News & Match Reports
North Bristol C 3-1 UWE B
09/12/25, Division 7
While the A-Team was toiling away in Hanham, the C-Team hosted league leaders UWE B at Fortress Little Stoke, and scored an epic victory that will live long in North Bristol club memories. Prakul made his first appearance for us as a board 1, and defeated the highly rated Jan with the black pieces. Prakul has been a revelation since joining the club this season, posting some fantastic results. Mike came back into the team on board 2, but wasn't able to get anything out of James. The match was still in the balance, with Dave in a very uncomfortable position against Parthib that was starting to look hopeless, but he got an opportunity to get back into the game and grabbed it with both hands, winning both rooks and entering a winning endgame. Harry put in an excellent performance, bringing his form from social chess and the simul into the league, and defeating Hugh. A first win of the season for the C-Team, and what a way to do it. They were the toast of the town when we held our annual curry night the next evening! Special mentions to Dave on his first win for the club, and Prakul and Harry for defeating players rated hundreds of points above them!
Hanham Folk Centre A 3.5-2.5 North Bristol A
09/12/25, Division 4
The one you've all been waiting for; the A-Team's trip across town for a top of the table clash with high-flying Hanham. We started the night level on points, but with Hanham leading by the slenderest possible margin - half a point on 'board difference.'
Hanham were able to muster enough of their top boards that we knew we'd have our work cut out, and that's what happened. Division 1 regular Stephen used his experience to keep James B at bay, steering the game towards a bishop vs knight ending where black was only up a pawn, but his knight was a monster that dominated the cramped bishop. James commented: "I played ok, but ok isn't enough to trouble a 2,000 rated player. Learned a lot from that game - the beating I took was worth it for Stephen's instructive post-game analysis." The other games were livelier affairs, with Hanham showing their usual attacking style. David won a piece early on against Will and then ratcheted up his advantage with a fierce central attack that eventually broke black's resistance. Our strong middle and lower boards put us back in contention, with James C and Nathaniel posting two excellent counterattacking wins against Guy and Harry. Heartrates were racing all-round in those sharp positions. Hanham then took the decisive advantage, with Adrian going a piece up against Jason, but conceding a lot of activity. Sadly that wasn't quite enough for Jason to get a result. Gareth and Jonathan played a very even game. Jonathan wriggled free of the early pressure and an absorbing game eventually ended in a draw by repetition. While we don't end the calendar year top of the division, we've had a good half season and go into the festive break in a promising league position. We hope to continue our good form into 2026!
North Bristol B 3.5-0.5 Yate & Sodbury C
02/12/25, Division 6
High-flying Yate and Sodbury C made the short journey to Little Stoke to take on our B-Team, still searching for the win their good performances have merited. Prakul got us off to a great start against Lester, calmly steering his game into a favourable knight vs bishop ending and converting the win. Dave's game against Julian was a lively affair. Dave took advantage of an over-extended position to grab a pawn with Nfd2, Nxe4 and then won a piece with a vicious Nxf6+ discovered attack on black's loose b7 bishop. Alex's opponent started in similarly aggressive fashion but left himself open to counter-attacks eventually resulting in a knight fork on the queen's rook and a won exchange. Max put up a spirited resistance, but once the queens came off Alex was able to convert the win thanks to his material advantage and more solid pawn structure. He's back to winning ways after last week's blip (Olé!). Nathaniel played a close game against Kevin on board 1 that simplified down to the lottery of a rook and pawn ending. Both players kept things accurate and steady, and the game ended in a draw.
Well done team, and especially well done to Prakul on his first competitive win for the club! First of many, we're sure. The B-Team's long march up the league table begins!
South Bristol D 3-1 North Bristol C
26/11/25, Division 7
Our C-Team made the trip across town to Bishopsworth to take on South Bristol D at their fun new venue, Bristol Independent Gaming (BIG). I was a mere team taxi driver that evening, so sat in the main room nursing a lovely cup of coffee, reading my book and watching some enthusiastically played games of Warhammer. Warhammer isn't taking chess's place in my life any time soon but it actually looked rather fun. Maybe I'll get more into the spirit of the place next time and build myself a new chess set out of Warhammer figurines.
