Local Chess Clubs Website

[David Blower]

Here is the website of my local village chess club: http://www.brewood.chess.btinternet.co.uk/

Last updated 20th April 2009.

I suppose what I am asking for is what makes a good chess club website. Obviously it needs to be updated with content regulary, with news about the fixtures we play in, in various leagues and our internal club championship. What we want at the club is a website that attracts people to look at the website, to actually then turn up at the club. At the moment with the last update more than 3 years ago you would struggle to even know if the club still exists or not!

Is there any suggestions as to what should be included in a local chess clubs own website.

Also what do you consider the best chess club websites to be. If you could also provide links to them as well.

This is hoped to be done by the time the club resumes meetings in September after the summer break, to coincide with some open days the club are hosting in October.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Stewart Reuben]

Content is king for any website.
Contact details
Fixtures
results
photos notes about the members
But above all, games
At the beginning of the season why not have a simul by the club champion. Invite youngsters, particularly from local secondary and even primary schools -if your membrs want youngsters and are going to be welcoming.
You need your details in local libraries
See if a local newspaper will take a regular column (a great deal of work), or at least an occasional news item.

[Warren Kingston]

You need to be found to read all the content! Verfiy at Google and do all the SEO stuff.

Make it mobile friendly

Here have a look at our website.

http://www.lowestoftchessclub.org

[Mike Truran]

Here's ours: www.witneychess.co.uk

[MSoszynski]

Here's mine: http://www.suttonchess.org.uk/

The twin keys to success are:

1) Longevity - The site has to be maintained and promoted for years.
2) Interesting content - That is, interesting beyond the small audience of local players.

[James Toon]

Lots of content, regularly updated.
Lots of games.
Fixtures, results and tables, contact information.
Profiles of leading players, with photos.
A sense of history.

I know this is a league website and not a club website, but have a look at http://cscl.org.uk. We have all the above, and separate pages on each club, and records going back to 1905. We also have the 2011 league survey, on aspects of chess in over 100 chess leagues in Great Britain and Ireland: unique and fascinating.

What have we not got? A forum. A blog. Regular news of national and international chess (although we have got Jack Rudd's win against Nick Walker from the British). If you keep expanding the material, there may come a point when the website loses its identity and isn't about anything in particular apart from chess generally.

Conversely – what makes a bad chess website? I don't want to name names, but some websites have no real information apart from a name and a contact number. Surely one of the main purposes of chess club website is to showcase the club to the world and attract new members. Potential members want to see what they're getting before they sign up or even make contact.

[Nik Puryer]

This is the most attractive site I've come across and is regularly stocked chock full of club/local games:

http://www.rushdenchessclub.moonfruit.com/#

[Gerard Killoran]

Can I join in with

http://ilkleychess.blogspot.com/

Cheers!

[David Blower]

Thanks for your help everyone. Its not complete yet as I have yet to add members games, or photos about the members, but have a look at this, and give me any comments, suggestions etc.

http://brewoodchess.webs.com/

[David Blower]

Lots of content, regularly updated.
Lots of games.
Fixtures, results and tables, contact information.
Profiles of leading players, with photos.
A sense of history.

I know this is a league website and not a club website, but have a look at http://cscl.org.uk. We have all the above, and separate pages on each club, and records going back to 1905. We also have the 2011 league survey, on aspects of chess in over 100 chess leagues in Great Britain and Ireland: unique and fascinating.

What have we not got? A forum. A blog. Regular news of national and international chess (although we have got Jack Rudd's win against Nick Walker from the British). If you keep expanding the material, there may come a point when the website loses its identity and isn't about anything in particular apart from chess generally.

Conversely – what makes a bad chess website? I don't want to name names, but some websites have no real information apart from a name and a contact number. Surely one of the main purposes of chess club website is to showcase the club to the world and attract new members. Potential members want to see what they're getting before they sign up or even make contact.

Did you do that website yourself. If so, congratulations its very good. If not congratulations whoever did it, because its still very good.

I looked at the members profiles, and for some fun I actually answered the questions asked. I guess I would like to blantantly copy the idea for our own chess club website as sometimes the best ideas are not your own.

Here are my answers anyway:

1. What are your earliest chess memories?

My dad always had a chess set in the house, so I quickly began playing against him and my brother. Don’t really have a specific first memory though I just know I have played for ages.

2. How long have you been playing chess?

Since I was very young records show I competed in a house competition at my first school at age 7, and I am now 29, so at least 22 years!

3. How active are you in the chess world? (e.g. number of games a year)

OTB I turn up weekly for Brewood Chess Club, online I play at chess.com

4. What was your best chess experience?

In my limited ECF grading matches so far winning against Paul Walters and Colin Haughton from Wolverhampton. Not that I am meant to be picking on one club but they are the highest graded opponents I have beaten.

5. And what was your worst?

Losing in the semi finals of the Brewood Middle School chess tournament twice in a row. 1994-1995, and then 1995-1996.

6. Which historical (i.e. dead) chess player do you most admire and why?
Well my favourite game of chess is the game between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzkyon the 21st June 1851 in London, known as the Immortal Game. So I suppose on that basis Adolf Anderssen. The reason is because I like how much little material white has got, but that is the player that gets the checkmate!

7. Who is your current chess hero / heroine, if any?

Garry Kasparov although he has actually retired. I further got into chess when watching him and Nigel Short play for the world championship on channel 4 in 1993. Then Kasparov played against Deep Blue the IBM machine and won. Although he is not one of the top players in the world anymore, he is still active, so I’ll say Nigel Short. It would be great if an English player could get through to challenge for the world championship again.

8. Which part of the game do you enjoy the most?

Apart from when I checkmate my opponent or my opponent resigns the opening, simply because you know anything can happen at the start of the match, and there are so many possibilities that could happen.

9. What piece of advice would you give to a young player who was just starting out?

Learn notation because you can go through your games afterwards with someone else.

Learn basic checkmates because you want to win your won games. And make sure you know the difference between checkmate and stalemate.

Learn the special rules such as en passant, under promotion of a pawn, and castling, so that your not caught out if they happen in a proper match.

But most of all just enjoy the game.

10. You are going to be marooned on a desert island with only a chess set for company. Which chess book would you take with you?

I don’t really read chess books, but if I had a laptop, and some sort of power supply I would say chess.com is the best external website for chess I know about.

[Jon Mahony]

Here’s the new Leeds Chess Club site: http://www.leedschessclub.org.uk/

The original one did win the ECF website of the year in 2009 I believe, but did get quite cluttered, and eventually went down, when the old web master stopped paying for the hosting (sadly it still appears on Google when you search for our club but all that’s on there now is a load of Japanese writing ).

Personally I prefer the simpler design of the new site - well done to Alan Riddle the LCC treasurer for setting that up

[John McKenna]

Jon Mahony>... sadly... all that's on there now is a load of Japanese writing...<
Yes, the writing is to do with solar power - using solar panels to generate electricity - and is related to a small city called Misato, in Saitama Prefecture (equivalent to an English county). Saitama, near Tokyo, gets a lot of sunshine since it is at about the same latitude as Gibraltar. Can't see any link between Leeds and Misato cities so probably spurious.