Chandler’s Ford Chess Club player Iwan Cave is organising the 2nd Hampshire Rapidplay tournament next Saturday, 5th April 2025. It is a 6 round ECF Rated Rapid tournament with a time control of 15 minutes plus 10 seconds per move held at Barton Peveril 6th Form College, Eastleigh, SO50 5ZA on 5th April 2025. Maximum Entries: 90 (there are still places available).
The 2nd Hampshire Rapidplay – Tournament details
Sections:
Open
Major (U1650)
Rapid ratings will be used to determine which sections players can enter. If a player doesn’t have a rapid rating or has a provisional rating then their classical rating will be used to determine eligibility.
Please note there is a £15 pay-to-play fee (£6 for juniors) for players with ECF membership below Gold. With the ECF restructuring their membership system, all Silver Members have been upgraded to Gold membership. You can check your ECF membership here.
For any players without ECF membership, please follow this link to sign up to the ECF. Players under 25 who haven’t previously been members of the ECF can get their first year of membership free of charge.
Prizes:
1ˢᵗ – £100 2ⁿᵈ – £70 3ʳᵈ – £50
Minimum prize fund for each section. No player may win more than one prize. If a player is eligible for two or more prizes, the highest will be awarded. In the event of a tie, players will share prizes.
*The minimum prize fund is based on receiving 40 entries . The prize fund shall be increased in line with the number of entries and may include extra category prizes including: rating; junior; and women.
The venue is easily accessible by car and public transport. It is located just off Junction 13 of the M3 and Junction 5 of the M27 and has ample on site parking as well as parking on Chestnut Avenue just outside the college. Southampton Airport Parkway and Eastleigh Train Station are both a 20 minute walk away and public buses from Romsey and Southampton run past the college regularly.
Local amenities can be found a short walk from the college campus in Eastleigh Town Centre. The College Café will be open between 09:00 – 15:00.
This is a busy time for Chandler’s Ford Chess Club. The Southampton Chess League nears the end of the2024-5 season, but with some club tournaments about to start, plus some local Congresses, there’s a lot happening. Graham Stuart guides us through the chess scene with his club roundup March 2025.
SCL League
No matches last week, but the result of the University C match is of relevance to our C team and Division 4. University c beat Basingstoke D 2½ – 1½ and this leaves the table as below. The C team need to beat Salisbury C 3½ – ½ to win the league, a 3 – 1 win will see a tie (and play-off for promotion and a tied championship). A tough ask, but it could have been worse if the University had won by a larger margin.
Three away matches next week with:
D team are away to Southampton C on Tuesday
E team visit Basingstoke E on Wednesday
The previously mentioned C team match against Salisbury C on Thursday. Good luck to the team!
I have attached a LMS Report on the matches from last week in the SCL League. But all results can be seen from the SCL Fixtures.
Dave Holmes and David Culliford are playing in this weekend congress. This congress is a favourite of theirs. Results can be found at the link below, with 2 of the 5 rounds played.
The 2nd program went down more favourably than the first, with the 8-queen puzzle being popular. I think this week has 6 more players, and from what I can see one player is rated over 1800 and I think could be the strongest player in the event.
The player who left if the 1st round is Nick Templar and he is rating is 1650 (1670 live), which was a bit higher rated than I thought. But the games in the show are 10-to-15-minute games (with increment) and maybe this gave a false impression of their quality.
The popular KO tournament is being held from April.
Quick summary if that you need to enter by the 31st March and Steve Dunleavy will complete a round by round draw and you will normally have between 3 and 4 weeks to play your game.
John Kooner Club Championship (old Summer tournament)
Please let Malcolm Clarke know if you wish to enter this competition. The draw is to be completed in a couple of days’ time, so please enter soon.
It can be difficult to turn up and get a game due to the tournaments, so please do email players to see if available for a ladder / rated game before club night. Not sure of the best way to manage this, but if anyone wishes to set something up please do so.
Please remember to advise the Tournament Controller of the result of your game. Contact details and LMS links below.
If you are away / cannot play in the ladder for a few weeks let Rob know so he can sit you out and allow others to challenge above the normal number of places.
