News at 3...cs
3Cs were very prominent in the December 2023 issue of the English Chess Federation's monthly newsletter "Chess Moves".
A five-page article (pages 39-43), including several photographs, tells the story of 3Cs' formation and history while also detailing how the club has maintained an ongoing conveyor belt of young talent for many years.
Pages 47-48 report on Steve Rigby's recent "Points of Light" National Honour while pages 4-5 feature the recent British Blitz Championship where 3Cs' International Master Andy Horton became the 2023 English Blitz Champion.
The December 2023 newsletter can be seen by clicking on the following link...
3 December 2023
Having moved to Welshpool near the England-Wales border since his retirement, 3Cs' founder Steve Rigby has now created enough interest in that area to start another chess club, to which 10 people arrived for its first week. Steve is also hoping to attract more members by having been in touch with the "University Third Age" (U3A) who assist in helping retired people to stay active by learning a new skill or taking part in a new hobby. 3Cs are themselves helping the new club by having provided chess sets, boards, etc.
2024 ended in record-breaking fashion for 3Cs ... December 31 saw 153 hits on its website - the most ever in one day
July 2023
9 year old James Kaliski, one of the current group of up-and-coming 3Cs' young players. displayed his skills on the open-air chess set in Manchester city centre, receiving plenty of praiseworthy comments from people who stopped to watch as he took on adult opponents.
Yes, James won and was even rewarded with free ice cream courtesy of a vendor who was delighted that James has attracted a large crowd near to her van on such a hot afternoon.
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7 May 2023
Congratulations to 3Cs' Rebecca Correa (pictured right) who has passed the exam to become a Level 1 chess arbiter.
Rebecca is our second female member to achieve the honour, following Crystal Ashton's success last August.
8 January 2023
The website of another chess club has claimed it to be probably the most diverse in the country by having members from 6 different countries.
3Cs won't claim such a record without being certain but our current membership includes people from Albania, Bangladesh, Belarus, Brazil, China, France, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Ukraine, plus all the four nations of the British Isles.
3 September 2021
It's always good to see past players return to the fold at 3Cs and we've recently had two prodigal sons reappear at the club, namely Jonathan Miller and Andy Lewis.
As with many people looking for something to keep themselves occupied during the recent pandemic, Jon rekindled his interest in chess by playing for the 3Cs' online team and recently made his first visit back to 3Cs' headquarters for over thirty years (albeit in a different location to when he last attended).
Andy was a product of the 3Cs' junior coaching set-up, achieving International honours for England in 1991 and then continued to play for the club for many years. His son Aaron has now taken an interest in chess and therefore he and Andy recently attended the club for the simultaneous display by Grandmaster Stephen Gordon.
The left-hand photo shows Jonathan (right) finding out if his chess skills have been retained over the years in a game against Mikhail Ali, while Andy (middle) keeps a watchful eye on Aaron and wonders how long it will be until son eventually beats father.
Andy's return also provided an opportunity for a "Back to the past" encounter versus Adam Ashton (right photo).
Both Andy and Adam came through the 3Cs' junior system and had previously been teammates and opponents to each other on many occasions even in their pre-teen years.
Click on any photogrpah to see enlarged images.
26 May 2022
The 3Cs' production line of chess talent appears set to continue in the future, with the latest young player to show their skill being 3 year old Eliane Correa, seen here playing with her dad, Everson.
Eliane already knows how to set up a board and the names of the pieces, while her brother and sister, Edward and Rebecca, are also established players with the club and regularly play on the 3Cs' Junior 4NCL team.
25 April 2021
Below are photographs of our updated match room which includes new carpet, extra shelving as well as a new projector screen and several more books donated by author Aiden Woodger. Click on any photo for a larger image.
20 November 2020 A 3Cs' WORLD RECORD ???
A story in "Chessbase" magazine has highlghted a game in Iceland in which a 10 year old girl played against an opponent aged 102. However, it is unclear if this was a competitive match. Other such "friendly" matches have also taken place where many years seperate the two players although a 3Cs' match in 2004 has undeniable proof of such an age gap in a competitive encounter.
On Thursday 11 November 2004 3Cs played Heywood in the Bury & Rochdale League with one of the individual games featuring Mitchell Burke (aged 11 years, 346 days) against Antonin Weleminsky (aged 96 years, 158 days) - being a difference of 85 years, 177 days !
