BRITISH CHESS FEDERATION

The BCF is the governing body for chess in England and its mission is to promote the game of chess, in all its forms, as an attractive means of cultural and personal advancement, to the widest possible audience. To develop chess, by creating the means to enable the highest forms of chess excellence to be achieved and to expand the game as a social and sporting activity.

The BCF organises the British Individual Championships, the Counties Championships, the Counties and District Correspondence Championships, the National Club Championships and the National Schools Championships.

Internationally, BCF teams compete in Chess Olympiads and other events for men, women and juniors. The BCF administers a system to grade players, training schemes for juniors and courses for arbiters.

Become a Direct Member and support the work of the Federation. Membership fees start for as little as £10 and include a host of benefits.


BRITISH CHESS FEDERATION NATIONAL SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIP

This annual tournament is the longest running and most prestigious of all school championships. It has a proud tradition of actively encouraging the careers of many of the country's leading chess players including Grandmasters Nigel Short, Julian Hodgson, Matthew Sadler, Michael Adams, John Speelman, Luke McShane, John Nunn and Raymond Keene OBE.

Entrance to the championships gives schools the opportunity to compete against others from all parts of the British Isles. It provides a perfect setting in which pupils can hone their skills and develop their love of the game. By entering the championships schools will be joining with others from all types of establishments, from the largest comprehensive to the small boarding school - size and status are not a bar to the event. A novel, yet well established, principle is that teams are handicapped by age. Thus a team from a junior
school competing against a secondary school may only have to achieve a score of 2 -4 to win the match.


CERTIFICATE OF EXCELLENCE

Chess is known to benefit young people in their personal, social and educational
development. We use our resources to help introduce chess in schools and also to provide
experienced players with opportunities to compete at the highest level.

The Certificate of Excellence Scheme provides materials to assist in introducing chess and then an examination process to measure and recognise achievement. The Scheme is sponsored by The Faculty of Actuaries and The Institute of Actuaries.

The Scheme has three levels, Gold, Silver, and Bronze. There is a syllabus for each level, support lesson notes are available at Bronze and Silver. The Bronze and Silver examinations comprise of 15 multiple-choice questions (short explanations are required on some questions on the Silver Paper). The Papers have been designed so that a candidate is able to complete them during a normal school lunch hour, 30 minutes is allowed for the Bronze Level and 45 minutes for the Silver. Candidates will require a board and set at the Silver Level because some questions ask them to play through a series of moves. It is anticipated that the majority of applicants will be able to complete the examination well within the time allowed.

At the Gold Level, the examination is split into two 45 minutes sections, which can be taken at different times. Once completed examination papers are returned to Chess Grandmaster Matthew Turner and successful candidates issued with a laminated certificate.


INTERNET CHESS

Play against a Grandmaster

Live Tournament Coverage

Battle of the Minds

Chess University

Live Lectures and much much more.

Interested - Visit the official BCF Internet Chess site www.bcfchess.org

For more detailed information on all of the above, and much more including links to many other websites, visit the official BCF website www.bcf.org.uk