If you cannot get a game from the internal tournaments, you can play a rated friendly, but the tournaments always take priority to ensure they run on schedule. To ensure these ad-hoc games do not start too late, please make sure they start before 8pm and only play one per evening. If you have played someone once, the 2nd game should be with reversed colours.
Time control can be either 80 + 10 or 90 minutes for these standard rated games but if players cannot agree, 80 + 10 is the default.
Large prizes available from Dorset Chess Association! This is certainly a tournament to consider playing in. This also now has a British Chess Championship place for the best score by a WECU member. There is now a late entry fee, and the Congress is close to full. Keith, Graham and Philip are playing.
2nd HCA Rapidplay – 5th April 2025 (run by Iwan Cave)
Hampshire play in the Chiltern League which this season has reintroduced the B team competition
All matches are on Saturdays, 2pm to 6pm.
B team dates (Under 1750)
29th March 2025 – Victory Hall, Church Road, Farley Hill, RG7 1TR
National U1650
Hampshire have entered the national stages which Ashraf will be running. Details to follow, but if your rating was under 1650 in September 2024 you are eligible (especially improving juniors!)
In addition, for the Hampshire Chess History website I am planning on adding a small history of each Hampshire club, I have started with our club and as this is an amalgamation of many clubs this does cover all of these. The idea is that others will update me with additional information from their club archives.
My understanding of the clubs which fed into the current CF Chess club is below. Eastleigh Railway was the main Eastleigh club (and would have probably changed venue / name a few times as well) which was formed in 1912.
In addition, this does mean CF Chess Club is now 10 years old and we should think about the best way to celebrate this! Please do let Rob / Malcolm and other CF Officers know of any idea?
Castle Chess will hold their 27th Fareham Congresstournament (over the board games) on 10th-12th March 2023. It will be at the Lysses House Hotel, 51 High Street, Fareham, PO16 7BQ.
Lovely garden at the Lysses House Hotel venue of the Castle Chess Fareham Congress March 2024
Castle Chess 27th Fareham Congress: main features
Dates: 14-16th March 2025
Venue: the Lysses House Hotel, 51 High Street, Fareham, Hampshire. PO16 7BQ. Contact Castle Chess if you’d like to stay there for the tournament.
The Lysses House Hotel, Fareham
Entry fee: £40 (£7 discount for juniors)
Sections: Open, Major (U1901 ECF), Minor (U1601)
Prizes: expected £200 per Section, but dependent on the number of entries.
Rate of Play: 75 minutes plus 30 seconds per move.
See link below for printable Entry form. You can contact the organiser Tony Corfe, by email or phone. 01707 661160 Mob: 07973 516718 tony@mrcorfe.co.uk
The format of the Congress is a six-Round Swiss: round one on the Friday evening, three rounds on the Saturday, and the last two games on the Sunday. Byes may be requested (except Round 6).
There are three sections:
Open: Under 2001
Major: Under 1901
Minor: under 1601
The Congress costs £40 to enter, with an £8 discount for Juniors. Non-ECF members will need to pay £15 extra. There are also various accommodation packages – available through Castle Chess – if you would like to stay at the Lysses.
Tea and coffee will be provided for a donation: £1.50 per cup, £9 maximum for the weekend.
Results of all games will be be sent to the ECF for Grading.
There will not be a Prize-giving ceremony as prizes will be sent via bank transfer.
Rate of Play
The rate of play for the games is 75 minutes plus 30 seconds per move (about 3 and a half hours). All moves must be recorded throughout the game.
Further information
EVENT ENQUIRIES: Tony Corfe, 51 Borough Way, Potters Bar, Herts. EN6 3HA Tel: 01707 661160 Mob: 07973 516718 email: tony@mrcorfe.co.uk or marc.shaw.chess@gmail.com or Marc Shaw 07947 813303
See the Castle Chess website’s home page by clicking on their logo below:
Several Chandler’s Ford players participated in January’s Castle Chess tournament. Please see our previous article about the event here; this article gives an update about CF players’ success in the Castle Chess January 2025 Fareham Congress.
Five Chandler’s Ford Chess Club players participated in the Castle Chess 26th Fareham Congress, held at the Lysses House Hotel in Fareham, 17th – 19th January 2025. The CF players enjoyed considerable success at the tournament, with three of them – David Holmes, Alikhan Menseitov and Philip Tarrant-Edwards sharing joint First in the Major with 2 non-CF players also achieving 4 points. Meanwhile, in the Minor, joint third Keven Lamb received a prize too!
