Sunday, 16 August 2026

English Chess Championships

Following hot on the heels of the British Championships, the English Championships are being held in Peterborough from Saturday 24th October to Sunday 1st November. Full details can be found here.

Entry is free to GMs and IMs, so GM Brown and IM Maskery have the chance to redeem themselves after their dismal performances in the British Championship. Everybody else will have to play for the priviledge to play.

Leicestershire County Teams

Leicestershire will be re-entering the County fray this season after a few year's absence. They will be entering teams in the MCCU Open Championship, the U1850 Championship and the U1650 Championship. If anybody is interested in playing for any of these teams then please contact the relevant Captain. Their contact details can be found under Latest News on the LRCA website.

Last Week's News

Ashby 2 had a great result in the Harrod Cup last week, beating top of the table Syston by 5-3 and leapfrogging them into first place. 2 wins each for both Paul G. and Neil, and 1 win for Chris, gave us the points. A win in our last game will guarantee us a first place finish, whilst a draw would probably do it as well. Syston could, in theory, catch us on points but the head to head result between us would give it to Ashby.

Ashby 1 play Market Harborough 1 in their 4th round match on the 25th August, where a win could push us towards the top half of the table.

In the Club Championship, Tom Dove and Tom Gerrard drew their 4th round match, leaving Richard Vann the front runner by half a point, although he could be caught, depending on the result of the last outstanding 4th round game between Andrew Wilson and Roy Evans.

Monday, 10 August 2026

British Championships

GM Mick Brown failed to make any impression at the British Championships this week, failing to register a single point from his 9 games, a result that makes it unlikely that he will be invited to take part in the next FIDE World Championship Candidates Tournament. IM Ian Maskery suffered the same fate.

However, they both retain the support of Ric Dawson, who has confirmed that they will still be the anchors on boards 3 and 4 for Ashby 4 this season. At least I think he said anchors but my hearing isn't what it was and I might have misheard him.

Club Championship Results

There were 3 games played in the 4th round of the Club Championship last week - Steve beat Ric, Paul G beat Ian and Graham beat Peter.

Saturday, 1 August 2026

Latest ECF Newsletter

The latest edition of Chess Moves, the ECF newsletter, was published yesterday. If you have not yet registered to receive it yourself you can click here to view the mobile version for phones and tablets, or here to view the version for laptops and desktops. 

Friday, 31 July 2026

Harrod Cup 4th Round

Ashby 1 and Ashby 2 will both be away in the 4th round of the Harrod Cup. 

Ashby 1 will be away to Market Harborough 1. 

Ashby 2 will be away to Syston in the standout match of the round between the top two teams in the table. 

Last Night's Results

Ashby 2 have moved up to 2nd place in the Harrod Cup table, just a point behind Syston, following a 6.5 - 1.5 win against Heathcote Arms, who defaulted on board 4.

There were 2 games played in the 4th round of the Club Championship, with Neil Roberts beating Dan Vernon and Larry Hayden beating Paul Harrison.