Fixtures, league tables and results for each team will be kept up to date on the site throughout the season:
You can also find everything in one place on the 2026/27 results hub, or view the official league pages on the ECF League Management System.
We’re playing without any substitutes this season so if you would like to play for one of the teams, speak to a captain on a club night or via email. Good luck to all our players!
]]>Open Knockout:
U1800 Knockout:
Some ties still depend on an earlier-round result. If you still owe a game, please prioritise getting that played or agreed and submitted too:
]]>Apologies were received from James Alexander, Alan Heath, Graham Borrowdale, Dominic Bartram, Dave Wells, Vince Edwards, Andrew Bowler and John McKeon.
Adrian Elwin, as acting Chairman, welcomed members.
The minutes of the AGM held on 4th September 2025 were considered.
No problems.
Milton Keynes Chess Club – Treasurer’s report for the year ended 31 August 2026.
Membership numbers fell by 3 in 2025/26. We started the year with 57 (2025 – 55) paid up members although 14 (2025 – 16) of those did not renew. 11 (2025 – 18) new members joined during the year so the final tally was 54. (41 Normal and 13 Concessions) generating fees of £745. One new member paid subs for the previous year as well generating a further £15 which brought the total received to £760. Compared to 2024/25 this was a decrease of £25 or 3%. (2025 – 43 Normal, 14 Concessions, Fees £785).
Please note that all subs expire at the AGM, 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 started charging a £5 monthly account fee from 1st October. We were looking into moving our account to the Metro Bank, which did offer free banking at the start of last year, but when we applied to open an account we learned that they had started charging for club accounts also. To avoid the inconvenience to the club and members it was decided to keep the Santander account for the time being so please continue to use the existing details when paying your subs for the new season.
Total expenditure in the year was £447.93.
New batteries were purchased for the chess clocks costing £30.00.
600 scoresheets were purchased for £26.95. (4.49p per sheet).
We paid £15 to have the name of the victorious B team in the 2024/25 season engraved on the Beds League Division 2 trophy.
We entered 5 teams in the 2025/26 season of the Beds League @ £15 per team.
Insurance costs of £167.32 is for cover of £1m public liability.
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 27th of August and I am happy to report that all items were accounted for although one of the DGT2010 clocks that worked last year proved to be faulty. The Club has adequate sets and boards for the coming season. We will be looking into acquiring some new digital clocks which currently retail at around £70 each.
The Club enjoyed a surplus of £312.07 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 2026/27.
Alan Heath (Treasurer) 28 August 2026
| 2026 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Income | ||
| Subscriptions | 760.00 | 785.00 |
| Interest received | — | — |
| Other | — | 20.00 |
| Total income | 760.00 | 805.00 |
| Expenditure | ||
| Chess clock batteries | 30.00 | — |
| Chess sets and equipment | — | — |
| Scoresheets | 26.95 | 26.95 |
| Trophies | 15.00 | — |
| Bedfordshire Chess Association league teams | 75.00 | 60.00 |
| Congress costs | — | — |
| Insurance | 167.32 | 162.32 |
| Bank charges | 44.91 | — |
| Postage and stationery | — | — |
| National tournaments | — | — |
| Christmas tournament | 88.75 | 90.43 |
| Total expenditure | 447.93 | 339.70 |
| Surplus of income over expenditure | 312.07 | 465.30 |
| Bank balance brought forward | 2,726.39 | 2,261.09 |
| Bank balance carried forward | £3,038.46 | £2,726.39 |
| Equipment | 2026 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Broken mechanical clocks | 6 | 6 |
| Digital clocks DGT3000 | 15 | 15 |
| DGT2010 working | 9 | 10 |
| DGT2010 unreliable | 11 | 10 |
| Saitek | 6 | 6 |
| Chess sets | 51 | 51 |
| Chess boards (flexible) | 47 | 47 |
| Demonstration boards | 1 | 1 |
| Mechanical clock cases | ||
| Non-contact thermometer |
It was agreed to leave the annual subs at £15 and £10 for unwaged.
The Club Championship was a tie between Adrian Elwin and Andrew Bowler who both scored 4½ out of 5. Alan Heath is currently in 3rd place with 2 out of 5, although all 3 other players have 2 matches left to finish.
The Open Swiss was a tie between Andrew Bowler and Rob Whiteside who both scored 4½ out of 5. None of the 3 players on 3 points have played their final round games.
The Under 1800 Swiss was won by Ozan Senturk with a perfect 5 out of 5, with Dave Wells currently in second with 3½, although he can be overtaken by 2 other players.
Neither the Open Knockout or the Open Knockout Plate has been completed.
The Under 1800 Knockout was won by Olajide Mabogunje, beating Rikin Burse in the final. The Under 1800 Knockout Plate was won by Vince Edwards, beating Dave Wells in the final.