Sadly it wasn't our night on the boards. Matthew and Harry weren't able to build on their good simul performances against CM Stubbs. Both gave up some material out of the openings, and then faced uphill struggles to defend difficult positions, eventually succumbing to Yuri's and Vicky's pressure. Matthew learned a valuable lesson to give his full attention to the board and not get distracted by the replica weaponry displayed in BIG's chess room... Alex was also having an off day, going down to his first defeat of the season against Simon. (Don't worry Alex, we're sure to be singing your victory song in the club again before long!) Tony saved the whitewash, staging a super comeback from three pawns down against Ed.
Bristol & Clifton G 2-2 North Bristol B
18/11/25, Division 6
The B-Team was back on the road again. This time it was a trip to Hotwells to face a Bristol & Clifton G side we were surprised to see at the bottom of the table after four matches. We eventually shared the points. While our B-Team's still awaiting our first win, the ingredients are all there and our fighting draws have kept us in touch with most of the competition.
Nathaniel took a strong position from the opening, winning a pawn and with active knights plus a queen eyeing h7. Despite being kicked around, the queen managed to infiltrate to h7 and Hugo resigned with white having mate in two. Phil held even material most of the game, but a loose pawn structure proved to be his undoing against John. Tony was going well, systematically exchanging off all the minor pieces before creating tension and tactical opportunities with the heavies. When the dust settled, Tony came away a rook up and cleared Stephen's pawns off the board for a win. Dave shares some insights from his marathon game against Peter: "My own game was also lost on the h7 weakness. Knight and bishop coordinated and I played f6 instead of h6, lost an exchange and had a big struggle to hold a backward e-pawn. I played my opponent down on time and even though I lost my queen in the eventual trades, I had a solid bishop outpost and roaming knight to support a couple of passed pawns. I had drawing chances more than once through the endgame but even with my opponent down to 26 seconds it was myself that blundered by moving too quickly. My 2h 55min saga is my longest yet."
Good games all. Well done to all eight players for a good match played in the right Corinthian spirit!
North Bristol A 4-2 Bristol & Clifton J2
11/11/2025, Division 4.
The turn of Bristol & Clifton's second junior team (J2) to visit Little Stoke and face the mighty North Bristol. A couple of their players looked rather old for their age group it must be said, and their team contained several familiar faces from our match with Bristol and Clifton E in the same division earlier this season. We went into the match full of confidence, with many players on fine form and competition mounting for places in the A-Team.
James C was able to grab material early on against Sonny, and kept things steady to reach a winning endgame. Will also came flying out of the traps in his rematch with Tarun, gaining control the centre and steadily increasing the pressure until his attack crashed home. Nathaniel was a bishop down against Rafal, but managed to keep his major pieces active, and registered the win to put us 3-0 up. However, our young opponents were determined not to let us have it all our own way. Anay was out for revenge in his rematch with James B, and repelled an attack on his kingside with a clever bishop sac to transition into a favourable endgame. Adam was also going well, two pawns up against Patrick. If that game had gone against us it would have put the match back in the balance, but Patrick conjured a well-engineered perpetual out of the queen ending. The final game was being played under regular time controls and took a while longer. Richard was applying pressure, trying to force a passed central pawn home, but Gareth got queenside counterplay with his knight, and looked to have the advantage. Richard defended doggedly and peace was eventually declared, leaving us as 4-2 winners.
We return to the top of the table! Shout out to Nathaniel for getting a win on his competitive debut for the club. Very well done!
Bristol Grendel B 3-3 North Bristol A
04/11/25, Division 4
We were very much looking forward to our first match with Bristol Grendel in a long time, and the games did not disappoint. Luckily we were in a quiet room away from the football, otherwise the Spurs supporters in our team would've been too distracted by the Champions League!
