The Bristol League Rapidplay Championship was played today at Stoke Gifford and was won convincingly by Haroon with 6½ from the seven rounds. He beat all five of the nearest chasing pack. That half point was only conceded in the final round, to Steve, who finished on 4 points.

In the Major section Alexis also did well to finish with 4 points while Charlie, in the Minor, reached 50% with a final round win.

The juniors played the penultimate round in the J4NCL. In Division One the Upstarts lost narrowly to Warwickshire Bears A 4½-3½, while in Division Two the Bishops scored their first win against Ojays C by a convincing 4½-2½, even after suffering a point penalty for defaults.

Could the club get back to winning ways? The answer was yes, just, as the A team's trip to play University A resulted in a win by 3½-2½.

The highlight of the two matches at the club last night was undoubtedly James's demolishing of John Curtis, who sportingly played on to allow checkmate. Thanks to draws from Haroon and Alan, the B team managed a quite respectable 4-2 defeat against the ever strong Clifton A. James's game will be a frontrunner when we vote on the Mike Wood attacking game of the season.

Meanwhile the D team had a decidedly off night against South Bristol B, going down by 5½-½, with Carolus providing the only chink of light.

We were well represented in the weekend congress at Wells. In the Open section Oscar had the misfortune to be paired against Keith Arkell in round 4 but still came 6th equal with 3/5 and a tournament rating of 2271.

In the Major section James led the charge for the club and finished equal first with 4½/5 but pipped for the title on tie-break. His tournament rating was 2184! El did well in this strong field to achieve 50% and her tie-break score placed her ahead of the other seven players on 2½ points. Major results

Alexis excelled in the Intermediate section, coming first on tie-break with 4 points! He, also, achieved a performance rating far in excess of his current one. And Carolus also did well to finish in mid-table in this section with 2½ points. Intermediate results

Very well done to all.

Although the E team were somewhat under the cosh against one of Clifton's juniors squads, they fought hard and scored a couple of draws, as reported by Greg in his usual thorough report.

Tonight we had round 5 of the latest season of J4NCL. The Upstarts faced Colchester Juniors A in division one and this was the last match to finish. For those watching online, we saw Alexis hold his nerve in a tense ending to clinch his win with a deadly fork, which also brought home the team win at 5-3. Thanks to this, they have fought their way back into the top half of the table.

Meanwhile in division two, the Bishops lost 5½-2½ against Shropshire Juniors A but not before Vivaan had scored a brace of wins and Charlie achieved the other half point.

Also last night the C team drew at home to University B, 3-3, with losses on boards 1-3 counterbalanced by wins on 4-6.

The F team played over six boards away to Horfield D and lost narrowly by 3½-2½ which will be pro-rated to 2½-1½ for the league tables. And in early news of tonight's E team match, our players succumbed 5-1 against the young guns of Clifton E.

Nigel has sent in his report on the A team's defeat at the hands of Clifton B.

Dan is first out of the traps with a detailed report on the D team's important win against Cabot A. It seems we did well to hold some perilous situations to clinch the match.

Two matches last night. The A team were somewhat out-rated by Clifton B but secured three draws in losing 4½-1½. The D team did rather better in their trip to the dark back streets of BS3 and came away with a 4-2 win against Cabot A. Incidentally, that victory included Carolus's eighth win of the season. Only Haroon can match that and they are well ahead of the next, Peter on five.

The third visit to Clevedon in consecutive weeks finally resulted in a win, when the B team overcame Clevedon A by 3½-2½.

Greg has added a report containing the E team's individual comments on their narrow loss against Grendel B.

The F team drew tonight 2-2 at home against Portishead B.

Two of our teams were on their travels last night. The C team were at Clevedon where they lost to Clevedon B by 3½-2½. Meanwhile the E team also lost by 3½-2½, away to Grendel B.

The Juniors were in action again in round four of the J4NCL. The Upstarts held Ojays B to a 4-4 draw in Division One. The Bishops were heavily out-rated by Rising Stars 3 and lost 6-2 but well done to Charlie for scoring 1½ of those points.

