Thursday Chess in West Chester, PA

The West Chester Chess Club plays USCF rated OTB chess on Thursdays!   Please arrive no later than 7:30PM to register.  

  • You will need an active USCF membership to play.  You can purchase or re-activate a USCF membership at the USCF site.  Please do so at least a day before to insure that the USCF fully processes your membership.

Every four Thursdays the West Chester Chess Club runs a USCF rated swiss tournament.  You can start play in the Swiss at any time, and play as many nights as you can make.  The swiss tournaments run for 4 weeks.  You can join a swiss at any round. You do not have to start play in round 1.

The following is the 2025 schedule:

2025 Club Schedule
Dates    Director     Event
June 5 - July 3   Ed Snyder / Anderson   Independence Swiss / Quad
July 10 - Aug 7   Aaron Biscoe / Snyder   Founder's Swiss
Aug 14 - Sept 11   Donald Anderson / Biscoe   Summer's End Swiss / Quad
Sep 18 - Oct 16   Aaron Biscoe / Snyder   Autumn Swiss / Quad
Oct 23 - Nov 13   Ed Snyder /Anderson   Halloween Swiss Only
Nov 20 - Dec 18   Donald Anderson / Biscoe   Holiday Swiss Only
Jan 8, 2026 - Feb 20, 2026   Ed Snyder / Biscoe   Club Championship / Reserve Swiss
  • Please arrive by 7:30 at the latest to register. EARLIER IS BETTER AND HELPS THE TDs. Pairings are then set and play begins at 7:40.  
  • In the first four Thursdays of an event, games are 1 hour and 30 minutes, delay 5.  So just one game but it can last for hours!
  • The 5th Thursday is a quad, where you are paired with three other closely rated players.  Games are 30 minutes, 5 second delay

Club dues are $20 a year and are pro-rated depending on when you join. First visit is free!

For directions to the club, visit this page.

About the Club Championship:

In 2005, a rule was established that you had to play 12 games to qualify to play in the club championship. Over the years we modified it to limit the field to the top 8 Open Section players based upon the number of wins accumulated over the year.

We play 9 four round swiss tournaments for a maximum of 36 points (by attending each week and going undefeated). In 2024, Joe Mucerino was the top player with 23 points. It took only 15 ½ points to be in the top 8. Win only 43% of your games and you’re in.

The race to qualify for the 2026 Championship begins Thursday 2/20 as we get back to regular order with the Kickoff Swiss. Yeah, 43% sounds reasonable enough. But there are no easy games in the West Chester Chess Club.

Good luck to everyone. And have fun.