Details of adult chess are in the left hand column and junior chess in the right hand column below. Watford teams compete in the national league (4NCL, teams in Divisions 3 and 4) and other over-the-board events. Online chess also takes place - main club communities ["Watford Chess Club" and, for junior members and others known to us, "Watford Juniors"] are on Lichess with corresponding communities on Chess.com.
Watford Chess Club's venue is Herts Bowling Club, Bellmount Wood Avenue, Watford, WD17 3BT. Club nights are on Mondays for both adults (7.30 onwards) and juniors (6.0 onwards).
Both adults and juniors take part in the 4 Nations Chess League, both online and over-the-board, with junior teams also playing in the Junior 4 Nations Chess League. Watford has two teams in the 4 Nations Chess League, two in the Hertfordshire League, and junior teams in the J4NCL and the Hillingdon League.
Intending new members of all levels and abilities (with the obvious proviso that they know how to play chess) are welcome. Club policy is that newcomers are allowed three visits as guests to sample the atmosphere and decide whether they wish to apply to join the club. This website aims to give full information about the club but, if you find there is anything not covered here, please use the "Contact Us" facility and a committee member will get in touch.
Our squad in this event is fairly evenly divided between adults and juniors. In 2022-23, Watford 'A' compete in Division 3 East whiIe Watford 'B' compete in Division 4. Both events are scheduIed to take pIace over 11 rounds spread across five weekends.
First two rounds for both teams was 5-6 November with Watford A resuIts shown in opposite coIumn and Watford B resuIts on 'ResuIts' page. Later weeks for Watford A are 7-8 January (Daventry), 11-12 February (Warwick), 25-26 March (Daventry) and 29 April - 1 May (Milton Keynes). The 11 opposing teams are AngIian Avengers, Cambridge University B, Crowthorne, GuiIdford CastIes, HuII & East Riding, Iceni, MK Phoenix, Poisoned Pawns, Rhyfelwyr Essyllwg, Surbiton and Sussex B.
Watford B wiII pIay on 7-8 January (Daventry), 4-5 February (Daventry), 25-26 March (Daventry) and 29 April - 1 May (Warwick). Division 4 is a Swiss-paired event so future opponents are unknown.
Start times, except for the finaI three-day weekend, are 2.0 (Saturdays) and 11.0 (Sundays) Time control is first 40 moves in 100 minutes with 50 minutes for all remaining moves plus 30-second increments from move 1

Above - the 4NCL scene before the action starts
4 NATIONS CHESS LEAGUE ONLINE
Three Watford teams, including two junior teams, will compete in the 2022-23 main 4NCL online. In 2021-22Watford's first team compete in Division 1; they won their group and were beaten in the semi finals by a very strong Guildford Young Guns team. Watford's second team finished fourth in their group in Division 3.
HERTFORDSHIRE CHESS LEAGUE
Watford are fielding two teams in the Hertfordshire Chess League.
1. Receive apologies for absence
2. Elect Officers, Secretaries and Committee for 2022-23. Committee nominations are:
President Sriram Panchanadeeswaran
Treasurer AIistair TayIor
Club Secretary Jayakumar Jayakarthikeyan
Membership Secretary Sandesh Tathare? (TBC)
Juniors Secretary Roger Lancaster
Tournament Secretary Vacant
Other Committee members Simon Charles (TBC), Sanjay Vig (TBC), Bradley Mead-Herbert (TBC) plus one vacancy
3. Approve the Accounts for the financial year ending 31st July 2022
4. Agree Club membership subscriptions for 2022-23.
5. Approve minutes of September 2021 AGM
6. Receive report on the 2021-22 year
7. Plans for 2022-23
8. Any Other Business
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, WATFORD CHESS CLUBPRICE CUP
JUNIOR CLUB NEWS, MAY 2023:
BREAKING NEWS: Club rapidplay on 29 May won by Avy Dasgupta and Jonathan Rubeck, each with 5/6, ahead of Ananya Patel (4), Sid Sethi (3.5) and 8 others.
