Chess Edinburgh
Chess Edinburgh is an amalgamation of all adult affiliated chess clubs within Edinburgh and the Lothians and undertakes a variety of functions to promote the game in the area.
Leagues 2024-25 underway
Having been unable to play over the board for two years from 2020 due to the Covid pandemic restrictions, the 2022-23 season was somewhat transitional, with fewer teams taking part and the Allegro League not running, but happily the 2023-24 season was back to normal with 33 teams taking part in the leagues and the Allegro League resuming with 14 teams. Both events were concluded successfully and we are now underway with the 2024-25 season with 32 teams in the main leagues and 14 teams in the Allegro League.
Edinburgh Congress prospects uncertain
Regrettably we were unable to resume the congress in 2024. Finding a venue has been increasingly difficult over the last decade and since the pandemic the situation has if anything become more difficult, with fewer venues available, steeply rising costs for hiring those that are available, and restrictions on the hours that they can open for events. We are continuing our attempts to find ways to resume the congress and there is some degree of cautious optimism that we may be able to do something for 2025. We will report here once there is further news.
Team Events
Chess Edinburgh organises League, Allegro League and Cup competitions amongst its member clubs in the Lothians.
4 League divisions run from Oct - April for players of all standards. The Allegro League runs at a central venue one night a month from Oct-Mar.
Individual Events
Chess Edinburgh organises the annual Edinburgh Chess Congress - one of the largest weekend congresses anywhere in the UK and the largest in Scotland - as well as the Lothians Championship and the one-day Lothians Allegro.
Junior support
Chess Edinburgh actively supports junior chess including the Primary and Secondary schools leagues, and has provided financial assistance and help with the training of juniors.
We have for some years supported the Tiger Cubs team playing in the League through Edinburgh Chess Club, and were delighted to see them joined by a junior team from Edinburgh West in 2023-24.
Chess Edinburgh has organised the Scottish Chess Championships for Chess Scotland on several occasions and in 2003 assisted the British Chess Federation in bringing the British Chess Championships to Edinburgh where it enjoyed one of its most successful events. We are also keen to see the development of events for female players - numbers having risen following the film The Queen's Gambit - and have supported such events since the ending of lockdown.
Entry forms for congresses organised by Chess Edinburgh can be downloaded from the site and provisional entries can be made on-line.
Chess in the Park 2024 - Leith Links
The redevelopment of the Cafe at the Croft, on Leith Links, has allowed the resumption of chess playing there every Sunday from 1 - 4 pm over the summer. There are good facilities and parking is available. The final day of the year is 27th Oct and it will resume in the Spring. Full details here
Princes St Gardens
Over the last few years we have been happy to lend our support to playing chess in Princes Street Gardens, and this has proved popular. However a serious fire at the premises in June 2022 destroyed the Cafe and naturally this greatly disrupted arrangements as well as destroying the chess equipment we kept on-site. The indoor Cafe has not been replaced and there is thus no storage available for chess equipment. A few players still turn up but far fewer than was the case previously and those who do are having to take their own equipment. It is unclear what the future plans are for the venue so it may not be possible to resume the level of play that took place before, at least in the near-term.
We're always happy to hear any feedback and constructive suggestions; please send any comments to