Cotswold Congress 2026 28/5/26 A sweltering Spring bank holiday weekend saw over 130 chess players taking part in the 56th Cotswold Congress held at King’s School Gloucester. Winner of the Open section was James Jackson on 5/6 with four players in hot pursuit on 4.5, namely Zack Norris (who was declared Gloucestershire Individual Champion for the second year on the trot), Kenneth Hobson, Oliver Stubbs & Steven A Jones. In the Major First place went to Tommy Wilkins (last year’s joint winner) with an impressive 5.5/6 a whole point clear of a chasing pack of 6 players on 4.5. The Minor was won by Liu Yuan with an unbeaten 5.5 with Liam Perkins finishing a close second on 5/6.

Stroud Winter Rapid 24/9/26 Stroud Chess Club’s regular “Four Seasons” tournaments seems to be going from strength to strength. Following their first Autumn Blitz, won jointly by Indy Southcott- Moyers and Zack Norris Their next tournament will be a Winter Rapid which will take place on Saturday 7th November 2026 at St Matthew's Church Hall, St Matthews Church, Stroud. The event will be limited to 76 participants The Spring rapid tournament was fully booked weeks in advance, so if you’re interested in playing, further details can be found on the Club’s website here… https://www.stroudchess.club/autumn-2026- rapid-results

New Diary Page 22/3/26 We have added a new diary page to this website giving details for local, chess related events. If you have a chess event that you would like added to the diary, please email details to robert@helios.me.uk You can find the link in site index at the top of the page.

Michael Adams Simultaneous 28/5/26 Congratulations to Wotton Hall club for organising a very successful simultaneous exhibition by current British champion and one time world number 4, grandmaster Michael Adams. The event, which took place on the evening of 20th May saw 32 local players pitted against this formidable opponent. Congratulations to rising star Zack Norris who managed to beat his illustrious opponent and to Richard Freeman, Graeme Hood, Mike Ashworth and Robert Ashworth who all managed to draw their games. Some photos from the event can be found on the gallery page.

North Glos Individual Championship 2026-27 11/10/26 There’s still time to enter this season’s Individual Championship, with entries already in from over 20 players with a wide range of abilities the tournament, which is a six round Swiss tournament played over a roughly 6 month period offers players the opportunity for players to take on opponents they might not normally face in regular league matches, plus the chance to be crowned North Gloucestershire Individual Champion. Full details of the rules can be found on the rules page of this site. If you’re interested in entering, please contact Ian Gambles 07976 282265 icgambles@gmail.com To be included in the first round entries must be received by Friday 16th October

Gloucestershire County Chess 12/10/26 Darrell Norris has taken on the role of Gloucestershire County captain, and Gloucestershire have entered into a 4 team county competition with Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. The first fixture will be played at Taunton on January 3rd. It’s likely to be a 16 board event, with two matches played that day vs Devon and Cornwall to save on travelling. Match times on the day are 10am - 2.00pm & 2.45pm -6.45pm. The Somerset fixture will be played at a later date. Players from both the North Gloucestershire and Bristol Leagues are eligible for the Gloucestershire team. Darrell will consider players with a rating of 1600 or higher for the lower boards, but obviously preference will be given to higher rated players. If you’re interested in playing for the team, please contact Darrell Norris, 07737 098363, darrellnorris43@gmail.com There is also the possibility of Gloucestershire running a second under 1900 team but this can only happen if a willing captain steps forward, let Darrell know if you’re interested.