Guildford Chess Club

Welcome to our world!


We aim to provide a safe and secure inclusive environment for all chess players to play and learn about chess.

We are one of the strongest chess clubs in the UK, with over 50 regular adult players and 100 juniors in membership, spanning the complete ability range from beginner to expert.

We currently field 20 teams across four leagues – the Surrey League, the Surrey Border League, the 4 Nations Chess League and the 4NCL Online. Some of our members also play for Surrey County teams and have represented England at both Junior and Senior levels.

Our regular club night is at 7.30pm on Mondays night for adults (earlier for juniors) from September to July at the Guildford Institute on Ward Street – we're closed in August and on Bank Holidays.

We encourage all our members to participate in the life of the club in some way.

Map

How the site works

Access to everything on the site is via the Navigation menu at the top of the page. Move the cursor over each item to reveal a drop-down menu with links to all the pages.

  • About – our constitution, contacts, gallery, history, library, membership, privacy policy, roll of honour, and safeguarding policy.

  • Activities – our calendar, coaching, junior club, league chess, and tournaments.

  • Directory – chess advice, games by club members, and links to the outside chess world.

And below on our home page, see our blog with all the latest news about the club.

It's easy to contact us. There's a contact form below for adults, and a contact form on our Juniors page for juniors.

Click on the club logo on the top left to return to the home page.

Latest news

Border League Gentlemen and Players

In cricket, the Gentlemen v Players game was a First Class cricket match regularly played from 1806 until 1962 between a team made up of elite amateurs (the 'Gentlemen') and young sportsmen of independent means (from the universities), and a team made up of professionals (the 'Players'). Just as life imitates art, so chess imitates cricket. The distinction between Gentlemen and Players still operates in some chess leagues, notably the London Chess League (Wood Green always win), and the Surrey Border League.

In last night's Division 1 match at Guildford, the home team fielded a very powerful team of elite amateurs rated 2300 on average and featuring two IMs and an FM. But they were roundly defeated, losing 4–1 to a team of professionals from Sandhurst – that's professional as in paid to play chess – rated nearly 100 points higher on average, and featuring two GMs, one IM and one Candidate Master. Well done to Alberto Suarez Real and Alex Golding for taking half a point each off their GM opponents. Gwilym Price was unlucky on board 3, turning down a draw in a better position when the team situation required him to play on, then dropping a piece in time trouble.

Meanwhile, back on Planet Earth, Guildford D narrowly lost to Godalming B by 2–3 in Division 4, with both sides evenly matched in rating terms. Elsewhere, Guildford G travelled to Fleet & Farnborough B for a Division 7 match which finished 2–2.

Back at the club, the latest Andrew Martin coaching session was very well attended. Some club members then made their competitive debut in an informal Beginners' Rapidplay event. Next door, the main internal rapidplay has now seen 53 rounds of play, featuring 52 players.

Contact us

This form is for enquiries from adults. For juniors please use the contact form on our Juniors page.