Grantham Chess Club

2026-10-14T09:47:09.494+01:00

Here are the answers to the questions people most often ask before their first Wednesday with us.

WhenEvery Wednesday from 7.30pm

WhereGreat Gonerby Social Club, NG31 8JP

Fees£2 a night (juniors £1)
£20 a year to join

I'm a beginner, online player or a bit rusty. Is that all right?

Absolutely. Our members range from beginners, returning players, people who have enjoyed playing online and want to try over the board, to league regulars with high ratings and regular 4NCL players.

Can I just turn up?

Yes. Come along any Wednesday from 7.30pm and introduce yourself; the table fee is £2 (£1 for juniors).

How much does it cost?

There's a table fee each club night of £2 for adults and £1 for juniors. Annual membership is £20, part of which covers membership of Great Gonerby Social Club, our host venue. To play for one of our teams, you'll also need at least Bronze membership of the English Chess Federation (ECF).

Do I need to bring a set or clock?

No. The club provides boards, pieces and clocks – just bring yourself.

Is the chess competitive or social?

Both. We run four teams in the Nottinghamshire League and two in the Lincolnshire League, and several members represent the Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire county teams at various levels. League chess is entirely optional, though, and plenty of members simply enjoy social games.

What about parking and accessibility?

There's a large car park at the side and rear. The venue is all on one level, with a ramp and an accessible toilet.

Club Opening Times Christmas 2025

2025-12-23T09:02:00.001+00:00

Christmas & New Year Opening

Wed 24th Dec 2025 - CLOSED

Wed 31st Dec 2025 - CLOSED

The club will re-open on Wednesday 7th January 2026

Club Opening Times over Christmas 2024

2024-12-13T08:13:00.002+00:00

Christmas & New Year Opening

Wed 25^th Dec 2024- CLOSED

Wed 1^st Jan 2025- CLOSED

The club will re-open on Wednesday 8^th January 2025

2024 AGM

2024-06-15T09:58:00.005+01:00

The club AGM will take place at 7:30 on Wednesday 3rd of July. All members are welcome to attend. The meeting should take about an hour and so there may be disruption to those wishing to play chess until it concludes.

Nottinghamshire County Championships 2024

2024-05-18T16:42:00.001+01:00

Gambit have agreed to arrange the Nottinghamshire County Championship this year. It will be held at Radcliffe & Bingham's home venue, Royal British Legion, NG12 2BB, on Saturday 15^th and Sunday 16^th June.

As it's a closed competition bronze ECF membership is sufficient to enter, and we've kept the entry fee to £10, with entry payable o the day. There will also be a junior section. The room has space for 50 or so players, which should be sufficient for our needs, but if there is a surge in demand then it will be first come first served.

Christmas 2023

2023-12-19T18:29:00.007+00:00

The club and committee wishes members and supporters a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. The club will be open on Wednesday 20th of December but will not meet on the 27th or the 3rd of January. The first club meet of 2024 will be on Wednesday January 10th when Grantham 1 will be taking on Grantham 2 in the Nottinghamshire League.

If you are looking for some chess action early in the new year, then check out the Hull Rapidplay on Sunday 7th of January. Details here: Hull Rapid Play 2024 (hullandeastridingchess.org)

The Nottingham chessfest - part of the centenary celebrations for the Notts Chess Association

2023-07-03T17:43:00.001+01:00

British Chess Championships

2023-07-03T17:34:00.005+01:00

The British Chess Championships takes place from the 20th to 30th of July at De Montfort University in Leicester. There are a range of events. Details can be found here: British Chess Championships

2023 Annual General Meeting

2023-06-26T18:58:00.003+01:00

The club AGM will take place at 7:30 on Wednesday 5th of July. All members are welcome to attend. The meeting should take about an hour and so there may be disruption to those wishing to play chess until it concludes.

Christmas 2022 Club Opening Times

2022-12-21T12:16:00.001+00:00

The club will be open on Wednesday 21st of December and CLOSED on Wednesday 28th. The next club night will then be Wednesday 4th of January 2023. A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of our members and followers.

