About Watford Chess Club

Who we are

Watford Chess Club delivers weekly coaching, competitive league play, and opportunities for personal development through strategic thinking and problem-solving, for members of all ages and abilities. We're proud to currently hold the Centre of Excellence status from the English Chess Federation for our junior activities programme.

Club nights

We meet every Monday evening at the Field Junior School Annexe, Elfrida Road, Watford, WD18 0AZ. Junior sessions run 6:15–7:30pm and adult sessions 7:30–10:00pm. Club nights run all year round although more regularly during term time. It's busiest during term time and we combine casual play with coaching.

Competitive chess

Our teams compete across the 4 Nations Chess League (4NCL and J4NCL), the Hertfordshire League, and the Hillingdon League. Members wanting to play in ECF-rated games need English Chess Federation membership: Bronze level covers club and county play, while higher tier membership is needed for congresses. You can sign up for a free 1st year membership with the English Chess Federation if you are a new junior, student, or eligible participant.

Visiting and joining

Visits are arranged in advance rather than on the night, so that a committee member or coach is free to meet you — and so we know who is in the building on an evening when juniors are present. Membership is confirmed by the committee, and junior places are limited by our coaching capacity.

The club plays competitively, and members are expected to know the rules and be comfortable with a full timed game. Read how joining works →

Practising at home

Chess.com, Lichess.org and ChessKid are all worth using between club nights, alongside the official Laws of Chess published by FIDE.