Winter League 2026
Winter League 2026 ran from June until early October with 13 players taking part, from 4 dan to 25 kyu. It was played as a handicap league with McMahon scoring and the bar set at 1 kyu. Dominique de Rouvroy acted as tournament director.
Andrew Davies won the league with a clean 4–0, beating Chris Welsh, Ben Bredenkamp, Michael Rapson and Dominique de Rouvroy, and was the only player to finish unbeaten. It is Andrew’s third Winter League title, after 2019 and 2023.
Congratulations to Tinus Cloete, who was promoted from 9k to 8k during the league and finished with three wins from four games, the best record below the bar.
Final standings
| Player | Rank | Played | Won | Lost | McMahon | SOS | SOSOS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrew Davies | 2d | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 12 |
| 2 | Chris Welsh | 4d | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 24 |
| 3 | Dominique de Rouvroy | 1d | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 18 |
| 4 | Rocco Vivier | 1d | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| 5 | Ben Bredenkamp | 1k | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 19 |
| 6 | Paul Edwards | 1d | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 19 |
| 7 | Christiaan Maasdorp | 2k | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Michael Rapson | 3k | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | −6 | −30 |
| 9 | Fred Strauss | 7k | 3 | 2 | 1 | −4 | −42 | −162 |
| 10 | Tinus Cloete | 9k | 4 | 3 | 1 | −5 | −47 | −151 |
| 11 | Pico Geyer | 10k | 4 | 2 | 2 | −7 | −45 | −153 |
| 12 | Bernie Jordaan | 15k | 4 | 2 | 2 | −12 | −36 | −126 |
| 13 | Penelope Hilton-Barber | 25k | 4 | 0 | 4 | −24 | −28 | −170 |
Ranks are as at the start of the league.