About Us
Welcome
St Albans Chess Club is suitable for chess players of all levels.
We meet on Monday and Thursday evenings from 7.30 pm at The County Club, 29 Ridgmont Road. The club venue is conveniently close to St Albans City Thameslink (platform 4).
Monday nights are devoted to League Chess in which games are ECF rated, whereas Thursday nights are for Social Chess, training sessions and special events.
The Handicap Rapid-play, a fun tournament in which the whole club is invited to participate, will take place on Thursday 17th Dec 2026, the last club night before Christmas.
Parking
Although there is a small car park behind The County Club, it is often full. Otherwise, off-peak parking is available at St Albans City rail station from 5.00pm, Monday to Friday. Download the APCOA parking app to make payment.
There is limited street parking nearby, but beware of residential parking zones which are restricted until 8.00 pm.
League & Cup Matches
St Albans club competes in local League and Cup competitions organised by Hertfordshire Chess Association (HCA) and Hertford & District League (H&D). The season runs from October to May and play starts at 7.45pm.
County Teams
Individual members also play County Chess on Saturday and Sunday, when Hertfordshire teams (of 12 or 16 boards) compete in the Southern Counties (SCCU) and East Anglian (EACU) County Championships.
The top two (and sometimes three) counties in each of the rating categories qualify to play in the ECF national knock-out finals.
St Albans Congress
The club also organises St Albans Chess Congress, an annual ECF-rated weekend Swiss tournament. It next takes place at St Columba's College on Saturday & Sunday, 10th to 11th April 2027.
The Amsters
Since 2001, a group of around 10 chess fanatics have been organising weekend trips during February half term to cities in Europe and playing friendly matches against the local clubs.
The list of destinations continues grow and includes: Amsterdam, Berlin, Barcelona, Cologne, Copenhagen, Delft, Dublin, Malta, Mechelen (Belgium), Prague, Rome, The Hague, Vienna.