In Monday's Surrey Border League matches, both Guildford teams were victorious. Guildford B beat Reading A by 3.5–1.5 in Division 2, and Guildford E beat Basingstoke A 3–2 in Division 5. That's a long way to travel in a losing cause. The Guildford B match featured two very different games on the top two boards. Julien Shepley won very quickly on board 2 when his opponent dropped a rook in a calm position and had to resign. James Toon was the last to finish, but had to defend accurately to hold the draw in an ending with bishop and three pawns v knight and four pawns.

The latest Andrew Martin training session featured an analysis of an exciting GM game. The internal rapidplay completed 71 rounds. Hats off to Ian Deswarte who won all three of his games.

The Guildford FIDE Congress now has 118 entries and looks likely to sell out by the end of the month.

Once again the club fielded two teams in Surrey Border League matches. In Division 3, Guildford C held a 50-point rating advantage over nearest rivals Woking A, and won convincingly 4–1 to go top of the table. In Division 7, the Guildford G team of juniors drew 2–2 against top team Farnham E.

Sean Sussex led a session of the Beginners' and Improvers' groups combined, while the internal rapidplay has now completed 68 rounds. Tauseef Rahman and Tony Garrood were the main beneficiaries, scoring 3/3 and 2.5/3 respectively.

Entries to the April congress have now reached 101 with a month still to go. The maximum is 160, and there's always a rush towards the end, so if you're thinking of entering then it would be a good idea to enter sooner rather than later.

The first Monday in March saw two Guildford teams in action in the Surrey Border League. In Division 2, Guildford B faced Farnham B in an evenly-rated match which ended in a draw (2.5–2.5). The last game to finish was on board 1 where Rolandas Lukosius beat Clive Frostick in an exciting rook and pawn ending. In Division 4, Guildford D played Crowthorne B, losing 3.5–1.5.

Upstairs, Peter Hegarty led a session for the Beginners' Group. Next door to that, the internal rated rapidplay has now completed 65 rounds in 21 sessions featuring 59 players. James Toon is currently in pole position. Adam Sefton is the only other player on 100%.

Now just 6 weeks to the start. Here are the latest statistics.

So far we have 81 entries.

• 44 in the Open (average rating 1993), including 3 IMs.
• 22 in the Major / U2000 (average rating 1648).
• 15 in the Minor / U1600 (average rating 1390).

The entries include 27 juniors; 14 members of Guildford; 4 female players; and 18 seniors (aged 50+). These categories aren't mutually exclusive.

As last year, this will be an international event: a total of 12 different FIDE Federations are already represented.

For more details, see the FIDE Congress page on this website or the Chess-Results server.

A number of members of Guildford have agreed to help as volunteers over the congress weekend. Many thanks to them – we could not make this event work without them.

In the Surrey League Division 4 (Ellam Trophy), Guildford 2 drew 3–3 with Chessington 1. Guildford 2 outrated their opponents by 150 points a board so this was really one that got away. Especially given that Guildford 2 had the White pieces on 4 of the 6 boards (1, 3, 4 and 5). On board 4 the players sat down on the wrong side of the board and no one noticed until it was too late. The result leaves Guildford 2 top of Division 4, but in order to win the division and gain promotion Guildford 2 will need to win their last match against Richmond on 19 March.

Meanwhile in the Surrey Border League Division 5, Guildford E lost 3–2 to Woking C. Guildford E are propping up the table but at least in this competition there is no promotion or relegation.

Only one match at the club on Monday night. In the Surrey League Stoneleigh Trophy (a 4-board rapidplay match over two rounds), Guildford out-rated Ashstead by over 200 points a board and won comfortably by 7.5–1.5. In the topsy-turvy world of the Stoneleigh Trophy, Guildford were expected to win 6–2, so this counts as only +1.5 match points. Guildford remain last but one in the league table.

The internal rapidplay featured 14 players, including four who were new to the event this season. The player known as The Organiser took the evening off. Riyad Bensoussane took full advantage, winning all three of his games to regain top spot in the table. Now 18 sessions, 56 rounds, 56 players.

It has been brought to our attention by Guildford resident Paul Kerensa, a well-known radio broadcaster and historian, that Guildford Chess Club almost certainly played the first chess match ever transmitted over the radio in 1922. Researches indicate that no wireless chess transmissions pre-date this event, so the club can proudly claim this to be a world first. For more details see the History page.

In cricket, the Gentlemen v Players game was a First Class cricket match regularly played from 1806 until 1962 between a team made up of elite amateurs (the 'Gentlemen') and young sportsmen of independent means (from the universities), and a team made up of professionals (the 'Players'). Just as life imitates art, so chess imitates cricket. The distinction between Gentlemen and Players still operates in some chess leagues, notably the London Chess League (Wood Green always win), and the Surrey Border League.

In last night's Division 1 match at Guildford, the home team fielded a very powerful team of elite amateurs rated 2300 on average and featuring two IMs and an FM. But they were roundly defeated, losing 4–1 to a team of professionals from Sandhurst – that's professional as in paid to play chess – rated nearly 100 points higher on average, and featuring two GMs, one IM and one Candidate Master. Well done to Alberto Suarez Real and Alex Golding for taking half a point each off their GM opponents. Gwilym Price was unlucky on board 3, turning down a draw in a better position when the team situation required him to play on, then dropping a piece in time trouble.

Meanwhile, back on Planet Earth, Guildford D narrowly lost to Godalming B by 2–3 in Division 4, with both sides evenly matched in rating terms. Elsewhere, Guildford G travelled to Fleet & Farnborough B for a Division 7 match which finished 2–2.

Back at the club, the latest Andrew Martin coaching session was very well attended. Some club members then made their competitive debut in an informal Beginners' Rapidplay event. Next door, the main internal rapidplay has now seen 53 rounds of play, featuring 52 players.

The FIDE Congress is now only 10 weeks away. How are the preparations going?

So far we have 46 entries.

• 23 in the Open (average rating 1978), including 3 IMs.
• 12 in the Major / U2000 (average rating 1640).
• 11 in the Minor / U1600 (average rating 1376).

That's a promising number so far in advance of the event. We may well reach 160 which is the maximum the venue can hold.

The entries include 15 juniors; 11 members of Guildford; and 2 female players. These aren't mutually exclusive – a number of Guildford juniors have already signed up.

We have a team of three FIDE arbiters – Emma-Jane Billington-Phillips and John Bowley, who were arbiters at the first FIDE Congress in 2023, and Paul McKeown, who joins us this year.

As last year, this will be an international event: a total of 8 different FIDE Federations are already represented.

For more details, see the FIDE Congress page on this website or the Chess-Results server.

Two league matches tonight, two losses for the Guildford teams. We can't say we were out-rated since in both cases the opposition was of a similar strength. In the Surrey League Division 1, Guildford 1 lost 2.5–5.5 to Epsom 1. Clive Frostick and Julien Shepley picked up our only wins. Roger Emerson came away with a half point. Guildford still lead the table, level on points with Epsom and with a superior game points total. But it was Epsom's night, and they have a match in hand. In the Surrey Border League Rapidplay Division 2, Guildford RB lost 1–7 to Farnham RB. Liam Ireland took the solitary point.

Upstairs, Trevor Jones took the Beginners' Group through some of his positional games. Next door, the internal rated rapidplay reached 50 rounds for the season to date. The Organiser and Wonderboy A remain the only players on 100%.