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May 2026:

The Hereford Club are County Champions !

The competition went 'down to the wire' with the last match to be played being a head-to-head title decider. On Tuesday 12th May Hay-on-Wye took on Hereford in a match where a win for either side would earn that club the title of County Champions.

By the end of the evening Hereford had defeated Hay-on-Wye 4.5-0.5 to win the Marches League and become the champion club of the county, but the match was much closer than the scoreline suggests as at one point Hay-on-Wye were considered to be up on two boards and at least level on one other.

A fine 4-1 home win for the Forest of Dean Chess club over Kington on Monday 11th May secured them a highly creditable second place finish.

Final standings and individual scores can be accessed on the Marches League pages of this website.

The photos below show The Hereford Captain; Roger Aris receiving the Marches League Trophy and Kieran lappin of the Hereford Club receiving the medal for being the top scorer in the competition.

April 2026:

On 21st April Hereford Chess Club moved to the top of the Marches League with a 4-1 home win over the Forest of Dean, who were nevertheless pleased for Sally Hyde Lomax who scored a debut victory on board 5. On the same night Hay-on-Wye secured an impressive 4.5-1.5 victory over Kington. With the board points identical the destiny of the league title will be decided on the final match between Hereford and Hay on Wye. A win for Hay-on-Wye will make them county champions; any other result will mean Hereford are league winners.

Kington's final game is away to the Forest of Dean and Kington now need a 5-0 win in that match to avoid the wooden spoon, whereas a 3-2 win or better for the Forest of Dean will ensure a 3rd placed finish ahead of Leominster and a big win may even secure second place if Hay-on-Wye lose badly to Hereford.

The contest for best individual perfomance in the league may also go down to a head-to-head game as Kieram Lappin of Hereford and Stephen Pool of Hay-on-Wye are joint leaders going into that last game.

Congratulations are due to Hereford Club member Alex Adarski who is once again his school chess champion. Here is Alex holding this year’s school trophy.

Alex started playing chess in Year 3 at St.Paul’s CE primary school and has now been the school chess champion for four consecutive years.

March 2026:

A remarkable scoreline illuminated the Marches League on Tuesday 24th March at the Hereford Club venue when The Forest of Dean Chess Club scored a 5-0 victory over top-of-the-table Leominster. The Forest of Dean club captain hailed the evening's work as a "fantastic performance" and "... one of the best results in our club's recent history".

On the 10th May two Marches League matches were played, both ending with scores of 4-1. Two draws and three wins gave Hay-on-Wye their first match-win of the competition when beating the Forest of Dean in a match played at the Hereford club's venue, whilst Leominster travelled to Kington and secured a victory with only their board 3 game lost. That victory took them to the top of the league.

Hay-on-Wye played their first fixture in the Marches League on 4th March when they entertained Leominster at their home venue of The Blue Boar. The visitors came away with a 3.5-1.5 victory to move into 2nd place in the standings.

February 2026:

Hereford claimed their second win in the Marches League with a narrow victory away at Leominster on 24th February. Hereford have won both their matches 3-2 and are yet to win a game on one of their top two boards - strength in depth appears to be paying off !

January 2026:

The Marches League began on 27 January 2026 and the honour of playing the first match in the re-born county championship for clubs fell to Hereford and Kington. Hereford won this first match by the closest of scores: 3-2.

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The minutes of the Herefordshire Chess Association meeting held on 21st August 2024 are presented here:

HEREFORDSHIRE CHESS ASSSOCIATION

Minutes of meeting held on Wednesday August 21st 2024

at 7.30pm

The Herdsman, Widemarsh Street, HEREFORD

In Attendance:

Laura Friedlander (LF) Lee Davis (LD) Keiran Lappin (KL) Richard Croot (RC)

Evelina Racheva (ER) Alexander Adarski (AA) Ben Powis (BP) Liam Drew (LiD)

Paul Barber (PB) Manuel Gonzalez (MG) William Slater (WS) Les Collard (LC)

Roger Aris (RA) Jack Clark (JC) Henry Spedding (HS)

Apologies: Alan Leary

Minutes of the meeting held on 12th of August 2019 were accepted. No matters arising.

1. The Election of Officers:

Chair: Keiran Lappin

Vice Chair: Ben Powis

Secretary: Laura Friedlander

Treasurer: Evelina Racheva

Grading Officer: Lee Davis

The above-named persons were duly elected to the committee. Proposed by Roger Aris, seconded by Jack Clark.

2. Treasurers Report:

As of 21/08/2024 there is a balance of £3, 515. 64 in the association’s account.

There has been very little expenditure in recent months owing to the committee not having access to said account.

Les Collard (LC) reminded those in attendance that a substantial portion of the current funds had been built up by former club member Peter Johnston.

3. Grading + Competitions

Lee Davis (LD) spoke to the meeting about grading and ideas for future competitions and sought clarification as to which clubs are currently members. Hereford and Leominster are members and RC said he would seek clarification regarding Cathedral School.

Henry Spedding (HS) asked if there are any more clubs that we might not be aware of in the county, and the meeting was advised that if there were, other clubs could join at a future date.

ECF League Management System:

LD explained that the clarification above would enable him to make use of the ECF League Management System for county and internal club competitions.

Individual County Championship:

The meeting agreed that LD would design and conduct the Individual County Championship on the principle that the title of County Champion should be decided via a contest between players who qualify from the championships of the individual member clubs.

Marches League:

The meeting expressed its general support for the re-establishment of the Marches League and asked LD to consider whether that could be launched this season.

4. Any Other Business:

Keiran Lappin (KL) suggested that with the transfer of funds to the Association, in future all transactions would require two signatures. This was put to a vote and was unanimously agreed.

Midlands County Chess:

The meeting was asked its view on whether Herefordshire should establish one or more county teams to participate in MCCU and ECF events. The meeting expressed an interest in this and asked KL to investigate further.

LD stated that the Executive Committee should review the constitution of the Association with a view to whether amendments should be presented to a future General Meeting of the Association. This was agreed.

RC said that he is currently drawing up a safeguarding document and expressed that a safeguarding policy should be in place within the Association for the protection of young people and vulnerable adults. The committee agreed that this is important, and RC will complete the document and bring it to the Executive Committee for considefation.

KL reminded all in attendance to sign the attendance sheet before leaving.

There being no further business, the meeting ended at 19.55.

The time and date of the next meeting will be set by the Executive Committee.

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