 This photograph from the 1950s shows some of the original founding members Chesterfield Chess Club was formed 100 years ago. Its first club night was held on 6th October, 1924 at the Station Hotel (later named the Chesterfield Hotel and recently demolished). The driving force behind the establishment of the Club was Colonel Victor Owen Robinson MC, JP who had served in the First World War and been awarded the Military Cross for bravery an incredible three times. He was later (1945) to become Chairman of Robinson & Sons, the large family business that manufactured surgical dressings and cardboard boxes locally. As part of the Club's Centenary celebrations, we held a Rapid Play Tournament on Thursday evening 26 September in the function room at the Red Lion in Brimington. This was well attended by members and former members of the Club. Chess clocks were used. Players had 10 minutes each to make their moves. This enabled five rounds to be played. The event was won by Peter Ackley who is a County player and one of the strongest players in the Club. He was unbeaten. We were particularly pleased that our President, Andy Mort, was able to attend the Club for the first time since suffering a major stroke in 2021. Despite being told by doctors at the time that he would never walk again, he was determined to be there. Although the function room is upstairs and there is no lift, Andy amazed everyone by climbing the flight of stairs. This was remarkable because he had not climbed stairs since his stroke. As a result, Andy was able not only to participate in the tournament but also to present the Centenary Trophy to the winner. 2024 has been an exceptionally successful year for the Club. In the Derbyshire League, we won the First Division under new captain Martin Pettinger. The President presented the Derby Trophy to Martin following the Rapid Play Tournament. We had also entered a second team in the Derbyshire Third Division. This new team gained promotion at their first attempt which was a noteworthy achievement for George Gledhill in his first season as a captain. It was also a splendid performance by his team, several of whom were new to playing league chess. The Club also has three teams in the Sheffield & District League. Chesterfield A tied on points in the First Division but lost out on winning the Championship as a result of a tiebreaker. The team did, however, gain revenge by winning the First Division of the Summer League. In addition, Chesterfield B were promoted to Division Two and Chesterfield C were promoted to Division Three.  This feature appeared in the September 2024 edition of Reflections magazine
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The following report was published in the Derbyshire Times on 16th May 2024.  As part of our Centenary celebrations, we organised a chess tournament for local Secondary schools. This saw pupils from Outwood Academy, Brookfield Community School, St Mary’s Catholic High School and Netherthorpe School compete for a trophy donated by the club. The 2024 tournament took place on Friday 19 April at Outwood Academy Newbold. It was organised by Martin Howard, Brian Crofts and George Alexander from Chesterfield Chess Club as part of the club’s centenary celebrations. Pupils from Outwood Academy, Brookfield Community School, St Mary’s Catholic High School and Netherthorpe School competed for a trophy donated by Chesterfield Chess Club in memory of their former President, Mike Johnson. The schools were represented by six pupils in each round. They were aged 11 to 18. There were three rounds so that all the schools played each other. Digital clocks were used in every game with the competitors having 20 minutes each to complete their moves. This added to the tension. Tom Scotney (Brookfield), Volodymyr Savkin (Netherthorpe) and Kevin Guo ((Outwood Academy) won all three of their games. Bowei Ke (Brookfield) was also undefeated. The performance of Kevin Guo was particularly impressive because he was playing on top board for Outwood Academy against the strongest players from the other schools. The result of the tournament was in the balance until the very end. Netherthorpe and Outwood scored an equal number of match points but Netherthorpe were declared the winners because they won more individual games. The trophy was presented by Andy Mort, President of Chesterfield Chess Club. Every pupil who took part received a Certificate of Participation. The event was attended by teachers Chris Bingham (Outwood), Marc Vestey (Netherthorpe), Chris Dunne-Wragg (St Mary’s) and Nick Davey (Brookfield) who had all helped with the organisation. Also in attendance was the headmaster of Brookfield Community School, Keith Hirst. Chris Bingham thanked Chesterfield Chess Club for organising the tournament. Nick Davey later described it as a hugely enjoyable and gripping event and a great opportunity for all the players. Marc Vestey said that his pupils had loved the competition and hoped it would become an annual event. (He has since confirmed that the headteacher of Netherthorpe would be happy for her school to host a future tournament). Martin Howard said that he had been extremely impressed by the standard of play shown by all four schools.  |
