Edinburgh Chess Club held a one day open chess event at their premises in the city on Saturday 6th December 2025.

The event drew players from across Scotland including a number who are originally from Europe.

The format was a 15 round blitz event (i.e. games that usually last around 10 mins), with a format set to ensure that the eventual top players have all played each other.

The early leader was Scottish Champion Andrew Greet (Bellshill), who had a perfect record over the first 6 rounds.  However, consecutive losses to Keith Ruxton (Edinburgh) and Ian McDonald (Bon Accord), brought those two into contention, along with Yevgeni Sprenger de la Iglesias (Phones, Glasgow).

Several players were seen with head in hands, or staring blankly at the ceiling as the short time control caused mistakes, blunders amidst some excellent play.

Yong prospects Devesh Sharma and Haruo Uegaki (both Edinburgh West), and Jainill Vadalia (Phones & Glasgow Polytechnic) fared well with some notable victories, while at the other end of the spectrum, Scottish Seniors International Alastair White (Edinburgh), showed he is still a force to be reckoned with.

Ian McDonald had a fantastic run against the top ranked players, but with a possible win in sight, slipped up against Edinburgh club president Craig Thomson.

All of the top players swapped the lead in the later rounds under the pressure of having to win every game to retain the lead, but it was eventually Edinburgh club champion Keith Ruxton, who emerged victorious by half a point.

Final result as follows:

1. Keith Ruxton    12.5 / 15
2. Ian McDonald   12 / 15
3. =Yevgeni Sprenger de la Iglesias & Andrew Greet    11.5 / 15

Thanks to Iain Cowe for writing this report

Christmas Quiz Night  23rd December 19:00

Join us for a fun, festive Chess Quiz Evening – suitable for all ages and abilities!

Hosted by: Alastair White & Robert Kane
Entry: FREE

Prizes

Lots of chess book prizes, generously donated by:

• New In Chess (NIC)
• Quality Chess

Quiz Sections

• Junior Section
  ➡️ Short section at the very beginning of the quiz
• Chess History
• ️ Picture Questions
• ♞ Puzzles to Solve
• Chess in Movies
• Very Hard Section
• ❓ Mystery Section

Whether you’re a club regular, a junior player, or just love chess, come along and enjoy a relaxed and entertaining evening.

Everyone welcome – bring your chess knowledge and your Christmas spirit! ♟️

Festive Extras

“Mince pies guaranteed!”
Yes – there will be mince pies and refreshments available!

Register at https://edinburghchessclub.wildapricot.org/event-6476391

What happened in November

Notable Tournament Results

There were several notable results for Edinburgh Chess Club players.

• Kathleen Rutherford came equal 1st in the Scottish Women’s Championship, winning the title of Scottish Women’s Champion with an unbeaten 4/5 and a rating performance of 2031.
• Nurlykhan Kudaibergen came equal 1st at the Oban Open with 4/5, including a draw against the current Scottish Champion: International Master Andrew Greet.
• Also at Oban, David Montgomery finished 1^st equal in the Major with 4/5 (3 wins and 2 draws).
• Simon Gibson won the Wolf of Badenoch tournament with a perfect score of 5/5. He was outrated by his opponents by an average of 159 points!
• Freddy Gordon finished 4th at the British Blitz Championship in Leamington Spar with a score of 10.5/15, missing out on 3^rd place on tiebreak. During the tournament he defeated Grandmasters Eldar Gasanov and Peter Wells.

Edinburgh Allegro League

In games 3 and 4 of the Edinburgh league Edinburgh 1 defeated Costorphine 3 -1, and lost to Musselburgh 3.5 – 0.5, while Edinburgh 2 beat Badgers Brook 3 – 1 and Sandy Bells 2.5 – 1.5. After four games of the Allegro league, Edinburgh 2 have 7/8 and are one point behind the league leaders Musselburgh, while Edinburgh 1 are a point further back.

Edinburgh League

The club is seeking more players of all strengths for the Edinburgh league teams. If you are a new player and would like to play for a team please contact Craig Thomson at president@edinburghchessclub.co.uk – beginners especially are welcome.

The following league results are reported from November.

• Edinburgh 1 (Premier Division)
  • Away vs Wandering Dragons 1: Won 4.5 – 1.5
  • Home vs Civil Service 1: Won 5 – 1
• Edinburgh 2 (Premier Division)
  • Away vs Badgers Brook 1: Won 3.5 – 2.5
  • Home vs Civil Service 1: Lost 2.5 – 3.5
• Edinburgh 3 (Division 1)
  • Away vs Bank of Scotland 1: Lost 2 – 4
  • Home vs Pentland Hills: Lost 3.5 – 2.5
• Edinburgh 4 (Division 2)
  • Home vs Musselburgh 1: Lost 1.5 – 4.5
  • Away vs Badgers Brook 2: Lost 2.5 – 3.5
• Edinburgh 5 (Division 2)
  • Home vs Wandering Dragons 3: Won 4 – 2
• Edinburgh 6 (Division 3)
  • I haven’t been given any results on which to report.
• Edinburgh 7 (Division 3)
  • Away vs Tiger Cubs: Lost 2.5 – 3.5
• Tiger Cubs (Division 3)
  • Home vs Edinburgh 7: Won 3.5 – 2.5

Scottish National Chess League

The first two days of the Scottish National Chess League took place in November. After four rounds Edinburgh 1 are well placed in division 1 with 6 points out of a possible 8 – just 1 point behind the league leaders Edinburgh West 1.

