What happened in October

Tournament Results

There was a notable success for Bob Kane who finished 2^nd in group D (1900 – 1750) with 6.5/9 at the ACO World Senior (50+) Chess Championship.

Edinburgh League

The Edinburgh league kicked off in October. I don’t have all of the results to report, but I do have the following:

Premier Division:

• Edinburgh 1: 4.5 – 1.5 Edinburgh 2.

Division 3:

• Edinburgh 5:  2.5 – 3.5 Edinburgh 4.

Allegro League

Round 1 of the Edinburgh allegro league took place on Thursday 9th October 2025. Edinburgh 1 beat Badgers Brook 1.5 – 2.5 and Costorphine 3 – 0. Edinburgh 2 drew 2 – 2 against Wandering Dragons and beat Sandy Bells 4 – 0.

Club Maintenance

A burglar alarm and monitoring system has been installed at the club premises to enhance security. All keyholders will be issued with instructions for using the alarm.

Coming up in November

Tournaments:

Two tournaments are being hosted at Edinburgh Chess Club in the near future:

Wolf of Badenoch Trophy 2025

A 5 round Swiss tournament for players graded below 1600 held on Saturday 22^nd and Sunday 23^rd November at Edinburgh Chess Club. Entries should be emailed to Calum McGillivray (calum-1989@hotmail.co.uk). Entry is limited to 28 players, so early entry is advised. See https://www.chessscotland.com/calendar/wolf-of-badenoch-trophy-2025 for more details.

Edinburgh Christmas Blitz

A 15 round 3+2 Blitz tournament held on Saturday 6th December at Edinburgh Chess Club. 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.

League Matches

The following Edinburgh league fixtures are played in November.

Edinburgh 1

• Thursday 6^th November 19:30 – home vs Civil Service 1
• Tuesday 11^th November – away vs Wandering Dragons 1
• Thursday 27^th November 19:30 – home vs Badgers Brook 1

Edinburgh 2

• Monday 3^rd November 19:00 – away vs Badgers Brook 1
• Monday 17^th November 19:30 – home vs Civil Service 1

Edinburgh 3

• Tuesday 4^th November – away vs Bank of Scotland 1
• Monday 10^th November 19:30 – home vs Pentland Hills 1

Edinburgh 4

• Thursday 6^th November 19:30 – home vs Musselburgh 1
• Tuesday 11^th November 19:00 – away vs Badgers Brook 2

Edinburgh 5

• Thursday 20^th November 19:30 – home vs Wandering Dragons 3
• Monday 24^th November – away vs Gorgie Dalry

Edinburgh 6

• Tuesday 18^th November – away vs Musselburgh 2
• Wednesday 26^th November 19:30 – home vs University of Edinburgh 2

Edinburgh 7

• Tuesday 4^th November – away vs Bank of Scotland 3
• Wednesday 12^th November 19:00 – away vs Edinburgh 7

Tiger Cubs

• Wednesday 12^th November 19:00 – home vs Edinburgh 7
• Wednesday 26^th November 19:00 – home vs Musselburgh 2

Allegro League

Games 3 and 4 of the Edinburgh allegro league will be played on Thursday 13th November 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.

Scottish National Chess League

The Scottish National Chess League will be played at Dunfermline Learning Campus, Calaiswood Crescent, Dunfermline, which is a new venue for this season – see https://www.chessscotland.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2391 for details of the venue. The first four rounds are played in November: rounds 1 and 2 on Sunday 2^nd November and rounds 3 and 4 on Sunday 30^th November.  The relevant pairings for the first four rounds are

Edinburgh 1:

• Round 1: Away vs Bon Accord
• Round 2: Home vs Forth Valley 1
• Round 3: Away vs Dundee City A
• Round 4: Home vs Wandering Dragons 1

Edinburgh 2:

• Round 1: Home vs Kilmarnock
• Round 2: Away vs Lenzie Basilisks
• Round 3: Home vs CSBOS 1
• Round 4: Away vs Edinburgh West 2

Division 3 is a swiss tournament, so the Edinburgh 3 and 4 fixtures are not known in advance, but in round 1 Edinburgh 3 are away to Costorphine and Edinburgh 4 are at home to Dundee City D.

I have been asked to produce a newsletter each month so that you know what has been going on at the club, and what is coming up. This is my first attempt so I may well tweak the format for subsequent months until I find one I like. The chess season really starts getting going in October, so there are a lot things to cover.

What happened in September

Club Champion vs Club Simultaneous

The annual simultaneous match between the Edinburgh Chess Club Champion and the Club was won by 16.5 points to 3.5 by Keith Ruxton. The club champion was unbeaten, however congratulations to Simon Gibson, Findlay Haddow, Bence Mogyorodi, David Montgomery, Mike Ridge, Vandela Ruby and Vipin Zamvar who all made draws.  

Tournament Results

• Congratulations to Simon Gibson for 1^st = at the Edinburgh Park Intermediate Allegro.
• Congratulations to Keith Aitchison for 1^st at the Northumberland Major with 5/5.

Coming up in October

Club Tournaments

Adult Beginners Tournament

Edinburgh Chess Club will be holding a tournament for adult beginners on Saturday 11^th October starting at 10:00 am. The tournament will consist of three rounds, where each player will have 1 hour for the whole game. See https://edinburghchessclub.wildapricot.org/event-6376409 for details.

Club Championship and challengers

Registration for the club championship closes on Wednesday 8^th October. This will be a 7 round tournament open to all members held over the course of the season. See https://edinburghchessclub.wildapricot.org/event-6357757 for details.

Edinburgh League

The Edinburgh league starts in October, with the following fixtures in the next month or so.

Edinburgh 1

• Monday 27^th October 19:30 – away vs Edinburgh 2
• Thursday 6^th November 19:30 – home vs Civil Service 1

Edinburgh 2

• Monday 27^th October 19:30 – home vs Edinburgh 1

Edinburgh 3

• Monday 20^th October 19:30 – home vs Edinburgh West 2
• Tuesday 4^th November – away vs Bank of Scotland 1

Edinburgh 4

• Thursday 16^th October 19:30 – away vs Edinburgh 5
• Thursday 6^th November 19:30 – home vs Musselburgh 1

Edinburgh 5

• Thursday 16^th October 19:30 – home vs Edinburgh 4

Edinburgh 6

• Wednesday 15^th October 19:00 – away vs Edinburgh 7
• Wednesday 29^th October 19:00 – away vs Tiger Cubs

Edinburgh 7

• Wednesday 15^th October 19:00 – home vs Edinburgh 6

Tiger Cubs

• Wednesday 15^th October 19:00 – home vs Badgers Brook
• Wednesday 29^th October 19:00 – home vs Edinburgh 6

Scottish National Chess League

Rounds 1 and 2 of the Scottish National Chess League will be played in Dunfermline on Sunday 2^nd November. Edinburgh will be entering three teams. Please contact Calum McGillivray if you are interested in playing.

Club member Geoff, intrepid journalist and chess-patzer, never turns down the opportunity to mix a pint and chess by interviewing actor, comedian and fellow chess-patzer Kevin James Doyle for Chess Magazine when Kevin appeared in the Fringe!