Welcome to the Halesowen Chess Club website. The club meets every Monday at the Townsend Social Club, 2 Stourbridge Road, Halesowen B63 3US. This is easy to get to via public transport and there are plenty of car parking spaces.

We are renowned as a very friendly club and new members are always welcome. We have members of all ages and playing strengths. Our child protection policy can be read here.

We have a number of teams in different leagues across the West Midlands and Worcestershire, catering for all skill levels. The league season runs from September to April, though the scheduling of matches means there are always people around to play friendly games.

Outside of the league season, there are more people available to play friendly games - the more experienced players are always happy to give coaching tips as part of these. We also have a variety of other formats and activities to keep things interesting:

• Games analysis using a demo board - people can bring in their own games for others to analyse or we pick an interesting game played between two grandmasters

• Summer club competition

• Club rapid tournament

• Simultaneous (simul) competition - one or two players against all the rest!

• Buzzer tournament - play your move every 10 seconds!

During the main league season (September to April) it would be best to contact us first before just turning up as if we have away matches there might be no one available for a game.

We play social chess and competitive league chess in the Birmingham and District, Dudley, Worcester County and Wolverhampton leagues. We also play in the Birmingham Summer leagues.

We were the English Chess Federation Club of the Year 2017!

Fancy giving chess a try? Want to return to chess having not played since school? Come along for 2 free weeks, and then take advantage of our super £20/year social member offer!

We also have an extensive library of chess books, donated by the family of Bill Cross.

The Early Years

Halesowen Chess Club was formed in October 1974 by founder members Dave Arthur (secretary) and John Brookes (chairman). It's club rooms were Halesowen Athletic and Cycling Club.

In 1974/75 the club entered a team in the Worcester County League for the first time and in the following year a team was also entered into the Birmingham and District Chess League (in Division 6). In 1976/77 this team was promoted to Division 5 and finished 3rd.

On 1st December 1977 the Club moved to the Leasowes Community Centre.

In 1977/78 three teams were entered in the B'ham League, finishing 3rd in Division 5, 7th in Division 9, and 3rd in Division 10. In 1978/79 another team was added in the B'ham League.Results were 7th in Division 4, 3rd in Division 8, 4th in Division 9 and 4th in Division 10.
In 1979/80 yet another team was added, giving five teams entered in the B'ham League, competing in Divisions 4, 7, 8, 9, & 10.Also two teams entered the Worcester County League (one team in each division) and one team in Worcester and District Div 1 after winning Division 2 the previous season.