AFTER 18 months of being confined to online games, chess is finally coming back to the board.
Frome Chess Club, which has been running for nearly 140 years, has resumed on Monday evenings at 7.30pm in the Cheese & Grain café. With league matches still off the cards, the club is focusing on welcoming new members and keeping the play friendly, fun and open.
The first few weeks have seen a surge in new players turning up – thanks no doubt to the hugely popular tv series The Queen’s Gambit, but also to the opportunity that lockdown offered to hone tactics and learn strategy online.
Gerry Udell, secretary of the club, says, “With many of the longstanding members reaching an age where they find it difficult to get down to the club to play regularly, it’s really encouraging to see so many young players now taking an interest and discovering what a great game it is. This feels like a new lease of life for the club.”
For the time being, the junior club, which is held from 6.15pm to 7.15pm before the seniors, will not be resuming, but the plan is that once Covid-19 rates in schools comes down, it too will be opening up again, welcoming old and new members.
Sally Somers, who runs the juniors, says, “It will be great to get children playing again – lockdown forced everyone online, which seems to have attracted a lot of new players but also made everyone long to just be across the board from one another, chatting about the moves and picking up new skills from each other.”
For anyone interested in joining the main club, just turn up on the night; there is no obligation to come every week, and all levels are welcome. There will always be someone to play, or to get tips and help from, and the club will start to organise mini friendly events on some of the club nights, to get as many people there as possible at the same time occasionally.
For more information, contact: gerryudell5@gmail.com
