History of the Club

Foundation

St Albans Chess Club has been in existence for well over 100 years. The first recorded Minutes covered the AGM held at the Temperance Hotel, London Road, St Albans on 17 Oct 1897. (There were 22 members and the annual subscription was 5 shillings). However the earliest record of the existence of the Club occurs in a book on chess in Bedfordshire by Dickens and White. Records are given of matches played by St Albans and Luton on 14 Nov and 19 Dec 1878, and against Dunstable in 1885, 89, 93 and 94. The 1889 match was actually played by telephone.

Modern History

Nowadays the club plays most of its matches under the auspices of the Herts League. There are currently 15 clubs in the league, providing about 50 teams of 5 players, in 7 divisions. St Albans has 7 teams; we anticipate this will rise to 8 teams in future. Our adult membership stands at just under 50 players. In 1999 / 2000 we started a junior section, the St Albans Early Knights, which now has a membership of about 25. We are comfortably the largest chess club in Herts, but that doesn't stop us from being one of the friendliest as well.

Cheshire Board

In 1951, Mr Cheshire of Watford Chess Club presented a board to be played for annually between St Albans and Watford. Watford won the first match, over 12 boards. The match is played at alternating venues before the start of the League season in October.

Silver Rook

Our internal Club competitions have taken place annually since 1900, when the first trophy (the Silver Rook) was purchased. The Silver Rook was won outright in 1905 by Mr Townson, who returned it to the Club in 1933 to become the permanent trophy for the best Club player, on level terms. The most frequent recorded winner of the trophy is Jeremy Fraser-Mitchell (9 times and still going), followed by Mike Lexton (6), David Drakeford (5-in a row) and Norman Lavers (5).

St Albans South Herts Congress

The club organises a very successful weekend congress, the weekend before Easter, which typically attracts about 200 people. The congress enters its 30th year in 2012. One of the reasons for its success is the venue at St Columba's College, which provides a spacious congress hall, a cafeteria, a large space for relaxation between rounds, and abundant car parking.

International Matches

The most recent initiative by the club has been the playing of international matches. The first of these were on the 9th and 10th of February 2001, in Amsterdam. These trips are very popular and have been organised annually ever since.