Prakul got the match off to a good start, astutely offering a draw when his opponent had winning chances but was critically low on time. Jason was then unable to hold off Jack, who played a fine game, playing aggressively out of the opening to gain a pawn early on, and then converting the win. Patrick B levelled the scores in style, launching a kingside pawnstorm with enough pieces swarming in behind to make life very difficult for Ben. Defence is infinitely harder than attack, and Patrick's pressure provoked a game-ending blunder. The match was perfectly poised with three games remaining.
Gareth and Cash were each playing solidly. A game that had been full of tactical probing liquidated down to a major piece endgame. Cash's active queen forced the concession of two pawns, and he was able to keep his king sheltered until the pieces came off leaving him with a win. Both Jameses were defending horrible positions and it wasn't looking good for us. Patrick F had outplayed James B in the opening-middlegame transition and was applying huge pressure (up material and with dangerously advanced kingside pawns), while James C had tried a tactic against Aimee which backfired. The tables then suddenly turned! James B got counterplay to force an endgame, and James C managed to swindle a win out of Aimee. James B pushed his passed a-pawn looking for a win, but Patrick defended well, snatching the initiative back with a well-timed push of his own passed c-pawn. A long game eventually ended in a draw, with both players' well-placed rooks and kings preventing the passers making progress. Whilst we didn't manage to perform any Beowulf-like monster-slaying heroics, we escaped Grendel's lair in one piece and live to fight another day. Especially well done to Prakul, getting his first competitive draw for the club against a strong player!
Hanham Folk Centre B 2-2 North Bristol C
04/11/25. Division 7
The C-Team made the trip across Bristol to take on Hanham Folk Centre B
Ben and Dave were unable to get anything out of their opponents. Dave's game turned on fine margins. Harry was able to see one move deeper into a tactical line Dave thought ended evenly, but where black was able to force a pin/ skewer and win material whichever way white moved.
Alex and Luke each had perfect records in the league so far, so something had to give. The game was finely balanced until Alex found a tactic to skewer the white queen against a rook with his bishop. Fleeing from the skewer, the queen then inadvertently trapped a knight which fell to one of Alex's pawns. The game turned in the space of four moves, leaving white with a hopeless position.
Felicity's game against Roger had similarities. The game was even until move 40 when Felicity launched a devastating combination, winning a bishop on move 44 and a rook on 45, at which point her opponent resigned.
Alex's 100% win record continues, and a special well done to Felicity for scoring a win on her competitive debut for the club!
North Bristol B 2-2 Clevedon C
28/10/25, Division 6
Clevedon C were the visitors to Little Stoke, making the journey up the M5 on a gloomy autumnal night to face our B-Team.
Alex continued his fine form, getting us off to a flying start with a fine win. The centre opened early and the queens were exchanged, leaving him in an unfamiliar position out of the opening. Happily, Alex was able to activate his pieces more quickly, winning a knight and then grinding his opponent’s resistance down to reach a winning endgame.
Prakul suffered a defeat on his league debut for the club, with his opponent edging a finely balanced game in the endgame. Dave and his opponent both played extremely accurately to draw their game on board 2, leaving the scores level and 1½-1½, with everything hinging on James’ result on board 1.
That game went right to the wire. James got a good position with his active pieces restricting white's development, but his wily opponent's pieces managed to wriggle free and exchange down to a rook and pawn endgame with checkmating threats for both players, where one slip for either side would mean defeat. Both players used their time well, calmly calculating accurate moves and a draw was declared after a pair of rooks came off, meaning the points were shared between the two clubs.
Special mentions to Alex for continuing his 100% winning streak, Dave who remains unbeaten this season, and to Prakul for making his league debut for the club!
UWE A 3-1 North Bristol B
22/10/2025, Division 6
Back to university for the B-Team, who made the short trip to our near-neighbours UWE. One player had a particularly easy journey, strolling out of his UWE office and straight into the Student Union!
