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.

Get your tickets here

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.

We have had to cancel our Team tournament due to circumstances beyond our control. We know how much the players enjoy team competitions and how hard team managers work to pull their teams together, so we are very sorry to have to cancel at short notice. We hope to see you at the Lothian Junior Championships on 3rd February or our next Team Day on 3rd March. If possible we will hold a further Team day later in the year.

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.

6 round individual tournament using Swiss pairings.

The tournament is open to players of school age living in Scotland and will have 4 sections:

• Primary U300/Ungraded

• Primary school aged children who do not have a grade or who's grade is below 300

• Primary U900

• Primary school aged children whose grade is below 900

• Secondary U900/Ungraded

• Secondary school aged children who do not have a grade or whose grade is below 900

• Open

• 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

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.

2022 Dates and Rules

Event Terms and Conditions

Travel

By Train

Edinburgh Waverley Station is around a 25 minute walk

By Bus

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

By Car

There is limited parking on site. Parking charges do not currently apply in nearby streets on a Saturday

Catering

Unfortunately we will not have any catering on-site, however there are supermarkets, cafes and takeaways in the nearby area.

Accompanying adults, siblings etc

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 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

Announcement about an online event coming soon

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.

Click here for an announcement from Delancey UK Chess Challenge about the 2020 tournament moving online

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

Sorry, the Megafinal has been postponed. We’ll advertise a new date in due course.

Lathallan School, Johnshaven, by Montrose. Times to be confirmed.

A Chess Scotland event hosted by the North East Junior Chess Association (NEJCA)

Click here for details

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.

Click here to enter

A Chess Edinburgh all-ages event