You can find everything on the 2026/27 results hub, or jump straight to a tournament:
If you are unsure about rules, deadlines, or how to submit a result, speak to the tournament director on a club night or use the contact details on the about pages.
]]>View the official results on the results page
Thomas took white on board 1 against a slightly higher-rated opponent. While Thomas was not the last to finish this time round, he did once again find himself with under a minute left on his clock and playing blitz/bullet chess in the middle game. How he does it I’ll never know!
From sitting next to him, the position looked fairly even through much of the game with a balance of material. However, an overwhelming attack and mating pattern was found in the dying seconds of his clock which could easily have led to a different result.
Another thrilling game!
Result: Thomas Evans (W, 1715) won 1–0 against Neil Hickman (B, 1727)
Lucian came out swinging in this game with a Smith-Morra Gambit against my Sicilian. Furthermore, he very aggressively gave up a bishop with the hope of a strong positional advantage. I took a long time to consider taking it, clearly worried this was some deep Smith-Morra prep but correctly calculated that it was a blunder:
After taking the bishop, I managed to hold my concentration and convert the result. This game went on a very long time and it felt like the entire clubroom was watching over my shoulder, expecting the win. A draw was offered somewhere near this position which had me doubting myself:
But I refused and traded off pieces leaving a simple winning pawn endgame with little time left on either clock. Great battling from Lucian offering plenty of traps for me to hang myself.
Result: Dominic Watson (B, 1710) won 1–0 against Lucian Cox (W, 1697)
I did not get a change to see this game in detail but another convincing win to add to Richard’s fantastic second half of the season.
Result: Richard Keane (W, 1614) won 1–0 against R David Cox (B, 1389)
Rikin’s young opponent played a solid game under time pressure and came out with a draw. Again, I didn’t see the details of the match as was deeply focused.
Result: Rikin Burse (B, 1656) drew ½–½ with Rishik Madhadi (W, 1438)
Mark kindly stepped in as a reserve one last time this season and secured his first win for us against the young Romeo. Thank you Mark!
Result: Mark Osborn (W, 1315) won 1–0 against Romeo Barbarino (B, 1300)
Congratulations to the whole team on a fantastic first season, with special thanks to Mark for stepping in and securing a win and a draw as reserve. It has been an easy and thrilling job captaining for you all for the first time.
Dom
]]>The Hub is on the same Open University campus as our usual Berrill Cafe venue. For newer players who may not be familiar with The Hub:
This is a one-off venue change. We will return to our usual Berrill Cafe venue for all other club nights.
]]>If you still owe a result from an earlier round, please prioritise getting that played or agreed and submitted too:
]]>Full details and the official listing are on the English Chess Federation event page.
If you’re curious what a congress like this looks like in practice, you can also browse the 2025 congress results on chess-results.com.
]]>Peter Hawes
Welcome to all the members to the club
Proposed Alan Heath
Seconded Dave Phillips
Accepted by All
A quiet year with no problems.
Milton Keynes Chess Club – Treasurers report for the year ended 31 August, 2025
2024/25 saw a net increase in membership. We started the year with 55 (2024 - 63) paid up members although 16 (2024- 24) of those did not renew. 18 (2024 - 16) new members joined during the year so the final tally was 57. (43 Normal and 14 Concessions) generating fees of £785. Compared to 2023/24 this was an increase of £70 or 10%. (2024 - 33 Normal, 22 Concessions, Fees £715). Historically, last year’s membership total of 57 was the second highest it has been since I have been Treasurer. (2022/23 - 63)
Please note that all subs expire at this meeting even those of you that joined during the year.
In addition to being a paid up member of MKCC anyone who wishes to play for the club in the Beds League or in the internal competitions will have to be a member of the ECF. Please note that it is each individual member’s responsibility to ensure that their details are published on the ECF list of members. If your name is not there for any reason you are not eligible to play in the above games. As many subscriptions were due for renewal on 1 September, please ensure that you are up to date with the ECF as well as with the Club.
Santander have informed us that they will start charging a £5 monthly account fee from 1st October. We are currently looking into moving our account to the Metro Bank, which does offer free banking to clubs, but will maintain the Santander account for now so please continue to use the existing details when paying your subs for the new season. We will notify the membership as soon as the new account has been activated.
A motion was made for the treasurer to approach Metro bank. And was carried.
Total expenditure in the year was £339.70.
600 scoresheets were purchased for £26.95. (4.49p per sheet)
We entered 4 teams in the Beds League @ £15 per team.
Insurance costs of £162.32 is for cover of £1m public liability. The previous year figure of £198.72 included cover for digital clocks of £36.40 which we have not renewed.
We were not charged for hosting the Club’s website this year. Ask DW or MP to explain.
Recommended to keep subs at £15 for members and £10 concessions – passed
No National tournaments were entered last year.
The Christmas tournament costs were for the standard prizes.
An inventory of the Club’s equipment was carried out on the 28th of August and I am happy to report that all items were accounted for. As the Club has adequate kit I do not propose to purchase any new items in the coming season. Most of the mechanical clocks, and the two cases, were donated to Baird to assist his work in promoting the game in schools. Baird made a voluntary donation of £20.00 to the Club which is shown as Other Income.