Table-topping UWE put in a strong performance and overcame our brave resistance. James and Tony didn't manage to get into their games against the in-form Merlin and Theo, whilst Dave got a good position out of the opening but gradually succumbed to some sharp play that cost him too much material to hold things together. Patrick posted a consolation win in a rollercoaster of a game against Edward. Whilst Patrick modestly described his own performance as "Godawful," this correspondent prefers to call it 'Resilient.' Well done to all eight players from both clubs for producing some thoroughly entertaining chess!
North Bristol A 5.5-0.5 Horfield & Redland D
21/10/2025, Division 4
Horfield & Redland D were tonight's visitors to LSSC, and were unlucky to be on the receiving end of the big scoreline the A-Team's been threatening to post for a while. We remain at the top of the table!
James C and Gareth put us into a 2-0 lead, before James B and Judd drew a well-balanced game that promised much but never quite exploded into life thanks to both players' accurate defending. Patrick seized control of the centre against Graham but missed a tactical opportunity to win an overly bold knight that captured his d-pawn. Luckily it didn't matter, and Patrick closed out an entertaining game with rook and queen swarming forwards to form an unstoppable battery along 7 against black's royals. Will engineered a not dissimilar position out the opening against Duncan, and managed to keep the pressure on to secure the win. Jason proved that piece activity is often more valuable than an extra pawn, and forced home a fine win also.
However, the game of the night belonged to Gareth and Scott. Tension built up in the centre before Gareth unleashed the fireworks with a nice dxc4, Bxf3 combination to break up white's pawns. Gareth's knight tasted glory, charging off on an ambitious chevauchée and sacrificing itself for two pawns. Both sides' pieces flew into the space created and a sharp battle ensued, with the computer clearly preferring white's extra piece to black's passed d-pawn and more solid pawn structure. On the verge of defeat, Gareth won his piece back with a well-spotted queen fork. Qf1+ then settled things, driving white's king onto f3 where it would be skewered against the queen. Well done to both players on a thrilling chess game!
Bristol & Clifton E 5-1 North Bristol A
14th October 2025, Division 4
The A-Team made the trip down to Hotwells to take on what turned out to be a mixture of Bristol and Clifton's E and J2 teams. We'll take it as a compliment they decided to put out such a strong team against us!
James B returned to form in a sharp game against Anay, surviving the early loss of a pawn to win a bishop and queen that had ventured too deeply into white's camp in exchange for a rook and pawn. Black's a-pawn heroically sprinted for promotion but was scythed down on a2 by white's knight. White's queen was too strong for the remaining bishop and rook, which were struggling develop fully and couldn't protect the exposed king.
It wasn't our night on the rest of the boards, with several promising positions coming to nothing due to the subtleties of move order selection. Patrick and James C built up imposing pawn centres but slightly mistimed when to push forwards, and Tony ended up on the wrong end of a tactical sequences that cost him a piece.
We remain joint top of the league (though Bristol & Clifton E have a match in hand) and we can only hope this defeat was a blip in what is shaping up to be a promising push for a return to Div 3.
North Bristol C 2-2 South Bristol E
14th October 2025, Division 7
Another good-natured clash between North and South ended all-square. Dave S and Alex's good form continued and they were able to get wins against Vicky and Yuri. James M and David B were unable to get us over the line against Oliver and Jane, and the match ended 2-2. The C-Team's return to competitive action continues to go well and we are holding our own in what is shaping up to be a tightly-contested Div 7.
North Bristol B 2-2 Portishead C
07th October 2025, Division 6
A busy October for the club began with an entertaining 2-2 draw for the B-Team with Portishead C. Alex backed up the promise he's been showing in friendly games with a victory over SJ. Mike and Phil were unable to get results over Matt and Frank, leaving the club trailing 1-2 and depending on Dave to convert a promising-looking position against Fisker to tie the match. Dave survived a scare when his knight advanced deep into white's camp to triple-fork the queen and both rooks, but left itself open to being pinned against the black queen in a very vulnerable position. Once he'd won the exchange Dave never looked like putting a foot wrong and the match ended all-square. Especially well done to Alex for securing a win on his competitive debut for the club!
