Sixty years in north London

How we started

The Highbury Chess Society was founded in October 1962 by a small group of postal workers and printers who’d been playing in the back room of the Highbury Vale tavern on Blackstock Road. They wanted a regular night, a clock, and someone to take the entry fees. Sixty-three years later we’re still doing roughly the same thing on a Wednesday — the room’s bigger, the clocks are digital, and the membership is wider, but the rest holds.

Where we play

We meet every Wednesday from 7:00pm at the Highbury Roundhouse community centre on Ronalds Road. Casual play, friendlies, and internal ladder games run all evening. The first Wednesday of each month is the club rapid; the third is a longer time-control evening for the London League teams. There’s tea, biscuits, and a small kitchen if you want something more substantial.

What makes us a bit unusual

Three things, really.

Our junior section is one of the strongest in London. Saturday mornings, 10:00am to 12:30pm, run by Tom Westbrook (FIDE Master) with rotating coaches. Twenty-five regulars, ages 7 to 16. We don’t charge juniors for membership — never have.

We field three teams in the London League, which is unusual for a club our size. The 1st team plays in Division 2, the 2nd in Division 4, the 3rd in Division 5. We always have room for one more match captain, especially in the 3rd team where the average age is currently 19.

The annual Highbury Rapid Open runs in late September. It started in 1987 as a one-day event with twelve players; the 2025 edition had ninety-six and a small Norwegian contingent. The prize fund’s bigger than the entry fees and we’re proud of that.

Joining

Just turn up on a Wednesday. No appointment, no application. The first three nights are free; after that, membership is £45 a year for adults, £20 for students and over-65s, free for under-18s. A board, a set, and a clock will be waiting. Bring your own if you have something nice; we keep the wooden tournament sets locked up for matches.