History

Although the Weymouth Chess Club came into existence in its own right in 1973 its ancestral roots stretch back much further. The Weymouth Chess Club Championship board dates back to 1936. For over a decade in those early years its star player was undoubtedly Mr A.F. Thomas who dominated the club championship winning it most years.

In 1962 Weymouth Chess Club merged with Dorchester Chess Club and it became known as the Weymouth and Dorchester Chess Club based in Weymouth. This two-town team had great success in the Dorset League Division One Championship winning it twice, firstly in 1967, then in 1972. In 1973, as more members probably lived in Weymouth, the Weymouth and Dorchester Chess Club changed its name back to the Weymouth Chess Club.

John Kelly has also been a long-standing member of the club and has contributed a lot to Dorset chess by running the County team for many years until recently.

Past and present members Mr A.F. Thomas, Joe Anderson, Frank Kingdon and Chris Johns have served as County Presidents for a combined period of 45 years covering many of the years from 1951 through to the 2008

Joe Anderson (Weymouth) was President for the period from 1970 to 1980 and he was followed by the the DCCA’s longest serving President and a great servant to Dorset Chess, Frank Kingdon (Weymouth), from 1980 to 1995. Frank had many significant roles in Dorset Chess starting out as the DCCA League Secretary in 1962. He then organised the annual Weymouth (Dorset) Congress from 1964 when it first started, and then the County Correspondence team from 1969. He ran each for approximately 40 years and finally retired from all chess administration in 2009.

In the picture above, Frank Kingdon is seen being presented with a commemorative plaque for 47 years outstanding service to Dorset Chess from Malcolm Steevens (WECU President elect and current DCCA League Secretary) at a WECU meeting in 2010.

In the mid-1980s Weymouth boasted a very vibrant chess club with approximately 30 members and throughout its history it has regularly played at a few of the town’s famous hotels including the Fairhaven Hotel and Rembrandt Hotel, both popular venues where many Dorset Open chess events have also been held there in the past.

Since the 1980s the club has seen a steady decline in membership but despite this it has always had strength in depth with many players around the 180 to 190 grading range including Allan Pleasants, Joe Anderson, Frank Kingdom, Jonathon Tyrer, Kevin Goater, Ronnie Burton, Andrej Furjel, and Chris Johns. As a consequence of this, the Weymouth Chess Club has won the Dorset League Division One Championship 14 times, first winning it in 1974 and most recently in 2022. It was the team to beat in the 1980s winning the title 5 times between 1982 and 1989.

Pictured below is Ex-DCCA president Chris Johns receiving the 2018 1st Division Championship board from President, Ian Clark at the DCCS AGM.

Pictured below is captain Allan Pleasants receiving the 2017 1st Division Championship chess board from President, Ian Clark at the DCCA AGM.

In recent years the club championship has, in the main, been won by strong long-standing Weymouth players, Chris Johns and Frank Pittman. In 2019, the Weymouth Chess Club moved to the Colliton Club in Dorchester where it shares the venue with the Dorchester Chess Club, but both clubs are keen to point out they have not merged!