CM Oliver Stubbs 19.5-0.5 North Bristol Chess Club
30th Sept 2024, Simul
FIDE Candidate Master (CM) and 2025's Bristol & District League Champion Oliver Stubbs took on North Bristol Chess Club in a much-anticipated simultaneous exhibition match. Whilst the score didn't go entirely in our favour, we like to think that a few of our 20 challengers (14 juniors and 6 adults) ran him closer than the scoreline suggests.
Prakul did fantastically well to secure a draw - watch out for that rising star!
Shout outs also go to Mike and Harry, who were the last player left standing and last junior left standing respectively.
Most importantly, great fun was had by all and our 20 challengers gained some great experience. We'd like to thank Oli for his time playing us and certainly hope to welcome him back for a rematch sometime!
We've already had a lot of fun analysing some of the critical positions from the games in Puzzle Corner.
Matthew's crazy position where almost everything was hanging at the same time made everyone's brains hurt, but in a good way. Matthew adopted an adventurous approach, playing an offbeat hypermodern opening and blasting the centre open to complicate the game as much as possible. After finding several critical moves he found himself an exchange up, but at the price of an active enemy queen. Matthew missed the 19...Nxd5!! sac that would've maintained equality and possibly earned a draw by perpetual check if white had been in a peaceful mood. The white queen seized the opportunity to infiltrate to the back rank and forced black to give up too much material to hold the position beyond move 40.
James M played a good solid game against the London, going a pawn up with 22...Qxg4+, but learning a valuable lesson that some pawns are poisoned and should be left well alone rather than being captured. White's major pieces swung over and launched an unstoppable attack down the semi-open g-file.
Hopefully more game details to follow - watch this space.
North Bristol A 4-2 South Bristol C
30th Sept 2025, Division 4
We welcomed South Bristol C to LSSC a couple of months earlier than planned due to venue unavailability on 25th November. The match didn't get off to a good start. James B was badly out of sorts and slipped up in the opening against Nasir. A bad position quickly got worse, and Nasir secured a quick kill with some calm, accurate play. James said: "Played my worst ever league game, but things worked out for the best as I got to be a proud Dad watching my kids play very well against CM Stubbs in the simul, which I'd have missed if my game hadn't ended so fast. It's a funny old life sometimes!"
James C quickly levelled against Vicky, with the other four games lasting considerably longer. Patrick got back to winning ways against Ed, using his queen to force an attack home through the centre. Will had crafted a great position, but some tricky counter-attacking play by John saw the scores pegged back to 2-2. Gareth made it 3-2 despite some heroic defending from Rod, who fended off a ferocious-looking attack for move-after-move before finally succumbing. Jason then won in style against Alessandro to seal the win: "I was glad my opponent opened with the four knights as my son plays it against me all the time. I copied my opponent for a while to save time on the clock then broke the symmetry when he developed his bishop to e3 to prevent damage to my pawn structure. With the score at 2-2 and Gareth in a promising position, my opponent weakened his e-pawn's defences. Confident we'd at least get a draw, I felt able to commit to the attack and won the e-pawn a few moves later. I was then able to advance in the centre, winning more material with a pawn fork and creating space for a forced mate against his vulnerable king. One of my cleanest individual wins and I'm delighted the club won also." The A-Team's unbeaten run in Div 4 continues!
Bristol Cabot B 3-1 North Bristol B
24th Sept 2025, Division 6
Our B-Team kicked off the season with a trip south of the river to Bedminster to take on Bristol Cabot B, with most of the side enduring a pretty rubbish 75 bus journey in heavy traffic. Patrick and James scored solid draws on boards 1 & 3, with our Dave B being unable to get anything out of Cabot's Dave B on board 4. Tony kindly summarises his game for us.
"Playing a French against the Queen's Pawn opening, a variation of which I hadn't played against before (Bb2), the opening was fairly even and I ended up with a reasonable middle game position (comp +1.5) but had spent an hour on the clock against 15 minutes! Inevitably I blundered a minor piece after playing what I thought was a good line but failed to see the obvious reply (something I keep doing, must be lack of concentration in the later stages) and then spent 30 moves or so on increment trying to hold off an opposite-coloured bishop endgame a minor piece and two pawns down. Another loss and a very disappointing game."
