Where we play

Chess in Central London

You don’t have to live in the Streatham or Brixton areas to play for us – many of our members live north of the river or outside London. Playing in central London is convenient and offers high-quality competitive chess. In fact, we play more league chess in central London than at local venues.

In the London Chess League, we have teams in several divisions (the main ones are 8-boards). Matches generally start at 6.45pm and all finish in one evening. The league has two principal venues: St Margaret’s Hall near Bethnal Green tube (our designated ‘home’ venue), and the Mind Sports Centre at Hammersmith (Ravenscourt Park tube). A few clubs also use their own venues. All venues are in Zones 1 or 2. We also play in the Central London Chess League which has smaller teams of 4 or 5 boards. It plays all matches, starting at 6.30pm, at one venue: Churchill Gardens Tenants Association Hall, near Pimlico tube. At the height of the season we have one match a week (sometimes more!) in one or other of these two London leagues.

Competitive Chess in South London

If you live in or around Streatham, there are also opportunities to play chess more locally. Our main participation is in the Croydon and District Chess League (4 board matches) where we have teams in several divisions covering all strengths of play. All usually start at 7.40 and all finish in one evening. Our home matches are currently played at the Café at St. Thomas Church, corner of Telford Avenue and Salford Road. Map here. It is a short 10-minute walk from Streatham Hill Station, and slightly more from Balham tube. It is on several bus routes north and south along Streatham High Road/Hill (including from Brixton tube a 15-minute ride). There is free on-street parking adjacent. Away matches are at various clubs to which our regulars are usually able to offer lifts. We are also affiliated to the Surrey County Chess Association which offers a route into county-wide competitions and inter-county match chess.

The club usually holds a small number of internal competitions over the course of the year. They may be in rapid or blitz formats open to members and friends of the club.

Online Chess

If you also like to play from the comfort of your own screen we currently offer places in our teams in the online 4NCL. Time will tell whether this format will remain viable as face-to-face chess is re-established after the enforced Lockdown break in 2021.

Social Chess at Streatham Library

You can play casual chess at Streatham Library every Tuesday throughout the year. Streatham Library is here at 63 Streatham High Road, SW16 1PN. We meet in the Mark Bennett Community Centre from 4.30 to 7.30 pm and players of all ages and abilities are welcome. We ask that children under 10 are accompanied by an adult. There is nothing to pay and you don’t have to be a member of Streatham & Brixton Chess Club to participate.

Strong players often drop by for a few games of blitz chess and several of our Tuesday afternoon regulars also play for our league teams. Members of the informal library chess group also have the opportunity to take part in more organized events, such as club rapidplays.

For more information about Chess at Streatham Library visit the library group’s website.