And now we have Nigel's excellent description of how we beat Hanham in the first round of the Knockout.

Our Knockout team travelled to Hanham last night in their quest to retain the cup and the result went pretty much according to plan, resulting in a 7½-½ win. We shall be away to Clevedon in the next round, possibly early in the New Year.

UPDATE

Here is more information on how we got two of our teams through to the next round of the Minor Knockout.

In the MKO the Knights exceeded all expectations with a win by 3½-2½ against a very experienced Cabot side. Highlights were Joe's and Shaun's wins against much higher rated opponents, Alastair and Richard; but perhaps the star turn was John's draw against Oleksii, who is rated over 300 more than John.

Meanwhile the Rooks also had a tough game, much more evenly balanced, at Thornbury, coming through by the same narrow score-line of 3½-2½. Here solid draws on the top two boards and board six were the foundation of the win, while wins by Ian and Grant clinched the victory.

The league season began last night with the Bishops travelling to Clifton in the Minor Knockout. They were up against some of Clifton's best young players and succumbed by 5-1, with Hector and Greg achieving well-earned draws. We'll hope for better news on Thursday when the Knights and the Rooks travel to Thornbury and Yate for their first round matches.

UPDATE!

18 souls presented themselves for examination by Oli and achieved the combined score of a Norwegian entry at the Eurovision Song Contest - that's "nul points". So well done to Oli for scoring a perfect 18. And let's hope everyone else learned a valuable lesson.

Thanks to Oli kindly offering to take on anyone rated under 1900, we are having a Simultaneous Exhibition at the club next Wednesday 26th August.

You can just turn upon the night but preferably let Grant know in advance on the Members' WhatsApp.

Our players, being a mixture of well-known members and newcomers to the club, had a very successful time overall at the Newport Congress this weekend.

Shaun played in the Minor Section and Alan and Grant in the Major, while In the Open Section Aron excelled with 4½ from the five rounds to be the absolute winner with a tournament rating of 2389!

We had new members in the Major and Minor sections. Matthew Baxter scored 4 out of 5 in the Major to come second on tie-break and Luke Stilwell scored 3½ in the Minor.

Well done to all.

This year the Club Championship will take on a new look, using a format that served us well in the past. It will consist of two rounds, the first played broadly before Christmas and the second in the New Year.

In the first round the entries will be seeded so that there is a variety of playing strength in each group. Watch out for giant killing!

In the second round the winners from the first group will play off for the Championship in Final Group A, the runners up will be in Group B and so on. So, in this round players will be more evenly matched and many tough fights can be expected.

We currently have 23 entries, which is enough for a successful tournament but it will be even better if we can increase it to 30 or more. So, if this challenge suits you, please let Grant know and then we can finalize the groups so that we can start next month and get some games in before the league season begins again.

69 players competed in the recent Stroud Rapid Play with four of them rated over 2200, all titled - one of them a GM.

They duly took the top four places, scoring, 6½, 6 or 5½ from the seven rounds. The chasing pack had six players on 5 points and nine more on 4½, including Carolus and Keith Baxter.

Carolus was equal fifth after six rounds but then his success was rewarded by having to play Zack Norris in the final round. Still, it was an excellent result in such a strong field. Alan rebounded from a tough mid-section to reach 3 points.

Eighteen players braved the extreme heat to play seven rounds in the Summer Blitz. Many thanks to Derrick for controlling!

Nigel managed six wins to be the outright winner again, so he retained the trophy that he won last year.

One point behind were James T, Carolus and Alejandro. Five more players achieved four points - Mark, James H, Charlie, Yuri and Yaksh, so there had been a tough struggle for high places including challenges by juniors and newcomers. Yaksh won the President's Trophy for the best result by a player rated under 1500.

Next Wednesday, 24th June, we are holding a blitz tournament and all members are welcome to join in. The time control will be 5 / 2 and quite a few members and friends have already signed up, including some seriously strong players!

It's a good idea to let Grant know if you plan to attend or just turn up on the evening for a 7.30 start.

Please make a note that the club AGM will be the following Wednesday, 1st July, when there will be successes to celebrate and plans for next season to discuss.

In the Bristol Megafinal we had some great results from our junior members.

In the under 14 section Alexis came 2nd with 5 points from 6 games and Vivaan scored a very respectable 3½ points. Newcomer Struan also did well, scoring 3 points in his very first tournament.

In the under 12s Hector also came 2nd with 5 points.

In the under 10s Yaksh had the best result with a perfect 6 from 6. Hector's sister, Lydia, also had a good event, scoring 3½.

Alexis, Hector and Yaksh will therefore progress to the Gigafinal. Well done!!

UPDATE

The final round started with a win for Oli in the Open, taking him to 4½ points for a share of second place. James finished with a draw to bring him up to a very respectable 3½ points.

In the Major, Grant, Dave T and Dave W finished with 3½, 3 and 2 respectively, while in the Minor, Shaun finished with another win.

Extremely well done to all of them for carrying on during the hottest day of the year, when sheer stamina played a significant part.

This weekend, attention turned to the Cotswold Congress at Gloucester with two rounds on each of the three days.