Nottingham Rapidplay and Congress in 2022

2022-01-19T20:12:00.001+00:00

Two local tournaments for members and non-members to consider in 2022

Notts Rapidplay 20th February 2022

Information can be found on the Nottinghamshire Chess Association website

https://www.nottinghamshirechess.org/competitions/

The link to the entry form:

https://rapidplay.nottinghamshirechess.org/documents/rapidplay_entry_form_2022.pdf

Notts Congress 23rd - 24th April 2022

Details will appear on the NCA website in due course. The information is on the ECF website:

https://www.englishchess.org.uk/event-calendar/#event=69015618;instance=20220423100000

Club Rapid Handicap Tournament 2021-22

2021-11-01T19:37:00.005+00:00

Graham Johnson is organising a rapid handicap tournament for members of Grantham Chess Club based on the following:

A league with everyone playing everyone else, although if there is a large number of players then there may have to be two (parallel) leagues with playoffs for the top players at the end.
The weaker player in a game has 30 minutes.
The stronger player’s time is determined by the difference in the ratings of the two players.
The minimum time for the stronger player is 2 minutes; this will be when the rating difference is 500 or more.
The rating used for a player will be:

ECF Over the Board (OTB) rapid rating
If 1 is not known/available then ECF Online rapid rating will be used
If neither 1 or 2 is known/available then ECF OTB standard rating will be used
If none of 1-3 are known/available then ECF Online standard rating
If none of 1-4 are known/available then the rating will be estimated, possibly using a rating from a chess site such as Chess.com.

· The ratings to be used will be those on a date to be decided close to the start of the tournament.

· Games should be played on club nights at a date and time of mutual convenience for both players. (When there is a team match on at home it may not be possible to play tournament games.)

· A deadline for completion of all games will be decided upon once it is clear how quickly games are being played. If necessary, this could extend into the 2022-23 season.

If you are interested in playing please sign up on the sheet available on club nights or email him at grjohnson@btinternet.com by Wednesday, 17^th November. We would like matches to be able to start on Wednesday 17^th or Wednesday 24^th of November.

Chess Club reopening on Wednesday 28th of July

2021-07-21T21:06:00.007+01:00

The club will be reopening on Wed 28th of July at 7.15pm and we look forward to welcoming back players old and new to the Gonerby Social Club. Masks are not mandatory in the Social Club.

COVID Update - May 2021

2021-05-09T08:48:00.003+01:00

The club continues to monitor the COVID 19 situation and the Government guidance. As soon as the club is ready to restart social chess and Gonerby Social Club is ready to host, we will place an announcement here and on our Facebook page. Competitive chess is still under review by the various associations that we play under and so there is no firm news on that at present.

2020-08-19T09:58:00.001+01:00

Following on from the successful formation of Lincolnshire Chess on Chess.com a couple of months ago we have now set up Grantham Chess Club also on the Chess.com platform. The ECF County Championship matches are almost finished now and we are looking to set up matches between Lincolnshire Clubs in the near future.

At the moment we are not sure how this will work but if all of the Lincolnshire Clubs form their own club teams(some of them already have done this) then it could be possible to set up a league based on the current Lincolnshire League with two divisions. The second division would probably be run as a single division with no separation between the North and the South.

Nigel Birtwistle has invited all Grantham players who are currently members of Lincolnshire Chess to join our new Grantham club.

If you want to join Grantham Chess Club on Chess.com you will have to become a Chess.com member by going to:

https://www.chess.com/ and creating a username. It is free to join.

After you have created your chess.com username you can join Grantham Chess Club using this link:

Grantham Chess Club - Chess Club

I know that some of you are very sceptical about playing online chess because of the possibility of your opponent cheating. But the detection methods are getting better and quite a few players have received online bans recently. If you join us online it is highly likely that you will be playing against each other(maybe in a Grantham Club Tournament?) and other Lincolnshire players so the possibility of your opponent cheating will be reduced. You really have nothing to lose by joining us at Grantham Chess Club. If you are not satisfied you always have the option of leaving and to stop playing online chess.

