2019 has been an excellent year for the University of Warwick. The Chess Society has grown from strength to strength, from being the largest UK University Chess Society to winning ECF 2019 Club of the Year!

With this size, we caters for all strengths, from beginners to masters - who can play in any of the five weekly teams in the local Coventry & District Chess League. The 2018-19 Season saw the University win both Divison 1 and 3, leading to one promotion.

Nationally, the Society saw a record of 160 members, leading to a feat of fielding nine teams to the British Universities' Chess Association (BUCA) Team Championships - another record!  Congratulations goes to all the players, in particular the 16 individuals who won Board prizes, and the three teams that won Team Prizes. Special attention goes to our First Team (Dimiter Daskalov, Guy Moss, WFM Louise Head, Sultan Otegenov), who qualified to represent Great Britain at the European Chess Championships - reaching 13th in Europe.

More locally, the University organised its 2nd ECF & FIDE rated Rapidplay Tournament, open to players of all strengths. This year saw the use of digital boards for the first time, and a record 75 participants! As usual, the Rapidplay charges only £5, and gives away 100% of entry fees, as prize money!

Apart from our five local District teams, the Society set up its first 5-a-side Football team, coming 4th in the University league - beating big societies, such as Engineering Society. Our socials range from club meals, pub crawls, to laser quest, giving our members plenty of choice.

Our success this year, is thoroughly down to our members', and the Executive Committee's hard work; in particular, we are hugely grateful to our sponsor, Optiver - a world leading market trading firm!

We highly recommend you join, if not, for great visits from grandmasters Anish Giri, and Keith Arkell! We meet every Thursday, usually in the Oculus Building (and have competitive games, every Tuesday).