Welcome to 3Cs Chess Club ...
Founded 1978
Website sponsored by ...
Miners Arts and Music Community Centre, Moston, Manchester.
Details via "Sponsors" section of drop-down box on "Welcome" page
The next 3Cs' weekly club nights takes place next Thursday 5 October (7pm)
3Cs Chess Club
St.Edward's RC Parish Hall
Spring Lane
Lees,
Oldham, OL4 5AJ
Thursdays 7pm - 9pm
2022-23 MANCHESTER CHESS FEDERATION CHAMPIONS (8TH CONSECUTIVE SEASON)
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3Cs WIN NATIONAL JUNIOR CHESS AWARD
3Cs have won the 2023 British Chess Educational Trust award for outstanding achievement and encouragement of chess at junior level and is the most prestigious national honour specifically for the promotion of junior chess
UPDATE ON THE FILMING AT 3Cs BY THE BBC
While the BBC still hope to broadcast the filming at 3Cs on BBC 1's "The One Show" sometime in September, there is still a delay due to an unfortunate occurrence not actually involving the club. The date for the broadcast will be shown on this website as soon as it has been finalised while photographs of the BBC's filming at our club and of our young players in Oldham town centre can be seen in our "BBC at 3Cs" section (via the drop down box of the main "Who We Are" page)
Updated 10.35pm Thr 28 Sep 2023
Thank you all for your support of the club
Recent updates:
Who We Are (ECF Memberships)
Who We Are (BBC At 3Cs)
News (3Cs On Tour)
News (Club Competitions)
News (SE Lancs Summer League)
Future Events (Main Page)
Manchester League (Main Page)
Fixtures (Main Page)
Fixtures (Teams)
Future Events (Main Page)
Coaching (Main Page)
Puzzle Board (Daily Puzzle 1 - 7)
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Hussain Hanayl won the September 3Cs' junior championship event, therefore retaining the trophy he won in August.
Hussain is pictured above with 3Cs' founder Steve Rigby.
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BREAKING NEWS ....
3Cs began the 2023-24 Manchester League season in fine style with a 4.5 - 1.5 win for their 3rd team away to Chorlton 3 in first round of the Wahltuch Trophy. Andy Lewis, Nathan Butterworth, Hunain Malik and Mohammed Rohman all won for 3Cs with Ben Newton gaining a draw. 3Cs 3 now play Bolton 2 in round two.
The divisional structure for the 2023-24 Manchester League season can be seen by clicking a link on the main page of our "Manchester League" section. 3Cs will be having six teams in this season's Manchester League. Four teams will be in the main competitions (Divisions A, B, C, D) with one each in the under-1451 divisions (Standard Play and Rapid Play).
A Greater Manchester Junior Rapidplay tournament will be held on Sunday 8 October at Fletcher Hall, Swinton and which will have sections for under 9s, under 11s and under 18s, the last two of which will be ECF rated. Further details can be found by clicking onto our main "Future Events" page.
Leeds Junior Chess Club have won the 2023 ECF "Club of the Year" award. 3Cs are delighted to see that the award is recognising a fellow chess club dedicated to the promotion of young chess enthusiasts.
3Cs' teams have been drawn away in the opening rounds of 5 of the 6 knockout trophy competitions in the Manchester League. 3Cs 1 are at Chorlton 1 in the Reyner Shield while the clubs' third teams also face each other, again at Chorlton, in the Wahltuch Trophy. That same tournament also sees our second team away to Altrincham, with 3Cs 4 travelling to play Urmston 1 in the Hartley Trophy. Swinton & Worsley 5 will host our fifth team in the MIlner Trophy while 3Cs 6 will be the only one of our teams with home advantage when they welcome Swinton & Worsley 6 to our venue in the Lamb Rapidplay Trophy.
Selected details from Phil Adams's most recent 3Cs' Newsletter (5 September) can be seen on our main "Coaching" page. The full content of the fortnightly newsletter (available only to 3Cs' members) includes several tactic problems 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"
All six 3Cs' players were unbeaten as our first team had an emphatic 5-1 win at home to Bolton 1 in "A" Division of the South-East Lancashire Summer League. Kyle Pelling, Sarah Longson, Kevin Ye and Mikhail Ali all won their individual games while Robert McLean and John Walton drew. However, our second team lost their last match of the season, going down 4.5 - 1.5 away to Marple. Karl Moorcroft won for 3Cs with Ben Newton gaining a draw.
