We are now on our summer 2015 break

The club is now closed for the summer. The first club night back will be on Friday 4th September, which is also our AGM.

Don't forget there are some great tournaments that can be followed online - for example:

The British Chess Championships http://www.britishchesschampionships.co.uk/2015/   25th July to 8th August 

The 3rd Sinquefield Cup at Saint Louis,USA from 21st August  to 3rd September http://www.uschesschamps.com/

Live games and commentary from many GM and IM tournaments can also be followed at https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/ and http://www.chessdom.com/category/live/

Have a great summer

Three Check Chess

For an interesting tactical variant of chess. Have you tried three check, where the person to check their opponent's king thrice wins. Former world champion Karpov was an expert at this variant. Here is a game played by a club member.

Which pieces have the best survival chances in a game

As a bit of fun, a computer programmer has calculated the percentage survival rate for each piece at the end of a game.

Aside from the King, on average h-pawns have the least chance of being taken during a game.

see http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-chances-of-survival-of-individual-chess-pieces-in-average-games for more details.

2014 Summer Closure

The club is now closed for the summer. The first night back will be Friday 29th August for our AGM.

Don't forget there are some great elite tournaments that can be followed online - for example:

The 2014 Chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway. Watch live games and commentary at https://chess24.com/en/olympiad2014/live   

Live games from most GM and IM tournaments can also be followed at   www.theweekinchess.com/live

Have a great summer

28th June - Last night club before the summer

We will be running an OPENING THEMES NIGHT where the first two moves of white and the first move of black will already be played  - the starting position will be by random draw for each game.

This will be the last club night until we reconvene on Friday, 6^th September for our AGM.

Don't forget there are some great elite tournaments that can be followed online - for example:

• the FIDE Grand Prix  in Beijing starting 3rd July beijing2013.fide.com for live games and commentary
• the Chess World Cup www.chessworldcup2013.com  starting 10th Aug  

Live games from most GM and IM tournaments can also be followed at www.theweekinchess.com/live

Have a great summer

Club nights until summer closure

The club will be open each Friday night until Friday, 28th June with the exception of Friday, 24th May.  We will be closed for the summer from the 5th July up to 30th August.  The first night back is Friday, 6th September when we hold the AGM.