Club nights are from 6.0 until 10.45 (but no obligation to stay late!) on Monday evenings at Herts Bowling Club in West Watford, a comfortable and spacious venue. As well as the playing area, there's normally an overflow lounge area where parents can sit and relax while their progeny checkmate one another. The bar isn't usually staffed but there are three admirable vending machines (cash only) respectively dispensing coffee, cold drinks and nibbles.
Most Monday evening sessions start with group coaching (6.0 to 6.40) following which training games take place. The length of playing sessions means that we can stage classical games (typically 45' + 15") as well as rapidplay. Some evenings instead have matches against other clubs. We aim to ensure that all rated training games at the club, whether rapidplay or classical, count towards juniors' ratings by the ECF within 7 days of being played.
4 NATIONS CHESS LEAGUE
For the national league, Watford Juniors combine with the adult section of the club - our 2022-23 squad (two teams) was fairly evenly divided between adults and juniors. Watford 'A' played in Division 3 East, Watford 'B' in Division 4. Both events took place over 11 rounds spread across five weekends.
DIVISON 3E - FINAL PLACINGS | Match Points | Game Points | |
1 | Anglian Avengers 1 | 17 | 40 |
2 | Cambridge University 2 | 16 | 36½ |
3 | Rhyfelwyr Essyllwg | 13 | 33 |
4 | Hull & East Riding Tigers | 13 | 31 |
5 | Crowthorne A | 12 | 32½ |
6 | Iceni 1 | 10 | 31½ |
7 | Sussex Martlets 2 | 9 | 29½ |
8 | Poisoned Pawns | 8 | 29½ |
9 | Surbiton | 5 | 22½ |
10 | Watford A | 4 | 20 |
11 | MK Phoenix 1 | 3 | 23 |
12 | Guildford Castles (w/d) | 0 | 0 |
DIVISON 4 - FINAL PLACINGS | Match Points | Game Points | |
1 | Average Wood Pushers A | 20 | 47 |
2 | Poole Patzers | 18 | 44 |
3 | Wessex Some Stars A | 16 | 40½ |
4 | MASCeteers | 14 | 40 |
5 | Celtic Tigers 2 | 14 | 37 |
6 | Wotton Hall | 14 | 36 |
7 | She Plays To Win Lionesses | 13 | 35½ |
8 | CSC/Kingston 2 | 13 | 34½ |
9 | War and Piece A | 12 | 39 |
10 | Ashfield 2 | 12 | 35½ |
11 | Guildford Young Guns | 12 | 34 |
12 | Sussex Martlets 3 | 12 | 33½ |
13 | Anglian Avengers 2 | 12 | 28 |
14 | The Full Ponty | 11 | 35 |
15 | Coventry | 11 | 30½ |
16 | Barnet Knights C | 11 | 30½ |
17 | Iceni 2 | 10 | 36½ |
18 | Oxford 3 | 10 | 35½ |
19 | Average Wood Pushers B | 10 | 32½ |
20 | She Plays to Win Young Stars | 10 | 31½ |
21 | Cambridge University 3 | 10 | 25 |
22 | She Plays To Win Uni | 8 | 26 |
23 | Cambridge University Y1 | 8 | 25 |
24 | Iceni 3 | 8 | 24½ |
25 | Ashfield 3 | 8 | 23½ |
26 | Wessex Some Stars B | 8 | 20½ |
27 | Deaf England | 7 | 23 |
28 | Watford B | 7 | 17 |
29 | Oxford 4 | 6 | 19½ |
30 | Celtic Tigers 3 | 6 | 16½ |
31 | Crowthorne B | 5 | 25½ |
32 | War and Piece B | 4 | 24 |
33 | CSC-Kingston 1 | 4 | 12 |
34 | Barnet Knights D | 2 | 4½ |
35 | Cambridge University Y2 | 2 | 4½ |
Time control is first 40 moves in 100 minutes with another 50 minutes for all remaining moves plus 30-second increments per move starting at move 1.
