The Fishponds Club will be open on Wednesday 27th December, so we can host our traditional Christmas tournament on the usual buzzer format. More details to follow but please mark your diaries!

After a difficult night for the club two days previously, the D team fought back with a 4-2 win against North Bristol. Once again they top the table until the chasing pack play games in hand. Read all about it in the Reports section.

The C and F teams braved the M5 last night to go to Clevedon. The C team, who were outrated by the merest 175 points on average, lost 5-1 to their A team, who are obviously intending an immediate return to division one. The F team came close with a 2.5-1.5 loss to their C team. None of our players were helped by the stress of wondering if the motorway would clear in time for them to get through but, in fairness, the were comfortably outplayed overall. At least we have no more away league fixtures in North Somerset this season!

To quote John, "Any win against Bristol University has to have a report." So his report can be found under News Reports!

Two good wins at the club last night. The B team trounced University B 5.5-0.5. The E team beat Grendel B 3-1 and ensured they will finish in the top four in Division 4A, so they qualify for Division 4 after Christmas.

Now with an E team report from Greg!

Nigel’s excellent report is now there to tell you more!

The A team had a strong 4-2 win against Horfield A, putting us back to second place until University A play Horfield B later this week. Still five points behind Bath A but we have to play them twice so it's all to play for.

There are now reports on last week's three matches; E team get fine win at Hanham, Tough struggles with Horfield D, and Close defeat against strong opposition

Another one will follow to describe the D team's excellent win away to Clevedon B last night. In fact, the team has responded so quickly that the report is already up!

Two pieces of League news as the first half of the season draws towards its close. The A team's struggle to win Division One appears no longer to be a fight with University, since they lost at Bath yesterday. Bath now have six wins from six with only our A team to play, so the match at Fishponds on 13th December will be crucial to our chances of catching up with them.

The League has announced the detail of how Divisions 4A and 4B will be reorganized after Christmas. The top four from each group will form the new Division Four and all the other teams, plus any newcomers, will go into Division Five. As things stand we should have one team in each of Divisions Four and Five, so all to play for as regards some silverware!

A busy Wednesday night saw two tough matches. Grendel A's recently relegated squad proved too strong for our C team. Outrated by over 50 points on average, we still only lost by the narrowest of margins.

The F team faced an experienced Horfield D and did very well to hold their top four to draws. Indeed there were some winning chances but it just wasn't to be on the night. The final 4-2 result will be pro-rated to 2.5-1.5 for the league tables.

The E team had a great trip to Hanham with four wins and a draw against their B team. The result was pro-rated to a 3-1 win for the league table and one highlight was wins on the top boards for Carolus and Charlie.

The Downend Upstarts got a narrow but well-earnt 4½-3½ against Edgware Gambits A. The Bristol Bishops score the exact same 4½-3½ win against Edgware Gambits B. The Knights of Fishponds had an even better time winning 6-2 against Colchester Juniors.

The D team came second at home to Keynsham despite being gifted a start by way of a default.

The B team shared the points at Horfield B. According to Dave, Horfield snatched the draw when a couple of games turned at the end.

Two A team match reports from Nigel are now available via the fixtures page; Downend A 4½ - 1½ Horfield B and Downend A 6 - 0 University B. There is also one from Alan on this week's E team match.

A busy night in Fishponds saw the heavyweight clash between the A team and University A end all square. Meanwhile the C team lost narrowly to South Bristol A but stay top of division two on game points and the F team's trip to Cabot B ended with a 3-1 defeat.

Update! Now with Pete's match report.

The E team shared the points away to Horfield E and we welcomed Sam March for his first game for the club.

The D-team had a good night, winning 4½-1½ against Hanham A.

The C-team continued their 'win with at least 4' streak with another 4-2 win, this time at Thornbury.

Update: Games available for members!

The B-team came unstuck 1½-4½ against Bath A, but the E-team earnt a 2-2 draw against South Bristol C.

Another tough night for the J4NCL teams. The Upstarts 1½ - 2½ to the ever-strong Warwickshire Bears B. There was a 4-4 draw for the Bristol Bishops against Young Dragons Wales C. In Division 4, the Knights of Fishponds came second with a 4½-3½ loss to Chess Challengers H.

The B-team got us back to winning ways, with a 3½ - 2½ win over Horfield A!

Don't celebrate too soon, the D-team came unstuck 1½-4½ against Yate A.

The A-team couldn't come up with anything against a very strong Clifton A - 1½-4½.

The F-team had similar luck against Clifton E - 1½-4½.

Aron scored an amazing result in the U18 Terafinal, coming second with an undefeated 9 points out of a possible 11! Full results are available on chess-results.

