You can come along on any Tuesday evening (Sep-May) and try it out for free first.
Then, you can either join for a full season (Sep-May) at £60, partial season (Jan-May) at £40, or pay as you go at £5 per visit. Juniors (u18) are eligible for a 50% discount. Payment can be made using the below account details. Please reference your name when paying.
Muswell Hill Chess Club
Lloyds Bank
Account number: 71457060
Sort code: 30-99-86
Playing and analysing classical time control games is an excellent way to improve. We have a club championship which is normally divided into 2 parts: Oct-Jan, and Feb-May. In each phase, there are groups of 6-8 players in an all-play-all format. Games are roughly every 2 weeks with the schedule published in advance and games can be rescheduled if needed on a 1-1 basis. Games are 75 mins + 15s increment per move, and they start at 7:15pm. If you’re interested in signing up, the best person to talk to is Simon Brougham.
Basically, make yourself known to the team captains! As a rule of thumb, the 1st team fields players rated ECF 1900+, and the 2nd team fields players rated 1400-1900, although this can vary year to year.
Club members are mainly adults, but we have a number of junior members in the age range 11-18. For younger children, I’d recommend a junior focussed club instead, such as Barnet Knights.
No, the club doesn’t directly offer coaching. However, there are a few experienced chess coaches associated with the club. If you would be interested in private coaching, feel free to send an enquiry using the Contact form and we can suggest options.
You will need to join the English Chess Federation if you are playing in club championship or league matches. That’s because those games are ECF rated. The ECF offers annual membership at a reasonable price, and bronze membership is sufficient. To sign up go to the ECF site.
Ah, you couldn’t resist asking. ECF ratings for members currently range from a lowly 800 all the way up to a masterly 2400. To see the latest, you can filter for Muswell Hill on the ECF rating database.
We have plenty of boards, sets and clocks. Just bring yourself!
The answer is almost certainly yes. If you know the rules and have played a few games you’ll be fine. At first you may lose most of your games, especially if you’ve learned online and are playing slower games over the board (‘OTB’) for the first time. But with some practice and persistence it’s possible to improve at any level or age.
The legendary FIDE international arbiter Adam Raoof organises regular tournaments across North London, and far beyond. This includes frequent rapidplay competitions at Muswell Hill and Golders Green. Check out his ChessEngland site for up-coming events and sign up to his mailing list.