The calendar details events running in the Lothians and selected national events.
Open to qualifiers from any UKCC 2024 Megafinal
Different age groups will play on different days (tbc but likely U8 and U10 on Saturday, U12, U14 and U18 on Sunday)
For more information see the Delancey UK Chess Challenge website
Individual tournament that is part of the UK Chess Challenge
The top players in each age/gender group will qualify for the Gigafinal
Tournament for teams of 4 players. If your school or club is not entering you can enter as an individual and we will assign you a team. All players must live in the Edinburgh, Lothians or Scottish Borders.
The Lothian Junior Championships is an Individual tournament for players who live in Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, West Lothian or The Scottish Borders council areas.
Alongside the main tournament we are running a Taster Tournament for Primary School age players who would like to know what a tournament is like but don’t quite feel ready to come for the whole day. This will start at 1pm.
The tournament is for Primary and Secondary schools in the Lothian and Borders region. Each school can enter multiple teams in the following sections (teams of four are mixed boys and girls and teams can change players during the day). Individuals can also enter and will be allocated to composite teams for the tournament.
P5 and Under
P6/P7
Secondary
There will be 6 rounds and teams in each section are paired using the Swiss system which matches teams in each round based on the points already scored. This has the advantage of allowing teams to float up and down the draw until they find their own level and helps avoids significant mismatches between the stronger and weaker teams.
New teams are most welcome as this is a great way for players to dip their toes into completion chess. There are shields for each section which the team holds for a year and lots of prizes for placed teams and spot prizes. Most of all this is a fun competition.
Lothian Junior Chess ran school team events for many years. We are very pleased to announce the first Team Day of the season and a further two more are planned for early next year.
The tournament is for Primary and Secondary schools in the Lothian and Borders region, but we also allow individual entries if the player’s school is not entering. Each school can enter multiple teams in the following sections (teams of four are mixed boys and girls and teams can change players during the day). Individuals can also enter and will be allocated to composite teams for the tournament.
P5 and Under
P6/P7
Secondary
There will be 6 rounds and teams in each section are paired using the Swiss system which matches teams in each round based on the points already scored. This has the advantage of allowing teams to float up and down the draw until they find their own level and helps avoids significant mismatches between the stronger and weaker teams.
New teams are most welcome as this is a great way for players to dip their toes into completion chess. There are shields for each section which the team holds for a year and lots of prizes for placed teams and spot prizes. Most of all this is a fun competition.
Team entries are £25, if paid for before Monday the 27th of November, £30 thereafter.
Individual entries are £6, if paid for before the 27th of November, £8 thereafter. Individuals must pay online only and must live in The Lothian and Borders Region. Individual entries will be assigned to a composite team.
You can enter a team without knowing the details of the players, but we need a list of players by Thursday 30th November.
The tournament is open to players of school age living in Scotland and will have 4 sections:
Primary school aged children who do not have a grade or who's grade is below 300
Primary school aged children whose grade is below 900
Secondary school aged children who do not have a grade or whose grade is below 900
Any school aged player graded above 900, or who wants to play more challenging games.
Sections may be merged or split, or the grade boundaries changed, depending on the number of entries. Grade boundaries are based on Chess Scotland Live Allegro Grades
Each player will have 25 minutes to complete all their moves
Open to qualifiers only!
Under 8s and Under 10s will play on the Saturday and Under 12s - Under 18s will play on the Sunday
To qualify you must play in a Megafinal and achieve the qualifying criteria
Megafinals:
12th March (Under 11 - Under 18) West of Scotland (Glasgow)
25th March (Under 8 and Under 10) West of Scotland (Glasgow)
26th March (Under 8 - Under 18) East of Scotland (Edinburgh)
Many more dates in the rest of the UK, including online Megafinala
The quarterfinal stage of the Delancey UK Chess Challenge. Once again this year the Megafinal is open to everyone born after 31st August 2004 - you don’t need to qualify.
