Select the picture below to visit the junior page:
To view the English Chess Federation League Management System, which shows all of the fixture results, league tables etc: ecflms.org.uk
Swale Chess Club annual subscription: £96, which includes registration with the English Chess Federation
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Updated 06/06/26
Swale Chess Club report—4th June 2026
A busy evening last night. The results:
Swale Chess Club Championship
Arnaud Wisman 0.5–0.5 Trefor Owens
Keith Nevols 1–0 Arnaud Wisman
Aaron Brown 1–0 Martin Singer
We are delighted to confirm that Keith Nevols has won the Swale Chess Club Championship!
Thanks and congratulations to Trefor Owens, Arnaud Wisman, Martin Singer and Keith Nevols for completing their championship games.
Second Tournament
Leo Rudd 0–1 Sylvie Nijman
Thanks to Sylvie for completing all her games.
Rapid Chess Championship
Group A
Paul Hobbs 0.5–0.5 Andrew Gillard
Group B
Nick Allen 0.5–0.5 Joe Eagle
Gary Clifford 1–0 Mike Ingham
Craig Lindsay 0.5–0.5 David Page
David Page 1–0 Nick Allen
Mike Ingham 0–1 Craig Lindsay
Ladder
Trefor Owens 0–1 Ashley Jarvis
David Durrant 1–0 Michael Dale
Keith Hyde 0.5–0.5 Chris Marshall
Mini-puzzle
The Paul v Andrew rapid game ended in a draw, but had sharp play from both players along the way. Here is a typical moment. White to move.
Rxc7+!! The engine awards a double exclam!! Capturing while sacrificing the rook was the right idea!
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Updated 30/05/26
Swale Chess Club report—28th May 2026
Last night's results:
Swale Chess Club Championship
Keith Nevols 1–0 Owen Taylor
Rapid Chess Championship
Group A
Paul Hobbs 0–1 Chris Marshall
Ashley Jarvis 1–0 Paul Hobbs
Sylvie Nijman 0.5–0.5 Keith Nevols
Group B
Nick Allen 0.5–0.5 Kevin Charlton
Duncan Marsh 1–0 Leo Rudd
Gary Clifford 1–0 Craig Lindsay
Kevin Charlton 1–0 Mike Ingham
Gary Clifford 0.5–0.5 Nick Allen
Craig Lindsay 1–0 Leo Rudd
Thank you to Leo for completing his group games.
Ladder
Sylvie Nijman 1–0 Andrew Gillard
Stephen Lamb 1–0 Kieran Adams
David Durrant 0–1 Logan Stanton
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Updated 23/05/26
Swale Chess Club ladder is up and “runging”!
Swale Chess Club report—21st May 2026
Last night's results:
Rapid Chess Championship
Group A
Keith Hyde 1–0 Sylvie Nijman
Stephen Lamb 1–0 Paul Hobbs
Stephen Lamb 0–1 Keith Hyde
Paul Hobbs 1–0 Sylvie Nijman
Group B
Kevin Charlton 1–0 Joe Eagle
David Page 1–0 Duncan Marsh
Leo Rudd 0–1 Mike Ingham
Arnaud Wisman 1–0 Gary Clifford
Joe Eagle 1–0 Mike Ingham
Leo Rudd 0–1 Arnaud Wisman
Duncan Marsh 0.5–0.5 Gary Clifford
Ladder
Andrew Gillard 1–0 Kieran Adams
Logan Stanton 1–0 Michael Dale
Mini-puzzle
From a recent Swale Chess Club game. White to move.
Bxf7+!! The engine awards a double exclam!! A classic situation from the puzzle books, but bravo to White for enacting this as early as move 6 in an actual game.
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Updated 17/05/26
Swale Chess Club report—14th May 2026
Swale Chess Club Championship
Last night's results:
Swale Chess Club Championship
Aaron Brown 0–1 Stephen Lamb
Keith Nevols 1–0 Nick Allen
Paul Hobbs 1–0 Owen Taylor
Thanks and congratulations to Stephen Lamb who has now completed all his games.
Second Tournament
Kieran Adams 0–1 Joe Eagle
Thank you to Kieran for completing his games.
