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 15 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. Just use this contact form for adults, or else use the 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

Surrey League, home and away

In a league the size of the Surrey League, home advantage counts for a lot. Many players are happy to play at home but reluctant, or unable, to travel to far-away venues. Guildford Chess Club is no different in that respect. We generally field stronger teams at home than away.

On Monday 13 October, the 1st team had to travel to Epsom for the opening match in Division 1. Our team was outrated by an average of 50 points a board. So it was very satisfying to win the match 5–3. Special thanks to our two juniors, Adam Sefton and Alistair Jennis, who each won their games. In the process, Adam claimed his first IM victim, beating IM / WGM Susan Lalic on board 3. Adam has annotated his game for the club and this is now published on the Games page on the website.

Unfortunately home advantage did not help the 3rd team, playing in the Minor Trophy, who lost 4–2 at home to Surbiton 3. In fairness, our 3rd team were themselves outrated by an average of 50 points a board.

Graham Smith Trophy 2025

Nigel Povah presents the Graham Smith Trophy to James Toon for making the most significant off-the-board contribution to the Club in 2024-25.
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