Antonin of Heywood won that game although just 14 days later the same two teams met in the league's cup competition, with Mitchell again facing Antonin and gaining revenge with a win for 3Cs.
We await to see if anyone can provide evidence to surpass 3Cs' place in the history books.
19 December 2019
3Cs held their pre-Christmas evening at which they also played their "local derby" Manchester League matches involving 3Cs 1 v 3Cs 2 in "A" Division as well as the 3Cs' 6th and 7th teams facing each other in the rapidplay league ("F" Division).
With pizzas, chessecakes, apples pies and a variety of other fayre on offer, the photos seem to indicate that not everybody's mind was actually on the chess.
Click onto any of the photos (below) for a larger image.
27 June 2019
The ECF have announced the winners of their annual awards including the "Website-of-the-Year" which has deservedly been won by the Battersea chess club ... www.batterseachessclub.org.uk
The Battersea club actually held a simultaneous exhibition earlier in the season featuring 3Cs' very own Grandmaster, Stephen Gordon, as can be seen via their advertisement for the event.
So, as well as a Grandmaster, it seems as though we also have our own Mona Lisa !
10 May 2021
An interesting comment on a national chess forum regarding the size and quality of clubs in England
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QUESTION:
"Suppose a wealthy individual wanted to set up a European Super Chess League and desired to include the top four clubs by size/strength, which English clubs (not teams) would be vying to apply?"
ANSWER:
"Three C's for starters, I would think. Both strong in considerable depth and absolutely genuinely the product of a single club. Harder to think otherwise without knowing precisely how tightly you want to define clubs."
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The answer was from somone with no connection to the club ... as can be seen by them referring to the club as "Three Cs" instead of "3Cs". However, it's always good to know that the club is thought of in such high regard throughout the country.
2 April 2021
Halifax-based chess author Aiden Woodger has again presented a collection of books towards the 3Cs' library following on from a similar donation he made in September 2018 after being impressed with how 3Cs allow their junior members to borrow books free of charge from their library and then just return them whenever they have found any information which may be of use to their chess development.
Aiden has written books on many various aspects concerning the game of chess and is shown presenting his donation to 3Cs' founder Steve Rigby who had travelled across to Yorkshire in order to personally thank Aiden for his support of the club.
8 June 2020 (Update)
After having also won 14 February and 8 March, "Three Cs" had a long lay-off due to the health criisis but eventually ran again on 8 June ... and won !
That made it three wins in a row and also four victories and two as runner-up in its last six races.
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7 February 2020
"Three Cs" winning yet again ..... on the horse racing track !!!
A race at Southwell today was won by a horse named "Three Cs"
Out of the 10 runners "Three Cs" was only 7th favourite yet ran home to win by 3.5 lengths at odds of 12/1.
Pictured is the race result - showing that Three Cs' jockey wore chequered colours - the only one in the race to have done so !
3 December 2019
Edward Jackson made his England debut in Estonia playing in the European Rapid and Blitz Youth Championships, competing at under-14s' level and scoring 4.5/9 in both events, while he also played for England "A" in the team competition and was his side's top scorer with 5/7. His performances also gained Edward a total of 184 FIDE rapidplay rating points.
Edward (in the cap) is shown at the Championships with some of his England colleagues. (Click on any of the photos for a larger image).
19 September 2019
Andy Horton has now had his name added to the 3Cs Roll of Honour board at the club in recognition of his recent achievement in gaining the title of International Master.
The board shows one other International Master - Stephen Gordon, who went on to achieve the ultimate title of Grandmaster - while also inscribed are the names of six FIDE Masters, one Candidate Master and 36 England Internationals.
19 July 2018
The club had a pleasant surprise at their recent club night with the visit of former player Karen Bradley who gained International honours in 2000 and also won the British Girls' under-15 and under-16 Championships both in the same year of 2002. Karen visited in order to donate some of her chess books to the 3Cs' library and is photographed above next to the 3Cs' British Championship Roll of Honour at the club on which she is named.
6 April 2018 UPDATE TO PREVIOUS ARTICLE (See 23 Nov 17 below)
3Cs received a surprise visitor at last night's weekly club night. Maurice Richards from Cornwall, who had donated over 50 chess books to 3Cs after reading an article about the club in "Chess" magazine, was in Oldham visiting his in-laws over the Easter holidays and came to the club with father-in-law Frank Bolger.
