Becoming a member

Thank you for your interest in our club!

Please fill in this form to apply for membership for the 2024–25 season (whether you are a new, rejoining or renewing member). Our membership year now runs from September 1st to August 31st.

If you’re not yet ready to become a member, but are interested in receiving information about our events by email, please also fill in the form.

Please read our privacy notice for details of how we store and use your personal information when you do so.

Benefits

The benefits of membership are:

Eligibility for selection for our league teams (e.g. Middlesex League)
Eligibility for ECF-rated friendly games at standard or rapid time limits
Eligibility for the summer Club Championship
Discounted entry to our FIDE Blitz tournaments: worth £7 per tournament (from September 2024 onwards)
Free, discounted or priority entry to other events throughout the season (please check our calendar for what’s on)
Social chess, on home club nights where there is space
Discounted entry to the Golders Green rapid and Muswell Hill rapid and standard tournaments (provided you are an ECF member at Gold level or above, and that you register in advance): worth £5 per event
Eligibility to play for Middlesex in the SCCU County Championship (if you aren’t already eligible through living, working, or being born or educated in the county)

If you play in a lot of blitz and rapid tournaments, you could easily make savings adding up to more than your membership fee!

See our activities for further details.

ECF membership requirements

Many Hendon events involve playing games under tournament conditions, whose results are sent to the ECF and/or FIDE for rating. In order to be eligible for rated play at standard or rapid time limits, you must be a member of the ECF. ECF membership is separate from club membership: neither one includes the other.

ECF membership gives you various other benefits (depending on the level you choose), including discounted entry to chess tournaments and events around the country. For more background information, see this guide.

Note that the ECF has changed its membership system starting from September 2024. The old category of Silver membership has been abolished, so most members will be choosing between Bronze and Gold.

As before, Bronze is sufficient for most club activities, with the exception of FIDE-rated non-blitz tournaments. Here are the ECF memberships requirements for each club activity (OTB refers to “over-the-board” chess, as opposed to online chess):

Activity	Entry fee	Club membership required	Minimum ECF membership
Middlesex League (OTB)	No	Yes	Bronze
Club Championship (OTB)	No	Yes	Bronze
Blitz tournaments (OTB)	Yes	No (discount)	None
Open rapid tournaments (OTB)	Yes	No (discount)	Gold
ECF-rated standard friendlies (OTB)	No	Yes	Bronze
Online events	No	Yes	None

If you have any questions about how ECF membership affects participation in club activities, please contact us. General questions about ECF membership should be directed to the ECF.

Membership fees for 2024–25

Since all memberships run to the end of the season (31st August), the fees depend on when you join (your membership begins on the date of payment):

Payment date	Full fee	Concessions
September 12th Blitz or before (“early bird” discount)	£80	£64
September 13th–30th or October 2024	£90	£72
November or December 2024	£80	£64
January or February 2025	£65	£52
March or April 2025	£50	£40
May or June 2025	£40	£32
July or August 2025 (to include 2025–26)	TBC	TBC

The concessionary rate is available to:

Juniors (people who are under 18 on the date of registration)
Students in full-time education (18+, not retired)
Unemployed people (18+, not retired)

Additional concessions are available in cases of genuine hardship (please contact our Treasurer for further details).

We strongly prefer payment by bank transfer; the application form contains payment instructions.