The Club 

Established as one of the leading clubs in the Greater Manchester area, we currently meet twice a week on Monday and Tuesday evenings from 7:30 - 10:45 at the Bury Sports Club, Radcliffe Road (off Manchester Road), Bury.

We have a number of teams which play in the local summer and winter leagues offering competitive games all year round for all standards of player. We run both a summer and winter club championship and for several years have hosted the annual Bury Rapidplay tournament which attracts players from all over the country. We award five trophies each season.

We run occasional training sessions and enthusiastic players can always seek personal tuition from the stronger players. The facilities at the sports club are excellent and the equipment is good quality even for the casual games. There are regular emails from the chairman containing interesting chess news and also a library of books that can be borrowed by members. We also run occasional special events such as GM simultaneous displays or trips abroad.

Annual membership is £35 for full members, £25 for OAPs / Unemployed, £23.50 for students and £22.50 for juniors, all of which include social membership of the sports club. You are welcome to attend the club for a few weeks before subscribing.

Prospective members can contact the club secretary John Grindrod on 0161-280 5102 or just turn up on any club night.

History

The club originated at a meeting at the Textile Hall following an advert in the Bury Times asking anyone interested in forming a club to attend. This took place on 24 October 1955. Current club President, Bernard Sharples, attended the meeting with a school friend, AJ (Tony) Booth, who is now in New Zealand. There was then a meeting on 31 October, at which a constitution was adopted and officers were elected. Chess was played at the first actual meeting of the club on 2 November 1955.

Originally having a nucleus of players who had played chess at the Athenaeum Club, others were attracted to the club because of its intentions to play competitive chess. The club formed a Bury League, which is still in existence as the Bury and Rochdale League.

The major competition in the area has always been the Manchester League, however, and the club soon entered teams in that league. Over the years we have won the A division championship, and the premier cup competition, as well as having success in lower divisions with our 2nd and 3rd teams.

We have played abroad, visiting Poland, Granada in Spain and the Isle of Man for matches.

We have run congresses from time to time over the years. For several years in the 1960s we ran the Lancashire Easter Congress at Bury Technical College. Fashions change in all things, and congresses nowadays are largely one-day affairs. This is the format of the annual Rapidplay Congress, which we currently run each December.

We started this current series of rapid play events in 1995 with a two-section congress, which attracted about 80 entries to the Mosses Centre, where the club then held our ordinary weekly meetings. By expanding over the years to a three-section congress, with an Open Section, we are able to attract over 100 entries each year, including grandmasters and international masters, plus several other strong entries. We have moved from the Mosses Centre to the Elizabethan Suite at the Town Hall, a larger and much more prestigious venue.

Constitution

The club's constitution is available here.