Castle Chess hold three Congresses at the Lysses House Hotel in Fareham each year, in January, March, and October. The weekend tournaments comprise of six rounds, with one game on the Friday evening, three on the Saturday, and two on the Sunday. The games have a rate of play of 75 minutes plus 30 seconds per move. There are normally three sections, but this January the Congress did not have an Open section.
A reminder to renew our membership subscriptions for 2025 for our venue, the Chandler’s Ford Central Club. Central Club Membership Renewals subscriptions run January to December each year. Renewals at the rates shown below are available from 3rd January 2025 online or in the office from 6th January. Any Membership renewals after 31st January will be subject to a Late Renewals Fee of £5.
Our venue is the Chandler’s Ford Central Club, membership subscriptions January to December
To renew your Membership, see the Central Club’s website Subscriptions Page 2025 which gives details on how to pay online – their preferred method, although other ways are available.
Chandler’s Ford Central Club Membership renewal due January 2025
Chandler’s Ford Central Club Membership Renewals 2025
See the Subscriptions Page 2025 of the Central Club website, and the table below. Membership fees are an important part of the Central Club’s income.
The cost of renewal will be:
MEMBER
Without Pass Card *
With Pass Card *
MALE/FEMALE
£25.00
£28.50
OAP
£12.50
£16.00
LIFE
Not available
£ 3.50
Chandler’s Ford Central Club Membership renewal 2024
* Note: Pass card enables entry to all other Club and Institute Union (CIU)
When sending the money please ensure you put your Member Number which can be seen on your Membership Card and Surname into the Payment Reference, to enable the details to be matched on the system.
If you want a CIU Pass card, please remember to add £3.50.
If you haven’t joined the Chandler’s Ford Central Club yet, and would like to, please see their website’s ‘Join Us’ Page. There you will find a link to the Application Form. This is completed by you, plus Proposer and Seconder. Two passport photos, the form, and the fee should then be passed to the Club Secretary during normal Club hours (see the Central Club’s Home page for details).
Annual subscriptions for the venue is one of three financial costs if you want to fully engage with playing chess and the chess club, the other two outlays being annual subs to the Chess Club itself, and the other, annual membership of the English Chess Federation – so that you can participate in ECF-graded League matches and chess tournaments. See our What does it cost Page.
Castle Chess will be holding their 26th Fareham Congress on 17th-19th January 2025. The 6 Round Swiss tournament has 3 Sections. The time control for all sections is 75 minutes each plus a 30 second increment per move: 75+30. The Entry fee if £40. Read on for more details.
The Lysses House Hotel, venue for Fareham Chess Congress
Castle Chess 26th Fareham Congress: main features
Dates: 17-19 January 2025.
Venue: the Lysses House Hotel, 51 High Street, Fareham, Hampshire. PO16 7BQ. Contact Castle Chess if you’d like to stay there for the tournament.
Entry fee: £40 (£8 discount for juniors under 18)
Sections: Open (Under 2001 ECF), Major (U1901 ECF), Minor (U1601)
Prizes: expected £200 per Section, but dependent on the number of entries.
Rate of Play: 75 minutes plus 30 seconds per move.
The Book Prize tournament 2024-25 has 34 Players who compete in 4 Sections (A,B,C and D) according to player grading strength. Within each Section, it is an all-play-all structure in a series of Rounds. The tournament will run until August 2025.
The Tournament organiser is Peter Przybycin.
Peter Przybycin, the organiser of the Book Prize Tournament
Each Round lasts 5 weeks, enabling the tournament to be on course to complete all games by August 2025. The Book Prize Tournament 2024-25 pages of this website for each Section will have the player pairings and results.
See organiser Peter Przybycin‘s outline of the Tournament below.
Welcome to the fifth Chandlers Ford Book Prize Tournament!
We have 34 entries, in four sections, A, B, C, and D, according to player strength.
Sections A and D are of nine players, necessitating a bye in each round.
Sections B and C are of eight players.
There will be one round every five weeks, meaning the tournament should end in August 2025.