The Club enjoyed a surplus of £465.30 in the year. I estimate that we have more than 4 years’ worth of expenditure in reserves. The current subscriptions is £15.00 normal and £10 for concessions. Given the state of the Club’s finances I propose that we leave the rates unchanged for 2025/26.
Alan Heath (Treasurer) 04/09/2025
The Club Championship was won by Eoin Tweedale with 5 out of 6 with Adrian Elwin and Graham Smith 2nd on 4.
The Open Swiss was won by Andrew Bowler with 5 points ahead of Adrian Elwin, Dominic Bartram, Rob Whiteside and Alan Heath on 3½.
The Open Knockout was won by Eoin Tweedale who beat Andrew Bowler in the final.
The Open Knockout Plate was won by Rob Whiteside who beat Alan Heath in the final.
The Under1800 Swiss was won by George Ward with a perfect 5, with Dominic Watson in second on 4.
The Under 1800 Knockout was won by George Ward who beat Giuseppe Spigapiena in the final.
The Under 1800 Knockout Plate was won by Dave Phillips who beat Dominic Watson in the final.
I do not have the results of the latest Blitz competition
Nothing to report
Milton Keynes A pipped Leighton Buzzard to 2nd place in division 1 by half a game point, winning 5, drawing 2 and losing 3, scoring 30½ game points.
We used a squad of 7 players this season, all players missing at least 1 game. Of these players, all except 1 scored over 50% with only board 2 failing to do so. Top scorer was Eric with 6 out of 8 followed by Rob with 5½ out of 8.
Won division 2
Came 6th with 10 points
Came 3rd Level on points with Bedford c (2nd) but came 3rd on board count.
Keyholders at 7 was deemed ok.
Cordon Trophy to be held on the 25th September
Rule changes
Rule 11 carried
Rule 12 carried
Next meeting 3rd sept 2026
Meeting closed at 9:10
]]>The championships feature three tournaments based on aggregate team ratings:
To ensure an even spread of teams across the tournaments, the organisers reserve the option of moving teams that are close to the rating limits. The tournament is limited to 20 teams, so early entry is recommended.
Although designated a team championship, it is hoped that teams will be based on clubs as far as possible (or by two clubs coming together). If there are individual players who would like to take part, let John know and he will try to assemble a team from them.
Free tea and coffee will be provided. There is a Tesco Express, coffee house, and pub within a couple of minutes’ walk, but you may wish to bring a packed lunch given the quick turnaround between rounds.
If you’re interested in forming a team or joining a team for this tournament, please contact John Wickham using the details above. This is a great opportunity to represent Milton Keynes Chess Club or to join with other players in the region for a competitive team event.
]]>The club will be closed on both and . We will resume in the new year on .
]]>You can View the official results on the results page
Once again Thomas thrilled us by first spending most of his clock on the first 9 moves, leaving an exciting time-pressured game full of tactics after a shocking looking Bishop sacrifice without immediate amunition to back it up. I was hugely impressed by this willingness to run with a dubious idea in the search for a dynamic position.
Abigail showed great fight with counter tactics and accurate defense but Thomas remained solid under time pressure once more to clinch the victory and the match (with everyone else finished and watching the game).
Result: Thomas Evans (W, 1715) won 1-0 against Abigail Mangarayi (B, 1636)
I played a solid opening to develop an edge in this game before completely collapsing in two moves.
Here I “spotted at tactic” to defend the a5 pawn, moving my bishop to e7 so that after Nxa5 then Bb4 wins the game. But of course, white can just take with the Queen and after Peter did so, the surprise knocked me dizzy and I continued to blunder left, right and center.
I had probably 25 minutes more on the clock at this point and had no excuse for not taking more time at this critical point in the game to play with more purpose and accuracty. That said, well played Peter, a deserved win. Hopefully a lesson learned for me for the future!
Result: Dominic Watson (B, 1710) lost 1-0 against Peter Gill (W, 1606)
Rikin’s game was over very quickly. After facing a modern defense/Pirc, he appeared to play solidly, though losing a pawn, before his opponent missed a tactic to end the game immediately. Congratulations Rikin on your first team win :)
Result: Rikin Burse (W, 1656) won vs Stephen Bennett (B, unrated)
Jide proved his metal once again making it 4 out of 4 games. An agressive pawn sac opening in which his opponent was then refused the right to castle proved a winning tac - the exposed king proving to be the deciding weakness which Jide took full advantage of.
Congratulations again to our MVP so far :)
Result: Olajide Mabogunje (B, 1469) won against Andrew Avern-Love (W, 1500)
I only got a chance to see Mark’s game well into its development and by this time it looked a very quiet position with most pieces traded and an even pawn structure. It came as no surprise when Mark informed me of the draw. An excellent result for us and a huge thanks once again to Mark for making it out to Bedford with short notice.
Result: Mark Osborn (W, 1315) drew ½-½ with Andy Evans (B, 1445)
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