Durham Chess Club

Weekly Meetups - Meeting Location and Time

We now meet every Wednesday 5:45 PM–8:30 PM at 427 W Main St, Durham, NC 27701 (Bull McCabe's Irish Pub, indoor patio seating). It is free, and all are welcome.

What We Offer

We offer both casual and tournament play. Children and adult beginners highly encouraged to come. Chess sets and clocks are supplied, but we encourage players to bring their own if possible. Just stop by and play. Free Durham Chess Club stickers available, come get one!

Our November tournament was covered in the 9th Street Journal — read about it here.

Join Our Club

Stay informed about events, tournaments, and club updates. Join our email list by sending an email to: durhamcountychessclub@gmail.com

Upcoming Tournament

TO REGISTER: Email us. Please include your name and the section you would like to play in. Registration fills up quickly. We are a not-for-profit organization and run with the help of donations. If you would like to donate to the club, please send donations directly to Venmo: @loganjamesr (Please include "Durham Chess Club" in the memo.)

Poster for The Jingle Bell Rook Rapid Chess Tournament — Sun Dec 7, 2025 — Click to view full-size

Format: The tournament will be a 5 round swiss tournament. The first two rounds will be 10 minute + 1 second increment, then the final three rounds will be 15 minute + 10 second increment Rapid.

Rules: The tournament will be unrated, but we will be enforcing most USCF rules such as no electronics, no talking during games, and touch-move. Keeping notation is not required.

Our recent November tournament was covered in the 9th Street Journal — read about it here.

Gallery

Contact

For questions or to get involved, contact Logan, Club Organizer and Tournament Director, at durhamcountychessclub@gmail.com

Past Tournaments

♟️🍁 Knights of November (2025)

This tournament was covered in the 9th Street Journal — read about it here.

Durham Main Library • Nov 2, 2025 • Game in 15 minutes + 10 seconds increment • 5 rounds

Tournament 1st place finishers — Open Section: Dave Defazio, U13 Section: Sage Uskowi

Results & event details

20 players played 5 rounds of Swiss Tournament Style rapid chess. Scoring: 1 point for a win, 0.5 for a draw, and 0 for a loss. Most points at the end of round 5 wins.

Location: Durham Main Library
Date: Nov 2, 2025
Rounds: 5
Sections: Open Section and U13 Section

Tournament photos

Final round tiebreaker at Knights of November (2025). — Final round tiebreaker!

The tournament in progress at Knights of November (2025). — The Tournament in progress.

♟️🎄 Jingle Bell Rook Rapid (2025)

Durham Main Library • Dec 7, 2025 • Game in 15 minutes + 10 seconds increment • 5 rounds

Tournament 1st place finishers — Open Section : Oday Alsarraf, U13 Section : Sage Uskowi

Results & event details

20 players played 5 rounds of Swiss Tournament Style rapid chess. Scoring: 1 point for a win, 0.5 for a draw, and 0 for a loss. Most points at the end of round 5 wins.

Location: Durham Main Library
Date: Sunday, December 7, 2025
Rounds: 5
Sections: Under 13 y/o and Open section

Tournament photos

Players competing during the Jingle Bell Rook Rapid Tournament at Durham Main Library. — Tournament in progress.

A close game near the end of a round at the Jingle Bell Rook Rapid Tournament. — A tense position late in the event.

Janu-where's The Checkmate Rapid Tournament (2026)

Durham Main Library • January 11th, 2026 • Game in 15 minutes + 10 seconds increment • 5 rounds

Tournament results — 1st place : Subhash KV, 2nd place : Sage Uskowi, Matt Carlson, Oday Alsarraf, Chris Jensen

Results & event details

25 players played 5 rounds of Swiss Tournament Style rapid chess. Scoring: 1 point for a win, 0.5 for a draw, and 0 for a loss. Most points at the end of round 5 wins.

Location: Durham Main Library
Date: Sunday, January 11th, 2026
Rounds: 5