Hi, and welcome at the chess club ‘Groninger Combinatie’. This page is intended to give English speakers a quick introduction to the club and chess life in Groningen.
About the club
Chess club Groninger Combination is one of the largest chess clubs in town. We combine activities for players of all age and playing levels. Members range from coffeehouse players without elo-rating up to grandmasters like GM’s Tiviakov, Ernst, Werle and WGM Paulet.
Weekly club evening
Our week club meet is at Thursday evening in the Jannes van der Wal Denksportcentrum (‘Mind sports centre’), address: Oliemuldersweg 43, 9713VA Groningen. Feel free to drop by to have a look and a blitz game in the bar.
If you want to be paired with an opponent, you should register before 19.45. Registering can be done in the playing room, by phone (050-3110375) or on the website (account required).
Most of the evenings we play one game with a classical tempo (75 min + 30 sec increment) followed by some afterchess in the bar. Mixed in between we have special activities like blitz, rapid, a simul and a knockout competition. See the calendar on the website for the programme.
Team competitions
Our club offers the opportunity to participate in team competitions against other clubs. In ’18-’19 there are two main competitions:
1) The national team competition run by the Dutch Chess Federation (KNSB). This nine-round competition is played on Saturdays in 6 different leagues. Our strongest team belongs in the highest league (‘meesterklasse’), GC5 plays in the 5th league. Four or five times per year we have a home match (see calendar). If you want to see our grandmasters in action, come and have a look. Matches start at 13.00, with the first time control around 17.00 and last till 18.00-19.00.
2) The regional team competition run by the Northern Chess Federation (‘NOSBO’). This is run in parallel to 1). So as a player you can participate in two competitions if you like, either national or regional.
Tournaments
Each year, GC organises a 7-round weekender in May and a one-day rapid tournament around March. Other big tournaments our members participate in are Hoogeveen Chess (October), Groningen Chess Festival (around Christmas) and the world-famous Tata Steel tournament (January). But of course, there are also smaller one-day rapid and blitz tournaments organised in the province. Check out the NOSBO calendar for those.
Training
GC organises training for players of all levels. The intermediate levels will be trained by FM and the highest group by a GM. If you are interested, check out the schedule on the website.
Further information
If you have any questions, you can reach us by email, Twitter or Facebook. Email will probably get you the fastest response.