English Chess Forum

I'm in a nasty dispute with my next-door neighbour.

Yesterday he threw two dozen prawn cocktails over the hedge onto my garden path.

I said "That don't scare me" and he replied "Well that's just starters."

In tonight's local news it was reported that a lorry carrying Vick VapoRubs had overturned on the M1.

Police say there is no congestion.

A short update - Division 1 is now complete; there are still 5 teams in Divisions Two/Three who need to enter by the deadline. https://www.4ncl.co.uk/data/2627/runners_riders.htm has been updated. Four divisions of 12 and one of 36 albeit with three teams not showing as paying their entry fee. All ...

Were there exceptional reasons for late payment? Anyone who's played in the 4NCL for a long time will remember what happened 11 years ago when a team was only 1 day late paying. Late withdrawals can create a certain amount of chaos as that thread shows. Perhaps suitable assurances were given that t...

Week Three Aston Villa one shot on target in first three Premier matches Opta stats. It has taken European Champions League matches to show that Villa actually have some shooting boots. Meanwhile the Premier League has a familiar look with Arsenal & Manchester City on maximum points with Fulham and...

It’s not the final team list for Division 4. That will follow soon once a couple of admin points have been sorted out. Without trying to work out if any team has actually withdrawn or renamed, the new entrants seem to be:- Alpha Chess x 2; Desert Penguins 2; Fianchetto Fellowship; Hammersmith, Icen...

I was resisting the urge to ask, but I presume "ToBeDecided" is an actual team name? Yes. As it's taken an inordinate time to actually have a sensible team name possibly they've decided not to enter/pay their entry fee for for 2026/27? The other squad not shown as entered is the Woodpushers - with ...

A short update - Division 1 is now complete; there are still 5 teams in Divisions Two/Three who need to enter by the deadline.

In relation to the above there has been an influx of new entrants into the 4NCL. The following has appeared on the 4NCL website:- Please note that we’re not accepting any further entries into next season’s Division 4 for the time being until we’ve had a chance to reassess the playing space capacity ...

Normally at this time, I open a thread for each of the Divisions for the forthcoming season - however last year contributions were in some cases minimal and then we find seven pages of posts on the Division Two 2025-26 thread recently concerned a matter that really belonged elsewhere. Consequently I...

Week 2 Premier League clubs have smashed the transfer spending record after splashing £3.49bn on new signings Sky Sports I might be able to sort out who on earth these players are in due course. Incidentally isn't it about time Fantasy Football changed the values of the players - Haaland for £15.5 ...

Week One We taught Spurs a lesson Brentford supporter comment on BBC. Welcome to the 2026-27 season. I have to catch up on new managers; transferred players and so on. My week one was highlighted by the wrong goalkeeper, a mediocre midfield and three useless strikers (including captain Haaland) - s...

There is, of course, The Big Book of Busts - see https://chessexpress.blogspot.com/2014/ ... busts.html

I would advise forum users not to Google the title as several non-chess references will appear.

Matt Mackenzie wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 24, 2026 6:11 pm

He isn't in the ECF rating database, but I presume he also played a bit back in the day?

He played in Nottinghamshire; there are some e-mails circulating locally (as in Ken Morrison's above) and I will add to them in due course.

I have just received an e-mail reporting the sad news that Tony Gillam has passed away. He was 83 in January. When I hear more I'll post details here.