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About us
The Chess Society aims to provide space and equipment for students to play chess. You can drop in for our sessions whenever you want and play with whoever you want to, for 'friendlies' or as part of competitions within the society!
Even if you can't play chess or hardly know the rules, there will always be somebody ready to teach you. Also, if you aren't a member of the Chess Society, you can still just pop in and play. If you like it, then it's easy to become a member online!
We have two teams which compete in the British Universities Chess Association tournament each LT. We've had great successes in the past: last year, a number of our players won individual awards and we places 2nd overall in BUCA (arguably the most prestigious tournament around)! Let a committee member know if you are interested in playing for either of the teams, especially if you're a graded player. We are now also participating in new tournaments such as 2020chess and Pro University Chess League. We are keen to expand our opposition! For example, we have played show-matches with Oxford and the National Liberal Club followed by a dinner.
We hope to see you at the sessions this year!
Membership
As a Chess Society member, you will be able to participate in our weekly sessions and use our chess equipment. Moreover, you will be invited to society socials, competitions and networking opportunities throughout the year. Your membership fee of £3 goes towards the running of the club, including the cost of travel and participation in tournaments and matches. As a member, you'll get the opportunity to not only represent your university, but you'll also meet like-minded, dedicated and awesome individuals that will become your friends for life.
Events and Activities
Over the course of the year we host and take part in a wide number of events including:
- Weekly sessions (usually on Wednesdays 12:30-5:30 PM)
- Internal Rapid Tournament (usually in early Michaelmas Term)
- Pub Chess Socials (a couple of times throughout the academic year)
- “2020 Chess” Rapid Tournament (organised externally – see https://www.2020chess.com)
- Pro University Chess League (ongoing tournament from MT to early LT organised by UCL - https://www.prounichessleague.co.uk )
- BUCA (the largest tournament of the year – long time control – usually takes place in late February. Good results lead to qualification for the European Championships - https://www.bucachess.org.uk )
- Various show-matches and networking events (as an indication, last year we went to both Oxford University and the National Liberal Club for a match and dinner. We were also invited by Level39 for chess and networking)
- Annual Bughouse Tournament with UCL (end of MT – very informal)
During the covid-19 lockdown period, we have had several events online – most notably we have played in the 2020 Online Worldwide Team Chess Tournament featuring over 100 teams from all around the world with famous grandmasters such as Andrew Tang playing.
Contact Us
You can reach us on our Facebook page, our Discord or our WhatsApp group. Feel free to join our Lichess Club and Chess.com Club too! Follow us on our Instagram account too for more content!
Feel free to ask us any questions there.