The club were delighted to have the opportunity to thank Maurice in person for his generous donation while he was also very much impressed with the organisation of the club and especially the enthusiasm for chess both from those behind-the-scenes and especially from our young players themselves. Maurice and Frank will always be welcomed to the club whenever he visits Oldham anytime in the future.
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23 November 2017
After reading an article concerning 3Cs in the October 2017 edition of "Chess" magazine which mentioned that the club had its own chess library and that its' junior members were able to borrow books free of charge to assist with their chess development, Mr. Maurice Richards of Cornwall wrote to 3Cs offering to donate many of his own books to the library in order to further help the club's young players.
Mr.Richards has a connection with Oldham in that his in-laws live in Springhead and on a visit by them to Cornwall they collected well in excess of 50 books which they then delivered to our headquarters. The books include many classic chess publications which will be extremely useful to our young players.
Pictured in the centre of the back row is Frank Bolger (Maurice Richards' father-in-law) along with 3Cs' officials Phil Adams and Dave Monaghan as well as some of the club's young players.
3Cs wish to thank both Mr.Richards for his kind donation as well as his in-laws, Carol and Frank Bolger for their part in making the delivery.
8 January 2018
Click onto the link below to see an article in tonight's Manchester Evening News which features 3Cs and especially Yaoyao Zhu (known to all at the club as Crystal Ashton) along with her daughters who are also among our up-and-coming young players.
3Cs wish to thank Beth Abbit of the Manchester
Evening News for her work in publishing this story.
23 November 2017
A new addition to the trophy room at 3Cs is a specially commissioned honours board featuring a list of all the club's British Champions at various levels as well as club members who have been President of the Manchester Chess Federation. Pictured are 3Cs' founder Steve Rigby (right) along with the club's chief coach Phil Adams, himself on the board as a former MCF President.
The board, which matches an exisiting one already on display at 3Cs showing the club's International players, was once again produced by "CSG Sign Makers" of Welshpool, who have actually donated it free of charge to the club in recognition of 3Cs' achievements in promoting junior chess and producing regular quality youth players.
3Cs are very grateful to "CSG Sign Makers" for their kind donation.
Welcome to 3Cs Chess Club ...
Founded 1978
As seen on BBC1's "The One Show"
3Cs Chess Club
St.Edward's RC Parish Hall
Spring Lane, Lees, Oldham, OL4 5AJ
Thursdays 7pm - 9pm
Click these links for 3Cs contact details ....
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The next 3Cs club night is this Thursday, 17 July 2025 (7pm)
MAYORAL VISIT TO 3Cs - Thursday 26 June 2025
3Cs were not only very honoured to welcome the Mayor and Mayoress of Oldham to one of their weekly club nights but also delighted that chess - and especially the success of the game in Oldham - was recognised by such a visit.
In an address the Mayor gave to over 60 members in attendance on the night, he said that 3Cs was one of Oldham's hidden gems and its continued success over many years should be something the whole town needs to be aware of.
The Mayor continued by praising all those who voluntarily give up their time to organise the club, especially Steve Rigby who founded 3Cs in 1978 and was awarded the British Empire Medal in the 2025 King's New Year's Honours list.
As a remembrance of their visit to 3Cs, the Mayor and Mayoress were presented with a salt and pepper set in the style of King and Queen chess pieces.
The photographs show the Mayor and Mayoress with Steve Rigby; the Mayor addressing 3Cs club members; the Mayor with the chess National Cup which is currently held by 3Cs; the Mayor and Mayoress with a souvenir of their visit.
Click these links for various media reports of the Mayor's visit to3Cs ...
2025 King's New Year's Honours - Stephen Rigby - British Empire Medal
Steve Rigby has now been presented with the British Empire Medal which he was awarded in the 2025 King's New Years Honours.
Although still regularly attending 3Cs, Steve now lives in Powys, Wales and the presentation was made by the Lord Lieutenant of Powys, Mrs.Tia Catherine Jones in her role as the King's representative.
Click this link for more details of Steve's award ...
Last update 11.00am Sun 13 July 2025
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Welcome to 3Cs' website
Click on the relevant heading at the top of this website to view the main page of your required section. Alternatively just place your cursor over the heading to reveal a drop-down box giving further options and then click on the one you want.
3Cs, or to use its official name "The Children's Chess Club of Oldham", is dedicated to providing the opportunity for local youngsters to learn and play the game of chess.
The club is recognised as one of the most successful production lines of young talent throughout the country, with both the club itself and many of its individual members having gained major honours at local, regional, national and international level.
