A chess club is a club formed for the purpose of playing the

board game A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

. Chess clubs often provide for both informal and tournament games and sometimes offer league play. Traditionally clubs play over the board and face to face chess as opposed to playing on internet chess servers or computer chess.

Organization

Clubs are mainly attached to a national federation, either directly or through membership of a regional chess association. The national federation in turn is a member of

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

, the international governing body of chess. The global aegis helps to establish uniformity of rules and playing conditions internationally, though some countries such as the United States use their own official set of rules with minor differences from FIDE rules. The

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

has many chess clubs affiliated with the

United States Chess Federation The United States Chess Federation (also known as US Chess or USCF) is the governing body for chess competition in the United States and represents the U.S. in FIDE, The World Chess Federation (FIDE). USCF administers the official national Chess ...

(USCF). A club's affiliation with its national chess federation helps to standardize

chess tournament A chess tournament is a series of chess games played competitively to determine a winning individual or team. Since the first international chess tournament in London 1851 chess tournament, London, 1851, chess tournaments have become the standard ...

rules.

Club facilities

Chess clubs typically provide at least some of the following: * Informal games, 'friendlies' * Club and inter-club competitions * Opportunities to play in one or more leagues organized on a geographical basis * Tournaments * A rating system where the results of inter-club games are rated to enable players to judge their standing and progress. Many clubs use the rating system provided by FIDE or their affiliated national chess organization. * Coaching by a more knowledgeable chess player and lectures/tuition evenings * A library of chess books and journals, tournament records, internet access to chess databases * Chess sets and boards, score sheets and chess clocks. Sometimes players may bring their own equipment. * Adequate rooms or halls with tables and chairs, lighting and ventilation * A regular meeting place that may be volunteered, rented or owned outright and maintained on club income, membership dues or donations. Small town clubs are usually housed in public, community buildings. * Local media publicity, chess network contacts

References

"The School Chess Club"

English Chess Federation The English Chess Federation (ECF) is the governing chess organisation in England. It is affiliated to FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an internation ...

, ''accessed 18 November 2009''.
WhereToPlayChess.info
is a database of chess clubs and tournaments in the USA.

External links

* /www.englishchess.org.uk/clubs-home-page/ Clubs homepage

Directory of US Chess Clubs

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