Local Chess Leagues

I learned how to play chess from my mum when I was around 5 or 6. We used to play most weeks. As a teenager and adult it got lost amongst all the other distractions in life. 

Fast forward to 2021, after watching Queen's Gambit, I set up an online account and got immediately drawn back in. Chess started to take over almost all my other interests. In 2024 I decided it would be nice to take my casual online hobby into the "real world" and joined MADD chess club. So glad I did. Physically playing with other people made the game so much more interesting, the club is extremely friendly and supportive, a fantastic bunch of people of all ages and abilities...I look forward to going every week (sometimes twice given the range of club nights!). I've learnt a tonne and progressed in the game so much more since joining. Getting involved in competitive games against other clubs adds to the enjoyment too.

Long and short...so glad to have got back into the game and to be a member of MADD. I captain the Bill Lumley.

I learned the moves from my dad at the age of six and joined my school team where I was promptly beaten with scholars mate three times in a row... Unfazed, I continued playing informally into adulthood and set up Huddersfield Library Chess Club where I met Robert Mitchell and Brendan Briggs who encouraged me to join MADD where I started studying chess seriously and taking part in tournament play. 

Chess is a fascinating game involving patience, forethought, analysis and pattern recognition amongst other things. I'd recommend it to anyone.

A friendly neighbour showed David how the chess pieces moved around the board when he was 8 years old, but it wasn’t until he started secondary school that he started to play chess properly. One of the teachers, Dr Robert Greenhalgh a very good player, ran the school chess club. He was also a very generous and kind person who introduced lots of young people to the amazing game of chess. David improved, played for the school team and it wasn’t long before he joined the local chess club in Keswick and was playing for them in the local league. In 1969, aged 15, David became the Cumbria junior champion (U18), and the following year went on to play for Cumbria in the NCCU Open championship. 

When he left school David stopped playing chess and focused on his other sporting interest, rugby. David’s life with chess has been one of periods of activity interspersed with long breaks. He joined MaDD in 2024 having been incredibly impressed by the inclusive and supportive ethos that permeates all the activities of the club. David’s current chess projects are teaching his grandson to play and enjoy both winning and losing and helping other club members where he can.

I learnt to play chess at around 6 or 7. My mum was my main opponent until high school. It was there that I reached the pinnacle of my chess career, becoming school chess champion in year 8. Having attained this ultimate chess goal, I hung up my pawns. 

Or so I thought, fast forward half a lifetime of questionable decisions, and I was to rediscover my love for chess through teaching my own son (for the record, he wasn’t one of the questionable decisions). As our shared interest for the sport grew, we sought out a club. That was when we discovered MADD. The complete opposite of what I imagined a chess club to be like. We were immediately made to feel included and welcome. We haven’t looked back since. 

The pressure-free but encouraging opportunity to play casually and competitively has supported me in developing my skills in all aspects of the game, including becoming a team captain. MaDD embodies what a chess club should really be about: keeping this ancient game alive for all, in a fun, friendly and supportive way. I’m so proud to be part of the team.