All games should be played at Chandlers Ford Chess Club, or alternatively at the home of the player with white pieces, if both players agree.
Online games are not permitted.
Rate of play will be 80 minutes plus 10 seconds per move.
Provided both players agree, the rate of play can be 90 minutes each for the whole game.
If two players tie for first place in any section, the book prize will go to the winner of their individual game. If that was a draw, then there will be a replay with reversed colours. If the replay is drawn, the player with the lower published grade (at the time of the replayed game) will take the prize.
Silverware: Trophy prizes at the Hampshire Chess Association HCA Congress 2022
The tournament comprises 5 Rounds of games, organised in three Sections: The Open, the Major, and the Minor. There are currently 75 players entered in the tournament. Please note the venue’s capacity is 92 – so enter now!
The venue
The Lysses House Hotel in Fareham is a pleasant and friendly venue that has been used by the Hampshire Chess Association on previous occasions, and also by Castle Chess (they had 3 events there in 2024). The address is: Lysses House Hotel, 51 High Street, Fareham, Hampshire, PO16 7BQ.
The Lysses House Hotel, Fareham, venue for the HCA Chess Congress
Parking:
The Hotel has free parking for 35 cars, but there is a convenient car park very close to the venue: the Lysses Car Park, Lysses Path, Fareham PO16 7BE, free after 6pm and Sundays, whilst Saturday all day is only £3.50.
The Major. Under 1900 English Chess Federation rating. £35 Entry.
The Minor. Under 1600 ECF. £35 Entry.
Note: Entry fees based on ECF Membership of Silver or above. Otherwise add a £9 fee.
Late Fee: for entries received after Monday 28th October additional fee of £5. So enter the HCA Congress today!
Prizes
Each Section has Prizes 1st, 2nd, 3rd, plus a Grading Prize. There are also various Trophies and Cups in the Sections. Overall, there are further Prizes, such as the Gillian Moore Cup for the highest-scoring Hampshire Lady, and the John Dunleavy Memorial Best Game Prize (£100). The cash prizes are open to all players, whilst the Cups and Trophies are for Hampshire players.
Hampshire Congress trophies The Silver Rook, Hampshire county champion prize
For more details on the Prize see the HCA entry form link below:
Tournament organiser Rob Sims announces the New Ladder for 2024-25. As in the previous Ladders, players may challenge up to 4 places above themselves. This year the time control is 80+10 (80 minutes each, plus ten seconds per move).
The new chess Ladder 2024-25 started last week and will run until 2nd September 2025.
Organiser Rob Sims announces the new Ladder
Although the winner of the 2023-24 Ladder tournament has not been decided yet, as the final game between Theo and Peter Przybycin has not been played, I am sending out the new Ladder for the 24-25 season which has about 23 club members on it at the moment.
I am expecting a few more to join over the coming month and they will be slotted in on an appropriate rung when possible.
The rules remain the same as previously. If any of you play a game tomorrow evening at club please let me know the result as soon as possible.
Many thanks and good climbing to all
Best wishes
Rob
Click the link button below to go to the Ladder Page, with the latest ladder positions plus the Rules.
Initial positions on the ladder are determined in order of rating.
All games to be played on the clock, which will be set at 80 minutes each with 10 second increments per move.
You may challenge anyone who is one, two, three, or four places above you on the ladder.
A challenge cannot be made more than 7 days ahead of a game. Once a challenge is accepted neither the challenger nor the player being challenged may make or accept another challenge.
The decision as to who plays white is made at the start of the game by one of the players choosing a black or white pawn from a closed hand.
You can email challenges to your eligible opponents in advance, but it won’t count as a loss if your opponent is unable to play for any reason.
If the lower ranked player wins, the lower ranked player takes the higher ranked player’s position on the ladder, and the higher ranked player moves down one place.
If the higher ranked player wins, there is no change in the players’ rankings. If the game ends in a draw, the lower ranked player takes the position just below the higher ranked player.
After a ladder game is played, at least one of the players must play a ladder game against someone else before they can play each other again.
Please report all results of games to me and I will submit them to ECF for grading purposes.
The top three players on Tuesday 2nd September 2025 will play off to decide the eventual winner. Players in second and third place play each other and the winner plays the player in first place.