We had Oli and James in the Open section and they both had tough games on Sunday - Oli won both of his and James recovered from losing to the leader so they finished on three points out of four. After playing two exhausting games yesterday, Oli opted to take a bye in round five and avoid the sweltering Bank Holiday heat. James chose to play on and, for his troubles, faced another leader. They both have plenty to play for in the final round.

In the Major we have Grant and two Daves. Dave W had a bye in the fifth round but Grant and Dave T both won, to put them, respectively, on 3½ and 2½ points. Three of Dave’s opponents so far were born in 2011, 2017 and 2017 (twins?), so he was relieved not to have to play at the league faster rate!

Shaun has kept the D&F flag flying in the Minor with several very hard fought games.

We shall have the final “scores on the doors” a little later.

We were very well represented in the Frome Congress last weekend with James Thomas in the Open, Carolus in the Major and Yaksh in the Standard section. But our biggest entry was in the Intermediate section, where we had James Hennefeld, Alan, Elmira, Alejandro and Nigel.

They all had their moments but James H was the star performer with a share of first place in the Intermediate with four points from the five rounds.

Several of the performance ratings from the tournament significantly exceeded their current ones, notably James H registering 2014 points, Carolus 1919 and Yaksh increasing by an excellent 240 points. Very well done!

The Knockout final at Clifton provided eight interesting games with two high board wins to clinch the trophy on board count. Thanks again to Nigel for providing the last match report of the season describing the events of the night.

The Knockout Final was a real nail-biter but we have retained the Cup and therefore completed the League and Cup double. The score was 4-4 but thanks to wins by Oli and James on high boards we prevailed on board count! Congratulations to the team on another resounding success and also to Clifton for putting up a great fight.

The finale of the league season as far as our club is concerned takes place tomorrow, when the Knockout team (eight players) go to Clifton to try to retain the title and clinch a famous league and cup double. The very best of luck!

And hot on Greg's heels is Peter, with his report on the B team's last match of the season and, for once, his choice of words didn't need to be toned down by the editor!

Greg has produced a report on the E team's last game of the season - a 4-2 win.

We find that University B seem to be in the same boat as their A team, since they were also only able to field four players! Aldrin and Dave agreed to take the wins by default.

So the B team’s final match of the season was a bit of an anti-climax but it doesn’t take away from the fact that seven players, that’s Humphrey, Aldrin, Martin, Alexis, Alexei, Dave and skipper Peter appeared regularly throughout the fourteen matches and reserves were only needed on four occasions.

The four boards that were played ended in our favour with three wins and one draw, making the final score 5½-½.

As a result the B team in the end comfortably achieved promotion back to Division One. Well done!

It transpired that University A are in the exam season and were unable to field six players. Although the C team were handed a two game points start we were still up against the runaway leaders of Division Two, and it was very well done to James for his win to enable us to secure a 3-3 draw.

So, after a very tough season the C team finished with two draws! We can hope that life will be a bit easier in Division Three next season.

Clifton C won 4-2 last night against Horfield B. It means that our B team only need to draw at University B tomorrow to be sure of promotion back to division one! Also in division two, the C team host University A tonight, so the best of luck with that.

The E team remain in the bottom two places in division four but they cannot be relegated as long as they continue to field a team of six players next season. This is because division four is in the "higher section" of the League and there is no promotion / relegation between the two sections.

The E team finished their season with a satisfying win at Clifton E - more wins for Carolus and Alan!

Nigel has provided his thorough report on the A team's final match of the season. In passing, he makes some very valid comments on the use of the faster time rate in higher divisions of the League.

The D team faced a Clifton D side armed with three currently rated 1800 plus players and an average of over 200 more than us, so it was an excellent result to run them close in the 3½-2½ defeat. Well done to Nigel and Archie for their wins and to Hector for another draw.

Tonight's first result comes from the F team, who beat Clifton F 3-2 which will be pro-rated to 2½-1½ for the league table. Well done to Carolus, Charlie and Danny.

In the dead rubber game to complete the division one season our A team were missing three of their top boards but still fought hard against Clifton B with draws for Mark, Nigel and Alexis in the 4½-1½ defeat.

Greg has provided his usual interesting take on the E team's match at home to South Bristol C which ended all square.

Peter has provided a very fast turnaround with his report on the B team's hard earned draw against the division two champions, University A. Here we go.

The first result in tonight is that the B team have drawn 3-3 with University A. This means that we are one point ahead of Clifton C with one match (against University B) to play.

The E team also drew 3-3 in their bottom of the table clash with South Bristol C.

Now we have a report on how the C team fought hard at Clifton C last night.

The C team did the B team a favour by only losing against Clifton C by 3½-2½ with wins for El and Dave plus a draw from Alan. Not at all a bad performance, in view of the fact that their average rating of 1807 considerably exceeded our own. We shall have a better idea of the situation concerning promotion to division one after the B team's match at home tomorrow against University A. Good luck with that!

If we had any notions of an all Downend final in the Minor Knockout they were rudely shattered in two home semifinals last night. The Bishops did well to hold South Bristol to a draw but lost on board count. The Knights fared rather worse and went down by 4½-1½ against Bath. Well done to Alan, Nigel and Charlie for winning their games.

