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!
News
Last updated: 17:00 Friday 7th February 2025
Thu 6th Feb '25
Sun 2nd Feb '25
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.
Thu 30th Jan '25
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.
Wed 29th Jan '25
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.
Mon 27th Jan '25
Greg has provided his usual detailed report on the E team's trip to Clifton, with no punches pulled!
Fri 24th Jan '25
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.
Wed 22nd Jan '25
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!
Wed 22nd Jan '25
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.
Sun 19th Jan '25
Nigel has provided a report on the A team's narrow defeat against Horfield A.
Sun 19th Jan '25
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.
Fri 17th Jan '25
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!
Thu 16th Jan '25
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.
Mon 13th Jan '25
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!
Thu 9th Jan '25
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.
Fri 20th Dec '24
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.
Thu 19th Dec '24
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.
Wed 18th Dec '24
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!
Wed 18th Dec '24
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.
Thu 12th Dec '24
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.
Tue 10th Dec '24
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.
Fri 6th Dec '24
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.
Thu 5th Dec '24
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?
Wed 4th Dec '24
In an eventful evening the C team kept themselves in contention in Division Two with a 3-3 draw away to Yate A.
Sat 30th Nov '24
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.
Fri 29th Nov '24
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.
Thu 28th Nov '24
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.
Wed 27th Nov '24
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.
Mon 25th Nov '24
Round seven was the last of this season's J4NCL series and it saw our teams suffer defeats - the Upstarts against Rogue Rooks (with a 400 point average rating deficit) and the Bishops against Brentwood School B. But our relatively inexperienced teams both finished in the top half of their tables.
Thu 21st Nov '24
Thanks to Grant's efforts, we can once again see pgns of games on the website. There are over 40 that have been shared by members so far this season. But remember you need to log in first in order to view them.
P.S. Due to a temporary display issue, they do not display correctly against the appropriate pairing result when viewed from the Fixtures results page, but can all be seen via the Games page.
Thu 21st Nov '24
You can now read Dan's thorough report on last week's D team match against Bath C.
Thu 21st Nov '24
The C team entertained Grendel A last night and lost 4-2, although this scoreline rather disguises the closeness of some of the games. Well done to Alexis for scoring our only win.
Wed 20th Nov '24
The F team ventured out on a filthy night to Yate's new venue and drew 2-2 with their B team.
Thu 14th Nov '24
The juniors have played another round in the J4NCL today with the Upstarts paired against Ojays A in Division One. Ojays outrated us by the merest 400 on average, that's 2000 against 1600! So it was a couple of great results for James to take a draw off his 2179 rated CM opponent and Alexis to beat a 1975, leaving the match score at 1½-6½.
On the other hand, the Bishops were too good for Watford Juniors in Division Two, winning by the same margin, 6½-1½. Charlie had a win and a draw and Vivaan two wins.
Thu 14th Nov '24
It was what they call a sub-optimal night at the club yesterday with the B team suffering from availability issues. Still, everyone fought hard and especially well done to James Thomas for drawing with Black against Mike Ashworth. He, like all the team, suffered a 200+ points rating disadvantage and the final score was a 5½-½ loss against Clifton B.
The D team did rather better, with two wins and a draw against Bath C, but that still left the result as a 3½-2½ loss. Once again the ratings did for us with an adverse average of around 125. Dave Williams is on a bit of a roll with 4½ from his last five games.
Sun 10th Nov '24
Greg has provided a full report on the E team's narrow defeat against Hanham A. And Nigel has followed up with his usual entertaining description, this time for the A team's match away to Bath A.
Fri 8th Nov '24
The juniors were in action yesterday in the J4NCL. The Upstarts beat the strong Young Dragons Wales A 6-1 and find themselves comfortably in the top half of their group in Division One. The Bishops suffered a 6-2 defeat against Warwickshire Bears C but are also still in the top half of their group in Division Two on game points.
