Rossendale Chess Club

Rossendale Chess Club Bacup Community Centre
Burnley Road
Bacup
OL13 8AB

Thursday evenings
Juniors 6:30 - 7:30
Main club 7.30 - 9.30

Come along and join us for a game of chess at the ABD Centre, Burnley Road, Bacup, Lancashire, from 7:30pm to 9:30pm every Tuesday. Whether beginner or seasoned player, you will be welcome. For those who enjoy the challenge of team play, we play in the East Lancs League, so you'll be sure to get a friendly but challenging game, whatever your grade!

The return of an old friend! Peter Mulleady came to visit this week. He’s a new face to many of our members, but to the ...
28/08/2026

The return of an old friend! Peter Mulleady came to visit this week. He’s a new face to many of our members, but to the old lags, sorry Terry and Paul, he’s remembered as an ex-Rossendale captain and one of the strongest players ever to represent the club.
On this occasion however, he returned as a foe, to take on the whole lot of us all at once. Did we take him down? Did we heck! We managed to find chinks in the armour of Andrew Clarkson and Martyn Hamer in previous seasons but on this occasion Peter came through unscathed. Won all his matches and with a smile too. Thank you Peter. We look forward to seeing you again in Bacup.
The new season will shortly be starting, the fixture list already in preparation. Time to make sure everyone has renewed their membership with the English Chess Federation. The club is fined for playing unregistered players. If you are new to club chess just check with Peter, Keith or Alex and we will explain how the club links into chess regionally and nationally.
Meanwhile the Club Individual Championship for 2026-27 is ready to kick off. Enrolment for the preliminary rounds will begin next Thursday. Make sure you scan the notice board to sign up. Can anyone stop the Alex this year. Charlie, Isaac, Rafael, Ollie, Isabel, Ben; is this your chance?
Knights are always evil!

Rossendale Chess Club played host to representatives from all the East Lancashire chess clubs last night at the ABD Cent...
21/08/2026

Rossendale Chess Club played host to representatives from all the East Lancashire chess clubs last night at the ABD Centre. We are very proud of our splendid accommodation ( three cheers for Peter Dunn ) and are eagerly looking forward to the 2026-27 season when we can entertain visiting teams.
Rossendale Chess Club has been providing chess players in the valley opportunities to play social and match chess for over 80 years and in.that time produced some of the finest players in Lancashire. However COVID almost destroyed the club, membership literally down to a handful and nowhere to meet for a couple of years.
It was a great privilege to report to the ELCA meeting that Rossendale is back, not just to compete for trophies, but with an innate enthusiasm to meet new challenges and strengthen our teams through the development of our junior section.
The new Rossendale Chess Club is a partnership which may in some ways makes it rather unique. The regular players and committee members make their contribution, the juniors though they don’t know it yet are an essential component, the parents who support the club in so many ways add another dimension to our activities, and the sponsors and donors who have recognised the value of a successful and active chess club in the valley make Rossendale Chess Club a very exciting project indeed.
Rossendale Chess Club may not yet be the strongest club in the East Lancashire Chess League but with the participation of all its partners is poised to become one of the most influential clubs in the county. The future’s not scary, in fact it’s quite inspiring to be a member of an organisation so committed to meeting new challenges and planning for a new generation of talent to take over our club.
Great players and characters have represented this club. They will be remembered. Howarth, Barnes, Markey, Bridges, Mulleady and Lund just to name a few, with apologies to those many more who I have not mentioned, but soon the names Webb, Wong, Pinto and Doyle will have come to the fore. Our great players are now just juniors. What a wonderful future to look forward to!

16/08/2026

Summer is not quite over but Rossendale Chess Club is preparing for the 2026-27 season already.
This Thursday the club will host the East Lancashire Chess Association AGM and Presentation Evening at the ABD Centre. Thanks to the support of its sponsors and benefactors Rossendale Chess Club is fortunate to enjoy some of the best playing conditions of any club in the region.
Junior club will run as usual from 6.30 until 7.30.

On Thursday 27th August Lancashire star and former Rossendale club champion Peter Mulleady will return to take on members in a Simultaneous exhibition. This will provide a great opportunity for many of the club’s juniors to pit their skills against one of the valley’s best ever players. Watch this space for further details.

24/07/2026

Congratulations to Alex Vijatov on beating Keith Jones to become Rossendale Chess Club’s champion.