We took a team to Exeter again today for the Devon County Team Quickplay. We were delighted that Humphrey Andolo returned to the fold after a gap of about a dozen years. He, along with Peter Chaplin, Tom Ash and Dan Parcell scored 17/24 over the four rounds, half a point behind the overall winners and top of the under 7300 section. Dan won a rating prize for his efforts. Congratulations to all!

We now have a report on the D team's struggle against the odds at home to Clifton C. Alongside, the B team also had a big fight on their hands against Bath A and we also have the tale of how they came through with a well earnt point. Nigel completes the trilogy of this week's reports with news of the A team's well hatted and muffled outing to play Clevedon A.

There were two home matches last night and at first the omens did not look good. Bath A turned up with a new 2200+ player on top board! Then Clifton C, who are leading division three by a mile, arrived with a team averaging just under 1800.

In fact the D team, facing an average rating deficit of around 220, did very well to take four draws off their mighty opponents and lost 4-2. But the B team did seriously better, scoring 2½-½ on the top three boards (especially well done Haroon and Martin!) and drawing the match 3-3.

No doubt we shall learn more in due course but two of the draws are worth a special mention. James had a very iffy looking position against David Buckley, with trebled central pawns, but hung in to draw comfortably in the end. Greg was last to finish for the D team and it was well worth his efforts to keep fighting in a tricky rook ending.

Last night the A team ventured out into the cold depths of North Somerset where in a close match they shared the honours with Clevedon A - 3-3.

Greg has provided the usual thorough report on the F team's successful trip to Bath.

Two more rounds to report in the J4NCL. In division one the Upstarts lost 2½-5½ against Dorset Juniors but recovered in round three to beat Swiss Cottage Gambits 6-2 (with four of those points coming from James and Alexis). In division two the Bishops fared less well, losing 2-6 against Brentwood School and 1-7 to Hilsmark Juniors.

It was a double header against Bath last night and overall honours were shared. The C team were heavily out-rated at home against Bath B and went down 5-1. Meanwhile the F team managed to find six souls prepared to travel to play Bath D and they prevailed 4-2, which is pro-rated to 2½-1½ for the league table. No doubt we shall hear more in due course but if there is one lesson to be learnt, it seems it pays to pack your side with current and previous team captains!

Greg has summarized for us the E team's thoughts on their loss against Clifton K. And not to be outdone, Nigel has provided the detail of the match between our A and B teams.

The tussle between A and B resulted in a 4-2 win for the A team. Meanwhile the E team lost 4½-1½ against a much stronger Clifton K, three of whom had played for their A or C team earlier in the week! Well done to Charlie for overcoming the odds with a win against a player rated nearly 300 higher. That makes the third win in 24 hours for our junior contingent.

Thanks to the juniors, the D team's trip to North Bristol garnered a half point. Alexis and Carolus both had comprehensive wins. There's more detail in the report.

Greg has provided his usual detailed report on the E team's trip to Clifton, with no punches pulled!

The juniors started the new season with teams in the top two divisions of the J4NCL again. They can expect some tough matches, indeed they were both out-rated by more than 200 on average. The Upstarts lost 5½-2½ against Rogue Rooks, whose average of 1868 is similar to the top teams in our second division! The Bishops lost 6-2 against Warwickshire Bears B (average 1511). Well done to Carolus, who scored 1½ of our points.

Great news! After a string of disappointing results since the turn of the year, the F team have put us back onto winning ways with a 2½-1½ win against Clifton F. Wins for Steve and Hector and a draw for Charlie. Well done!

The C team ventured over to Horfield where they succumbed to a very powerful Horfield B by 4-2 but not before Keith had notched a serious scalp against his 2000+ opponent. Meanwhile the E team travelled to Clifton where they lost 4½-1½ against Clifton D. Well done to Carolus for achieving the team's only win.

Nigel has provided a report on the A team's narrow defeat against Horfield A.

