Dear Chess Friends,

Announcement: 2026 Northumbria Masters Congress cancelled

Unfortunately, the 2026 Northumbria Masters Congress (26-31 August) has been cancelled, due to various factors.

Over the past eight years, the Northumbria Masters has been a trailblazer, fulfilling an important function. It has been a leading international congress in the North of England, and has enabled many title norms to be achieved in round robin tournaments.

It has been able to do this in part because of generous support from various funding sources, including the English Chess Federation, The Chess Trust, The John Robinson Youth Chess Trust, the Friends of Chess, Northumberland Chess Association, Durham Chess Association, Northumbria Junior Chess Association and a number of private donors.

Now there are many more international events in the UK providing this service, giving players more options for nine-round FIDE rated events.

The range of these events can be seen here: https://www.englishchess.org.uk/international-series-2026-calendar/

However, the sustainability of the Northumbria Masters has been a challenge, given a limited number of entries from players from the North of England, and in the last two years a regrettable clash with another major international event, the Mindsports International in London (this year 24-29 August). These geographical factors, plus the fact that the English chess calendar is quite crowded with competing, not necessarily large events, makes finding alternative dates difficult.

I realise that cancelling the Northumbria Masters Congress will be a disappointment for many loyal supporters of the event and apologise for any inconvenience.

I hope to see you at future chess events.

Kind regards,

Tim Wall