News Archive

JUNIORS RETURN TO LYMM

Lymm High School played host to a second junior rapidplay congress in only a few months on Sunday 29 March. This time, there was no “Monarchs” section for the strongest players, with only “Knights” for the intermediates and “Pawns” for beginners being offered. The time control was 15+5 in both sections.

This provided an excellent opportunity for some of Wallasey’s less experienced players to enjoy some tournament play and four young men flew the flag for the club. Luca Sorrentino-Ryan, Seth Marks and Pranaav Prasanna Venkatesh played in the Knights section, while Freddy Powell played his first ever tournament …...

SEASON RUN-IN REPORT 2025/26

by Saul Marks

Well folks, another season is reaching its climax here at Wallasey, and there’s plenty to report on as March draws to a close. There are now just nine club nights left of the 2025/26 season and, while some titles look secure, others are still very much up for grabs, and the relegation battles are in full swing.

Let’s take a closer look…

CHAMPIONSHIP

Steve Pickles has maintained his mastery over this division throughout the season, with only Dave Barnes managing to get a draw against him so far. With …...

WALLASEY JUNIORS FEATURE IN PENNINE CUP

Wallasey players made up half of Wirral’s contingent of 18 at the Pennine Cup in Liverpool on Sunday 22 March.

This annual team tournament for northern counties sees the best junior chess players from as far afield as Northumbria, Cumbria and the Wirral battle it out in a Swiss tournament comprising teams of six players each. There were 16 teams entered this year.

Wirral A were headed by Wallasey’s own Thomas Moran, who came away with two wins, two draws and one defeat against the tops players of a host of other counties. Terrence Jiang returned 3/5 on …...

WALLASEY JUNIORS FIND CHEER IN CHEADLE

It was an early Sunday morning start as six Wallasey juniors (and three dads!) made the trek over to the beautiful Cheadle Hulme School for the Cheshire Junior Chess Championships on 4 January. Into the blinding winter sun we drove, under a perfect cloudless sky, although reports from back home were of snow.

 

The tournament itself was split into three sections – the under-9s, the under-11s and the under-18s – with between 20 and 40 players in each section. Time controls were 15+10. Joe Ledgerton, Terrence Jiang, Sam Bakhshian and Seth Marks made up nearly 22% of …...

NEIL MAHER 1980-2025

It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Neil Maher. In pursuit of more regular chess, Neil joined Wallasey from Liverpool Chess Club in March 2024 and quickly found friends. He started in the Major but was clearly too strong for the division and was one of several players given a wildcard promotion to the Premiership for the following season. Trekking over from North Liverpool regularly, Neil brought with him his son Luke, one of Merseyside's outstanding juniors.

Neil played Board 2 for Wallasey E and scored well, but was often hampered by being exhausted after …...

MID-SEASON REPORT 2025/26

by Saul Marks

The internal tournaments continue to be the focus of much of our chess at Wallasey, evolving and developing like a living organism. Graham frequently calls it “the beating heart of our club” and it’s easy to see why.

During the summer, the decision was made to restructure from four into five internal divisions, but we’ve seen some considerable churn of members, which might make that difficult, as explained later. In comparison with last season, we have had 22 new players join or rejoin the winter league system so far, but 33 have left it. In …...