The Battersea Grand Prix – and they’re off!

The Battersea Grand Prix is in full swing – and you can still join the race!

There are all kinds of chess tournaments you can play, however there’s something about your local club championship that is a rite of passage for any chessplayer.

The Battersea Grand Prix is over a hundred years old and allows club members (ranging from 6-80+!) to play and learn from one another. It’s also a lovely way to play a game on a Tuesday evening and look at the thrills and spills with a clubmate afterwards, with drinks in hand!

This year’s tournament is split into two – a qualifying phase before Christmas, followed by a split-out into different rated sections, where players will continue to battle for the Club Championship trophy as well as other prestigious awards such as the Barrow Cup.

And this year, we’re delighted to see a raft of entrants with 10 players from our junior club having entered the race already – we’re excited to see how they get on.

My game highlight from round 2 was the battle between Sam Riggs and Liam Broady – in a positional game of a Bb5 Sicilian, Sam demonstrated some smooth positional technique to take home the full point in spite of the tactical tricks that Liam sought to pose.

If you would like to join the Battersea Chess Club Grand Prix, please follow this link to sign up! https://Www.bit.ly/BCCGP26.