New this year - those who qualify for the Gigafinal will no longer have to disrupt their summer holidays to travel to Manchester or beyond to go take part because we are holding the first ever Scottish Gigafinal on 24th and 25th June in Edinburgh!
The Megafinal is a 6 round tournament and players will take part all day. It is not a knockout. In each round they will play someone on roughly the same number of points as them (subject to other constraints).
We expect to run Under 8, Under 10, Under 12, Under 14 and Under 18 sections, but this may change depending on the number of entries in each group.
Qualification rules: The top 3 boys and girls will qualify for the Gigafinals along with any players scoring 3.5 points.
The above information is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication but may be subject to change.
Lothian Junior Chess are hosting the Scottish Girls Championships on behalf of Chess Scotland for the second consecutive year.
A five-round tournament for school age girls in Scotland comprising of:
Scottish Girls’ Championship
Scottish Primary Girls’ Championship
Scottish P5 & Under Girls’ Championship
We’re delighted to be returning to Broughton High School for the first time since the 2020 for the Lothian Junior Championships.
This is a regional competition and is therefore open only to players of school age who live in the council areas of Edinburgh, East Lothian, West Lothian or The Scottish Borders.
We’re looking forward to welcoming players to the Edinburgh Junior Congress at St George’s School.
An individual event for school-aged players living in Edinburgh, the Lothians and The Borders Council areas.
This year there is a team element - in each section the top 3 scores for every school or club will be added together for a team award.
Please note that the venue has changed since it was first advertised. It is now being held at St George’s School, Edinburgh.
Lothian Junior Chess are delighted to be hosting the Scottish Girls Championship on behalf of Chess Scotland in 2022.
The event comprises of:
The Scottish Girls Championship
The Scottish Girls Primary Championship
The Scottish Girls P5 & Under Championship
A six round individual tournament for school-age players based in the UK.
Likely sections:
Under 8
Under 10
Under 12
Under 14
Under 18
Based on age at 31st August 2021. Sections may be merged based on entry numbers.
There are no qualification requirements to enter the Megafinal this year. Qualifiers from this event can go on to play in the Gigafinals.
The Megafinal will be Chess Scotland Allegro Graded.
Time control: Each player has 25 minutes to make all their moves.
Edinburgh Waverley Station is around a 25 minute walk
Lothian Buses service 36 goes along Henderson Row. Services 23 and 27 stop on Dundas Street and Services 24, 29 and 42 stop on Raeburn Place
There is limited parking on site. Parking charges do not currently apply in nearby streets on a Saturday
Unfortunately we will not have any catering on-site, however there are supermarkets, cafes and takeaways in the nearby area.
Players are only supervised whilst in the playing hall, therefore parents and careers are responsible for their child between games. We will provide areas for them to wait. As space is limited, we would ask that the number of people accompanying a player is kept to a minimum. Only players and officials are allowed in the playing hall.
The Delancey UK Chess Challenge is mostly online again for 2021. Qualification is not necessary to enter the Megafinals.
Megafinals - 12/13th, 26th/27th June
Gigafinals - 3/4th, 17/18 July
Terafinals Preliminary - 4th-5th September
Terafinals Grand Finale - (over the board) 9th-10th October
Blitz Championship 9th June - 14th July
Variants Championship 9th June - 11th July
This is a Delancey UK Chess Challenge event. Please use the link below for contact details of the organisers
The Edinburgh Chess Academy Scottish Junior Tournament (ECASJT) is for children in Scotland from 5 to the age of 18 years old. There are three stages:
Five Practice Qualifying Tournaments
Five Qualifiers
Five Championship Events
This tournament is an Edinburgh Chess Academy Event. Please use the link below for contact details.
The Lothian Junior Championships are online this year and are open to school age players living in the City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, West Lothian and Scottish Borders council areas.
Entries close 23rd April
Following the successful online team tournament last year, Lothian Junior Chess will be holding Team Day 2 as an online team tournament with P5 and Under, P6/P7 and Secondary sections.
