Our new season has started, and will continue until 28 April 2026.
   We have entered three teams to play in the Glasgow League, in Divisions 1, 3, and 4. We have also entered two teams to play in the Dumbarton League, in Divisions 1 and 2. So there will be plenty of opportunities for club members to play team chess.
   The Club Championship will start in October, and is open (free of charge) to all senior members and white-badge (older) junior members. Last season we tried out a different format, but this season we are reverting to the usual format of a 5-round Swiss tournament. If you wish to enter, please e-mail [email protected], or use the sign-up sheet on the club's noticeboard. Please do so by 28 September.
   In addition, the club will host special events, such as blitz tournaments, from time to time, Details of special events will be e-mailed to all members.

In Division 1, Bearsden A struggled at first, but recovered after the winter break to a respectable 7/18 match points. Their highlight was a 5-3 win over Hamilton A. The team's best scorers were David Watt (5.5/9) and Ishan Kumar (4/5). The division leaders were Stepps A (16/18 match points), followed by Paisley A (15/18) and Cathcart (13/18). In the very last match of the season, Stepps A beat Cathcart A 7-1(!), thus securing the championship.
   In Division 3, Bearsden B finished in mid-table with 9/16 match points. Their highlight was a 3-1 win over Cathcart C. Their best scorers were Junhan Wen (4.5/5) and John Butler (4/4). The division leaders are currently Glasgow University (12/16 match points) and Polytechnic B (12/14).
   In Division 4, Bearsden C performed very well to finish in second place with 14/20 match points, losing only one match. Their best scorers were Darren Parker (7/9) and Matt Craft (6/7). The division leaders were Queens Park C (15/20 match points), followed by Bearsden C.

In Division 1, Bearsden A had a mixed season, finishing in mid-table with 7/16 match points. Their highlight was a 4-0 drubbing of Paisley A. The team's best scorers were Alex Nisbet (3.5/6), David Watt (3/5), and Rob Colston (3/8 on board 1). The division leaders were Phones A (13/16 match points), followed by Stepps A and Strathclyde University (11/16).
   In Division 2, Bearsden B struggled, finishing bottom of the table with 3/16 match points. Their best scorers were Callum McCue (3/7) and Chris Monk (2/4). The division leaders were Bellshill (14/16 match points), followed by Polytechnic B (13/16).

The 2024-25 Club Championship has concluded. For the first time, the event was divided into two sections.
   The Championship section was an all-play-all contested by the leading 6 players from the 2023-24 Club Championship. This section was won comfortably by Rob Colston (4/5), followed by Mel Burt (3/5), David Watt and Ishan Kumar (2.5/5).
   The Candidates section was a Swiss tournament open to all other club members. This section ended in a tie between John Butler and Kraig Atkinson (4.5/5), followed by Simon Kerridge and Darren Parker (3.5/5).
   Congratulations to the winners!

Five Bearsden members played in this year's Glasgow Congress.
   In the Open tournament, Rob Colston performed well, finishing on 3/5, losing only to the formidable Pavlos Bozinakis.
   In the Major tournament, Simon Kerridge finished 2nd= with 4/5, and Junhan Wen finished 10th= with 3/5.
   In the Minor tournament, Callum McCue also finished 2nd= with 4/5, crowning his performance with a queen sacrifice leading to checkmate in the final round.
​   Congratulations to all!

The Club Championship has now passed its half-way point.
   In the Championship Section (an all-play-all contested by the top six players from last season's Championship), the leaders are Rob Colston and Ishan Kumar (2.5/3), followed by Mel Burt and Goetz Bucher (1.5/3). Rob and Ishan will play each other in Round 4, which looks likely to be the decider.
   In the Challengers Section (a Swiss tournament), the leaders are  Kraig Atkinson, Chris Cotton, and Simon Kerridge (2.5/3), although they could be overtaken by Chingiz Mustafayev (2/2) if he wins a postponed game.

Twelve juniors took part in this season's Bearsden Junior Chess Tournament over four rounds. It took a while to get used to the 10 minute + 5 second increment time control, but by the end, most were using their time well. Even so, some players rushed their moves, when even a few seconds thought would have found a better plan!
   The atmosphere in the room was much closer to tournament conditions than is usually the case on junior club evenings, which shows that the players were taking it seriously.
   Well done to Hanhan who finished with 4/4, just ahead of Allwin, Vasyu, and Michele on 3/4.

Bearsden Junior Rex Shao (Age 10) is graded in the world chess FIDE federations top 70 for standard grades and top 20 world-wide for blitz in his age group !!
 That is an astoundingly good achievement and Bearsden Chess Club are delighted to have him playing in our teams in the Glasgow and Dumbarton Leagues.
After checking the FIDE and the Chess Scotland websites you can see that  his current FIDE ranking shows him as the third best 9 or 10 year old playing in Scotland  at  standard grades.
Using the Chess Scotland "official" grades fixed at the start of this season he is second, and using the "live" scottish gradings he is third.
Name                  age     FIDE grade.  Scottish fixed grade.    Scottish live grade
Louis Cheng          9         2037                 1833                                 1993
Rithvik Deepak     10        1979                 1962                                 2030
Ranxi Rex Shao  10        1934                  1870                                1895
Devesh Sharma     9         1862                 1712                                 1894

Two Bearsden members performed very well at the Lothians Allegro this month.
   In the Open event, Rob Colston finished on 3/5, including a win over IM Mark Orr. This event was won by 13-year-old Rishi Vijayakumar, ahead of 6 titled players!
   In the Minor event, Junhao Wen finished 2nd= on 4/5.
   Congratulations to both!

Several of Bearsden’s new Juniors did very well at the recent FIDE-rated Hamilton Open tournament.
 
Rex Shao (J10) scored 3/5, with a 1916 performance!
Junhan Wen (J12) scored 2/5  with a  1262 performance.
Ray Gong (J10) scored  1½ /5 with a 1051 performance.
 
This was a tough tournament, with FIDE timings and strong entrants such as ex-Bearsden member IM Andrew Greet who came first with 5/5.