South Hams Chess Club
South Hams Chess Club

Junior Section - The Thursday Knights

The junior section of South Hams Chess Club is called "The Thursday Knights". As the name implies, the Thursday Knights meet on Thursdays, with the season running from the start of September to the end of April. The venue is shared with the Senior Chess Club on Thursday evenings - see our separate page for details of the venue.

We welcome any juniors between the ages of 8 and 16 - boys and girls of any chess standard, from nearly total beginners who are a bit unsure of the moves, to skilled players with experience of playing in competitive tournaments. The only qualifications we require from juniors are

  • enthusiasm for chess, with a desire to develop and improve chess skills
  • good behaviour when attending the Club, including the observance of silence from 7pm onwards during Club matches and while other Club members are playing their games.

The format of a normal evening for the Thursday Knights is:

  • 6:30pm - Assemble for a coaching session supervised by one or more senior Club members.
  • 7:00pm - Optionally, play a game against another Club member in the Challenger's League. We find that juniors thoroughly enjoy playing competitive games against the adults in the Club, and their standard improves rapidly as a result of playing these games. Furthermore, by playing games against players with an English Chess Federation (ECF) grade, the juniors will, over time, obtain an ECF grade of their own.
  • 8:15pm - Depart.

There is currently no fee for joining the Thursday Knights. However, in order to play in the Challenger's League, in which game results are sent to the ECF for grading, juniors will need a current Junior Membership of the ECF (at bronze level or higher). The annual cost of ECF junior bronze level membership is currently £10. This membership can be purchased online via the ECF website. ECF grades are calculated and published every 6 months, so juniors - whose chess skills normally develop much faster than those of adults - get regular objective evidence of their development.

In due course, we hope to organise matches between the Thursday Knights and other junior teams in South Devon (participation is voluntary, of course).

Please direct enquiries about the Thursday Knights to the Secretary of the South Hams Chess Club, whose contact details are here.

We draw the Club's Safeguarding Policy and Practices to the attention of parents.