About The Club

Cambridge City Chess Club plays formal matches against teams from other cities on a fixture calendar set in September, and hosts internal competitions among its members. Conditions of play are governed by the English Chess Federation, including silence, and time-controls using digital chess clocks. Persons seeking to play informal, coffeehouse-style chess (e.g. with conversation) might wish to consider this alternative setting: Cambridge Casual Chess, 69 Regent Street, Cambridge CB2 1AB.

When and Where

The Club meets on Wednesdays at 7:30pm, September through May at St. Augustine's Church Hall, 101 Richmond Road, Cambridge CB4 3PS. Digital chess clock time-controls limit games to around three hours, using Fischer timing.

Membership

The Club is open to all, but membership in the English Chess Federation (ECF) is required so that games are rated. ECF membership costs about £20 - £30 (different levels) per annum. The Club charges membership fees (annually in September) to cover our venue hire and other costs, as follows:

  • Standard Membership fee: £100
  • Seniors (65 or older): £75
  • Juniors (younger than 18): £50
  • Persons other than Seniors who are unemployed: £50

Main Activities

We play in the Bury Area Chess League (BACL), in which we usually field five or six teams. Teams consist of four players, sometimes drawn from a squad of five, selected in August. This League is very well organized with three divisions of six or seven teams each, playing each other team twice (Home and Away) making 10 to 12 fixtures. The Away fixtures are in the towns of Ely, Linton, and Bury St Edmunds, on Mondays, Tuesdays, or Thursdays. We also participate in the Fenland Cup, an annual knock-out tournament among Cambridgeshire clubs.

An informal annual "Town vs Gown" rapidplay contest (30 minutes per player) is held usually in April, mainly against Cambridge University students who quite enjoy thrashing us.

An internal Club Championship is played throughout the season (self-scheduled), formatted as double round-robins within Groups of six organised by ratings.

Visitors are welcome, but games are unlikely unless scheduled in advance.