Club Night Update

Another busy night on the 16th March 2026.

We had 4 league matches, 2 club championship games and 3 Gilroy matches.

League Update:

Division 1:

We had two Division 1 matches which were Gosforth Empire v Newcastle University and Gosforth Regents v Leam Lane.

Gosforth Empire got off to a good start with winning the match 3.5 v 1.5, this puts us in first place of Division 1 by 4 points but have played a game more than both Jesmond and Newcastle. A huge match away vs Newcastle on April 15th but with 3 games to go its all in our hands.

The Regents were heavily outgraded but managed a fantastic 2 all draw with wins for Alex Blake and John Liddle. This puts the Regents in 7th place 1 point from safety.

Division 2:

We had a Gosforth Centurions v Gosforth Salters, in a Gosforth battle the Salters managed to win the match 3.5 v 0.5. This puts the Salters at the top of Division 2, 2 points ahead of Morpeth in second. This could go all the way to a last match play off for first place when the Salters play Morpeth on April 27th. The Centurions are now in 4th place but look much more comfortable to keep their place in Division 2 next year.

Division 3:
We had Gosforth Woodbines v Morpeth B, sadly Morpeth B were too strong and won the match 3 – 1. This leaves the Woodbines in 7th place in Division 3, with our other teams (Hawthorns and Ivy) in positions 5 and 6 it will mean one of our teams will be playing in Division 4 next year due to a really strong Division 3 this year.

Division 4
Goforth Jedis (1st Junior team) are top of Division 4 on board count, they are joint first with South Shields Sand Dancers, again this could come down to a final game match on Monday the 11th of May when we host South Shields!

Gosforth Otterburns are having a great season in 4th place and are aiming to solidify their place in Division 4 next year.

Division 5
Goforth Siths (2nd Junior team) are top of Division 5 by 4 points but have played a game more than Forest Hall Pheasants. With only 3 games remaining it’s all in the Siths hands to take down the title!

Divisions 6:
Goforth Padawans (3rd Junior team) are top of Division 6 by 6 points, with only 4 games left this could be all over quickly!

Amazingly with under 7 weeks to go we are TOP OF 5 OUT OF 6 DIVISIONS!!!!!

With top 2 from Divisions 2 – 6 getting promoted and the bottom 2 from Division 1-5 getting relegated there is so much to play for in the next 7 weeks!!!

All league tables can be found : Northumberland | ECF League Management System

County Championship update:

Gilroy (Under 1700)

Tonight we were proud to host a top board clash of two of our top Junior players. Gautham Sathishkumar (4/5) v Ethan Ross (5/5) were playing on a beautiful Judith Polgar chess set that was awarded to the club by the British Chess Educational Trust (BCET) for contributions to chess.

Ethan managed to get the better of Gautham and is now on 6 out of 6! This means that he will only need a draw in the final round to take the trophy, at worst if he loses and Tom Cameron (also Gosforth) wins his last round it would mean a play-off would be needed.

Sell (Under 2000)

Leading the Sell is Gosforth’s own Alex Blake yet again on an amazing 6 out of 6. Alex only needs half a point from round 7 but will be crowned champion before round 7 if his nearest rival Stuart Skelsey does not win his round 6 match vs Gosforth’s Mark McKay.

Zollner (Open)

Gosforth’s NM Gustavo Leon is leading the Zollner on 5 out of 6 after a huge win against last years champion FM Andy Burnett, Gustavo is closely followed by FM Tim Wall (Newcastle) on 4.5 points and FM David Walker (Leam Lane) on 4 points. The draw is not out yet but odds are FM David Walker will play Gustavo in the last round which will be very interesting! In theory there is a possibility to see a 3 player play off to decide that title!

All County Championship tables and results can be found: Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com – Northumberland Championship Zollner 2025-26

With one round to go we are leading all 3 County Championship competitions…… this is unheard of!!

So with less than 2 months to go this is a very exciting time and fingers crossed we bring back lots of silverware!!