JUNIOR 4 NATIONS CHESS LEAGUE
Due to difficulties booking hotels, the 2022-23 J4NCL season was cancelled. Watford Juniors played in the final 2021-22 weekend when results were as follows:
J4NCL DIVISION ONE | P | W | D | L | MP | GP | ||
1 | Oxfordshire A | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 15 | |
2 | JHJ 1 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 14½ | |
3 | Staffordshire Spitfires | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 13 | |
4 | Welsh Dragons A | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 10 | |
5 | Leicestershire Juniors | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 9½ | |
6 | Watford Juniors A | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 | |
7 | Fantastic Six | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 11 | |
8 | 3Cs Charmanders | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 10½ | |
9 | Warwickshire Bears A | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 9 | |
10 | JHJ 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 8 | |
11 | Harrow Juniors A | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 5½ | |
12 | Manchester A | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
If and when J4NCL restarts, the intention is that Watford Juniors will compete again. Each J4NCL weekend consists of 5 rounds [3 on Saturday, 2 on Sunday], at either an 80' + 10" [Division 1] or 50' + 10" [Division 2] rate of play, between teams of four following a Swiss-paired system. Below ( L to R) Avy, Maanav, Jacob, Ananya. (Not shown, Aashna) in April 2022.
Below - Advait Keerthi Kumar, London u-10 champion (+6 =1 -0, December 2022)
HILLINGDON & DISTRICT LEAGUE - JUNIOR DIVISION
Watford finished as divisional runners-up in 2021-22 in this competition which is designed to give match experience to our newer and younger juniors. After playing all eight matches in 2022-23, Watford Juniors finished as runners-up with five wins, one draw and two losses. Format is teams of four playing 45' + 15" sessions, on home and away basis.
The object of WLCA is to act as a bridge between club-level and national-level coaching with a view to enabling juniors, if they have the necessary drive and ability, to progress to approximately candidate master (CM) level. It is not intended, certainly at this point, as a substitute for good-quality club-level coaching. Participation is open to members of the six junior chess organisations mentioned above.
Jennifer Hurrell presents Ernest Karumazondo, joint 2019 winner with Andrew Stone, with the Price Cup
If you are a member of Watford Chess Club (the "Club"), your personal data will be processed by the Club for the purposes of Club and membership administration and to facilitate your participation in club competitions and similar events. For fuller information, click "Privacy Policy" link under "Policies and Procedures".
Everyone is welcome (to access, click on pictorial below) at Geir Erik Nielsen's YouTube channel at
PLAY AN AI (ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE)
Tired of playing the boring old computers that always beat you or play so weirdly you can't understand what is going on, asks webmaster Geir Erik Nielsen? Read our article on Artificial Intelligence and how you can install it at home
Also embedded in the updated article is now a video of how to get the best of Arena and Leela at home.
As a teaser for it all, and as an incredibly instructive game, here is how Leela deals with the Benoni
USEFUL CONTACTS AND WEBSITES |
|
Watford Chess Club email address |
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (allow up to 2 days for reply) |
English Chess Federation |
|
Hertfordshire Chess Association |
|
Hertfordshire Chess League results |
|
Hertfordshire Schools Chess Association |
|
4 Nations Chess League (incl. J4NCL) |
|
Tournament chess results (main site for this) |
http://chess-results.com/Default.aspx?lan=1 |
ARCHIVE:
Article in Watford Observer, 19 February: https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sport/18247132.
watford-chess-club-looking-sponsors-ahead-international-tournament
Club rapidplay, 30 December 2019, results at http://chess-results.com/Tnr501649.aspx?lan=1
3rd Watford Junior (u-12) Rapidplay, 29 July 2019, results at http://chess-results.com/tnr457143.aspx?lan=1
Club rapidplay, 8 July 2019, results at http://chess-results.info/tnr453784.aspx?lan=1
Price Cup (2018-9 club championship), October 2018 to June 2019, results at http://chess-results.com/
2nd Watford Junior (u-12) Rapidplay, 27 May 2019, results at http://chess-results.com/tnr435032.aspx?lan=1
Club rapidplay, 13 August 2018, results at http://chess-results.com/tnr374277.aspx?lan=1
1st Watford Junior (u-12) Rapidplay, 30 July 2018, results at http://chess-results.com/tnr373197.aspx?lan=1