HISTORY
Charlton Chess Club was founded in 1933 and met at Charlton House for most of its history. In 2018 we moved to Mycenae House. Former club chairman Peter Hannan was a member for over fifty years and our youngest member is aged seven.
At various times Charlton has boasted one of the strongest teams in the country and several grandmasters have played for us; notably David Bronstein, Murray Chandler, Nigel Davies, Neil McDonald and Danny Gormally. The last was a member for several years and we claim modest credit for his improvement following the thousands of blitz games he played at the club.
Our record includes winning Division 1 of the London League three times (1978, 1979 and 1996), and many successes in the different divisions of the Kent League (lastly winning the County, Stevenson and Tom Fuller Cups in 2023).
KENT COUNTY CUP WINNERS 1995
Spot the Grandmasters!
From the left: Gary Clark, David Bronstein, Tony Stebbings, Alan Hanreck, John Wager, Danny Gormally
CHARLTON CHESS CLUB 1979
From the archives.
Five of those in the photograph are still club members, thirty years later!
CHARLTON CONGRESS 1978
The Charlton Congress was held one weekend every summer until 1989, with several hundred entries each year.
Here are Charlton Congress organisers in 1978, including two current members, holding the Kent County Cup and London League Division 1 trophies.
LEE CHESS CLUB 1909
Lee Chess Club with the Kent County Cup and Lewis Cup, about 1909.
Its best player O.C.Müller (standing fourth from left) played in several master tournaments between 1890 and 1925.
(Thanks to Mike Wiltshire for this and the photograph below)
LEE CHESS CLUB 1899
Lee Chess Club no longer exists, but was the top team in the area a century ago.
Here they are shown with the Kent County Cup, probably in 1899.
Club President H.G.Sturton is seated second from right.