Rapid Chess Championship
Group A
Ashley Jarvis 0–1 Keith Hyde
Chris Marshall 0.5–0.5 Sam Glenn
Sylvie Nijman 0.5–0.5 Andrew Gillard
Keith Hyde 1–0 Chris Marshall
Andrew Gillard 0–1 Ashley Jarvis
Group B
David Page 1–0 Leo Rudd
Report—County chess U1650 Worcestershire v Kent
Worcestershire 8–Kent 8. As close as it gets—tie break; Kent win on board count, qualifying for the semi-finals. Four Swale Chess Club members contributed to yesterday's away result at Reading.
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Updated 09/05/26
Swale Chess Club report—7th May 2026
Swale Chess Club Championship
A busy evening and the results were:
Swale Chess Club Championship
Owen Taylor 0–1 Arnaud Wisman
Trefor Owens 0–1 Keith Nevols
Rapid Chess Championship
Group A
Paul Hobbs 0–1 Keith Hyde
Sylvie Nijman 0–1 Sam Glenn
Chris Marshall 1–0 Andrew Gillard
Stephen Lamb 0–1 Ashley Jarvis
Keith Hyde 1–0 Andrew Gillard
Sam Glenn 1–0 Paul Hobbs
Stephen Lamb 1–0 Chris Marshall
Ashley Jarvis 0–1 Sylvie Nijman
Group B
Gary Clifford 1–0 David Page
Nick Allen 1–0 Leo Rudd
Joe Eagle 1–0 Craig Lindsay
Leo Rudd 0–1 Gary Clifford
Joe Eagle 1–0 David Page
Craig Lindsay 0–1 Nick Allen
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Updated 04/05/26
Tunbridge Wells FIDE Congress—Friday 5th–Sunday 7th June 2026
Tunbridge Wells Bridge Club, 40 London Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 1DL
Five-round Swiss tournament (time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from start)
Two sections ECF & FIDE rated: Open, U1800; ECF-rated U1500.
Trefor Owens 0–1 David Page
Keith Hyde 0–1 Keith Nevols
Michael Dale 0–1 Owen Taylor
Martin Singer 0–1 Mike Ingham
Thanks and congratulations to Keith Hyde and David Page who have now completed all their championship games.
Swale Rapid Chess Championship
Group A
Andrew Gillard 0–1 Sam Glenn
Ashley Jarvis 0.5–0.5 Chris Marshall
Sylvie Nijman 0–1 Stephen Lamb
Sam Glenn 0–1 Ashley Jarvis
Chris Marshall 1– Sylvie Nijman
Andrew Gillard 0–1 Stephen Lamb
Group B
Leo Rudd 0–1 Kevin Charlton
Joe Eagle 0–1 Gary Clifford
Kevin Charlton 1–0 Gary Clifford
Leo Rudd 0–1 Joe Eagle
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Updated 25/04/26
Swale Chess Club report—23rd April 2026
Championship
Last night's results:
Swale Chess Club Championship
Arnaud Wisman 1–0 Stephen Lamb
Martin Singer 0–1 Trefor Owens
Keith Nevols 1–0 David Page
Gary Clifford 1–0 Duncan Marsh
Andrew Gillard 0–1 Aaron Brown
Mike Ingham 1–0 Michael Dale
Nick Allen 0–1 Owen Taylor
Thanks and congratulations to Andrew Gillard who has completed all his games.
There are 26 games to go.
Second tournament
Joe Eagle 0.5–0.5 Sam Glenn
Kieran Adams 1–0 Leo Rudd
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Updated 18/04/26
Swale Chess Club report—16th April 2026
Championship
Last night's results:
Swale Chess Club Championship
Andrew Gillard 0–1 Owen Taylor
Gary Clifford 0–1 Trefor Owens
Craig Lindsay 1–0 Oliver Szabo
Michael Dale 0–1 Ashley Jarvis
Paul Hobbs 0–1 Aaron Brown
Thanks and congratulations to Craig Lindsay for completing all his games.
Second tournament
Joe Eagle 1–0 Kieran Adams
Sylvie Nijman 1–0 Leo Rudd
World Championship
If you have been following the candidates tournament from Cyprus, you will see that Javokhir Sindarov from Uzbekistan has won the tournament to challenge the world champion, Gukesh Dommaraju from India, possibly in November. They will both be 20 years old so this will be the youngest world championship match of all time!
Vaishali Rameshbabu from India won the Women's Candidates tournament and will challenge the champion Ju Wenjun from China.
Both matches will be over 12 games.
