How to Spread The Word About Your Chess Club
Do you want more people to know about your chess club?
In this blog post, you will learn why some of the biggest chess clubs are so widely regarded. We will look into the success of the St. Louis Chess Club and the Marshall Chess Club. Then, you'll learn from their success and apply insights to your local chess club.
Connect with Your Local Chess History
One way to spread the word about your chess club is to connect with your community's chess history and local chess talent. Chess players learn the most from the strongest among them.
So, digging into chess history is a great way to inspire new learners to stay engaged with the community and continue participating in events.
The History Behind the Biggest Chess Clubs
The biggest chess clubs in the US are historically well-regarded.
The Marshall Chess Club is one of the oldest clubs in United States. Frank J. Marshall founded the chess club in 1915. Bobby Fischer played one of his most famous chess games, known as "The Game of the Century," at the Marshall Chess Club in 1956 against Donald Byrne.
He also played in the Capablanca Memorial Chess Tournament via Teletype at a closed room in the club.
St. Louis Chess Club has only been around since 2007, but it has already made a splash in chess history, reaching over 2,000 members. In 2014, the US Senate passed a resolution naming St. Louis as the country's Chess Capital because of the club's impact.
In 2022, Magnus Carlsen participated at the Sinquefield Cup at the St. Louis Chess Club, only to withdraw himself after losing to 19 year old Hans Niemann. This would quickly become the most infamous chess cheating accusation in recent memory.
How You Can Get in Touch with Your Local Chess History
So Magnus Carlsen isn't withdrawing from your local chess tournaments in dramatic fashion. Still, you can use your local chess history and talent to spread the word about your chess club.
Find out if their are any titled players near you. Try to get in touch with them and see if you can collaborate on a simul, chess talk, or group lesson.
Another approach is to talk to an older chess player that has been involved in the community throughout the decades. Often, there used to be a lot of activity in a community, but it fizzled out. You can start to record the details of what was once there so future generations can appreciate chess history.
By keeping record of your community's chess history, you'll be able to establish yourself as a central place for chess development. That leads us to our next point…
Offer Chess Development Opportunities
Offer opportunities for chess development. Some amateur players might only want to play chess as a hobby. Others might want to learn how to level up their chess game to become more competitive.
Spot players who are seeking opportunities to develop their chess skills. Try to find ways to give them the opportunities for chess development. By striving to answer these calls to action, you'll support your local chess network and become more well-known.
By offering various chess development opportunities, you'll encourage chess players to view your club as a valuable resource for continued growth.
How the Biggest Chess Clubs Create Chess Development Opportunities
Here's what the biggest chess clubs are doing to creat a space for chess development.
The St. Louis Chess Club is located on a central chess campus right next to the World Chess Hall of Fame. Needless to say, the hub has a great deal to offer in terms of chess development.
The club also offers a variety of events. Each week, it offers weekly lectures and classes for beginners of different age groups. They also allow players to sign up for private one-on-one lessons under different titled players, too.
It also offers a series of Chess Summer Camps for young chess players to immerse themselves in a full-day chess experience.
The club also presents a variety of invitational events. For instance, it hosts the Cairns Cup, an invitational women's super tournament, as well as seasonal chess classics throughout the year.
The Marshall Chess Club is offers talks by well-known players and book signings events. They also have a fully functional chess club library. They also offer classes for adults and children.
The club offers discounted memberships to support underserved youth living in New York City.
How You Can Create Chess Development Opportunities
The key to creating chess development opportunities for others is to connect with your local network. Be a resource to help other chess players advance their games.
Some chess development opportunities your club might want to have include:
- Private lessons: If you're a strong player or an introductory player is interested in learning the basics of chess, offer private lessons through your club. If a more advanced player is interested in private lessons, consider learning what lessons masters in your area offer.
- Group lessons: Consider holding group lessons for kids at an introductory level. You can hold group lessons for a specific school on the weekdays, or you can hold group lessons on the weekends open to kids from any school on the weekends.
- Group analysis of tournament games: Analyze your chess matches from tournaments together. By learning from each other's games, you'll build community and grow together.
- Chess book sales and book swaps: Collect old used chess books whenever you can find them. Offer them for free to interested learners. Or you can sell them for a small fee and raise money for your club.
By offering chess development opportunities, you'll encourage chess players to see your club as a resource.
Get Your Chess Club Online
A crucial step in promoting your chess club is to establish an online presence. People turn to the internet when they want to find out what's happening near then, so you want to make yourself as visible and accessible as possible.
How the Biggest Chess Clubs Get Online
Despite being over a century old, the Marshall Chess Club has evolved to offer online rated tournaments. This allows people from anywhere to participate in tournaments.
The club also lists all its events on a central calendar and has a detailed website.
The St. Louis Chess Club is another example of a chess club with a strong online presence. Notably, it's website is very detailed. You can go their to learn about the club's history, policies, and events.
It also posts news, recaps, press releases, blog posts, and other resources. This creates more opportunities for the club to appear in related Google searches for chess.
You can also easily find information on all of their upcoming events in one calendar.
How to Get Your Club Online
Perhaps you can't afford to have a state-of-the-art, fully functional chess website. That's okay. You still have a ton of free resources available to create your online presence.
For example, you could start by creating a Facebook page or any other social media. You can also create a free website or blog for your club. Add information about your club's events, tournaments, and history. Consider adding a calendar of all upcoming events.
Whatever page or profile you create, be sure to include an address where your club is based. This will help you appear when someone searches for "chess club near me."
And whenever you host rated tournaments, make sure they are listed on the USCF website.
Hold Chess Matches Off-Site
While its great to have a central place to play chess, by holding chess matches off-site, you can expand your visibility and make it easier for other players to find you.
You can also expand the number of people who can access your event. Maybe some players can't make it to your normal site. An off-site venue might have a higher capacity. Or you can have events at a more scenic location.
How the Biggest Chess Clubs go Off-Site
Even with a strong central location as a chess campus, the St. Louis Chess Club also has Chess Pocket Parks built in the outside environment throughout the city and county. This gives their club a presence throughout the city and county.
The club also hosts lessons and training for a few hours each week at these locations.
Aside from its online chess matches, the Marshall Chess Club also ventures beyond its central location by hosting chess tournaments in various locations.
How You Can Bring Your Club Off-Site
While you might not have the local infrastructure to create a network of chess locations throughout your city, you can still hold events and gatherings outside of your usual spaces.
You can invite players to a casual event of chess matches in the park. You can also group up with your loyal members and attend another chess club together.
While the biggest chess clubs have a large following, with some creativity, you can spread the word about your chess club.
FAQ: How to Spread the Word About Your Chess Club
A chess club is a place where people can play chess. Larger chess clubs can offer tournaments, lessons, lectures, and other events. Chess clubs can create a hub for people to explore opportunities to grow their chess abilities and strengthen their ratings.
A 400 is a low chess ELO, but it does not mean someone is bad at chess. Young, elementary school players might only play other 400-rated players. Still, their actual skills in the game could defeat a much higher-rated player.
Your rating going up or down is one way to suggest you improved at the game, but it's not foolproof. To improve at chess, focus on learning more about how the game works. Your score will likely improve past 400 as a result.
Some chess tutors are available for free at local community centers. As you or a loved one gets better at the game, you might want to pay for higher-rated, more expensive chess lessons. Some can be as expensive as $150 per player.