Est. 1855 Β· Newport, South Wales
Welcome to
Newport Chess Club
A friendly club for all abilities β from absolute beginners to seasoned competitors. Come and enjoy the game.
Join the Club View ResultsEst. 1855 Β· Newport, South Wales
A friendly club for all abilities β from absolute beginners to seasoned competitors. Come and enjoy the game.
Join the Club View ResultsNewport Chess Club has been part of the local community for over 170 years.
Every Wednesday from 6:30pm to 10pm. Casual games from 6:30pm, club games from 7:15pm.
Whether you're a complete beginner or a county champion, there's a place for you at Newport Chess Club.
We compete in the Gwent Chess League and the Gwent QP League Division each season.
Over 170 years of chess in the heart of Newport, Wales.
Newport and County Chess Club traces its roots to March 1855, when a report in the Monmouthshire Merlin announced the founding of a chess club at the Commercial Reading Rooms. The constitution drafted that year by local solicitor Charles Lyne β the club's first President β is still in force today, with amendments for the 21st century. The club's name, "and County", reflects its historic role as the governing body for chess throughout Monmouthshire.
The club's most celebrated chapter came in 1908, when Mrs Mary Mills Houlding β playing at board one alongside her husband β defeated World Champion Emanuel Lasker during his simultaneous display in Newport. A multiple British Ladies' Champion, Mrs Houlding remains one of the most remarkable figures in the club's 170-year story.
Over the decades Newport has hosted an extraordinary roll of chess masters in simultaneous exhibitions: J.H. Blackburne (1891, 1898, 1911), British champion Harry Golombek (six visits between 1950 and 1962), cryptographer and Bletchley Park veteran C.H.O'D. Alexander, and Yugoslav grandmaster Svetozar GligoriΔ. In 1965 the club reached the last eight of the B.C.F. National Club Championships β the furthest any Welsh club had ever progressed.
After successive homes at the Town Hall, the Y.M.C.A., Cambrian Road Chambers and the Dolman Little Theatre, we now meet every Wednesday at 6:30pm at the Pen and Wig, Stow Hill β continuing a tradition that stretches back more than 170 years.
Read the full club history on the Welsh Chess Union website β
Thanks to Club member and Chess Historian Gordon Cadden for his superb history of Newport and County Chess Club, the oldest Chess Club in Wales, which can be viewed on this website. It took Gordon many years to compile.
Recent results across all Newport teams β 2025β26 season.
| Date | Competition | Team | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 May 2026 | QP Div 1 | Newport A | Abergavenny A | 9Β½ β 6Β½ | Win |
| 9 Apr 2026 | League Div 1 | Newport A | Pontypool Front Row | 3Β½ β Β½ | Win |
| 2 Apr 2026 | League Div 2 | Newport Knights | Newport Bishops | 2 β 1 | Win |
| 19 Feb 2026 | League Div 1 | Newport A | Abergavenny B | 1 β 3 | Loss |
| 4 Feb 2026 | QP Div 1 | Newport A | Cwmbran Crows | 11 β 5 | Win |
Club announcements and season highlights.
Newport A completed a perfect Quick Play season β five wins from five to claim the QP Division 1 title unbeaten, scoring 58 points in the process.
Read more βNewport A topped the Gwent League Division 1 table on 13 points, finishing ahead of Abergavenny A in one of the club's best-ever Division 1 campaigns.
Read more βNewport Knights beat Newport Bishops in both their Division 2 meetings this season, claiming a 2β1 victory in the final-round derby at the Pen and Wig.
Read more β