Edinburgh 2 have 4 points in division 2. Having played two of the strongest teams (Kilmarnock and Lenzie Basilisks) in rounds 1 and 2 they still have to play most of the lower rated teams, and are likely to finish mid-table.

They could be joined in division 2 next season by Edinburgh 3, who are on 6 points, 1 point behind the co-leaders CSBOS 2 and Dundee City C and are well placed for a push for promotion.

Also in division 3 Edinburgh 4 have 3 points, and should finish around mid-table. 

Rounds 5 and 6 are played on Sunday 22^nd February 2026.

The detailed results are as follows:

Edinburgh 1 (Division 1):

• Round 1: Away vs Bon Accord:  Won 4 – 1
• Round 2: Home vs Forth Valley 1:  Won 3 – 2
• Round 3: Away vs Dundee City A: Lost 4 – 1
• Round 4: Home vs Wandering Dragons 1: Won 3.5 – 1.5

Edinburgh 2 (Division 2):

• Round 1: Home vs Kilmarnock: Lost 1.5 – 3.5
• Round 2: Away vs Lenzie Basilisks: Lost 1 – 4
• Round 3: Home vs CSBOS 1: Won 3 – 2
• Round 4: Away vs Edinburgh West 2: Won 3 – 2

Edinburgh 3 (Division 3):

• Round 1: Away vs Costorphine: Won 3 – 2
• Round 2: Home vs Troon & District:  Won 3.5 – 1.5
• Round 3: Home vs Dunfermline Rooks: Lost 3.5 – 1.5
• Round 4: Away vs Phones: Won 3 – 2

Edinburgh 4 (Division 3):

• Round 1: Home vs Dundee City D: Draw 2.5 – 2.5
• Round 2: Away vs Dundee City C: Lost 2 – 3
• Round 3: Home vs Dunfermline Bishops: Won 3.5 – 1.5
• Round 4: Away vs Queens Park: Lost 1 – 4

Coming up in December

Edinburgh Christmas Blitz

At the time of writing there are still a couple of places available at the Edinburgh Christmas Blitz to be held on Saturday 6^th December. Entry is via Wild Apricot https://edinburghchessclub.wildapricot.org/event-6409648, or by email to President@Edinburghchessclub.co.uk 

See https://www.chessscotland.com/calendar/edinburgh-christmas-blitz for details.

Christmas Quiz

A Christmas will be held on Tuesday 23^rd December starting at 19:30. Details will follow by email

Nigel Short Simultaneous

Edinburgh Chess Club is honoured to host Grandmaster Nigel Short for a simultaneous display on Tuesday 30^th December starting at 19:00. This is an opportunity to face a former World Championship Finalist, and one of Britain’s greatest ever players. See https://www.chessscotland.com/news/nigel-short-edinburgh-simul-2025 for details.

League Matches

The following Edinburgh league fixtures are played in December.

• Edinburgh 1
  • Wednesday 17^th December 19:30 – away vs Edinburgh West 1
• Edinburgh 2
  • Wednesday 3^rd December 19:30 – away vs Edinburgh West 1
  • Monday 8^th December 19:30 – home vs Wandering Dragons 1
• Edinburgh 3
  • No matches in December
• Edinburgh 4
  • Thursday 4^th December 19:30 – home vs Bank of Scotland 2
• Edinburgh 5
  • Tuesday 9^th December – away vs Bank of Scotland 2
• Edinburgh 6
  • Monday 8^th December 19:00 – away vs Badger’s Brook 3
• Edinburgh 7
  • Wednesday 10^th December vs Edinburgh West Juniors – I think because this is against a junior team, although it is a home game it is played at Edinburgh West – the team captain will be able to advise.
• Tiger Cubs
  • Wednesday 10th December 19:00 – home vs Civil Service 2

Allegro League

Games 5 and 6 of the Edinburgh allegro league will be played on Thursday 11th December 2025. Edinburgh 1 face Civil Service 2 in game 3, and Edinburgh 2 in game 4. In their 3^rd game Edinburgh 2 are paired against Costorphine.

Future Events

Lothians Allegro

The Lothians Allegro (Organised by Chess Edinburgh) is being played at Bainfield Bowling Club on Sunday 18th January 2026 – see https://www.chessscotland.com/calendar/lothians-allegro-2026 for details

Talk by Grandmaster Daniel King

A talk will be given by Grandmaster Daniel King on Friday 6th February. Daniel is a well-known chess author and commentator, and runs the popular Youtube Channel Powerplaychess https://www.youtube.com/@PowerPlayChess. More details will be given nearer the time.

Talk by Chess Historian Douglas Griffin

Noted chess historian Douglas Griffin will be giving a talk on Thursday 12^th March. The subject will be the 1969 World Championship match between Boris Spassky and Tigran Petrosian. Douglas has translated books for Quality Chess, and has published his own translations of many interesting annotations by players from the Soviet Union on his website https://dgriffinchess.wordpress.com/