No problems.
| Player | Performance | Score | Games | Incl. defaults | Excl. defaults |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Alexander | 2061 | 1 | 1 | 100% | 100% |
| Ozan Senturk | 2149 | 1½ | 2 | 75% | 75% |
| Eric Meichel | 2077 | 7 | 10 | 70% | 70% |
| Graham Smith | 1895 | 6½ | 11 | 59.1% | 59.1% |
| Eoin Tweeddale | 2094 | 5½ | 10 | 55% | 55% |
| Rob Whiteside | 1849 | 5½ | 10 | 55% | 55% |
| Adrian Elwin | 1945 | 5½ | 11 | 50% | 50% |
| George Ward | 1684 | 1 | 3 | 33.3% | 33.3% |
| Dominic Bartram | 1641 | 0 | 1 | 0% | 0% |
| Michael Page | 1075 | 0 | 1 | 0% | 0% |
Overall, the season was steady but unspectacular. We won 6 matches, drew 2 and lost 4, leaving us in 4th place, scoring 33½ game points out of a possible 60.
Eric top scored with 7 out of 10 and everybody else scored between 50% and 60%. There were 5 reserves used, 2 scoring better than Eric and 3 scoring below 50%.
The best results of the season were the 2 wins against Bedford A, the only 2 matches they lost. The first was very unexpected as we fielded 2 reserves, both of whom won.
This was our first season in Division 1 after winning Division 2 last year, so we knew we were stepping up to a much tougher level.
We finished 6th, with 2 wins, 1 draw, scoring 24 points against 36. It was a difficult start, but what was really encouraging was how the team bounced back in the latter stages. We started to see better results, stronger performances and real growth as a team.
I’d like to thank everyone who played for the B team and gave their time throughout the season. A special thank you as well to our substitutes, Graham Smith and Ozan Senturk, for stepping in and supporting the team when needed.
We’ve learnt a lot from our first season in Division 1, and I think we’ve shown towards the end of the season that we can compete at this level.
We finished sixth out of eight in Division 2 on 10 points – exactly the same as last year. Of the 14 matches played, we won 4, drew 2 and lost 8. Again, exactly the same as last year. Top scorer of the season was Michael Page, with 7 points from 10 games, made up of 6 wins and 2 draws. 72.7%. Many thanks to Richard Keane and Mark Osborn for helping out when we were short.
Colin Solloway, September 2026.
This was a fantastic first season of Milton Keynes D. We were entered as a newly formed side, and we had secured second place behind the somewhat inevitable winners, Leighton Buzzard B. 18 match points from 14 fixtures (8 wins, 2 draws, 4 losses) and 41 game points for, 29 against.
Regulars: Thomas Evans, Rikin Burse, Richard Keane, Olajide Mabogunje, Dominic Watson, with Florin Hristea also in the named squad.
Mark Osborn deserves a special mention. He was not a named D-team regular, but he stepped in as a last-minute reserve more than once and contributed a win and a draw that mattered.
Player records
Congratulations to the whole squad on a first season to be proud of. Special thanks to Mark for the reserve appearances, and to Jide for a remarkable introduction to league chess.
A disappointing year for the Open University team, we had hoped to narrowly avoid promotion but in the end we only managed fifth place.
Half the squad – Vince, Matthew and Mark did score 50% or over. And Matthew was our top scorer with 60%. But Dave, Dexter and I had disappointing seasons and were noticeably off-form for much of the season. Thanks to Giuseppe for stepping in later in the season and to all the other team members for their enthusiasm and reliability: they made my job as captain very straightforward, almost enjoyable.
Dave Phillips
The following proposed change to rule 14, to be applied to the 2026/27 season and onward, was considered:
New rule 14: Sufficient chess clocks must be provided. The normal rate of play being all moves in one hour
and twenty minutesplustenthirty seconds per move. There will be no adjournments or adjudications.
Reasons given in support of this change at Bedford Chess Club:
It was agreed to vote against this change to the league rules.
It was agreed to purchase 5 new clocks (as per the Treasurer’s report).
Concern was raised about the website and Adrian’s website not matching internal results. Adrian to speak with Dominic Watson to address this.
The meeting closed at 9:45pm.
The proposed time control was voted 6–2 against at the League AGM on Thursday 10th September 2026.
]]>Please complete the AGM questionnaire before the meeting.
Members are asked to fill in the online form ahead of the AGM. The form covers attendance, club officer nominations, Bedfordshire League preferences, and the Cordon Trophy.
A proposed change to rule 14, to be applied to the 2026/27 season and onward:
New rule 14: Sufficient chess clocks must be provided. The normal rate of play being all moves in one hour
and twenty minutesplustenthirty seconds per move. There will be no adjournments or adjudications.
Reasons given in support of this change:
We will also be holding an all play all blitz tournament after the count to make the evening more entertaining.
Of course, it will be difficult to play a serious match while this is going on, so if you have arranged an internal tournament game for that night you may wish to reschedule it.
Hope to see you all there!
]]>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.
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