Background
The club has existed in various forms for at least 30 years but was reincarnated in 1995 and at that time was held at the Civic Centre in Heywood. Present club president Bill O’Rourke held a congress there in June 1995 with 150 competitors, and from it enlisted local entrants to join the new Heywood Chess Club.
Present Date
The club moved to the excellent function room of the Hopwood Constitutional Sports and Social Club in Heywood in 2007 and has stayed there since. The club meets regularly on Monday evenings throughout the year. Club members have twice run the English Primary Schools Chess Association U11 national county final tournament for over 400 players from all over the UK at the Holy Family College in Heywood, and each year run at least one Lancashire Junior Congress at the school.
The season 2011-2012 was a special celebration, with our first team winning the Manchester League first division for the first time ever in the 120-year history of the league! The club is also very active within the Northern Counties Chess Union Club Championships and have won each of the four sections in the competition over the last decade.
The club has hosted simultaneous exhibition by Grandmasters Hodgson, Arkell and Davies over the years.