Club of the Year & Small Club of the Year 2008

Club of the Year

Congratulations to Mushrooms Chess Club

Mushrooms was founded in 1961, though it didn't play its first match till late 1962. It was formed of strong juniors who could not break into the local club sides on account of the hidebound attitude of the older players. A few of the original members are still with us, and several more who joined early on in the 60s. That means that a good proportion of the team are now in or approaching their sixties. Despite that and a lack of 'stars'  we have maintained (with the occasional hiccup) a position in Division I of the London League, the strongest regional league in the country. We do have younger players too, but only one junior - largely because we have no club night, meeting only for matches. The lack of a club night allows us to draw players from all over the London area, but means we have no contacts in the local community (we have no local community!)

We have always supported the National Club Open Championship (one of the few, now!) and have won the Plate competition 4 times (1979, 2000, 2001 and 2003), twice winning the final 6-0 (1979 and 2003). We have also supported - with a gap when we disagreed with the handicapping system - the National Club Handicap Rapidplay, in which we have come second the last 2 years.
Of the 17 players in the 4 England Seniors teams in Dresden earlier this year, 5 were Mushrooms members (including our Life President Bob Wade) and 2 former members.

In nearly 50 years we have had only 2 first team captains: Peter Wilson from the start to 1973, and for the last 35 years, me, Bill Linton.

Small Club of the Year

Congratulations to Snodland for winning this award two years running.

Since winning ECF Small Club of the Year in 2007, Snodland Chess Club has continued to expand and succeed.

In September 2007, the club expanded from one team playing in Kent County Chess Association competitions (the Harvey Cup, for a team of 6 players averaging under 100 grade) to four teams. The four teams played in the Harvey Cup again, and also in the Tom Fuller Cup (for teams averaging under 80) and with two teams in the Intro Cup (for teams averaging under 60). We tried to field as many junior players as possible, particularly in the lower teams, with one junior player scoring an incredible 10 wins and 1 draw in his first 11 games for the club. The teams have been remarkably successful and reached the Semi-Finals in both the Tom Fuller Cup and Intro Cup. The more experienced team actually managed to win the Harvey Cup this year, our first ever silverware! In addition, we also have a team that has reached the Final of the National Club Championship (U100 section). Next year we intend to field a team in the KCCA U120 competition as we continue to grow in strength and gain more players.

Club members still run regular weekly chess clubs at a local primary school and a local secondary school. In addition, we have run occasional coaching sessions at three other local primary schools. The club also holds free junior coaching sessions twice a month and we regularly get between 8 and 12 juniors, aged 4 to 10 attending, along with their parents.

The club also continues to engage the community by holding stalls at local events and organising high profile events. During the past three years, we have run a “Have A Go” stall at the Snodland Carnival, Town Malling Day and Wouldham School Fayre. We also ran an open to all lecture with IM Jovanka Houska as part of the Snodland Festival.

This year, we ran a simultaneous display with FM Steve Giddins. Two of our junior players actually managed to beat Steve.

This year, we have obtained funds to purchase a multi-media projector which we have begun to use for coaching and watching chess DVDs.

In March 2007, we launched a website: www.snodlandchessclub.blogspot.com which so far has attracted 3 new members (including our strongest player!).

This year we have launched a Rapidplay Congress, which is due to take place on Saturday 19th July. There is an associated website: www.snodlandcongress.blogspot.com

We have attracted sponsorship from two local companies, Smurfit Kappa and Tangerine UK, and have also received donations from Aylesford Newsprint and Kent County Council. This has enabled us to attract four titled players already and offer a prize fund of over £700. Kent County Chess Association recently agreed that the congress could award the title of Kent Individual Rapidplay Champion.

Previous Winners