunch venue, but otherwise is not crowded. Staying at the Peninsula, there is a choice of dinner there or the pub opposite, so many people have opted to stay in St Peter Port, which has a great choice of places to eat, but an awkward commute to the venue. Buses stop about 6,30 pm, and the local paper contains many complaints about the service. The tradition of finishing the game, and having a drink and a chat, is more or less absent.

Driving on narrow and unfamiliar roads is exciting in daylight, and horrible at night! I am not aware of much happening on the island, most places of interest have close for winter.

It's very walkable, although I accept it would not be much fun walking back into town in the evening in the dark if it were also raining.

[Kevin Thurlow]

I don't know about packages - ferries from Portsmouth were only announced a couple of weeks ago, and flights from Bristol were only announced a couple of months ago. If you come from mainland Europe, you basically have to fly to England then to Guernsey, or take a boat from France.

[Kevin Thurlow]

Round 5

Open

1. K Toma (3.5) - P Van Arendonk (3.5)
2. JM Van Den Boogaart (3) - P Giulian (3)
3. T Van Ingen (2.5) - K Dam (3)
7 others on 2.5

Challengers

1. N Dennis (3.5) - P Kirby (3)
2. T Weijers (3) - T Adams (3)
3. S Jacob (3) - G Brown (3)

Some of the other pairings in the challengers look odd - there are two games where a 1.5 plays a 2.5!

[Julie Denning]

I don't know about packages - ferries from Portsmouth were only announced a couple of weeks ago, and flights from Bristol were only announced a couple of months ago. If you come from mainland Europe, you basically have to fly to England then to Guernsey, or take a boat from France.

I did a package deal involving ferry, with car, and 9 days hotel B&B for £890. Came over on the last fast ferry of the season from Poole, but am having to go back on a 9.5 hours slow ferry to Portsmouth.

[IM Jack Rudd]

Some of the other pairings in the challengers look odd - there are two games where a 1.5 plays a 2.5!

That looks like a late result correction - maybe Tedd v Finch was originally listed as a black win and paired as such, and then corrected to a white win after the pairings were published.