Watford Chess Club was among the exhibitors at the Bucks Country Show in Penn, Amersham, on 4-5 May.  See the report in the right-hand column for more information and a link to numerous photos from the event. There's a separate report, with pics, in the May issue of the ECF's electronic magazine, Chess Moves.

CLUB INFORMATION

Club nights are held on Monday evenings at Herts Bowling Club in Watford, generally running from 6:00 PM to 9:30 PM, with sessions occasionally extending to 10:45 PM during league matches. The venue provides a relaxed yet focused playing environment, with a spacious main area for both competitive and social chess. There's ample free parking on-site, and bike racks are available for those cycling in. While the bar is typically unstaffed, three cash-only vending machines offer coffee, cold drinks, and snacks.

We welcome new members of all playing levels and abilities, provided they understand the basic rules of chess and obtain ECF membership before participating in any rated games. Club policy offers newcomers a complimentary guest visit to experience the club’s atmosphere before deciding whether to apply for membership. As some evenings are reserved for league fixtures or other activities, we strongly recommend arranging your visit in advance by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to ensure someone will be available to greet you and show you around.

This website offers detailed information about the club. If there's anything you can't find here, feel free to use the "Contact Us" page and a committee member will gladly help.
 

Adults and juniors play competitively.  League match programme for 2024-25 was as follows:

4 Nations Chess League (4NCL) - two teams, dates on fixtures list

Junior 4 Nations Chess League (J4NCL) - not participating 2024-25, will review in 2025-26

Hertfordshire League - two teams, dates on fixtures list 

Hillingdon League - two teams (juniors only), dates on fixture list

World Chess League.live - one junior team (Chess.com)

Online 4NCL - one team (Lichess), restarts September 2025

Online Junior 4NCL - one team (Lichess), restarts September 2025

The club was privileged to receive a visit from the Mayor of Watford, Peter Taylor, accompanied by Councillor Tim Williams, on 11 November.

"I was thrilled to hear the club is competing in the 4 Nations Chess League against other competitive clubs," he said.. "Watford Chess Club is seeking sponsorship to help fund future participations and provide even more opportunities for local talent."
 MINUTES OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING ON 14 JULY 2025 

Appointment of chair and minute-taker
Hanisha Gurjar and Ewan Davids appointed chairs

Rupen Dave appointed minute taker
 
Receive apologies for absence
Apologies received from Ushma Chadha, Pete Turnbull and Jaymini Ichharam
 
To elect the committee and officers. Positions held as of EGM (26/05/25):
President, Ewan Davids/Hanisha Gurjar. 
Secretary, (interim) Ushma Chadha.
Treasurer, Sagar Patel.
Juniors Secretary (interim), Ewan Davids.

Membership Secretary, Paul Littlefair.

Other committee members, Jaymini Ichharam, Sanjay Vig and Peter Turnbull.

 

All current committee members and officers unanimously re-elected. In addition Michael Siva has joined the committee in the position of Juniors Secretary. He was unanimously elected. We thanked Ewan Davids for standing in for this position in the interim.

Approve the Accounts for the 2024-2025 financial year 

Guy Cain to examine the club’s accounts: appointment unanimously agreed.

2024-2025 accounts unanimously approved: our financial position remains somewhat stable. We need to focus on adult membership growth and find new ways to bring money into the club.  

Agree Club membership subscriptions for 2025-26. The Committee proposes:

Full Membership £90.

Discounted to £85 for payments by 1st Sept (extended to 15th Sept). 20% discount for 2nd and subsequent members of the same family. Full membership provides unlimited access to club nights whilst enabling the member to play competitively for the club where selected to do so. Full membership is subject to assessment and review, in which case a Temporary Membership will be offered.

Associate Membership £30 plus board fees if applicable

Where a member does not live locally and expects playing few, if any, OTB games. Board fees are £5.

Temporary Membership £30 (valid for 3 months) - to be offset against Full membership (if offered)

Provides new joiners and existing members under review with 3 months access to weekly club sessions including training and competitive games.

Club membership proposal unanimously approved

Approve minutes of May 2025 EGM and AGM 2024.

There is an assumption that attendees will have read these minutes ahead of the meeting.

May 2025 EGM and AGM 2024 unanimously approved

Receive report on the 2024-25 year

Hanisha Gurjar and Ewan Davids presented a short oral updating report to the committee on the club activities for the year including updates from the various captains involved over the last year. 

Plans for 2025-26

The various leagues will be holding their AGM’s shortly and the club has already updated them on proposed team entries.  

Paul Littlefair to manage the Watford Online Teams.

