Latest MCCU News

Temporary CEO appointed

13 Apr 2026. Stephen Woodhouse (Worcs) was appointed temporary CEO at an extraordinary Board of Management meeting held remotely following the unexpected death of Paul Sharratt. Members agreed to resume regular communications with county secretaries and will arrange an Annual General Meeting of delegates in June.

TEN Midlands teams in national stages of the county team competitions

6 Apr 2026, Stephen Smithson reports. In the ECF Minor Counties tournament Lincolnshire go through to the Semi finals and Worcestershire play their quarter final match against Devon on 9 May. Derbyshire u2050 go directly into the semi-final In the u1650 tournament, Surrey play Staffordshire and Worcestershire play Kent in quarter finals on 16 May. On 9 May Staffordshire u1450 play Norfolk and Nottinghamshire play Essex play their quarter final matches.

24 Mar 2026, Stephen Smithson reports. It is likely the draw for the national stages will be made on 2 April. The Minor Counties competition time control will be 2¼ hr + 15 sec increment from move 1 and it is likely that the u1450 and u1650 time control will be 1h 50min + 10 seconds increment from move 1.

20 Mar 2026, Stephen Smithson reports. Lincolnshire u1650 defaulted their fixture with Derbyshire and because there were plenty of games in the Midlands u1650 competition, Derbyshire can play in the national stages. Derbyshire have also accepted an invitation to play in the u2050 competition.

Worcestershire through to national stages for Minor Counties and u1650 teams

7 Mar 2026. In the u1650 team competition, Worcestershire beat Lincolnshire 7½-4½. See detailed scores.

28 Feb 2026. In the last of the matches for the Midlands team championship, Worcestershire beat Derbyshire. See match card.

Last u1850 match won by Lincolnshire

21 Feb 2026. In the match for the u1850 team championship Lincolnshire beat Staffordshire 4-8. See results. Lincolnshire stand second in the u1850 table and can expect a nomination for the national stages.

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Next in the Midlands

Sat & Sun 18 & 19 Apr. Nottingham Congress at Nottingham High School, Forest Road East, Nottingham NG1 4HH. Open, Major (u1900), Intermediate (u1700), Minor (u1500) all preceeding are FIDE and ECF rated and Improvers (u1350, ECF rated) tournaments, five rounds, time control 90+10.

Next Junior tournament

Sun 19 Apr, UK Chess Challenge Birmingham Megafinal at King Edward VI Five Ways School, Scotland Lane, Bartley Green, Birmingham B32 4BT. Open to juniors born after 31 Aug 2007. Six round rapidplay, time control 15 min + 10 sec, Prizes for highest boy and girl scorers in each year group.

Online competitions

Link for all ECF online events.

Link for all 4NCL online events.

Next national events

Sat to Sun 9 to 16 Aug British Chess Championships at University of Warwick, Warwick Road, Coventry CV4 7AL. Numerous tournaments, senior, junior, rapid, blitz rated and weekend.

The "chess counties" forming the MCCU

Ten "Chess Counties" form the Midland Counties Chess Union and cover the areas shown in the map on the right. A small Board of volunteer directors currently led by Chief Executive Ray Dolan (Staffs) is elected annually by delegates from member chess counties. The Board organises regional competitions based on policies agreed annually by delegates from member chess counties.

By playing in the competitions hosted on this website you agree that your name, chess rating and your membership status with the English Chess Federation (ECF) may be published on this website for the purposes of recording the results of the competitions. You also agree that such information will be passed to the ECF, the governing body, for rating purposes, and published on their website.

The MCCU

The current webmaster is Ray Collett (Worcs). The website's policy is to report results of the MCCU competitions, principally the MCCU county team tournaments and congresses. Brief results of other chess congresses held in the MCCU area and and links to organisers' websites are on the "News" pages. A calendar of upcoming chess congresses is on the "Congresses" pages. Some important national and international chess events will also be reported if there is a "Midlands" interest. In the menu bar above: "About" gives more information about the MCCU and has links to rules and administrative papers; "Guide" explains the site's organisation and provides links to most of the site's key pages.

Please send news of Midlands chess events, corrections, notifications of broken links, and suggestions to improve the website to Ray Collett.