Mini-puzzle
—Contributed by Trefor
From my game v Gary. I had seen this position from a few moves before and my planned continuation, as Black, was:
25 …Bc3 skewering queen and rook, 26 Bxc4 Bxd2, 27 Bxb3 Bxe1 winning the exchange. However, can you spot the flaw?
25 …Bc3, 26 Bxc4 Bxd2, 27 Bxb3 Bxe1, and White to move.
Bb2+! Black does indeed win the exchange, but at the cost of being checkmated!
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Updated 11/04/26
Swale Chess Club report—9th April 2026
En Passant Cup
Thank you and well done to those who took part in Wednesday's final match of the season away to Medway.
We won 3.5–2.5 and the results and board order were:
Keith N (1), Keith H (0.5), Stephen (0), Nick (0.5), Andrew (0.5), Paul (1)
We finished mid-table with four wins and three losses.
Our top performer was Keith Hyde with 3.5 out of 5 and a rating performance of 1996.
Thank you to all of those who played in our teams this season; thank you also to Nick, Paul and Mike for being the captains.
The Kent cups start again in September and we will be deciding at the AGM in July which to enter.
Championship
Tonight's results:
Swale Chess Club Championship
Keith Hyde 0.5–0.5 Trefor Owens
David Page 0.5–0.5 Arnaud Wisman
Michael Dale 0–1 Craig Lindsay
Stephen Lamb 1–0 Keith Nevols
Andrew Gillard 1–0 Oliver Szabo
Duncan Marsh 1–0 Mike Ingham
Second tournament
Sylvie Nijman 1–0 Joe Eagle
Leo Rudd 1–0 David Durrant
Mini-puzzle
—Contributed by Andrew
Folkestone again—I have the black pieces. While perusing the moves afterwards in the hotel bar with my opponent, Cecil Sloan of Greater London Chess Club, it was nice as a Swale Chess Club player to hear that GLCC runs Tyrone Jefferies Rated Games in memory of our two chess clubs' mutual member. We ourselves will soon be taking part in the Swale Chess Club Rapid Championship for the Tyrone Jefferies Cup.
Tyrone would no doubt have appreciated this one. What two moves should Black play here to force the win?
Black to move.
Qc1+ and after Kg2, Ne1+! Checking the king away from the defence of the bishop, with unavoidable checkmate to follow.
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Updated 03/04/26
Swale Chess Club report—2nd April 2026
Championship
It was a busy night tonight with results as below.
Meanwhile congratulations to Leo on winning the big trophy at the junior club.
Swale Chess Club Championship
Stephen Lamb 0.5–0.5 Trefor Owens
Arnaud Wisman 1–0 Keith Hyde
Michael Dale 0–1 Nick Allen
Keith Nevols 1–0 Aaron Brown
Owen Taylor 1–0 Craig Lindsay
Duncan Marsh 0–1 David Page
Andrew Gillard 0–1 Paul Hobbs
Second tournament
Leo Rudd 0–1 Kieran Adams
Mini-puzzle
—Contributed by Andrew
From the recent Folkestone congress. I found the best move here in my game with the black pieces v Rob Thompson.
Black to move.
Bh3!! The engine awards a double exclam!! Threatening 35 …Bxgp+, 35 Kg1 BxN+, 36 KxB Qg1 checkmate. The best White has is 35 Qc2, as played in the game, but then after RxB! the queen can't take back because the mate would still be on.
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Updated 28/03/26
Swale Chess Club report—26th March 2026
Championship
The results from Thursday's games were:
Swale Chess Club Championship
Trefor Owens 1–0 Andrew Gillard
Stephen Lamb 1–0 Mike Ingham
David Page 1–0 Aaron Brown
Oliver Szabo 0–1 Martin Singer
Duncan Marsh 1–0 Michael Dale
Ashley Jarvis 0–1 Paul Hobbs
Second tournament
Sam Glenn 1–0 David Durrant
Sylvie Nijman 1–0 Kieran Adams
Report—Folkestone FIDE Congress
Three Swale players travelled down to the seaside for the Folkestone weekend congress, clocking up a modest 5.5 points between them. An enjoyable, well-organised and well-attended event at a splendid seaside venue. Recommended.
Mini-puzzle
—Contributed by Arnaud
An accurate finish from a recent game.
Part (a): What were the first three moves of the winning sequence? Black (Arnaud) to play.
The first three moves of the winning sequence were 1 …Nh3+, 2 Kh1 Nxf2+, 3 Kg1 Qe3. Here in the game White responded with 4 Nf3 and checkmate is now unavoidable. All White had instead was Nxe4, still losing.