We live to fight another day. Shout out to Dave B for making his competitive debut for the club!
North Bristol C 1.5-2.5 Horfield & Redland F
23rd Sept 2025, Division 7
The C-Team's second game of the season featured a completely changed lineup, with Dave, Phil, Matthew and Harry coming into the side. An early slip saw Matthew lose material to Martin, who kept things steady to convert the win. Harry equalised, winning a sharp game against Siobhan, but Horfield & Redland re-took the lead when Thomas saw off Phil with a vicious fork. Scott used all his experience to hold the draw with Dave on Board 1 to secure the points for Horfield & Redland. Special mention to Harry for scoring his first competitive win for the club. Very well done!
Harambee B 2-2 North Bristol C
18th Sept 2025, Division 7
North Bristol C made a welcome return to competitive action for the first time in years. The combined ravages of the covid lockdowns and enforced venue changes are finally beginning to heal, and it's great to see player numbers picking up again. That said, finding the numbers to fill two teams in a single week was tough, and we sadly had to default Board 4 and start the match 1-0 down. As always, Harambee made us very welcome and a blisteringly exciting chess match ensued. Keen to press home their club's 1-0 advantage, Simba and Ezekiel came flying out of the traps against Ben and Owen on Boards 2 and 3, both launching powerful attacks. Ben and Owen were each able to fight their opponents off, defending accurately and then converting the winning positions that resulted. Devon and James M's game was an equally competitive but quieter affair, with Devon finally edging a minor piece endgame to draw the match. Especially well done to Ben and Owen for securing victories on their competitive debuts for the club!
North Bristol A 3-3 Bath D
16th Sept 2025, Division 4
A tense, hard-fought clash with Bath D ended in a 3-3 draw. Jason and Tony were overpowered by Lydia and Andreas, but good wins from Patrick and James C kept us in it. Patrick and Gareth drew their games with Dmitriy and Bihui, with Gareth finding a drawing resource in a pawn endgame that could have come straight out of an endgame studies textbook. Especially well done to James C for his victory on his competitive debut for the club! We remain unbeaten in Div 4.
North Bristol A 4-2 Downend & Fishponds E
09th Sept 2025, Division 4
The league season began by welcoming Downend & Fishponds E to Little Stoke. We'd had a week to lick our wounds after our fiercely contested cup tie and were eager for revenge. This time, it was North Bristol who took a 2-0 lead, with Tony and Phil grabbing good wins against Shaun and Nicholas. Downend fought back to 2-2 with Charles getting the better of Jason in a time scramble and Alan winning an intense positional struggle against James B. Will landed an early attack against Greg, and patiently consolidated his advantage into a win, before Patrick made it 4-2 after a sharp struggle with John ended in a won king and pawn endgame. Our first win over a Downend & Fishponds team in quite some time merited a couple of celebratory team drinks afterwards. Let's hope we can maintain our good start.
North Bristol 2.5-3.5 Downend & Fishponds Knights
02nd Sept 2025, Minor Knockout (MKO)
The start of the 2025-26 season once again saw us drawn against a Downend & Fishponds team in the MKO. This time we were at home to the Knights. We knew we'd be facing a strong side, but went into the game in full fighting mood, embracing the magic of the cup.
The Knights raced into a 0-2 lead with Mike succumbing to Carolus (fondly remembered from his Pete's Potentials days!) and Gareth then losing a fierce endgame battle with Alan. Patrick and James H drew a tight, cagey game before James B took advantage of a slip from Ian and converted the win despite fierce resistance. Dave won a tactical battle with Joe to pull it back to 2.5-2.5, but Will was unable to hold a draw against Martin, which would have seen us go through on board count. We exited the MKO on the tightest of margins, but gave a good account of ourselves and will return next season.
