Supporting Chess in the u3a Movement

As part of our focus on u3a volunteers, David, Subject Adviser for Chess, talks more about his role and encouraging the growth of chess within the u3a movement

To celebrate the contribution of u3a volunteers, we talk to some of the members who share their skills with the rest of the movement.  David from Belsize Park u3a volunteers as the u3a Chess Subject Adviser.

Playing Chess is so good at helping us to maintain our mental abilities, so when I joined u3a I was surprised to learn that there were relatively few Chess groups across the many u3as. When I discovered there was no Chess Subject Adviser I immediately volunteered with the intention of encouraging Chess. A common difficulty is finding members with comparable playing abilities, this, coupled with the Covid shut-down, made it obvious that an online u3a Chess Group could be the way forward.

The u3a Chess Network was therefore started and now has 160 members with 40 playing regularly in online Leagues – the largest ever u3a Chess Club! This collaboration of u3a members has led to a campaign to encourage more Chess playing in local u3a`s using regional support.

Volunteering can be demanding – but also very rewarding.

Browse and join a growing list of u3a Subject Networks.

Find out more about Subject Advisers on our website.

If you would like to get involved with volunteering at u3a, get in touch with us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.