These are the archives and sources for the history of the club. We would like to capture more of the history of the club. Any material relating to the club – photographs or other memorabilia – would be gratefully received.
Historic club venues
The club has played at a wide range of venues during our long history. We have moved on for reasons including a desire to be in central Kingston, the cost of rent, an unwilling janitor, not drinking enough alcohol, drinking alcohol (when we were not members of the host working club), inflexible landlords, two world wars, etc.
Newsletter archive
A collection of newsletters from the 1970s through to the noughties.
Newspaper archive
A set of newspaper clippings from the 1870s to the 1970s
Chess sources
The Surrey County Chess Association maintains records of team results and the names of officers going back to the 1880s.
The Southern Counties Chess Union comprises Surrey, Middlesex, Essex, Kent and other counties which jointly engage in organising county matches and tournaments. Historically, the counties were very important in running chess (see an overview by Anthony Fulton), but their significance has declined with the advent of the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) and online chess. There are many references to Surrey and some to Kingston in the SCCU bulletins.
Bill Waterton was chairman of both Kingston Chess Club and the Surrey County Chess Association. He organised the centenary event for the club in 1975 and also instigated the Surrey Chess Congress in the same year. He penned a short history of the club.
Several clubs in the Surrey and Thames Valley Leagues have a history section on their website. Many of these club histories only relate to the “modern” manifestation of the club after 1950 based upon extant records and the memories of longtime club members.
Hutchings Trophy
A club trophy with engraved names 1946-69.
Chess Club Championship Cup
A silver cup with panels inscribing the winners of the club championship from 1931.
See also a historical account of the SCCU trophies.
Kingston Chess Club website and social media
The club has had a website since 2009. Details about its creation may be found here. The club started its Facebook account in September 2010 and its Twitter account in November 2015. The Facebook account was closed in July 2022 having served its original purpose.