About St John's Chess Club
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St. John’s Chess Club meets all year round at 7:30 pm on Thursdays, upstairs in The Coachmakers Arms, 9 St Stephens Road, Norwich NR1 3SP. There are two multi-storey car parks within easy walking distance - on Queens Road and on Chapelfield Road. Please note that, sadly, we no longer have use of the small free car park opposite our venue; for current parking information including free parking options, see the file in the directions part of the site.
The club was founded in 1992 and currently has 29 members aged from early 20s to 70ish. Club members play in league games, in competitions or just for enjoyment. There's no set finish time, but we usually wrap up at around 10.30ish. Please note we do play upstairs and there is unfortunately no lift for wheelchair users - however, games can be played downstairs in the pub, but it is obviously a noisy environment. We enter five teams in Norfolk Chess League: one (St John's Crusaders) in Division One, another (St John's Knights) in Division Three along with the newest team The St John's Knaves, whilst St John's Templars and St John's Bishops are in Division Two. There are a few club members who do not play in the League and play just for fun. We also run two internal competitions every year for club members - the Standardplay and the Rapidplay Championships. In addition to this, the Club Ladder runs year-round and occasionally the club hosts day tournaments, such as the ever-popular Christmas Blitz tourney and The Spring Blitz Bash. Club Subscription is £20 per year (plus £15 per annum English Chess Federation membership fee – payable if you play 3 or more Norfolk Chess League games). Join for the first 3 weeks free! Most importantly, beers in The Coachmakers cost around £3.20 per pint. Sometimes we hold social evenings and parties with food and drink and are informally and rather proudly known as the friendliest chess club in Norfolk! This is reflected in our club motto of 'often outgraded, never outfunned'. Players of all strengths from advanced to beginners are all welcome - please use the site's contact form to get in touch if you are interested. |