3Cs' Forthcoming Matches
South-East Lancashire Summer League
Thursday 17 July (7.30pm)
B Division
3Cs 1 v Eccles 1
BREAKING NEWS :
3Cs 1 went down 4.5 - 1.5 in their A Division match away to the reigning South-East Lancashire Summer League champions Chorlton 1 with a win from Edward Jackson and a Tim Hilton draw providing the 3Cs game points.
Our first team in the u-1300 Development League gained an excellent 3-1 away success against previously unbeaten Eccles 1. Kamila Shanazarova, Sofia Daysh and Jayden Cheung all won their individial games for 3Cs.
Mixed fortunes for our teams in their latest South-East Lancashire Summer League matches. Our third team defeated Blue Club 4 at home 3-1 in E Division while our Development second team went down 1-3 to Swinton & Worsley. It was a good night for the Kocak brothers with Beyazid winning his game for 3Cs 3 and Yavuz doing the same for our development side. The other points for our third team came via wins from Noah Hicks and Karl Moorcroft.
Selected details from Phil Adams's latest 3Cs' Newsletter (17 June) can be seen on our main "Coaching" page. The full content of the newsletter (available only to 3Cs' members) includes several training puzzles as well as up-to-date news of events both local and afar. If any current or former 3Cs' members do not receive the Newsletter but would wish to do so, please e-mail Phil at "phil1948a@hotmail.com"
3Cs 1 gained an emphatic 5-1 home success against Atherton 1 in A Division of the Summer League Atherton defaulted one board while the other points for 3Cs came via wins for Rob McLean, Hunain Malik and Tim Hilton while Andy Lewis and Kyle Pelling drew.
The 3Cs' Development second team won 4-0 away to Eccles Development 2 in the Summer League with the individual wins coming from Jayden Cheung, Yavuz Kocak, Tom Kearns and Kingston Au.
Mohammed Rohman finished as runner-up in the Minor section (u-1600) of the Ilkley Congress with a score of 4 / 5 and with his only efeat being to the eventual undefeated winner of the event. Mother and daughter Crystal and Alannah Ashton competed in the Open section, both scoring 2.5 / 5.
Our second team began their quest for the Summer League B Division title with an excellent 5-1 home win against Stockport 1. Tim Hilton, Ben Newton, James Marshall, Ved Boganadham and Nana Frimpong all won their individual games for 3Cs.
The opening match of the South-East Lancashire Summer League saw our two u-1300 Development teams face each other with the first team gaining a 4-0 win.. The individual winners were Kamila Shanazarova, Aaron Lewis, Sofia Daysh and Yavuz Kocak.
Photograph courtesy of Brendan O'Gorman
Click arrow to listen
2024 ECF "Club of the Year"
2024 saw 3Cs win the English Chess Federation's "Club of the Year" award for the third time - having also received the honour in 2006 and 2014 - while no other club throughout the country has won it more than once since it was first presented in 1984.
Click this link for details of all the 3Cs awards ...
26 June 2025
As always it's good when a 3Cs player from the past makes a visit to the club, as it was when Tom Clements - a former England junior international as shown on the 3Cs Board of Honour - arrived and donated several of his chess books to the club as he is no longer living in the area.
Tom (right) is pictured with 3Cs' founder Steve Rigby.
ENGLISH CHESS FEDERATION MEMBERSHIPS
A relevant level of membership of the national governing body for chess in this country (ECF) is often required before being able to compete in events both locally and nationally, with such memberships covering a 12 month period.
Click this link for more details and also for when current memberships of 3Cs players expire ...
29 June 2025
"Playing as a team" seems to have been given a new meaning by some of the 3Cs players at the recent Crewe congress.
The five players pictured (l to r - Claire Kerton, Noah Hicks, Mohammed Rohman, Ved Boganadham and Sean Hicks) are actually shown analysing their moves during a break in play.
NATIONAL AWARD FOR 3Cs' FOUNDER
In 2023 3Cs' founder Steve Rigby was personally honoured by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who recommended him to receive a "Points of Light" award which is a National Honour bestowed upon individual volunteers whose efforts have made a difference to their community.
The Prime Minister's personal award is in recognition of the 45 years Steve has spent encouraging youngsters to play chess since forming the 3Cs chess club in 1978 and with Steve becoming the first person to receive the award for services to chess.
