Culcheth Chess Club Blog

The fourth edition of our now-annual Warrington Rapidplay is just around the corner, and excitement is building fast.

The event will be hosted at Bridgewater High School on Sunday, 24th May, and it has already attracted the attention of some of the UK’s top chess talent, including two world-class Grandmasters.

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Meet the Grandmasters

GM Daniel Gormally

Grandmaster Daniel Gormally (peak 2573 FIDE) is one of England’s top professional chess players. With a career spanning over 20 years, he has amassed an impressive number of feats in over-the-board chess. He finished clear or shared first in the 1998 Politiken Cup, the 78th Hastings International Chess Congress (Challengers section), and the 2006 British Rapidplay Championship. He also shared second place in the 102nd British Championship and the 2nd EU Individual Championship.

Daniel is also a renowned author; among his many acclaimed chess books is Calculate Like a Grandmaster: Learn from the World-Class Attacking Players.

GM Nigel Davies

Nigel Davies became a Grandmaster in 1993 and has enjoyed massive success as both an author and a coach. He has published 22 chess books and actively coaches players across the globe as a FIDE Trainer through his website, Tiger Chess.

Nigel is perhaps best known for his popular Power Chess Program series, which is available on Amazon, starting with The Power Chess Program: A Unique Training Course to Improve Your Chess (Book 1).

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Elite Competition & Local Experts

The two Grandmasters will face incredibly tough competition on the day. Last year’s Open champion, International Master Gediminas Sarakauskas, is returning to defend his title, alongside FIDE Master Paul Macklin, who is also confirmed for this year’s lineup.

Representing our local talent, Warrington and District chess player Ethan Norris from Atherton will be the highest-rated local expert competing in the field!

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Sections for All Levels – Enter Now!

This event is not just for masters. There will be three graded sections running on the day to ensure competitive, well-matched games for players of all levels and abilities.

Fancy your chances, or just want to test your skills in a fantastic local tournament? There is still time to secure your spot.

👉 Click here to register and enter the tournament via Congress Org UK

by Steve Potter

Going into the 3 rd weekend at Coventry the Mates were 6th in the table.
Saturday was a match against the Welsh team Rhyfelwyr Essyllwg, lower than The Mates in the table, but with a stronger team on paper.
As has happened on every Saturday so far this season, The Mates lost.

The evening meal was at the hotel. The Mates have eaten there before and it was as good this time as it was last time. There’s been to some interesting evening meal venues in Coventry, but still there’s no go to option yet.

Sunday: The Mates needed to bounce back against Ashfield. Again The Mates were out graded as a team, but only by 8 points. As per every Sunday this season the bounce back happened.

A 5 -1 win maybe flattered us, but a one in the win column, is a one in the
win column, there’s no points in chess for artistic interpretation.

That leaves The Mates with an important question. Why is there a 0/3 score on
Saturdays, yet a 3/3 score on Sundays?
The table leaves The Mates in 5 th place, well above the bottom team, but with a large number of teams only 1 point behind.

by Steven Potter

Four Nations Chess League – for more info on 4ncl

Warrington Mates in the 4NCL 25-26 Season.
Going into the 2 nd weekend at Coventry the Mates were 5 th in the table and welcomed
Jamie to the team’s ranks as mate number 10.
Saturday was a match against Poole Patzers, and for the first time 7 players travelled, so
the team had a substitute if required. The match didn’t go well though, a 4.5-1.5 loss to a
higher graded team, without a win.

Warrington Mates 2029   Poole Patzers 2124
341 w Norris, Ethan 2223 e 0 – 1 Stubbs, Oliver c 2203
342 b Mazek, Marek 2154 e ½ – ½ Majeed, Haroon 2224 e
343 w Barnes, Jamie 2075 e ½ – ½ Gomez, Daniel 2185 e
344 b Kay, Lee P 1983 e ½ – ½ Waddington, Mike P f 2084 e
345 w Furness, Robert M 1886 e 0 – 1 Thomas, James 2104 e
346 b Potter, Steven 1854 e 0 – 1 Weatherlake, John P 1947 e

The evening meal.
The Mates went to a Turkish restaurant called Antalya. It must be a chain restaurant as
the team passed another one on the way there. The food was great, there was plenty of it
and was well cooked.
Sunday replicated the previous weekend, having had a bad result on the Saturday,
Sunday was the total opposite, a comfortable win without losing a game.

  Celtic Tigers 2 1836   Warrington Mates 2023
351 w Quinn, John M 2072 0 – 1 Norris, Ethan 2223 e
352 b Pedersen, Carsten 2017 ½ – ½ Mazek, Marek 2154 e
353 w Cranston, Adam 1808 ½ – ½ Barnes, Jamie 2075 e
354 b Sturt, Charles A 1754 0 – 1 Mulleady, Peter J 1950 e
355 w Hoong, Jonathan * 1723 e ½ – ½ Furness, Robert M 1886 e
356 b Rose, Peter 1642 0 – 1 Potter, Steven 1854 e

So the the Mates slip 1 place in the table, but are looking up more than down. The next weekend should help define the season with games against Rhyfelwyr Essyllwg and
Ashfield 1, who are both currently placed below the Mates.

Players that have represented Warrington in 4NCL since team formation in 2024