Part (b): After White's 4 Nf3 what are the concluding three moves of the winning sequence? Black (Arnaud) to move.
4 …Nh3+ double check, 5 Kh1 Qg1+!! Sacrificing the queen for checkmate—the engine awards a double exclam!!, 6 Nfxg1 Nf2# Smothered mate!
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Updated 20/03/26
Swale Chess Club report—19th March 2026
Fuller Cup Match
Snodland defaulted tonight's match 4–0, so we finish the Fuller with a record of two wins, three draws and two defeats.
Our top performer was Mike Ingham who got 4.5 out of 5. And a credit to Ashley who won two games out of two.
Thank you to everyone who played for this team.
Championship
Last night's results:
Swale Chess Club Championship
Ashley Jarvis 0–1 Owen Taylor
David Page 0.5–0.5 Stephen Lamb
Nick Allen 0.5–0.5 Keith Hyde
Martin Singer 0.5–0.5 Keith Nevols
Gary Clifford 1–0 Michael Dale
Craig Lindsay 0–1 Aaron Brown
Second tournament
Sam Glenn 1–0 Sylvie Nijman
Welcome on board, Leo!
We were pleased to meet new member Leo last night.
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Updated 14/03/26
2nd Folkestone FIDE Congress—Friday 20th–Sunday 22nd March 2026
Grand Burstin Hotel, The Harbour, Marine Parade, Folkestone, Kent CT20 1TX
Five-round Swiss tournament (time control 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from start)
Three sections ECF and FIDE rated: Open, U1750 and U1450
Thank you to our Fuller Cup team who drew 2–2 away at Hastings last Sunday afternoon.
Jacob Robinson guested for us.
The team and results were: Andrew (0), Paul (0), Mike I (1), Jacob (1)
Championship
Last night's results:
Swale Chess Club Championship
Nick Allen 0–1 Arnaud Wisman
David Page 0.5–0.5 Keith Hyde
Craig Lindsay 0.5–0.5 Duncan Marsh
Stephen Lamb 0–1 Martin Singer
Mike Ingham 0–1 Andrew Gillard
Oliver Szabo 1–0 Michael Dale
Second tournament
David Durrant 0–1 Kieran Adams
Welcome on board, Roseanne!
We were pleased to meet new member Roseanne last night.
Mini-puzzle—Happy Pi Day!
Pi Day on March 14th celebrates the mathematical constant pi, whose first three digits are 3.14.
Pi is the ratio between the circumference of a circle and its diameter. In 1706, Welsh mathematician William Jones introduced the Greek letter π to represent it, giving us the famous formula C=2πR where C is the circumference and R is the radius.
Today we have an appropriately π-themed puzzle:
A string is tightly wrapped around the equator of a perfectly spherical Earth. Raise the string 1ft off the ground, all the way round; how much longer does it need to be to still reach all the way round?
C=2πR. Circumference of the Earth equals 2 times π times the radius R, and the tightly wrapped string has this same length.
Raised 1ft off the ground—so now with the new increased radius of (R plus 1)—it needs to have length 2 times π times (R plus 1).
Therefore the difference in length is [2 times π times (R plus 1)] minus [2 times π times R].
In symbols that is 2π(R + 1) − 2πR,
which is the same as 2πR + 2π − 2πR.
Which equals 2π.
The value of π, 3.14…, is approximately 3, so 2π means the difference in length around the entire Earth is… 6 feet!
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Updated 07/03/26
Swale Chess Club report—5th March 2026
Fuller Cup Match
Thanks to our Fuller team who drew 2–2 against Medway in the home match last night. The scores and board order were:
Andrew (0.5), Paul (0.5), Mike I (1), Kieran (0).
Championship
Last night's results:
Swale Chess Club Championship
Aaron Brown 0.5–0.5 Gary Clifford
David Page 0.5–0.5 Nick Allen
Keith Hyde 0–1 Stephen Lamb
Second tournament
Sylvie Nijman 1–0 David Durrant
Sam Glenn 0–1 Joe Eagle
Featured game of the week
—Contributed by Andrew
My Fuller Cup draw on Thursday; a nice, even game with both players achieving 90%+ accuracy. The engine awards 2450 game rating to me as White and… precisely 2450 game rating to my Medway opponent David Lettington as Black!
fixture results, league tables etc: ecflms.org.uk