For those who would like to pay their respects, Geoff's funeral will be on Friday 20th October at 12.15pm, at Westerleigh Crematorium followed by wake at the Bridge Inn at Shortwood. Everyone from the Club is welcome.

The A-team had a fantastic night winning 6-0 against University B.

The C-team also had a victory (4-2) against Cabot A. Games are available for members!

Things settled in a 2-2 draw between the E-team and Yate B.

The club is very sad to announce the passing of Geoff Gammon. Our thoughts are with his family at this time.

Games are appearing for club members. Please get in touch to reactivate your account. Reports are appearing too, as well as our updated Child Safeguarding Policy.

The B-team had a tough night against a strong University A; 2-4 the final score.

Update: It was a hard night for the club in the J4NCL - the Upstarts narrowly lost 3-4 to Young Dragons Wales A and the mighty Warwickshire Bears C duffed up the Bristol Bishops 1-7. The Knights of Fishponds saved the night with a 4-4 draw against Brentwood School C.

The D team scored a narrow 3½-2½ victory over Bath C!

Update: Complete with match report!

The Downend Rooks also made it to the next round of the Minor Knockout, with a 2½ - 3½ win over Grendel.

The Downend Bishops ended their Minor Knockout with a 2½-3½ loss to Yate, but the Knights have progressed to the next round with a 6-0 a defaulting Thornbury.

The Upstarts kept up their great start with an evening better 7½-½ win over Wanstead Warriors A. The Bishops also remain unbeaten with a 4-4 draw against Ojays C. And for their win last time against the Chess Challengers D, the Knights of Fishponds were rewarded with a match against Chess Challengers B. Sadly it was a leap too far this time, 2-5 the final score.

There was a great start for the club in the knockout with an 8-0 win over Clevedon!

The E-team also started their campaign with a great win; 3-1 against Clifton D!

The lower boards had a great night for the C-team against a strong Clifton B, winning the night 4½-1½ .

Update: Now with Grant's match report!

Season 8 of the J4NCL got underway with some great results. The Downend Upstarts scored a 4½-3½ win over Surrey Kings 1, the Bristol Bishops went even further with a 6-2 against Colchester Juniors B, and the Knights of Fishponds also had a great start by winning 4½-3½ against Chess Challengers D.

As is tradition now, the B-team overturned the A-team 3½ - 2½.

The new Portishead team have started as they mean to continue, leaving our F-team the 1½-2½ losers on the night.

The D-team kicked off the season with a great start; winning 3½-2½ against Horfield C. Games will be appearing for members and Ian provides us with the match report!

The new site is live! There's a few bits left to do to bring all of what we had into the new format, but we hope it's a big improvement overall.

If you find any bugs, please let Michael know, and for club members, to get your account reactivated please get in touch!

The winner of the 2023 Mike Wood Trophy for the best attacking game, is Aldrin Malibiran!

Club members and Bristol chessers alike will doubtless be interested in the Newport Chess Congress. Held over 8th-10th September, there are multiple sections available, but winners of the Open will win the Robert Graham Taylor trophy, named after our late club member. Full details are available on the website.

The 1st South Bristol Junior Jamboree was a great success and particularly so for our juniors. I won't spoil the surprise, because we have Aldrin's fantastic report and related gallery. Thanks must go to the organisers for putting on a great day!

It's that time again, it's time for members to vote for the best attacking game of the season for the Mike Wood Trophy!

There was a great deal of Downend success at the Bristol Megafinal today! Aron won the U18 section with a perfect 6/6! James won the U14 with a stunning 5.5/6! Jake won the U12 with an equally stunning 5.5/6! Alexis won the U11 with another 5.5/6! Not to be outdone, Carol's won the U9 with another perfect 6/6! This junior success is going to wear out my "!" key.

Downend Juniors took on the Knights of Bristol in another double header and despite giving the combined might of Bristol a good run for its money, they came away with a 3-4 loss in the first round, and repeated it with another 3-4 loss in the second. Good effort guys and well done to Oli for organising!

Mark the date in your diaries, the club AGM is set to be held on Wednesday June 21st!

Downend & Fishponds have won the Knockout Final for the second year in the row! Despite a strong team from Hanham, the final score was 5½-2½. Games are appearing for everyone and a match report and photos will doubtless appear soon!

The C-team managed a fine 4-2 win over South Bristol A!

Grendel B were unable to muster a team in their final league run giving our F-team a 4-2 win, which in turn guarantees our E-team the Division 4 title!

The B-team secured third place with a solid 1-5 win over Grendel.