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Stockport Rapidplay Congress

An annual event held on the final Sunday in January every year.

SRP Logo 2026

38th Stockport Rapidplay Congress

Will take place on Sunday 25th January 2026 at The Guildhall on Wellington Road South.

The winning move
Deep in thought
The large room at the Guildhall ready to play chess

Photos from the 2023 event used with permission from Vadym Skakun

2026 Congress Report

The 38th Stockport Rapidplay Chess Congress was held at the Guildhall on Sunday 25th January 2026.

We welcomed 153 players split across the 4 sections playing 443 games in total!

Full results can be viewed on chess-results: Open | Major | Intermediate | Minor

Results all sections have been processed for ECF ratings; the crosstables are available: Open | Major | Intermediate | Minor

With the passing of Peter Taylor in December 2024 we awarded the Peter Taylor Memorial Trophy for the first time to the winners of the Open Section. Peter had organised the Congress from 1987 to 2023 and we felt introducing a trophy to recognise his contribution was fitting. The inaugural winners were GM Bogdan Lalic and IM Andrew Ledger who both finished on 5/6.

The remaining cash prizes in the Open Section were all won by players from Crewe Chess Club: third place was Carmel Barwick on 4.5/6, while the U1950 rating prize was shared by Harry Gardiner and Simon Layhe on 3.5/6. Joshua Pink of Stockport Chess Club won the Stockport League Trophy.

In the Major Section, Eric Bennett returned for a third consecutive win (2024 Intermediate, 2025 Major) finishing on 5/6. Stockport League-registered players John-Paul Taylor and Julian Alderton shared 2nd place on 4.5/6 with Julian also winning the Stockport League Trophy. The U1700 rating prize was won by Phil Owen with 3/6.

The Intermediate Section was dominated by juniors and won by Andrew Korzhov with 5.5/6. 2nd place went to Shlok Maheshwari with 5/6; Shlok has previous form winning prizes after a 2024 Minor Section victory and 2025 Junior prize in the Intermediate. Third place this year was split by 5 players on 4.5/6, two of whom won the rating prizes instead as being higher valued: Andrew Beswick, Joshua Clarke, Michael Etchells, Taarush Goel (U1475 rating prize), and Mustafa Merchant (U1550 rating prize).

The Stockport League Tophy in the Intermediate was won by Taarush Goel.

The Minor Section was fiercely contested this year and won by Vehant Sharma on 5.5/6. The chasing pack on 5/6 consisted of Ambrose Lam, Kingsley Tan, and Darren Stanway. Rating prizes were won by: Pascal Fard and Shane Sweeney (U1330); Thomas Hague (U1250); Clive Simcock (U1140); and Beau McKellar (U1000). The two junior prizes (U18 and U12) were split several ways and won by Brandon Dao, Terrence Jiang, Joe Ledgerton, and Ben Abraham (U18), and Jiwei Yu and Leon Kesiak (U12) all of the above on 4/6.

The Stockport League Trophy in the Minor Section was awarded to Thomas Hague.

The Veteran Prize for best 65-and-over score across all sections was shared by Khalid Kohkhar (Intermediate) and Roger Greatorex (Major) with 4/6

Finally, we introduced another new trophy this year, the Peter Taylor Junior Award for the best performance by a junior player in the whole tournament as determined by the organisers. Practically we looked at which junior had most over-performed relative to their rating, and the inaugural award was won by Beau McKellar in the Minor Section.

A pdf showing final rankings and prize breakdown for every section is available here.

Entries

Update 23/1/26:
Online entries are now closed.

There are a small number of places available for on-the-day entries; please arrive well before 9:30 am.

Entry List

The entry list to 23rd January 2026 can be viewed as a pdf.

If you have entered online you should have received an email confirming receipt of your entry. If you haven't, please check your spam folder. If you are still unsure whether your entry has been received, please contact us.

Sections

The Open Section open to all players

The Major Section for players rated under 1850

The Intermediate Section for players rated under 1650

The Minor Section for players rated under 1400

Prizes

In all sections:

1st Place: £180
2nd Place: £120
3rd Place: £60
Rating Prizes: £50 (depending on number of entries)

Veteran prize for the highest scoring over-65 in the whole tournament.

Junior prizes awarded depending on number and age of entrants.

The highest scoring Stockport League registered player in the Major, Intermediate, and Minor sections will be awarded an individual trophy.

The best performing junior* across all sections will be awarded the Peter Taylor Junior Trophy.

Trophy winners will collect their trophies at the prizegiving ceremony shortly after the final round. Cash prizes will be paid electronically shortly after the event.

* selected by tournament organisers by comparing tournament performance with pre-tournament rating

Programme

The Programme for the 2026 event can be viewed online as a pdf.

New for 2026!

  • An INCREASED PRIZE FUND! In all sections the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes have increased 20%

  • The PETER TAYLOR JUNIOR TROPHY to be awarded to the best performing junior across all sections

What's unchanged?

