Reading Chess Club’s challenge to fans of BBC Chess Masters: come and have a go

A high stakes chess contest is taking the nation by storm right now … and the team behind Reading Chess Club is hoping it inspires the town to pick up the pieces once again.

BBC Two has been screening Chess Masters: The Endgame on Mondays from 8pm.

Hosted by Sue Perkins, the eight-week contest sees 12 players are battling it out in a series of puzzles and brainteasers based around the cerebral sport. Joining Sue is three-time British chess champion David Howell and former Traitors contestant Anthony Mathurin.

The show’s success builds on The Queen’s Gambit, a Netflix drama based on a 1983 novel. It tells the story of an American chess prodigy on her rise to the top of the chess world while struggling with drug and alcohol dependency. It was one of the streamer’s most-watched dramas and won 11 Primetime Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globes.

As Sue Perkins says, the drama made chess “sexy”.

“It’s been over 30 years since chess was on our TV screens, and a lot has changed in that time. It’s gone from being a beloved board game to an online phenomenon,” she adds.

“What I love about this series is how much we get to see of the psychology and gamesmanship behind the moves. It’s as much about human nature as it is about the placing of pieces across a checkered board.

“Viewers who are experienced chess players will be able to analyse the specifics of the games, but newcomers will also get an entertaining taste of how brutal and fun these epic battles can be.”

Reading Chess Club’s gambit … have a go

Reading Chess Club has been challenging players for more than 125 years, and welcomes players from the age of 11 upwards. Although it’s not for complete beginners, all abilities are welcome.

They organise tournaments where members play each other and take part in a league with other Berkshire clubs and the Surrey Border league. And for those who just want a friendly match … well, that’s possible too.

For the very best players, they can join the Chiltern League, and there are also opportunities to take part in regional tournaments.

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One of its attractions is its ability for players to take part in Reading Chess Club’s rapid play tournaments. These are ‘speed chess’ similar to those seen on Chess Masters. One of the club’s junior players recently won the Under 15 section of the Swindon Rapidplay contest.

The club is so popular that it meets on two floors of New Hope Community Church in Reading’s York Road on Thursday evenings – apart from Reading Festival weekend as the area is more than a little bit busy with music fans.

Boards are set up to allow the players to compete in timed matches between 7.15pm and 9pm, while visiting teams take on the club in league games. Invigilators are present to ensure it’s all fair, while every board has clocks next to them, so players know how long their game has to run.

What Reading Chess Club say

David Deane is the club’s president and is looking forward to welcoming people inspired by the BBC’s Chess Masters wanting to dust off their chess sets.

And Reading Chess Club welcomes all ages, with a vibrant youth section competing with some of the town’s sharpest chess minds in the adult classes.

“We lost some players during covid, but The Queen’s Gambit, other publicity and chess becoming big in India and China meant we have started getting a lot of juniors, so we’re now lucky to have about half junior players and half adults,” he says of the club’s composition.

“Traditionally, you thought chess was an old man’s pursuit. Well, it’s not. It’s for the young, the middle aged and the old.

“The Chess Masters on the BBC features sort of intermediate players; the level of those players is probably that of our first or second team here, it’s not Grand Master level.”

For David, chess runs in the family. He was taught how to play as a child by his father, while he grandfather also gave him contests on the familiar chequered squared board. He has been moving pawns, rooks and knights ever since, joining clubs at university and, when he was travelling, in France and Austria, as well as Reading.

He says chess is good for the brain, and the sport is very engrossing: “It’s a real test of yourself … there’s a million positions you can have after just a few moves, so every game is unique. It’s educational and fascinating.”

How can you join in Reading Chess Club?

Reading Chess Club meets every Thursday at New Hope Church near Caversham Bridge between 7.15pm and 10.30pm.

“Come along for an hour or play a serious game,” David says. “We have internal and external contests, and we have lightning or blitz tournaments where you only have five minutes each.

“We have rapid play, which is about 20 to 30 minutes each, as well as the standard game, which is about an hour-and-a-half on the clock.

“We have 28 clocks and 28 chess sets all available to our members or those who want to come and try it out.”

Reading Chess Club currently has a half-price offer for new members joining as the club is halfway through the season, which runs through to August.

For more details, log on to the Reading Chess Club Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ReadingChess or email: wpkoreywo@gmail.com