The Kings Head is a great Central London club for social chess and match play opportunities.
Members and prospective members are encouraged to come to our social chess
club nights:
Tuesdays from 7pm at The Kings Head Public House, 33 Moscow Road, Bayswater W2 4AH.
Last Friday of every month: friendly blitz (or other format) tournament at
the Carpenters Arms, 12 Seymour Place, Marylebone, London W1H 7NE.
We meet at the Kings Head and Carpenters Arms with the goodwill of of the publicans, so please buy drinks and / or food at the bar.
On the first Saturday of every month (except July, Aug) there is a quiz at the Kings Head, starting 16.15. Kings Head members often form teams for this.
We have 2 teams in the Central London League, one in Division 1 and one in Division 3. Matches are on selected Thursday evenings (18.30 start, all moves in 75 minutes each + 15 seconds per move). First team matches are on 5 boards, second team matches on 4 boards. See the Fixtures menu option for future match dates (fixtures for all leagues available September).
In 2022-23, Kings Head have 2 teams in the London League, one in division 1 and one in division 3. Matches are on 8 boards. See the Fixtures menu option for details.
We have 3 teams in the Middlesex League, one in each of Divisions 1, 2 and 3. Matches are on 6 boards. See the Fixtures menu option.
We have decided not to enter the 4 Nations Chess League in 2023-4 as we currently have insufficient active strong players to make a regular team.
The English Chess Federation grades the results of games played in leagues and tournaments. To play league games for the Kings Head you need to join the ECF as an Individual Member. Full details are on the website Joining the ECF. ECF membership covers the cost of grading your results and qualifies you to play in leagues and (for silver members and above) tournaments.
In 2023-24, ECF membership rates are as follows.
| Bronze membership (league games only) | £18.00 |
| Silver membership (leagues and some tournaments) | £27.00 |
| Gold membership (leagues and all tournaments) | £39.00 |
| Platinum membership (as Gold plus extra benefits) | £75.00 |
The Kings Head falls within the sporting county of Middlesex, which runs teams in the Open, under 2050, under 1850, under 1650 and under 1450 sections.
When you join the club, your contact details will be sent (unless you specify otherwise) to the relevant captain, who will invite you to play in County matches. These are usually played on Saturday afternoons. County fixtures are on our Fixtures List. In 2023 Middlesex won the Open Championship. In 2022 and 2023 Middlesex won the U1850 County Championship (photo top right).
If you are too busy for club matches on weekday evenings but would like to play on some Saturday afternoons, you can contact the Middlesex County directly by filling in the form on the link.
Note that the 3-digit ECF grading system was superseded in 2021 by a 4-digit Elo rating system. To convert from an old ECF grade to an Elo rating, use the approximate formula