  • SAME GREAT VENUE on the A6: close to Stockport train station, with a supervised car park. Various fast-food outlets nearby and a Co-op next door provide lunch choices.

  • NUMEROUS PRIZES including multiple* rating and junior prizes.

  • INCREMENTAL TIME CONTROL of 25 mins + 5 sec/move
* exact number and rating limits of prizes dependent upon number of entries in each section.
0
players
0
of prizes won

Entry Fees

  Adult Junior (Under 18)
ECF Gold or Platinum £27 £20
ECF Bronze * / Non-Member ** £43 £26.50

Late entry fee of £5 for entries received after Saturday 17th January 2026

Cash surcharge of £3 per entry for payment on the day.

Groups of 5 or more can deduct £3 per person from above fees when:

  1. entering and paying before the day
  2. using the group entry online form to enter

* ECF Bronze members will be upgraded to Gold membership

** Juniors and students can register for one year's free Gold membership if they have not previously been ECF members. More info here.

Timetable

Round One

 10.00 am
Round Two 11.20 am
Round Three 12.40 pm
Lunch
Round Four 2.10 pm
Round Five 3.30 pm
Round Six 4.50 pm
Prizegiving Ceremony

Each player has 25 minutes + 5 sec/move increment.

Venue

The Guildhall can be found at 169 Wellington Road South (A6), Stockport, SK1 3UA

There is a large supervised car park at the rear of the Guildhall, entrance on Brentnall Street (£3 per car payable on entry).

Public Transport

Stockport rail and bus stations are 1/2 mile walk up the A6 (10-15 minutes); Davenport rail station is less than one mile walk (20-25 minutes) or by bus 378A

The 192 bus service provides frequent transport from the centre of Manchester, with a bus stop outside the venue.

 

Further Details

Players may request a Half Point Bye for the First Round at time of entry.

ECF Ratings from January 2026 will be used. RP ratings will take precedence over LP ones unless the RP rating is provisional and the LP is not. Ratings used will be subject to the discretion of the organizers.

Unrated players must give details of their strength, previous results, and any previous rating. Except in the open section, they may only win one half of the first or second place prize. All other prizes will be paid in full.

It is a condition of entry that the organizers' decision in any dispute is final.

CHESS ESSENTIALS will be selling DGT clocks, chess books, scoresheets, boards and sets, etc.
Contact Howard at chessbooksuk@hotmail.co.uk or 07594 896 591

Further Questions?

For anything not covered above, please contact us using this form.

The Organizing Team

Gareth Griffiths

Event Organizer

Gareth has been a section controller since 2017 and helped to organize the event since 2018

Andy Stoker

event organizer

Jeff Mason

event organizer

Previous Years

2025

157 players competed across 4 sections, and section winners were: Nigel Davies and Adam Ashton 5/6 (Open); Eric Bennett 5/6 (Major); Dave Jones 5.5/6 (Inter); and Dyfan Steele 5.5/6 (Minor)

A full report is available here.

2024

169 players competed across 4 sections with section winners: Owen Crawford 5.5/6 (Open); Maksym Kryshtafor 5.5/6 (Major); Eric Bennett 6/6 (Inter); and Shlok Maheshwari and Zak Buthfer 5.5/6 (Minor)

A full report is available here.

2023

119 players competed across 4 sections with section winners: Nigel Davies 6/6 (Open); Tetsuaki Sanada 5/6 (Major); Alan Riddoch 6/6 (Inter); and Phil Shaughnessy and Philip Smith 5.5/6 (Minor)

A full report is available here.

2020

138 players competed across 4 sections with section winners: Paul Macklin and Joshua Pink 4.5/6 (Open); Sam Davies 5.5/6 (Major); Sam Parry 6/6 (Inter); and Dawn Supatan 5.5/6 (Minor)

2019

140 players competed and section winners were: Adam Ashton and Joe McPhillips 5/6 (Open); Phil Seery 5.5/6 (Major); Mick Norris 5.5/6 (Inter); Denzel Supatan 5.5/6 (Minor)

2018

123 players competed and section winners were: Nigel Davies 5.5/6 (Open); Mark Hann and Andrew Jacques 5/6 (Major); Richard Renegade 5.5/6 (Inter); Andrew Beswick and Sam Hayman 5.5/6 (Minor)

2017

126 players competed and section winners were: Joe McPhillips 5.5/6 (Open); Nicholas Barnaby 5.5/6 (Major); Graham Ashcroft, Rob McLean, and Ian Stone 5/6 (Inter); Anthony Hunt 5.5/6 (Minor)

2016

128 players competed and section winners were: Robert Shaw and Joe McPhillips 4.5/6 (Open); Nicholas Martin 5/6 (Major); Piotr Lipka 5.5/6 (Inter); Greg O'Connor, Holly Jacobson, John Kelly and George Scattergood 5/6 (Minor)

2015

149 players competed and section winners were: Adam Ashton 6/6 (Open); Joao Rita 5.5/6 (Major); Geraint George 5.5/6 (Inter); Stephen Crockett 6/6 (Minor)