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 1st 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 3rd 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 22nd 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 6th 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 23rd 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 30th 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 17th December 19:30 – away vs Edinburgh West 1
- Edinburgh 2
- Wednesday 3rd December 19:30 – away vs Edinburgh West 1
- Monday 8th December 19:30 – home vs Wandering Dragons 1
- Edinburgh 3
- No matches in December
- Edinburgh 4
- Thursday 4th December 19:30 – home vs Bank of Scotland 2
- Edinburgh 5
- Tuesday 9th December – away vs Bank of Scotland 2
- Edinburgh 6
- Monday 8th December 19:00 – away vs Badger’s Brook 3
- Edinburgh 7
- Wednesday 10th 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 3rd 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 12th 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/