history

There has been a vibrant chess presence in Alsager since at least the Sixties, when employees at the English Electric Works in Kidsgrove set up a chess club called 'Electra' which was based at the Alsager Library.

Electra was an extremely strong team. They dominated chess in the North Staffordshire and Crewe area from the Late-Sixties through to the Mid-Eighties.

You can see here from the league results of that time how successful they were.

Cheddleton arrived on the scene in the late seventies and by the mid-eighties they had succeeded in ousting Electra from the number one slot - a position they have maintained up until the present day.

Electra closed shop in 1984, and Alsager dropped off the chess scene then, until it was re-established in 1993 with Steve Brown as chairman and John Smith as treasurer.

It was based at the Broughton Arms in Rode Heath, and played under that name in the Crewe and District Chess League between 1993 and 1997, when the Crewe League was disbanded. In that year, the Broughton Arms won the Crewe Knockout title.

The final of that competition was held at Kidsgrove Chess Club, where Alsager defeated 'The Duke of Bridgewater'.

Alsager have retained the trophy by default - since it was the very last competition played before the Crewe League was disbanded.

Veterans of the Crewe League may remember it - a large hand-made wooden chess board showing all winners going back to 1980. It is currently on display at the the Alsager Chess club-house (The Cricket Club). Winners engraved on it are as follows:

1980 - 1981 Fragrant Fianchettoes
1981 - 1982 Cavaliers
1982 - 1983 Cavaliers
1983 - 1984 Holmes Chapel A
1984 - 1985 Oddfellows Phoenix
1985 - 1986 Holmes Chapel A
1986 - 1987 Norton A
1987 - 1988 Church Lawton
1988 - 1989 Duke of Bridgewater
1989 - 1990 Holmes Chapel A
1990 - 1991 Holmes Chapel A
1991 - 1992 Holmes Chapel A
1992 - 1993 Ball Green
1993 - 1994 Radbroke Hall
1994 - 1995 Ball Green
1995 - 1996 Holmes Chapel A
1996 - 1997 Brougton Arms

In 1997, with the demise of the Crewe League, Alsager switched to the North Staffordshire League.

At the end of the 2005/2006 season, the club moved venue from the Broughton Arms to the Lodge Pub. Its name was changed from 'The Broughton Arms' to 'Alsager Chess Club', and it was based at the Lodge Pub for two seasons.

In 2007 our numbers had grown significantly, and we were able to put four teams into the NSDCA league. What we lacked in strength we made up for in numbers.

We moved to the Radway Club in 2008, when Alan Thomason took over as Chairman.

Since then, we have seen the welcome return of a number of players who had been associated with chess in Alsager since the days of the Crewe League back in the 80s and 90s.

In 2011 the club changed venue to the Alsager Cricket Club.

Alan Thomason 13-07-2011