3Cs 2 drew 3-3 away to Bolton 2 in B Division of the South-East lancashire Summer League. Ben Newton won his match for 3Cs while Kevin Ye, Andy Lewis, Marlon Espiritu and Jonathan Miller all drew.
The UK Government have announced a big investment in chess, especially at junior level. Go to the "ECF" section of this website, via the drop-down box of our main "News" page, for further information.
Kyle Pelling recently played for England in the Glorney Cup , an under-18s' event involving the four home nations. Kyle, on board 1 for England, ended with a win against Scotland after having drawn 4 of his previous 5 games. The tournament was won by Scotland with England as runners-up. More details are in our "Junior Events" section (via the drop-down box of our main "News" page).
Neil Jackson was joint winner of the Minor section at the Manchester congress, ending unbeaten on 4.5 / 5 despite having started the competition as the 17th seed out of 62 entrants and while the other joint winner was the top seed of the event. Also in the Minor section, Claire Kerton and Rebecca Correa ended on 3 and 2.5 respectively while Jonathan Miller in the Major section scored 2.5 / 5. Neil Jackson's son, Edward, was also among the prizewinners at the tournament by finishing equal 3rd in the Open section and winning the u-2050 prize. Other 3Cs' players in the top section were Sarah Longson (3.5), Adam Ashton (3) and Alannah Ashton (2.5).
3Cs 1 have become the first team in the 132 year history of the Manchester League to win the A Division Championship in 8 consecutive seasons. A 3.5-2.5 home win against Swinton & Worsley 1 sealed the title thanks to individual wins by Dale James and Robert McLean as well as draws by Alan Walton, Sarah Longson and John Bentley, the last of whom being the person whose game was the final one to finish to clinch the historic event.
ELODY MARTINIERE
Winner of the 3Cs' Junior Competition section for those in school years 1, 2, 3
Welcome to 3Cs' website
To access any of the pages just click on the appropriate heading at the top or alternatively place your cursor over the heading to see a drop-down box giving further options.
3Cs, or to use its official name "The Childrens' 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 both national and international level.
ALANNAH ASHTON
2023 British Girls' under-12s' Champion
Our "Puzzle Board" section includes
7 new positional problems every day and 3 "You versus Computer" games
Photograph courtesy of Adrian Elwin
22 July 2023
The news of the BBC's visit to the 3Cs' headquarters attracted 174 hits to this website during the following 24 hours ... a new daily record !!!
3Cs' Match Room
The photograph of new World Champion Ding Liren has now been added to those of his predecessors in the 3Cs' Match Room, while photos of all the women's World Champions also now adorn the walls. While 3Cs' youngsters are coached how to play chess, the photographs help the club to also teach them about 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. The 3Cs' Match Room can be seen below ...
3Cs won the junior team event at the 2023 Lymm Chess Festival in which seven teams competed and with photos shown below.
The 3Cs' team was (left to right on the photo with their medals)
Maeve Martiniere, Charlie Barnes, Tom Kearns, James Kaliski, Sebastian Kearns and Aaron Lewis.
Click on the arrows to move the photographs left or right and on a main photograph for a large image.
The main "Future Events" section of this website includes details of several forthcoming chess tournaments at various levels and which may be of interest for any 3Cs' members wishing to enter.
Just click on the "Future Events" heading at the top of the page.
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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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9 year old James Kaliski, one of the current group of up-and-coming 3Cs' young players. recently 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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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.
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 the photo (below) providing such examples.
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.
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3Cs' coach Dale James has been presented with his trophy after being honoured by the English Chess Federation as winner of their 2022 "Contribution to Junior Chess" award.
Further details of the award as well as Dale's chess career can be seen in our "ECF Awards" section (via the drop down box of the main "Club Honours" page).
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Images from a recent 3Cs' club night showing some junior members (above) and those with more experience (below).
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Just a typical night at a local chess club ???
However, the photograph (right) 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 3Cs' head coach Phil Adams (extreme right).
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 twice resulted in it receiving the English Chess Federation's "Club of the Year" award - the only club throughout the country to achieve the honour on two occasions - 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 in 2018.
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.