The Clergy Correspondence Chess Club was founded in 1967 by Ivor Davies, a clergyman of the Church in Wales. From small beginnings the club has grown over the years and currently has a membership of over 40.
Membership is open to clergy of all Christian churches and past winners have included Roman Catholic, Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed clergy, alongside Anglicans who have historically been the largest denomination represented. One season our top Division comprised five players all of different denominations. Geographically our membership stretches from Scotland to Cornwall and from Ireland to Suffolk. Although we have welcomed our first female member, an obvious omission to our membership is that of a Bishop!
Our annual competition, which runs from October to July, sees the membership divided into Divisions of up to seven players and at the end of the season two are promoted and relegated from each division. The winner receives a wall plaque to keep and their name inscribed on a Shield which they keep for their championship year.
The Club is affiliated to the British Federation for Correspondence Chess which allows members to take part individually in their competitions, while we sometimes enter a team in one of their Championships and play occasional friendly matches against other clubs to give our members the chance to play others outside our club.
Our internal competition requires a member to play up to 6 games simultaneously, but other opportunities can increase this significantly. Some postal chess players have tens of games on the go at once - there is probably a record to break somewhere! Whilst we expect our internal games to be completed within a ten month season, players in some international competitions find that games can last years. We also have a category of non-league members who feel that they cannot take on the commitment of our competition, but wish to remain members and perhaps play occasional friendlies against other members.
Although originally correspondence chess was played only by post, those who have embraced modern technology may now use telephone, fax, or e-mail to transmit moves, all of which are both faster and cheaper than post. Perhaps the feature of correspondence chess that most appeals to clergy with their erratic working hours is that it enables them to keep their hand in while only spending a few minutes or more each day, rather than having to find several hours at a time to play a conventional game, though perhaps it is no coincidence that some of our stronger players have tended to be those who have retired from full-time ministry!
The Club has twice organised a midweek residential congress, which has enabled some of the members to meet for the first time and enjoy a few games of chess.
The Club publishes a magazine entitled ‘CHESS minister!’ 3 times a year to keep members in touch, and anyone interested in joining should contact the Secretary via e-mail or post (see Contacts).
