RICHMOND JUNIOR CHESS CLUB

Registered Charity No. 1074586

Richmond Junior Chess Club: Intermediate and Advanced groups

Teams in LPSCA, EPSCA, NYCA and Thames Valley League

Regular coaching sessions: small group and private tuition can also be arranged

Organisation of school chess clubs

A full programme of tournaments, Junior (individual and school), Rapidplay and International

RICHMOND JUNIOR CHESS CLUB was founded in 1975 by Mike Fox and Richard James and has been established for many years as the strongest Junior Chess Club in Britain. Among our current and former members are GMs Demetrios Agnos and Aaron Summerscale, GM elect Jonathan Rowson, IMs Richard Bates, Andrew Kinsman, Luke McShane, and Ali Mortazavi, WIM Cathy Forbes and multiple world record holder Murugan Thiruchelvam. Over the years our members have won many national titles, both at individual and team level. We compete regularly in national age-group championships against county sides and, when we don’t win we always come close. We have won the English Primary Schools Under 11 Championship three times in the last five years.

RICHARD JAMES, the Director of Richmond Junior Chess Club, has been involved in coaching and organising chess for children since the early seventies. A county standard player himself, he is the author of Move One (A Chess Course for Children), and co-author with Mike Fox of the Chess Addict books and the Addicts' Corner column in CHESS. In 1996 he was awarded the BCF President's Award for Services to Chess.

"My long experience in Junior Chess has given me strong views on children, chess and education, and about how the three should be combined. I believe that in many spheres, including chess, children are capable of much more than is generally realised. If you are firm and fair, while at the same time not patronising them, they will respond. I believe that chess education should be child-centred within a highly structured framework. Coaching, both individual or within small groups, can be valuable as long as there is a good relationship between teacher and pupil and the subject matter is geared to the needs of the children. But, for the most part, children prefer to play chess, and this is what we are there for. Most importantly of all, parents can rest assured that everyone concerned with Richmond Junior Chess Club has the happiness and safety of their children as their paramount concern."

(¼ mile from Richmond Bridge or St Margaret's Station, near the junction of Richmond Road and St Margaret's Road. Buses 33, 490, 290, H22, H37, R68 and R70 from Richmond stop within 1 minute walk.)

Car Park at the rear of the building: entrance in Riverdale Road. For security reasons the front door is kept locked at all times. Please press the bell marked 'Jane's Montessori School' for admittance.

Intermediate Group:

Saturdays 11.30 to 1.30
Qualifications for membership:
Age: Under 11 on previous 1st September (exceptions can be made for older beginners)
Experience: Knowledge of the moves and values of the pieces, understanding of check, checkmate and stalemate.

Advanced Group:
Saturdays 2.00 to 5.00
Qualifications for membership:
Age: Under 18 on previous 1st September
Under 11s who wish to join this group should have a BCF grade of 60 or equivalent tournament results, together with knowledge of notation and use of a chess clock.

We are open all year (including school holidays) except during August and for one or two weeks over the Christmas period.

Club Format:

Monthly 30 minute and 10 minute tournaments with scores accumulating towards an annual Grand Prix
Other sessions include slowplay games, puzzle quizzes, endgame tournaments, simultaneous displays and much else besides.
Regular coaching sessions for players graded 100+: our panel of coaches includes GMs Daniel King, Bogdan Lalic, Aaron Summerscale, James Plaskett, IM/WGM Susan Lalic, IMs Graeme Buckley, Andrew Ledger, Colin Crouch, Simon Williams, Richard Bates and other top coaches. (Please note that these sessions are only open to players prepared to represent Richmond in competition on a regular basis.)

We also have a panel of chess teachers who are available for school and private tuition.

Tournament Programme:

Richmond Junior Chess Championships: This season: U11/10/9/8 in June, U18 1st weekend in July. Open to current and potential members of Richmond Junior Chess Club and to pupils in schools in or affiliated to the Borough of Richmond.

Richmond Schools Championship: held in January/February. Open to all schools in the Borough of Richmond.

We are currently trying to find a suitable venue within the Borough to run Slowplay Tournaments in conjunction with our two junior individual tournaments.