Central Chess Club of the USSR

an all-Union sports, cultural, educational, and creative organization that encourages the development of chess and checkers in the country and publicizes the achievements of the Soviet schools of chess and checkers. The club was founed in 1956 in Moscow. In 1977 the club had 1,600 members, including more than 100 grand masters; prominent members include world champion A. E. Karpov and former world champions M. M. Botvinnik, T. V. Petrosian, V. V. Smyslov, and V. I. Shchegolev. The club also includes numerous masters of sport and 1,100 corresponding members. It also has 26 regional clubs and divisions.

The club is headed by an elected council. It conducts tournaments, matches (16 traditional international tournaments between 1956 and 1976), simultaneous competitions, consultation sessions, contests on the composition and solution of problems, and lectures on the theory and history of chess and checkers. It conducts annual correspondence contests in which about 2,500 people participate. Every year it organizes about 2,000 lectures by grand masters and masters with simultaneous competitions at enterprises, institutions, and educational establishments in Moscow and other cities.

The club offers methodological material to republic-and citylevel chess and checkers clubs, deals with the organization of contests and the establishment of game rules, and helps train officials and instructors. It has published the monthly Shakhmatnyi biulleten’ (Chess Bulletin) since 1957 and also publishes bulletins on all-Union contests and major international contests, as well as methodological and reference materials. The Chess Federation of the USSR and the Checkers Federation of the USSR participate in the club’s activities.