Welcome | Where & when | Membership & activities | Officials and constitution

Sutton Coldfield Chess Club

Welcome

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On this site you will find downloadable games; examples of humour (like “Excuses for losing at chess”); reviews of books and videos; a diary of chess events in and around Birmingham, UK; links to selected websites. And of course information throughout about Sutton Coldfield Chess Club: its news, history, teams, officials and constitution, plus some members' ICC handles, and latest ECF grades, and how these compare with Elo ratings.

Where & when

Jaguar Sports & Social Club next to Gate 3 Jaguar Cars opposite Castle Vale Shopping Centre Chester Road (A452) Birmingham B35 7RA

We meet every Monday night, including Bank Holidays, from 7.00pm to 11.00pm. League matches start at 7.30pm. Play takes place in the groundfloor Skittles Alley of the Jaguar Club, which has a licensed bar and a large free car park.

Directions by car: From Spaghetti Junction follow the A38 (Tyburn Road then Kingsbury Road) for about 2½ miles. At Tyburn Island turn right onto the Chester Road (A452). By the lights (Castle Vale Shopping Centre) do a u-turn and come back up the Chester Road. The entrance to the Jaguar Sports and Social Club is on the left of Gate 3 of the Jaguar Cars Complex. Directions by bus: Buses number 28, 67, 68 and 966 run along the Chester Road; there is a northbound stop for those routes just outside the venue.

The location can be seen on satellite photography thanks to Google Maps. The Club is roughly in the middle of the picture.

Membership & activities

The Chess Club has over thirty Members, and runs several teams in the Birmingham and District Chess League, and the Cannock and District Chess League (and had a team in the Four Nations Chess League 2006-2007). During the summer there are simultaneous displays and one or more lightning (buzzer) tourneys, plus other events - see the Diary page.

The actual membership year runs from 1/Sep to 31/Aug. Persons joining in December or later receive a proportionate discount. The membership subscription includes registration with the local league(s). Only Full Members can play for our teams or in the Club's graded events.

Associate Membership is designed for social members or players already registered with other clubs. Someone who simply wants to support the Club, or an interested visitor who wants to sample the Club first, can become an Associate Member before considering an upgrade (with no penalty) to Full Member. Associates can take part in the full range of club activities but are ineligible to play in graded games or team matches, and cannot vote at meetings.

The Club is always actively seeking new members of all ages and abilities whether for competitive, social, or recreational chess. Simply come along to the Club on a Monday night – visitors are welcome – or for more details send an email to chessclub@btopenworld.com or contact any of the officials below.

Officials and constitution

The Club’s Executive Committee is made up the officials below, as decided by the Annual General Meeting held 16/Jul/2007 and subsequent committee meetings. (Posts decided by vote at the AGM are indicated by an asterisk.)

Keith	ESCOTT	Chairperson*, 1st Team Captain
Larry	HAYDEN	Secretary*	larryhaydenbtinternet.com
Marek	SOSZYNSKI	Treasurer*, Webmaster*	soszynskibtopenworld.com
Arthur	KENT	2nd Team Captain	allkentsaol.com
Chris	EAST	3rd Team Captain, Cannock Captain	c.j.eastbtinternet.com

The official Constitution and Rules of Sutton Coldfield Chess Club are available in PDF format, which can be read by Adobe Acrobat Reader, most browsers, as well as other programs. Also in PDF format is a Sutton Coldfield Chess Club Poster advertising the location and activities of the club, and a simple chess scoresheet (two scoresheets on one side of A4 paper).