Leicestershire and Rutland Chess Association

25/09/2026

Five divisions, 38 teams, all competing this season, from late September to early May. Live in or near Leicestershire? There will probably be a club not far from you. Whether you're curious to see a competitive Chess match or a seasoned player, seeking something more fulfilling, more sociable than a brief on-line Chess encounter ... come and see us! Enquiries - 07426 442482

15/09/2026

White to play and mate in two moves. Thanks to Graham L and Allan W for this. Enjoy!

07/09/2026

'A new skill, a stimulating activity' ... 'get out and meet other people ... ' We've seen this before, yes? ...

In the news:

'Picking up a new skill may offer additional protection against dementia. Research from the American Academy of Neurology has found that people who engage in lifelong learning, such as studying languages, have a lower risk of Alzheimer’s and slower cognitive decline, while a Trinity College Dublin study found that mentally stimulating activities, such as playing the piano, could lower dementia risk ...'

“It’s fine as adjunct advice [in addition to a healthy diet, exercise, socialising and sleeping well]” Dr Jay Amin (photo below, credit Russell Sach) is an associate professor of psychiatry of older age at the University of Southampton says. “These activities are nice to do but it’s helpful if they interact with other things.” Try signing up to a class with other people, as that will count as socialising. “It’s helpful to get out and meet other people. Sitting at home and learning a new language by yourself – I don’t buy into that.”

31/08/2026

'𝘌𝘹𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘦, 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤, 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺' – 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘹𝘦𝘴.

𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘛𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩, 𝘈𝘶𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵 24: '𝘉𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯: 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘔𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 – 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘍𝘪𝘹 𝘪𝘵’ 𝘣𝘺 𝘚𝘪𝘳 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘓𝘢𝘮𝘣, 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 – 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥.

'𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 2019, 𝘔𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘣 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘓𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯 𝘕𝘏𝘚 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵. 𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘎𝘗𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺: 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 '𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨 – 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘦, 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤, 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺.' 𝘚𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.'

28/08/2026

Enjoying the ancient game in Melton, LE13, in a modern, friendly setting ...

20/08/2026

It's coming! ... shortly after the new FIDE President is elected. A turning point or a new leaf for the 'game of games'?

18/08/2026

News from https://leicestershirechess.org ...

Would you like to represent the county of Leicestershire at Chess (occasional weekends, between September '26 and February '27 ...?) If so, please reach out! Three teams are proposed: 'Open', 'under 1850 and under 1650.

Leicestershire & Rutland Chess Association is the body recognised by the English Chess Federation as being responsible for chess in the city of Leicester and the counties of Leicestershire and Rutland.  The Association is affiliated to the Midland Counties Chess Union.

07/08/2026

Three Melton players at the British Championships, Warwick University, last weekend, scoring a creditable 3 and 3.5/7

25/07/2026

We're not shy about airing awkward or controversial news here ... According to the EU and Swiss authorities (July 23): 'Arkady Dvorkovich (see photo, centre, a former senior Russian politician and current FIDE President) is 'supporting actions or policies which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, or stability or security in Ukraine' and
'in his position as President of FIDE he has publicly supported the annexation of Crimea and called occupied Ukrainian cities "new
territories" of the Russian Federation.' He is thus subject to EU and Swiss-imposed sanctions. Dvorkovich refutes any wrongdoing (July 23): 'I want to state unequivocally that I consider this decision unlawful and unfair, and this decision will be immediately challenged by all possible means ...'

Editor's view? It's a pity that Chess is in the news for this reason. Could candidates for the position of FIDE President in September's elections please try their level best to keep even the suggestion of politics out of the greatest of games?

19/07/2026

𝗜𝗻 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 '𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗚𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗵' 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗸𝗼𝗸, 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗣𝗮𝗸𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗺𝘀𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 >𝟳𝟱𝟬 𝗲𝗹𝗼 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 (𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 '𝗔𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘃 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘁𝗼𝗻' 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘀?) 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗶 𝗘𝘀𝗶𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗸𝗼, 𝗮 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱, 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟰𝟮. 𝗗𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗜𝗠 𝗥𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗥𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗿𝗻𝗲 𝗞𝗮𝗲𝗵𝗹𝗲𝗿. (𝟯𝟮 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀)

In this episode of The Underdog, Robert Ris presents a spectacular upset from the Asian Esports Chess Cup, where a young Thai player (Pakornnarong Liukasemsarn) defeats super-GM Andrey Esipenko despite an enormous rating gap. In a sharp Italian Game with opposite-side castling, Black bravely pushes....