All Welcome!
Thursday evenings at the BMI
All Welcome!
Thursday evenings at the BMI
Ballarat Junior Chess Club Holiday Activities 22nd & 28th–30th September 2026
Ballarat Junior Chess Club Holiday Activities consists of the Winter Cup, a 7‑round Swiss tournament, and a three‑day chess program for junior players of all abilities, from complete beginners through to advanced tournament players.
The program will be led by FIDE Master Simon Rutherford and Scott Stewart, with a mixture of coaching, practical activities, tournaments and fun chess challenges.
Read a bit more about Charles Fisher the chess player here. We now have several games to view on the database, let's put more up!
Fisher A Declan plays 1.c4 against his unpredictable opponent, Paul Marko, as he looks to expand his repertoire. Marko falters in the middlegame with a premature h-pawn push, while White already has a crushing space advantage by move 12.d4, with five pawns on the fourth rank. Declan capitalises on this with a huge early advantage. The game-deciding blunder comes on move 18.Qd7??, where Declan finds the right idea to win the game. Report continues here...
(Players - please record your games on the games tab of the report page - we have a total of 0 games for 2026 to date!)
A Ballarat Chess Club team of 11 players travelled to Geelong on Sunday, 9th August for the 16th annual Fletcher – Fallow challenge match. As usual, Geelong fielded a strong team, but it proved to be a close contest, with our team losing 4.5-5.5. But for a bizarre example of mutual “chess blindness” on board 4, the result may well have been different. Our captain, Patrick Cook, played an en passant capture, quite legal, but removed the wrong pawn, illegal, and so lost his Queen and the game. Report continues...
One player has withdrawn from the A Grade - the schedule will be updated online as soon as possible. You can see the Round Robin schedule as it was here on the website - or read a bit more about Charles Fisher the chess player here. We now have several games to view on the database, Patrick vs Alberto to start - let's put more up!
Fisher A saw both Scott and Declan win their first games against Sam and Patrick, with Paja also picking up the point against Rodney. Report continues here...
| Charles Fisher A Grade — Some Results Round 2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Board | White | Result | Black |
| 1 | van Riel, Bas | ? | Jyani, Vipin |
| 2 | Stewart, Scott | 1-0 | Song, Sam |
| 3 | Cook, Patrick | 0-1 | Smith, Declan |
| 4 | Marko, Paja | Adj? | Jacobs, Rodney M |
| Charles Fisher B Grade — Pairing Round 2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Board | White | Result | Black |
| 1 | Biju, Alberto | 1-0 | Guha, Shanaya |
| 2 | Barnett, Jasan | 0-1 | Wang, Terrance |
| 3 | Thomson, Kynan | 1-0 | Weerakkody, Anirudh |
| 4 | Moon, Patrick | 0.5-0.5 | Wang, Ricky |
Declan receives Club Champion medal from Club Secretary, Anna, and Minsadi, our new Women's Champion, Methuja, the Reserves winner, and Morgan, the C-Grade winner, receiving their's from Peter, the Club President.
For info re coaching, junior tournaments, study resources etc., visit the Ballarat Junior Chess Club pages.
There are some chess sets for use at the following cafes... just ask!
Fergusson Plarre next to Woolies, Beechworth Bakery near the Court House
Chess is also played at Woowookarung lookout, but you'll need to take your own set!
To all members and chess players
The Humffray Room at the BMI is now in use for all club activities. Enter the foyer, walk up the stairs or take the lift to the third level. Remember to turn your phone to silent!
From April 1991 until March 1993, Bas wrote a fortnightly chess column for the Ballarat Courier. Read them here
ChessChat is a platform where all matters Chess Australia are discussed.
New to Chess?A great site for learning the basics from a cool video, improving your chess with puzzles, and playing against QWERTY the chess computer.
Chess Victoria is the not‑for‑profit peak body for chess in the state of Victoria. Founded in 1938 (incorporated in 1983, renamed in 2000), it is one of seven state associations under the Australian Chess Federation. It fosters, governs, and organises chess through affiliations with local clubs.
