Fixtures for the SCCA League Division 3 West have now been posted for 2022/23 at the following link:

Division 3 West Fixture Dates

Our team captains, David and Chris are currently arranging the teams and will be in touch soon.  A smaller version of the fixtures will also be made available on the club notice board so you can stick it to your fridge at home and never miss a game!

Well another year has gone by and who’d had thought just over a year ago that we would be back to playing over the board chess.  Thank you to all who have returned and to those who have joined us this past year, and we also miss those who haven’t yet been able to attend but aren’t far from our thoughts.  The club has gone from strength to strength this year and it is exciting to see it grow.

Meanwhile, sadly we will be closing for the summer months and this week, 31 May 2022, will be our last club night.  We will reopen on the 6^th September 2022 and I’m sure David or Chris will be in touch as they start to form their teams for the Somerset League games that will be starting up again.  Remember, if you want to be a part of a team you must have an ECF membership which will be due for renewal in September.

For those who can’t cope with a break and must play chess all summer, we have an open invitation to join the Wellington Club during the summer months.  They meet on a Wednesday night at 19:30 at Chelston Chapel.  The club is free and they ask you to contribute to the courtesy jar for refreshments.  You can also follow them on their new facebook page https://www.facebook.com/wellingtonchessuk .

Directions to Chelston Chapel

Coming from the M5, Junction 26, take the road towards Wellington.  At the next roundabout (the Skylark pub roundabout) take the last (4^th) exit signposted towards Taunton.  Go past the row of houses and about 300 yards on the right just after the motorhome place, is a blue sign that reads Chelston Chapel.  Turn into that lane on the right and you will come to the chapel about 100 yards down the lane.  Parking is available.

Coming from Taunton, take the Wellington A38 road, continue past Rumwell Farm shop, Sheppy’s, Blackdown garden centre and just before the motorhome place on the left take the lane off to the left and you will find the chapel about 100 yards down the lane.  Unfortunately you will have your back to the Chelston Chapel sign but you will see it as you turn.  If you miss it and you get to the roundabout, just go around and come back and you will see it on our return. 

 We trust that you will have a wonderful summer and we look forward to seeing you again either at the Wellington club or on our return in September.

Tonight we celebrated achievements and finished our rapid tournament from last week.

First of all, we took time to honour Mike Ward who has given many many years of service to Taunton Chess Club.   Mike will be stepping down as the club chairman and tournament organiser, but his contribution is more than that.  He is known as the guru of chess rules, if you don’t know; you ask Mike as he knows the rule book so well.  Fortunately Mike is not leaving us, he will still be around for a long time pushing his queen and pawns around the chess board.  We want to say a big thank you to you for all that you have done and we hope that we continue to build on the foundations you have laid.

We continued the Rapid Tournament from last week.  Poor Chris had a big task on his hands this week as the computer software was down and so it was a paper and pen exercise to arrange matches between rounds.  At the end of round 6 we thought that we could almost predict the winner but we were proved wrong in round 7 when Arnold and Simon drew their games forcing a 4 way draw with 4 players (Arnold, Frey, Niall & Simon) on 5.5 points.  We then drew lots to see who would play each other for a 5 minutes rapid semi final.  Frey and Arnold battled it out on one board and Niall and Simon on the other.  This was followed by a grand final between Arnold and Niall.  See below to see who was victorious.

WInner – Niall

2nd Place – Arnold

Semi-Finalists, Minor Winner & Runner-up

Junior Players

A big thank you to Chris for organising the event and I’m sure we will keep it in the diary for next year.

 Major & Minor Club Tournament

We also took the opportunity to present our annual Minor and Major trophies.  Throughout the year, members are placed in a club tournament according to their grade and they play each other all year round.  At the end, the successful winner gets their name added to the trophy and then they have to find a shelf at home to admire it for a year.  A big congratulations to this year winners:

Major Tournament – Arnold Acibar

 Minor Tournament – Nathanael Tretheway

Here are some pictures from the tournament.  Taunton Chess club will be open for 3 more weeks before closing for the season until September.  If you are interested in chess and would like to try the club out, please come along and like our facebook page to keep up with news of when we will reopen.

New ECF Gradings were published on the 24th July 2020.
Click HERE to find out your new grade.

Due to coronavirus Taunton Chess Club has currently suspended their meetings at St Michaels Church until further notice.  Stay safe everybody.

Update September 2021 **** We will advise you once our junior sessions are up and running again *****

From January we will be starting some pre-club sessions for the junior members of the club where Chris Greenaway will be helping them to improve their game.  There will be 2 groups, beginners and advanced, and we will let you know via the WhatsApp group which group your child has been allocated to.

Please see below to see the timetable for when sessions will be held.

Thank you Chris for putting together a last minute Christmas meal and a big thank you to Ben at Solz Cafe for cooking a fabulous meal.  Looks like a good time was had by all.

We hope to do another get together in the summer, please let us know if you have any good recommendations of any places to go.