Keith, with the white pieces, opened with e4, to which Alex responded with the French defence. A tight game of two halves followed, where Keith took the initiative and gained a pawn advantage as the game transitioned from the opening to the middle game. At this stage, Alex played the more accurate game, with his knight and black-squared bishop undermining Keith’s control of the centre. Slowly but surely, the initiative swung back to Alex, not only recapturing a pawn, but setting up to capture a crucial, isolated pawn in the centre. Under time pressure, with ‘the writing on the wall’, Keith resigned.

A game worthy of the final, won by Alex, a worthy champion.

Footnote – Unfortunately, neither of us recorded this game, which is a shame as there would have been much to discuss.☹️

As ever, our thanks go to our Board Sponsors - Riley's Butchers, The Circle Bacup, Bridge Removals & Storage, Mike Bridges (Travel Counsellors), Marl Pits Garden Centre and Waterfoot Medical Centre. Please support them where you can.

21/07/2026

Rossendale Chess Club on tour? Well, not quite but a pre-season friendly against Garstang gets the competitive juices flowing again.
Will any ex-pats be victorious tonight or will Valley wilyness prevail? Stay tuned in. This tussle may Nott End uneventfully!

Just a quiet summer evening at the ABD centre this Thursday. Juniors at it again, Tetiana and Rafael seriously testing R...
16/07/2026

Just a quiet summer evening at the ABD centre this Thursday. Juniors at it again, Tetiana and Rafael seriously testing Rossendale Chess Club’s most experienced players. It’s been said before but worth stating again, here are our stars of the near future!
Meanwhile Ben Brown and Izzy Robinson played a lovely game in which this position arose. Black (Izzy) to move. Can she win or will that d6 pawn prove too dangerous. How did the game go?

Phew! Chess club during a heatwave! Thank goodness Tuesday’s meeting was a pleasantly low key affair, stressless it shou...
26/06/2026

Phew! Chess club during a heatwave! Thank goodness Tuesday’s meeting was a pleasantly low key affair, stressless it should have been.
Just relaxing over the board with friends.
Really! With kids around? Phew, phew and phew again! Peter Barlass took on Isaac Wong. Just a friendly you understand. After about 10 moves or so, development more or less complete, positions more or less even but complex, Isaac finds a magnificent move which gives him a distinct advantage. Only junior impatience prevents him from working out how to promote two unopposed Q side pawns. A lucky win for Peter but clearly the writing is on the wall. Phew! Very sweaty and not just because of the weather.
The kids really are coming on. And fast!

19/06/2026

It cannot be right to compress a complicated game involving a myriad of decisions and choices into 10 minutes! The match should unfold slowly, each player pondering on the forthcoming tactic or strategy. Chess is not a fast game.
Really! You’d have been forgiven for imagining that you’d arrived at a F1 destination this week when Rossendale players were thrust into the high speed conclusion of the 2026 10 Minute Challenge.
Local speed star Bryan Bancroft, a strong favourite for yet another title came a cropper in the semi-final against the ultra aggressive John Greenwood, whilst on the other side of the draw Andrew Spencer proved just too strong for Ben Brown. And in the final the 2026 Champion, Andrew Spencer held John Greenwood’s attacks at bay to receive the night’s glittering prize, a box of Matchmakers (which he kindly shared with appreciative spectators).
The junior challengers were at it too. Charlie Webb and newcomer Rafael Pinto fought out a desperately tight semi-final, Rafael coming out on top to play Lancashire under 9 star Isaac Wong in the final. A very high quality match played at incredible speed (aren’t juniors good at this!) saw Rafael grab his first title. Well done Rafael. He’s only been playing for three months! What will he accomplish in the future? Grandmasters, watch out!

Not a photograph of Rossendale Chess Club. This is Bury Chess Club first team at the end of a most successful season in ...
18/06/2026

Not a photograph of Rossendale Chess Club. This is Bury Chess Club first team at the end of a most successful season in 1965. Some of these players have strong Rossendale connections. Who do you know?

17/06/2026

This week the 10 Minute Challenge reaches its climax. Andrew Spencer, John Greenwood, Ben Brown and , of course, Bryan Bancroft accumulated most points in the preliminaries and will compete on Thursday to become Club 10 Minute Champion.
The Junior Challenge will also be completed, Rafael Pinto, Charlie Webb and Isaac Wong seeking to become Junior 10 Minute Champion.
For the rest of us a return to a more sedate form of chess. Phew!!!
If you haven’t visited Rossendale Chess Club before, come and meet us. We are a very friendly club and will make you very welcome.

Address

ABD Centre
Rawtenstall

Opening Hours

7:30pm - 9:30pm

Telephone

+447817068427

Website

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