Worcester Open Chess Congress

About the Worcester congress

The beginning

The Open Chess Congress at Worcester was first run in 2009 with the enthusiasm of Andrew Moore and Andrew Farthing. They wanted to benefit local charities as well as stimulate chess in Worcestershire and much of each year's surplus goes to a local charity selected by the organisers. The choice of a weekend shortly preceeding the British Championship proved popular as has the Worcester venue. In the most recent tournaments players from several European countries have entered.

Raising money for good causes

The success of the congress and the generosity of the organising and control team in giving their time freely to support the event have helped us to raise thousands of pounds for charity.  In its short history, the congress has helped the following charities:

2009       Plica Awareness and Research (£60)
2010       St Mary’s Hospice, Birmingham (£500)
2011       Age UK, Sandwell (£650)
2012       St Richard’s Hospice, Worcester (£900)
2013       Leukaemia CARE (£720)
2014       Chess in Schools & Communities (at least £800)

The venue

The congress was held this year in the heart of the city at The King's School Worcester, on the site of the long demolished Worcester Castle, adjacent to Worcester Cathedral. The very first congress was held at Catshill near Bromsgrove and then for the next few years was based at the University of Worcester at their west side St John's campus.

Worcester

Much of the success of the Worcester Open is down to Worcester's convenient location for motorway and rail travel and good overnight accommodation. For non-playing members of the family, there are good visitor attractions in the city and not far away: Worcester Cathedral, The Civil War Museum, cricket, horse racing, boat cruises along the Severn, and The Severn Valley Steam Railway at Kidderminster. There is a good selection of accommodation including four city centre hotels and budget priced rooms at the University of Worcester.