Online chess

Dorset Juniors are looking for new players

Graham Morris 1 September 2026
A four-panel cartoon of children playing chess online at home. Each wears a headset and sits at a laptop or monitor with a chessboard beside them, and a central screen shows a game in progress with two players’ timers running. A banner across the middle reads “Online chess tournament”.

Dorset Juniors are looking for new players, and any Ferndown junior who fancies it would be very welcome to join them.

They play in the 4NCL’s Junior Online competition. Season 14 starts on Thursday 24 September, and it is all played online, from home.

This is not a Ferndown club session

Ferndown Junior Chess meets on Saturday mornings only, 10am–12 noon at Ferndown Library. There is no midweek session and nothing here changes that.

The Junior Online competition is run by Dorset Juniors and the Four Nations Chess League. It is played online from home, on a different day, and it is entirely separate from our Saturday mornings.

What it is

Dorset Juniors have played in the 4NCL’s Junior Online competition for several seasons and have done well at it. They have usually run two teams of four players, with a squad of about ten behind each, and both teams worked their way up the divisions.

Some of their players have now grown out of the age range or moved on to other things, which is why they are asking around the county’s junior clubs for replacements.

When and how it is played

Games are on Lichess on Thursday evenings from 6pm, running over seven weeks with a break for half term. The time control is ten minutes each with a five-second increment.

Each player meets the same opponent twice on the night, once with White and once with Black, and matches are generally finished by 7pm. Because it is all online, there is no going out on a school night.

Which division

How many teams there are, and in which divisions, depends on who comes forward — the organisers would rather field the right number of teams than the largest number.

Division 1 is a high standard: many of the juniors on opposing teams are rated over 1500, and a good number over 2000 online. Divisions 2 and 3 are a better match for less experienced players, roughly 800 to 1400.

If your child would like to play

Have a word with Graham at a Saturday session, or get in touch using the details at the foot of this page. He will pass names on to Nikki Forster at Dorset Chess, who organises the teams — there is nothing you need to sign up to yourself.

The full details are on the Dorset Chess website’s Junior Online 4NCL page, and on the Four Nations Chess League site.

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