Chess Clubs (Where to play chess) Locations Locator Map and Directory

If you want to play chess and are looking for competitive games, you may want to join a chess club. From Wikipedia

A chess club is a club formed for the playing of chess. Chess clubs provide for both informal games and timed games, often as part of an internal competition or in a league.

Organisation

Clubs are usually attached to regional chess associations, which are in turn members of their national federation which will be associated with FIDE; the world governing body of chess.

Club facilities

Chess clubs typically provide:

* Informal, 'friendly' games
* Club and inter-club competitions
* Play in one or more leagues organised on a geographical basis
* A personal rating system where the results of inter-club games are rated to enable players to judge their standing and progress
* Coaching by a more knowledgeable chess player
* A library of chess books
* Lectures/tuition evenings
* Social events

A chess master is a chess player of such skill that he/she can usually beat chess experts, who themselves typically can nearly always prevail against most amateurs. Among chess players, the term is often abbreviated to master, the meaning being clear from context. From the dawn of recorded chess, to the establishment of the first chess organizations, the term master was simply one of opinion. Strong players demonstrated their strength in play, and gained the informal reputation of being chess masters.

A chess tournament is a series of chess games played competitively to determine a winning individual or team. Since the first international chess tournament in London, 1851, chess tournaments have become the standard form of chess competition among serious players. Today, the most recognized chess tournaments for individual competition include the Linares chess tournament and the Corus chess tournament. The largest team chess tournament is the Chess Olympiad, in which players compete for their country's team in the same fashion as the Olympic Games. Since the 1950s, chess computers have even begun entering the tournament scene. Most chess tournaments are organized and ruled according to the World Chess Federation (FIDE) handbook, which states many guidelines and regulations to conduct tournaments by. Chess tournaments are mainly held in either round-robin style, Swiss system style or elimination style to determine a winning party.