So we are asking you all to give it a try and see how it goes.

Grantham Chess Virtual Club

2020-04-04T11:16:00.001+01:00

Grantham Chess Club is now online at https://lichess.org/team/grantham-chess-club

You can find information on there on how to enter online tournaments from Rolls-Royce CC and we will be looking at setting up virtual club nights on a Wednesday and entering events on lichess and chess.com.

Club Nights Suspended

2020-03-20T12:48:00.001+00:00

Due to the current situation, we have agreed with the Gonerby Social Club that we have to suspend club nights on Wednesday. Once we have a date to re-start, we will let everyone know on here and our Facebook page.

2020-03-15T21:23:00.002+00:00

At the moment, the club is continuing to operate and Gonerby Social club is still open. We have decided to continue playing chess on Wednesday evenings unless forced to stop.

Simul by GM Keith Arkell has been cancelled

2018-08-05T18:25:00.003+01:00

Due to a change in circumstances, we have had to cancel the simul by GM Keith Arkell planned for Saturday 11th of August.

Simultaneous Display by Keith Arkell on Saturday 11th of August

2018-07-02T10:43:00.001+01:00

Simultaneous Display by GM Keith Arkell (Sat 11 August 2018) - Grantham

Keith Arkell has been a Grandmaster since 1995. He won the English Chess Championship in 2008. In 2014 he was European Senior (50+) Champion, and, later in the year, tied for first in the World Senior (50+) Championship. A popular figure on the weekend circuit who is known for his exceptional skills in the endgame

Date: Sat 11 August 2018
Time: Starting at 12noon
Entry fee: £10 for adults, £5 for juniors
Venue: Great Gonerby Social Club, 8 High St, Great Gonerby, Grantham NG31 8JP

Simultaneous Display Details:
– Challengers choose their colour
– Normal simul format: players make their move in turn as the simul-giver arrives
– 2 ‘passes’ allowed
– When there are 4 games left, they will be played out as 4 simultaneous 5-minute games
– No upper rating limit
– No age limit
– Book prizes for the best games (one each : junior/adults)

To book your place please email the Grantham Club Secretary, Christopher Holt, at cmh@globalnet.co.uk

Grantham Chess Club will remain open over the summer

2018-07-02T10:41:00.003+01:00

The club remains open over the summer months at the Gonerby Social Club every Wednesday evening from 7:30pm

UK Chess Challenge VAT Petition

2016-09-21T12:48:00.003+01:00

The UK Chess challenge, the premier chess competition for schools in the UK, has a petition running to exempt chess from paying VAT (in line with other sports). The challenge, which has been run annually for 20 years and included hundreds of thousands of children, has been given a VAT bill of £300,000 from HMRC and will have to be wound up should it be liable to pay.

You can sign the petition on change.org. The link is here.

Please show your support.

Do you want to play against a GM in Nottingham? Mickey Adams simul details

2016-09-04T11:16:00.001+01:00

Michael Adams, current British Champion and long-standing Super GM, is giving a simul at "Ludorati", the games cafe on Maid Marion Way in Nottingham [about half way down below Friar Lane, and just below "Cumin"], on 17th September from 1pm-5pm [players to be there by 12:30]. Cost: £12; spectators free. Pre- booking essential, via http://ludoratichessma2016.questionpro.com.

Ludorati web site is at www.ludoraticafe.com.

If you're in central Nottingham, Ludorati is an interesting place to visit anyway. They have a more-or-less resident chess player, a giant board, and other chess stuff, and lots of other games.

New Club Venue

2016-08-10T20:53:00.004+01:00

Grantham Chess Club will reopen on Wednesday 31st of August at the new venue of the Great Gonerby Social Club. The address is :-

Great Gonerby Social Club,
8 High St,
Great Gonerby,
Grantham
NG31 8JP

A map can be found here on Google Maps

Closure of the Electric Club

2016-08-01T12:33:00.000+01:00

We have found out that the Grantham Electric Club is closing and we are, therefore, looking for a new home. We will update members and players as soon as we have more information.