A chess club in Meltham which started a year ago now has 50 people regularly attending aged from six into their 80s … and has also branched out into Slaithwaite.
Meltham Chess Club also has a strong emphasis on encouraging young people to get involved in chess with 11 junior coaches and an online training academy. This means people can learn from home and 17 are now using it to make sure they have a solid understanding of the game.
More than 25 members have represented Meltham Chess Club in tournament games, including eight juniors and it now has players coming from Fenay Bridge, Linthwaite, Holmfirth, Honley, Almondbury, Marsden, Longwood and Salendine Nook.
Meltham Chess Club was set up by Robert Mitchell and Brendan Briggs at the Travellers Rest pub on Slaithwaite Road in Meltham and meets every Monday evening with the juniors at 6.45pm and the adults at 7.45pm.
Sam Wilkinson, 10, with his certificate from the Meltham Chess Club training academy
Travellers Rest manager Liz Oxley said: “The children who attend the chess club are very keen and show the dedication they have to the club.
“It’s lovely to see them in deep concentration and not on mobile devices. Clubs like this can only be an advantage to their future careers.”
Robert said: “We’ve seen a really sharp increase in numbers and now run an extra club night in Slaithwaite as several members have been travelling over to Meltham from there.”
The club meets at the Vanilla Bean café in Slaithwaite at 6pm every Friday.
Club member Ben Robinson redesigned the club logo which has been used to launch a range of club hoodies, polo shirts and jumpers.
The club raised more than £300 at Christmas to buy each of its junior members a chess book.
The club now runs several chess events including Crystal Maze Chess, Rollerball Chess and Mystery Square Chess for the juniors, as well as events for the adults including Checkmate of the Month, the Meltham Ashes club tournament and several online arena tournaments.
The club has its own Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/974926743605266
Anyone is welcome to attend on a Monday evening or can email for more information at melthamchess@gmail.com
Written by ANDY HIRST who runs his own Yorkshire freelance journalism agency AH! PR (https://ah-pr.com/) specialising in press releases, blogging, website content and copywriting.