Fri 8th Nov '24
University C were too strong for the F team last night, winning by 3½-½. John spared us from a whitewash with his second draw in 24 hours.
Thu 7th Nov '24
Three decisive results last night! First Vivaan recorded his first win for the club against Hanham A. Very well done!! We were heavily outrated but only lost by 3½-2½, which can happen when an E team plays an experienced A team!
Meanwhile the A team travelled to play the current league champions, Bath A, and did a thoroughly good job on them, winning 4½-1½. Three wins and three draws - as Mr Punch would say "That's the way to do it".
Arguably the best result of the night belonged to the C team, who welcomed the 100 percenters in Division Two, South Bristol A, to Fishponds and beat them 4-2 despite being heavily out-rated. Rumour has it that our players were still admiring their efforts well gone 11 pm.
The league tables now show the A team top of Division One and the C team neck and neck with South Bristol in Division Two. Unfortunately, the E team have had two points deducted for winning at Keynsham since the latter have resigned from the league and been replaced by another Clifton team. So we prop up Division Four but there's still plenty to play for!
Mon 4th Nov '24
Update: Nigel has provided a report on the A team's match against University A.
Fri 1st Nov '24
Dan has now provided his thorough analysis of the D team's match at South Bristol, (If you are interested, there are reports here going back 11 years!) The defeat, as Dan has pointed out, still leaves the D team in third place in the very competitive Division Three.
Thu 31st Oct '24
With two matches last night, the points were shared 6-6! The A team comfortably saw off University A at home by 4½-1½ but the D team travelled to play South Bristol B, where they were quite heavily out-rated and lost by 1½-4½.
Mon 28th Oct '24
The B team were without two regular players but still managed to take two game points off a very strong Clifton A to improve their position in the table. There was a win for Haroon and draws for Oscar and Elmira. 4-2 the final result.
Mon 28th Oct '24
Haroon used the extra hour over the weekend to advantage, coming first equal in the Torbay Open with 4/5. Three wins and two draws (one with co-winner Keith Arkell) were enough to finish ahead of the field. Very well done, especially the last round win, which many of us were able to watch live!
Full results can be found here, and here's Haroon's final game and access to the other games.
Fri 25th Oct '24
Here's a report of last night's C team match against University B.
Thu 24th Oct '24
Horfield brought a very experienced D team to play our F team. Mark and Hector kept up their recent successful streak, both drawing, but the team lost 3-1.
Update: Greg has duly provided a detailed report on the E team's trip to Clifton.
And more news just in - The C team had an early finish tonight, beating University B 4-2!
Wed 23rd Oct '24
In the fullness of time no doubt Greg will tell the whole story of last night's adventure which included a flat tyre, a route march, an emergency paternal substitution and wins for Charlie and Per. But, sadly, there was no fairy tale ending and our E team lost 4-2 at Clifton E.
Sun 20th Oct '24
We now have Nigel's report on the A team's match away to Clifton last Tuesday and also both Dan's report covering the D team's success against Cabot A the following day and a report on the exciting B team match against Clevedon A.
Fri 18th Oct '24
The juniors are playing weekly in the J4NCL this season so we have some results to catch up. In Division One the Upstarts beat Warwickshire Bears B, drew with Brentwood and lost to Cambridge Chess and Go. In Division Two the Bishops won one match by default, drew with Ojays C and lost to Swiss Cottage. It means they both sit just above mid-table after four matches with 5 points from 8.
Thu 17th Oct '24
Two home matches last night and both were close ones with no fewer than eleven decisive games. The B team drew 3-3 with fellow strugglers Clevedon A to edge into 6th place in the table on game points scored. Wins for Oscar and James Thomas and one by default. The D team defeated Cabot A 3½-2½ with wins for Dave, Miguel and Carolus.
Wed 16th Oct '24
The A team's trip to Clifton B resulted in a 4-2 defeat. The highlight was Steve's win against IM Chris Beaumont.