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09 Dec 2025: Team allegro announced
Next week - 16 December, to be exact - there will be an allegro tournament in the County Hotel. Teams of 4 will be drawn on the night from entrants and will play 10-minute matches against each other. It's not too serious, so do come along. Anyone wishing to play can just turn up for 7pm on the night - but it would be very helpful if you could inform Alan Armstrong in advance so that he might have a idea how many will be there.09 Dec 2025: Selkirk B 3½-½ Selkirk A
This week's match between the two Selkirk teams went in favour of the "B" team, but the result does not do justice to the fighting chess on view in the County Hotel. In particular, the slugfest Geoff Hope v Mark Gardiner could have gone either way, while Nick Dunne v Sam Cornwell was another hard encounter which almost went the distance. We have full results and all four games on the League fixtures page.League results, and selected games...
09 Dec 2025: Kelso beat NHS (match played 26 Nov)
A Stasys Gimbutis victory over Keith Aitchison was the only consolation for NHS, as visitors Kelso ran out 3-1 winners at the BGH. Ian Whittaker, Alan Armstrong and Ian Thompson were the other winners for Kelso.02 Dec 2025: Results from Selkirk Championship
Two results from Tuesday, with Tam Wylie and Harry Cornwell coming out winners in their matches. Full results on the Club News page...25 Nov 2025: Gala in comfortable win over Selkirk "A"
Comfortable on paper, that is - but not on the boards. On board 1, an early error by John Moore saw Martin Wallace take the point for Gala, but the other three boards were long and tough games:Mark Gardiner seemed unbothered by giving away 332 grading points, and conceded to Gordon Christie only after a hard game which resulted in an inferior andgame position. Sam Cornwell too looked at one point as if he would create an upset against Gerry Johnstone, but the loss of a Rook put paid to his chances. Selkirk's only point came on board 4, where newcomer Nick Dunne played with great determination to convert a Rook ending against Gala's Craig Rodgie. A fine 3-1 to Gala.
Full results and league tables...
24 Nov 2025: Game between Dave Bogle and Gerry Johnstone
Gerry Johnstone has sent in his take on his recent Borders Individual Championship match against Dave Bogle: very full annotations to a hard-fought draw in 38 moves. A good read, and well worth looking at.Game Bogle v Johnstone, annotated by Gerry himself...
18 Nov 2025: Selkirk championship news; next week's league fixtures
There are two League matches next week for us to look forward to: on Tuesday 25th, Gala visit the County Hotel to take on the Selkirk "A" team; and on Wednesday 26th it is NHS v Kelso at the BGH. Both will have some very interesting pairings. There were three games played this week in the Selkirk Championship: Alan Armstrong and Sam Cornwell drew their game; Nick Dunne defeated Kevin Poulton; and John Moore beat Steve Leckie. The full crosstable is on the Club News page, and the game Armstrong-Cornwell is on the League Fixtures page...11 Nov 2025: Borders Individual; a result against the gradings
There have been one or two surprises in the BICC, including a victory by Selkirk player Steve Carter over the experienced Gala player. Sam Cornwell writes:
On Tuesday, 11th November 2025, Selkirk Chess Club hosted a Borders Minor League match that will be remembered for quite some time. Steve Carter, playing White against Keith Robinson, produced what may be one of the biggest upsets of the season.
Steve, a newcomer to the Borders Chess League, has been a regular face at the club, turning up every week, quietly studying, and steadily improving with each game. A thoughtful and patient positional player, he demonstrated composure and depth of understanding throughout the evening. In a back-and-forth encounter...
See the updated tables, plus Sam's full thoughts on this game...
Full results, plus the game Alan Armstrong v Sam Cornwell and other League and BICC games...
28 Oct 2025: Kelso club is revived
Great news! Following hard work by Laura Steven of Berwick, the newly revived Kelso club had its first meeting on Tuesday 28 Oct in the British Legion. The evening was a great success, and the club is obviously back with a bang. Anyone in the Kelso area who would like to join, please contact the editor at , who will forward your query to Laura Steven, the Kelso organiser.Kelso have always entered a team in the Borders League, but have not actually met as a club there for a few years. This new venture will bring a weekly club back to Kelso, and will help cater for the undoubted interest in chess there is in the town and the surrounding area. Welcome back!
Alan Armstrong was there on Tuesday, and has sent us his impressions of the evening. See the Club News page...
Kelso have a Facebook page, which is at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581538897695Latest tables from the Borders Individual Championships...