For more information, click on this link ...
3Cs Chess Club featured on the BBC1 primetime television programme "The One Show" on Friday 13 October 2023.
Photographs of the BBC filming at 3Cs HQ can be seen by clicking on this link ...
The BBC have kindly given permission for 3Cs to reproduce the broadcast on this website - the section involving 3Cs is therefore available for viewing by clicking the box below.
3Cs were very prominent in the December 2023 issue of the English Chess Federation's monthly newsletter "Chess Moves", including articles about the formation and history of the club; Steve Rigby's "Points of Light" award and our International Master Andy Horton becoming the British blitz champion.
Click this link for further information ...
3Cs won the 2023 British Chess Educational Trust award for their outstanding achievement and encouragement of chess at junior level and is the most prestigious national honour specifically for the promotion of junior chess.
The club received an engraved chess board, boxed pieces and clock (shown below) while more details of the award can be seen by clicking this link ...
6 chess puzzles - updated every day - plus 3 "Play the Computer" options are available via the drop-down box of our main "Puzzles" page.
Photographs of all the chess world champions, both male and female, adorn the walls of our main coaching room at the 3Cs' headquarters. Therefore, while youngsters at 3Cs are coached how to play chess, the photographs assist in also teaching the history of the game..
The room also houses the club library as well as a projection screen, trophy cabinet and the 3Cs' Honours Boards.
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Images from 3Cs' club nights showing some of our junior members (above) and those with more experience (below).
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3Cs' very own Grandmaster STEPHEN GORDON who joined the club while still at primary school and has since progressed to become one of the World's elite group of players.
The photographs above show Stephen in action (left) during the 2019 British Championships and also in conversation with Victor Korchnoi, one of the greatest players of all time.
Despite his talent often being sought by various teams both home and abroad, including regular appearances in the lucrative German national chess Bundersliga, Stephen continues to play for 3Cs.
He has twice won the English Championship, in 2007 and 2012, as well as the 2019 British Rapidplay title while in 2005 he triumphed over more than 1,500 other competitors to win the UK Chess Challenge title.
Away from the board Stephen has also excelled with his ability in promoting the game of chess and for several years hosted "The Full English Breakfast", a chess podcast often highlighting the lighter side of the game. He is also regularly in demand to provide expert analysis of games played at the very top level.
3Cs' founder Steve Rigby alongside one of the club's coaches, Crystal Ashton.
Although now living near the Welsh border, Steve regularly attends the club and is still actively involved in much of the behind the scenes organisation for 3Cs.
As well as her coaching duties, Crystal also organises the 3Cs' Junior 4NCL team and has also recently passed an arbiters' exam.
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Just a typical night at a local chess club ???
However, the photograph (left) is from a 3Cs' weekly club night and the "typical kind of members" include Grandmaster Stephen Gordon (seated) as well as International Master Andy Horton (second left) and Women's International Master and six times French women's champion Sophie Milliet (third left).
Also in the picture are Helal Ahmed (extreme left); Michael Tebelev (third right) and head coach Phil Adams (extreme right).
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Much of the 3Cs' success for several years is due to many of its juniors continuing to play with the club in their later years ... with this photo providing such an example.
From left to right, Dale James, Andy Lewis and Adam Ashton, all began playing chess for 3Cs while at junior school and are all still involved with the club.
Founded in 1978 to promote and develop chess in Oldham Primary Schools and the surrounding districts, 3Cs has grown since then into one of the largest and strongest junior chess club in the country. Any child is given a welcome, although most are recruited from the Oldham Primary Schools and join by invitation, while they are then encouraged to continue attending once they reach secondary-school age.
The club also has adult members of course who usually fall into one of three categories: ex-juniors who have since grown up; parents of juniors; player-coaches. However, any adults are also made welcome on condition that they actively support the aims and ethos of the club, whose main focus is the development and welfare of the children.
The overall achievements of the club have resulted in it receiving the English Chess Federation's "Club of the Year" award on three occasions - and being the only club throughout the country to gain the honour more than once - whilst in 2017 the club gained a place among the very best by qualifying to play in the European Club Cup, a feat they repeated twelve months later.
However, despite these successes locally, nationally and Internationally, both as a club and for many of its members individually, 3Cs' greatest satisfaction - and forever the main focus of the club - is still seeing local youngsters coming through the door on their weekly club nights (Thursdays 7pm - 9pm) to just enjoy learning and playing the game.