The Chester YMCA Junior Chess Club was original formed in the late 80s by Jon Maybery as part of the main Chester YMCA Chess Club. The club would meet up an hour before the senior club started. At it's height in the early 90s the club had up to 30 members with many of them playing a role in the Cheshire & North Wales junior team.

After Jon left in 1993, the club continued was run by Geoff Townsend and Brenda Hibs (mother of 2 regular members), then by Geoff alone after Brenda had moved out of the area. During the mid 90s the junior club entered a team into the Wirral League as Chester 3. The team was captained by Eric Corker and then by Graeme Hudspeth and featured the older children of the club, most notably Russell Pearson, Steve Lloyd and Chris Hudspeth amongst others.

Their best season came in 98/99 season where they finished 4th close behind the leaders. With a bit more luck the team could have won the division and promotion into division 2. However the next season saw the beginning of end for the junior team, and the junior club as well. With Russell Pearson away at university and the other juniors quitting, Steve Lloyd and Chris Hudspeth were the only two juniors in the team. The remaining 3 boards were filled by adults. The team used a total of 11 players as they could not (for various reasons) settle on a fixed line up.

At the end of the season the junior chess club finished while Chester 3 became an adult team.

New Club

In 2002 Chester YMCA Chess Club president Graham Bromley decided to reopen the club and actively sought out new members by visiting local schools. There was a lot interest from the children and Graham was able to start a club with around 20 members.

In the 2004/05 the club entered a special junior division of the Chester & District League, where they played in a 6 game playoff with Buckley/Mold juniors. That year Buckley/Mold won, however in the following year Chester won. In the 2006/07 season there was unfortunately no competition as Buckley/Mold pulled out. However, in the past season, the stronger players played in the Chester & District League proper. They finished bottom but played well. This season they will play as Chester 5 in the Wirral League.

Club sessions are usually run by Graham Bromley, although other members of the senior club occasionally help out including Paul Watson, Chris Fozzard, Steve Lloyd and most recently Volfango Rizzi. A typical evening at the club will usually involve a 20-30 minute demonstration on a large board before the children are allowed to pair off and play each other. Many games will be games for the club competitions, where children must record each move and use a special chess clock. This will be taught to new members. Other children, new and younger members especially, will often receive one-to-one coaching from Graham.

The club currently meets every Friday evening at the Tower Gardens Pavilion, off Tower Road, Chester, from 6pm to 7-30pm. Parents of potential new members should ring Graham on (01244) 320207.

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