Team Day 2: Sunday 21st March 10:30am - 12:30pm
Time Control: 20 mins
Open to all Scottish schools and Scottish Clubs who have played in our events before.
The tournament will be hosted on lichess.org as a Team Battle. Player's scores count towards their team total which decides the overall team places. As soon as a player finishes a game, they are paired with their next opponent from another team. The Team Battle lasts for two hours and players can join and leave at any time.
Teams can have as many players from your club as you want but there is a minimum of four. And its the top four scorers in each team that contribute to the team total.
If you have a lichess team already then we can add you to the tournament.
If you don't have a lichess team then we can help you get setup. All you need is a minimum of four players to get going.
Open to all players of school age who live in Scotland
Hamilton Accies Stadium. Qualifiers Only
A Scottish Junior Chess tournament
LJC Team Day event
An inter-school Chess competition for schools in the Lothian region. Compete in the “P5 and U” section or the P6/7 Section for Primary Schools. Secondary schools have their own section.
Teams are ideally 4 players, but teams of 5 or 6 are ok too. Less than 3 players? Get in touch and we'll do our best to put you together in a composite team.
Teams in each section are paired using the Swiss system which matches teams in each round based on the points already scored. This has the advantage of allowing teams to float up and down the draw until they find their own level and helps avoids significant mismatches between the stonger and weaker teams.
New teams are most welcome as this is a great way for players to dip their toes into competion chess. Many may feel that they will not be good enough but this is never true as most teams will include new and inxperienced players
Please note that Team Day events are open for Schools in the Lothian region only.
Entry will open approximately 3 weeks before the tournament.
Delancey UK Chess Challenge East of Scotland Megafinal
U11s must have qualified via a school, club or last chance saloon tournament. U12s and upwards do not need to qualify
Lathallan School, Johnshaven, by Montrose. Times to be confirmed.
A Chess Scotland event hosted by the North East Junior Chess Association (NEJCA)
An individual regional championship for children who live in the Lothian and Borders areas. Sections for Secondary, P6/7 and P5 & Under
LJC Team Day event
A Chess competition for schools and clubs in the Lothian and Borders region. Compete in the “P5 and U” section or the P6/7 Section for Primary Schools. Secondary schools have their own section.
Teams are ideally 4 players, but teams of 5 or 6 are ok too. Less than 3 players? Enter as individuals and we will do our best to put you in a team.
Teams in each section are paired using the Swiss system which matches teams in each round based on the points already scored. This has the advantage of allowing teams to float up and down the draw until they find their own level and helps avoids significant mismatches between the stonger and weaker teams.
New teams are most welcome as this is a great way for players to dip their toes into competion chess. Many may feel that they will not be good enough but this is never true as most teams will include new and inxperienced players
Please note that Team Day events are open for Schools in the Lothian and Borders region only.
This is a bit further away than most of the tournaments we list, but it’s a great opportunity to play some FIDE rated games, and might be of interest to some of the stronger junior players.
http://congress.popmalc.org.uk/congress/49/home
LJC Team Day event
An inter-school Chess competition for schools in the Lothian region. Compete in the “P5 and U” section or the P6/7 Section for Primary Schools. Secondary schools have their own section.
Teams are ideally 4 players, but teams of 5 or 6 are ok too. Less than 3 players? Get in touch and we'll do our best to put you together in a composite team.
Teams in each section are paired using the Swiss system which matches teams in each round based on the points already scored. This has the advantage of allowing teams to float up and down the draw until they find their own level and helps avoids significant mismatches between the stonger and weaker teams.
New teams are most welcome as this is a great way for players to dip their toes into competion chess. Many may feel that they will not be good enough but this is never true as most teams will include new and inxperienced players
Please note that Team Day events are open for Schools in the Lothian region only.
A day of chess with similar time controls to our tournaments.
See link below for further details and entries
A Scottish Chess Tour event
