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Membership – 2026 Capacity Limits

Currently (August 2026), our club has over 100 juniors and we have reached limits on space, time and the availability of volunteers to manage our junior programs. With in excess of 50 children waiting for places, it has become necessary to refuse new applicants to certain programs.

Our Junior Club and our Beginners group, both catering for primary school age children, have reached capacity and there is a significant list of children waiting for places. It may be some time before new applicants gain a place. To avoid disappointment, we are no longer taking new applicants for these groups in 2026. We suggest that parents consider the clubs and businesses listed on the Learning and Links pages of our website.

There are still places available in our Youth Club (secondary school age) and Senior Club (adults and competitive juniors).

Procedure for prospective members

We ask prospective members to:

Email the Secretary with the applicant’s details:

• Name of applicant,
• Contact phone number,
• Contact email,
• Date of birth and
• Club level that you’re interested in     (Youth, Seniors)

The Secretary will place the applicant on the appropriate waiting list and will confirm via reply email. You should include the secretary@croydonchess.com  on your emailer Contact List to avoid the reply going to your Spam folder.

When a place becomes available, the applicant will be contacted via email. The applicant will then have up to 7 days to reply.   After that time, that place may offered to someone else. The applicant may attend a trial session before committing to membership by paying the membership fee and returning a Membership application form. Again, a significant delay in confirming membership may see the place being offered to someone else.

2026 Fees & Information

For details of fees and other information please see the following documents (pdf):

Club Information for New Members 2026

2026 Membership Application form

Social or Casual Chess for adult players

Our club, like most sporting clubs, is organised around competitive play and coaching. While we welcome players who just want to play a casual game of chess, we cannot guarantee there will be an opponent available to play, so please bring a friend!

If you are just interested in playing socially then you should consider other groups that focus on that. See your local library. If you are retired then you should check out whether chess is an activity at your local U3A group. These and other groups are listed on our ‘Links‘ page.