Greg has brought us up to date with his report on how the E team fared against Clifton J2.

What with the excitement with the A team and the Artemis launch, we are a little late reporting the E team's game against Clifton J2. Our mix of seasoned campaigners and youth were no match for the tyros from Clifton, who ran out winners by 5½-½ but not before Hector had played well again to secure our only half point.

To put the match with Clifton A into context, their B team had beaten Horfield A the day before, to come just one point behind us at the top of the table. A draw or a loss for us would mean everything depended on our final match against Clifton B and you can be sure they would scour their considerable resources for the best possible team.

But if we could beat Clifton A, it would be, in the words of Kenneth Wolstenholme, “all over”! It would not be straightforward, since Clifton brought James Cobb, John Curtis, Gareth Morris and Duncan Grossett, four players who, along with David Collier, had represented Clifton A for twenty years according to Chessit, and possibly longer than that. In that period they had won the league nine times, including seven years running. Last night they brought in Chirag Hosdurga (formerly of this parish) and Brian Lau to complete the usual very strong line-up.

For our part, we were without Haroon and Nigel, so we were glad that Aron was home from University for the Easter break and that Peter was also able to step in.

The report on the match which might decide the League follows.

The final score was 4-2. A great result against a strong Clifton A to secure a well-deserved league title, the first since 2016/17. We are three points ahead of Clifton B with only one match to go.

The A team have beaten Clifton A and are now unassailable at the top of division one. Well done! More details to follow.

We knew that the A team had ridden their luck at Bath against their B team but you have to read Nigel's report to appreciate fully the magnitude of their escape.

Greg has provided the first report of the week, concerning the E Team's trip to play Grendel B.

Three matches last night with a mixed bag of results. Starting at home: The F team went down against Yate B by 3-1 but not before Archie clinched a win.

The C team went one better and secured a draw (their first hard-earned point of the season!) when they shared the points with South Bristol A 3-3.

The A team travelled to Bath to play their B team and probably hoped for a fairly easy ride. This was not to happen, as the underdogs took an early lead and looked as though they could take at least one point off us. In a nail-biting climax we recovered, to win by the narrowest of margins. It means we retain our three point lead over Clifton B with two matches to go.

The E team went to Grendel B and also faced a ratings deficit, this time only around 160. So they, also, did well to come away with a win and a draw thanks to Alan and Shaun in the 4½-1½ loss.

The D team travelled to play Clevedon B last night and were out-rated by the merest 220 points on average. So the result was better than might have been expected when Carolus and Joe beat their opponents, to restrict the result to a 4-2 loss.

This evening it's round seven of the J4NCL. You can follow games on their website and the Upstarts need a good win to progress in the tournament.

Update! They duly beat Young Dragons Wales A by 5½-2½, which means that they can come back on 2nd April for the semi-final. The Bishops were rather heavily out-rated and went down by 7-1 against Chess to School 1.

The regulars for the Upstarts were James, Alexis, Carolus and Hector; and for the Bishops it was Charlie, Vivaan and Aylin. Well done to all!

And now, almost before we had time to wonder, here is Peter's report on last night's important point won by the B team at Bath.

We had three matches last night. The star achievement came in the F team's trip to play Cabot A where we went down by 4½-1½ but not before Shaun took the scalp of a 1700 rated opponent! As this was a division five match with two "bolt-on" boards, the score has been pro-rated to 3-1 for the league table..

The D team hosted Horfield C, who out-rated them by over 100 points and it manifested itself in another 4½-1½ loss, this time after we managed three well earned draws.

The big game of the night was at Bath C, where the B team were following their quest for promotion from division two. It began with a quick win for Peter, using one of his speciality wacky defences and finished with Aldrin nicely converting a rook and pawn ending. But, in between, we managed just two hard fought draws, leaving the match tied at 3-3. It means we are two points clear at the top but Clifton C have a game in hand. So, with the game points situation extremely close, it's still very much all to play for.

Greg has rounded up the thoughts of the E team in order to report on their excellent win against Horfield D.

The C team came close to garnering their first point of the season against University B thanks to a great win by Carolus and three draws but still lost by 3½-2½.

Carolus's win was despite getting to University a little late owing to playing in round six of the J4NCL. The Upstarts continued their winning streak with an excellent 6½-1½ win against Warwickshire Bears B to keep alive their prospects of reaching the division one semifinals. The Bishops also won, beating Crowthorne 4-3 to stay in mid table in division two.

"Your wish is my command" thought Peter and, hey presto, here is his report on the B team's vital victory against Clifton C.

With three matches to go, the B team have a tricky away match against Bath C, a tough one against University A and, what could be the decider, the final game against University B. Let's hope all the B team are available for the remaining games of the season.

Two home matches tonight and in the first one to finish, the E team, playing Horfield D, had an excellent 4-2 win, a result that was underpinned by the four juniors in the team; and the old timers also did well, scoring 100%!

The B team were playing a promotion clash against Clifton C and, after some exciting finishes, they won by 3½ -2½, which means we are now in second place in division two. We'll look forward to a blow by blow report!