Half a dozen of our members supported the inaugural Stoke Gifford 960 Rapidplay. Well done to Aron for coming first with 5/6 and James T who was just half a point behind.

Thanks to a combination of unavailability and a clash with the previous night's fixtures, the B team had to call up four reserves for the trip to play University A. They put up a game fight (and well done to Tom for holding board 2) but they still lost by 5½-½. Special thanks to all who helped to raise a team!

Two matches against Horfield last night. We had two wins and six draws, making 5 game points overall but unfortunately they were split 2½ each, so we lost both games narrowly: the A team against Horfield A and the D team against Horfield C.

Several of our players braved the traffic on the M5 to play in the weekend Somerset Congress at Clevedon. Well done to Shaun for getting the best result with 4/5 in the Minor and a tournament rating of 1830!

The club's interest in the Minor Knockout came to a sad conclusion with a 4½-1½ defeat for the Rooks against Clifton Knights. Carolus had a good win and Dave drew.

The first of our festive match reports is in! Greg gives us the low down about the E team's well deserved and welcome success against Clifton D.

Dan has followed up with comprehensive descriptions of the D team's last two matches before the break - away to Thornbury and then away to Horfield C.

And Tom has rounded things off with his detailed account of the C team's loss against Horfield B.

The C team had the same result but, unfortunately, the other way round, losing 4-2 to a very strong Horfield B.

That brings the first half of the season to a close, with 46 matches played by 43 members, including several new faces who we hope have enjoyed starting the journey with us. The league season re-starts in four weeks time but first the Rooks are home in the MKO on 8th January against Clifton Knights, so good luck with that!

Best wishes to all for Christmas and the New Year.

In the first of tonight's two home matches to finish the E team pulled off an excellent 4-2 win against Clifton D. No doubt we shall hear more detail in due course but the highlight must be Carolus's win - called up to play on top board with very little notice, he beat a player rated the merest 223 points higher!

In the final round of Division Five before Christmas, the battle of the F teams resulted all square with our F team drawing 2-2 away to Clifton F.

Nigel has been very prompt with his report on the A team's close encounter at Horfield. And by the way, following other results, the D team could be in a relegation scrap in Division Three. So, as Nigel says, all to play for in the second half of the season!

To add another dimension, Bath A lost quite badly last night, so our B team are now only two points away from moving out of a relegation position.

The A and D teams ventured over to Horfield but sadly they both lost - the A team by 3½-2½ to Horfield A, leaving them top of Division One; the D team by 4½-1½ to Horfield C, which appears to leave us comfortably in mid-table in Division Three.

We now have Greg's report on the E team's draw at South Bristol. It's great to read about both Greg's and Danny's first win of the season.

The B team and the E team both broke new ground last night! The B team beat University A 3½-2½ to secure their first win of the season. The E team drew 3-3 away to South Bristol C to clinch their first point. Could this be the turning point in the season for both of them?

In an eventful evening the C team kept themselves in contention in Division Two with a 3-3 draw away to Yate A.

Thanks to Greg, we now have a report on the thrills and spills in the E team's loss at home to Portishead A. And Nigel has submitted the story of how, in Wednesday's double header, the A team finished all square with Clifton A.

The D team ventured out to Thornbury, whose strength in depth can always cause a few problems. Indeed, they took an early 2-0 lead, only for us to recover to 3-2 up and finally settle for a 3-3 draw.

The E team was really up against it last night, facing an A team with a 2000+ player on board one and huge rating deficits on five boards. So it was very creditable to come away with only a 4-2 defeat against Portishead A. Well done winner Per and drawers John and Vivaan.

Meanwhile it was a much more evenly balanced fight for the A team who drew 3-3 with Clifton A with four draws and a win for Mark against his namesake. As the half season point approaches, the A team are one of four teams bunched within touching distance at the top of Division One.

The B team did very well to take two points off the leaders, Horfield A, losing 4-2. There was a win for Martin and draws for Haroon and James.