Club History
St Albans Chess Club [1, 2] was established on Thursday 28th March 1878 when twenty-six players, responding to an advertisement placed in the Herts Advertiser, met in the Council Chamber at St Albans Town Hall.
By the Autumn, the club was meeting regularly on Thursday evenings at the Queens Hotel [3] in Chequer Street.
The first match against another club took place at home against Luton Chess Club on 14th November 1878. The visitors won 9 - 6. The following month St Albans won the return match 9-11.
A list of principal officers who have served the club is given below. Prior to the appointment of a Treasurer in 1977, club finances were managed by the Secretary.
| President | Year | President | Year | President | Year | ||
| H.F. Lindley | 1878 - 1907 | Sir E.T.A. Wigram Bt | 1922 - 1930 | J. Simmons | 2005 - 2011 | ||
| E. Townson | 1907 - 1909 | E.J. Fairchild | 1930 - 1954 | Dr J.N. Fraser-Mitchell | 2011- | ||
| E. A. Cumming | 1909 - 1914 | W.H.M. Phillips | 1954 - 1955 | ||||
| E.T.A. Wigram | 1914 - 1916 | H. Green | 1955 - 1974 | ||||
| E.J. Fairchild | 1916 - 1918 | A.W. Torry | 1974 - 1982 | ||||
| E.R. Mitchell | 1918 - 1922 | J.A. Leake | 1982 - 2005 |
| Hon. Secretary | Year | Hon. Secretary | Year | Hon. Secretary | Year | ||
| G.F. Gibbs | 1878 - 1885 | A.W. Torry | 1946 - 1974 | P. Hayward | 2010 - 2011 | ||
| J. Rogers | 1885 - 1893 | E.S. Judge | 1974 - 1977 | I.K. Cross | 2011 - 2016 | ||
| F.B. Gibson | 1893 - 1897 | J.A. Leake | 1977 - 1981 | A.B. Ellis | 2016 - 2019 | ||
| E.R. Mitchell | 1897 - 1912 | R.R. Claret | 1981 - 1984 | R. Collopy | 2019 - 2021 | ||
| E.C. Harris | 1912 - 1919 | C.A. Turner | 1984 - 1985 | C. Pines | 2021- | ||
| W.A. Conway | 1919 - 1920 | P.V. Lattimore | 1985 - 1986 | ||||
| L.F. Allengame | 1920 - 1929 | C.A. Turner | 1986 - 2000 | ||||
| G.F. Ramsay | 1929 - 1932 | Dr J.N. Fraser-Mitchell | 2000 - 2005 | ||||
| F.W. Daniel | 1933 - 1943 | Dr I. Gooding | 2005 - 2007 | ||||
| E.J. Palfrey | 1943 - 1945 | Dr M.J. Lexton | 2007 - 2010 |
| Treasurer | Year | ||||||
| C.A. Andrews | 1977- 1987 | ||||||
| A. McMahon | 1987 - 2012 | ||||||
| S. Narbeth | 2012 - 2021 | ||||||
| J. Gemmell | 2021- |
| Congress Organiser | Year | ||||||
| P.V. Lattimore | 1983 - 1984 | ||||||
| R.R. Claret | 1984- |
Notes
1. The Herts Advertiser local newspaper, available at Hertfordshire Archive and Local Studies, published an account of the chess club's inaugural meeting (1878) and regularly reported on its activities.
2. The oldest minute book still in the club's possession covers 1931-1986. It includes a very brief summary of the club events from 1897.
3. The Queens Hotel, 8-10 Chequer Street, closed down in the 1980s at the time of the Chequer Street Development when Maltings shopping centre was created. The building dates from the 1820's when it opened as the Turf Hotel.
Talking Buildings - Hidden Histories of St Albans
4. St Albans Museums Talking Buildings’ project, 2016. The Turf Hotel, 8-10 Chequer Street.
https://www.stalbansmuseums.org.uk/sites/default/files/attachments/the_turf_hotel_0.pdf