Crewe had been without a chess club for many years, and players in the area who wanted a regular game of chess had to travel much further to clubs such as Alsager, Chester and Holmes Chapel. So, Crewe Chess Club was resurrected at The Mals Club in June 2014 by Dave Price, Les Hall, Martin Gill, George Scattergood and Karl Lockett. Within a few months, our club membership reached around 20 players. We successfully applied for a local community grant from Cheshire East Council to help towards the set up costs and the purchase of equipment Cheshire East Council
We were also donated Two digital clocks from Les Hall’s Son LJC Accountancy Solutions
By the start of the 2019/20 season, we had expanded to running seven teams in the NSDCA, together with one team in the Wirral League and a membership of approximately 30 players. Due to the Covid lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, we were forced to shut down all activities and operate only online, but we re-emerged in August 2021 with a growing membership.
During Covid we sadly lost one of the founder members of the club, Les Hall. With the agreement of his family we purchased a special trophy in his name which is awarded to the winner of his favourite club event, The Annual (Blitz) Time & Point Handicap. This trophy was also purchased thanks to a donation from Cheshire Work Wear.
As at 24th December 2022 we had 49 members, and in June 2023, after nine years at The Mals Club, we had outgrown our upstairs room and moved to our current premises with approximately 60 members.
To help us move we applied to Crewe Council for a community grant to purchase more sets and equipment which has helped us grow significantly and continue to support the local community, and go from strength to strength.
After our first year at St Mary’s ending 31st May 2024, our membership had grown to 72; and by 31st May 2025 had increased to 79. Last season (2024/25) we ran eleven teams in the NSDCA (or Stoke) league, and for the current season (2025/26) we have entered one more team, taking us to 12. We have a variety of all-year-round internal tournaments and, with over 70 members currently (see our player list), there is always an opportunity to meet and play other members either competitively or just for fun.