Ewan Davids to manage the Watford Adult Teams to include 4NCL and Herts League. He is hoping that another player will take on the role for Watford 1 in due course.

Michael Siva to take on management of the Watford Juniors from September with Ewan moving to a supporting role. 

Any Other Business/Motions
4NCL - Watford plans to enter one team in the 4NCL. The Committee noted that the playing venues are further away this year and given we could not raise a reliable Watford B team last year the decision was unanimous to only enter one team. 

Additional trophies - Plans are in place to consolidate and review all trophies/awards to have a holistic view for the next membership year i.e..  Price cup, Dobson Shield, Silver Knight - Paul Littlefair to look into who may have received the previous club trophies.
Clocks - Watford Chess Club have additional spare chess clocks which will be donated  to Chesham chess club in the absence of any other interest. 
ECF Membership – It was agreed that club members must be ECF members to play ECF rated games/tournaments as failure to do so puts the club at risk of penalties/fines.
Communications – The whatsapp communication channels are working well and will be the primary mode of communications.
Summer period – The club will be closed on Bank Holiday Monday 27th August. Any other closures over the summer period will be communicated to members via the community channels.

 MINUTES OF EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING ON 26 MAY 2025 

1.   Appointment of chair and minute-taker 
Sagar Patel appointed chair
Ushma Chadha appointed minute taker
 
2.   Apologies for absence
None received 
 
3.    To record the committee's appreciation and recognition of Roger Lancaster's contribution to the club and the wider chess community
Appreciation duly noted
 
4.    To agree changes (if any) to the club committee where the current position (changes since the last AGM are shown in italics) is:  President, vacant.  Secretary, Ushma Chadha.   Treasurer, Sagar Patel.   Membership Secretary, Ewan Davids.   Junior coach/organiser, Roger Lancaster (but standing down).  Other committee members, Amit Salvi (stood down 2024), Maya Saujani (stood down 2024), Jaymini Ichharam, Ishaan Chadha (but standing down), Peter Turnbull (committee appointment, 2025) and Hanisha Gurjar (committee appointment, 2025).   The club constitution permits four "other" committee members, that is, those not responsible for a defined function.
Ewan Davids and Hanisha Gurjar elected as joint President
Sanjay Vig and Paul Littlefair elected to the committee 
Roger Lancaster stood down from his committee position.
 
5.    To discuss and agree (decision open to review by committee if relevant circumstances change) how many teams to be entered into the Herts League for the 2025/2026 season, particularly as Watford's first team has been promoted to division 2.   
Two teams to be entered.  A discussion was had about the possibility of entering a third team for the south Herts league to encourage players to take part in competitive chess closer to home.   This will be reviewed at a later date.
 
6.    To authorise the committee to dispose of surplus chess equipment and, specifically, to authorise bids from club members (minimum £15) for working Saitek blue chess clocks and (minimum £1) for non-working clocks.   [In the absence of bids, these may be disposed of by other means].
Agreed as discussed date for sale/sales TBC. In the event equipment cannot be sold it will be given to schools in the interest of encouraging chess playing.
 
7.    To note the English Chess Federation's new (April 2025) safeguarding policy and instruct the committee to make any consequent changes to the club's own safeguarding policy.
Noted.  Revised Safeguarding policy under review with the committee
In addition to strengthen alignment with GDPR and Safeguarding obligations, the committee agreed that going forward only emails or communications authorised by or on behalf of the club from official club email addresses would be sent to club members only. The committee agreed that personal emails to generic mailing lists would not be permitted if they purported to be linked to the club in any way and no reference should be made to the club or its members in any emails that did not come from authorised official club email addresses.
 
8.    To note that, effective 1 April, the club is covered by the English Chess Federation's "Clubs and Congresses Insurance"
Noted 
 
Minutes of the all General Meetings, whether Annual or Extraordinary, held between 5 September 2022 and 16 September 2024 (both dates inclusive) have been moved to the 'Club Constitution' page of this website.

 

 
OLD PULLER CUP, 19 OCTOBER 2024
 
OPEN:   Watford 13.5, St Albans 10, Hertford 6.5
 
STARS BARRED (U1750):  Hemel Hempstead 15.5, St Albans 10.5, Watford 10, Enfield 8, Watford Juniors 6
 

 

 

 

 

 

 4 NATIONS CHESS LEAGUE

Update coming

 

4 NATIONS CHESS LEAGUE ONLINE 

Contact Paul Litttlefair if interested.

 

HERTFORDSHIRE CHESS LEAGUE

 

See above.   Use "Contact us" tab if interested.