Historically chess has been seen as a game for old men in rooms above pubs and clubs. Ultimately this caused the demise of Ashton chess club many years ago as there were no young players coming through the ranks. This perception meant that young

people had not really been attracted to play chess in the first instance or indeed encouraged to join chess clubs.

Since 2009 our Head Coach had been coaching chess at lunchtime and after school in a number of Tameside schools. The limited success of that convinced him that a specialist junior chess club was needed within the Borough so as a result the club

started in February 2010 based at Ashton Bridge Club on Carr Street.  In the September of 2010 he was appointed the Regional Organiser for Manchester for the national charity Chess in Schools and Communities which now teaches curriculum based chess in 23 local schools.

The stand-alone club which moved to its present location in 2014 as we needed more space allows children to improve their chess within a tried and tested format and outside the constraints of a busy school day. The ultimate ambition was that with the

right enthusiasm and coaching Tameside can be represented at chess both at a Regional, National and even International level on a regular basis and many of the members have gone to do exactly that.

The club has over 50 members with around 30 members attending per session and have played since 2011 in the local adult Manchester and Stockport Leagues. The children have won many team and individual prizes over the years.

Following the Covid-19 pandemic the club moved online where Zoom lessons were given to members and the club has also played in the Manchester Online and 4NCL Online Leagues. We have also played against junior clubs from Hong Kong, Indonesia, Germany, Austria, Italy, France and Poland with great success.

A typical evening involves some formal coaching together with plenty of competitive yet friendly games.

All levels of abilities are catered for.