To his competitors, Joseph Francis was considered something of a chess prodigy. He can’t count how many games he’s played, but he knows he’s won the vast majority of them.
He said: “I ended up playing a huge amount of chess and because I could play chess quite well, it’s sort of ridiculous really, but I was considered a prodigy.”
But these games weren’t held at the British World Championships. They were held in prison.
Mr Francis learnt to play chess in school, and ended up becoming a teacher to train the next generation before going to prison in 2023.
The 58-year-old said: “When you’ve been imprisoned, you feel a lot of built-up anger, but as soon as you play chess it just switches off, because it’s a completely absorbing thing. You’re totally thinking about the board, and that’s all.”
After being acquitted, he no longer needed a fellow inmate to play with and he soon began playing chess online, competing against people of all ages and backgrounds.
Chess.com, the world’s biggest online chess platform, reported in the first quarter of this year that 14.9 million new accounts were made, with 9.7 million daily users of the site, one million more since the end of 2025.
Initially there were fears that the expansion of the online community would hamper traditional clubs, and could see those players who were used to playing on physical boards retreating to their laptops and phones to compete.
However, the opposite is true.
Mr Francis, who is a member of the Hammersmith Chess Club, explains: “A portion of them [online chess players] are bound to get into traditional clubs, and therefore the numbers coming into clubs like this are quite high.
“And what’s great about this club is that more women, who are playing online, come here to play. I think because online chess is essentially blind and indifferent to gender, women come and play.”
The English Chess Federation (ECF) has set a target of having 15 per cent of female chess players to have an ECF membership by 2030.
This would be an increase of over five per cent, as the ECF admits its biggest disappointment over the years is the share of female membership in comparison to men.
While the use of technology has increased interest, traditional clubs have still urged the importance of playing face to face.
Mr Francis said: “I think if you have never played in person then you will really be missing something.
For me, chess is more than just playing chess
Adam Cranston, chair of the Hammersmith Chess Club
“It’s quite interesting how addictive online chess is. I honestly think marriages are wrecked because you can easily play three or four hours a day.”
The importance of attending chess clubs is also shared by Adam Cranston, 37, chair of the Hammersmith Chess Club, who said: “Face to face coaching can be more specific, it’s quite easy to identify the holes in people’s understanding.
“And it’s the social aspect, I haven’t actually been playing much chess but we’ll go to a pub afterwards.
“For me, chess is more than just playing chess.”
Hammersmith Chess Club is the largest of its kind in the UK. Its membership has increased 12-fold over a decade, with nearly 300 members today.
Many of the members started out by using sites such as Chess.com and Lichess, which has a record of over 12,000 ECF players.
Mr Cranston added: “Technology has been helping people get into chess. The online chess world has certainly risen much faster, but people are transitioning from online chess to clubs, and we’ve seen that at our club, it’s getting more popular.”
The growth of ChessFest, which holds a series of free chess events across the nation every July, shows how popular the game has become. Earlier this month, thousands of people – many in fancy dress – descended on Trafalgar Square to compete against each other.
ChessFest began in 2021, after the success of Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit, and lockdown, which saw a surge in people taking up chess online.
Joe Winlaw, 20, office assistant for Chess in Schools and Communities which set up ChessFest, said: “We set up ChessFest because it was just so ambitious. Why could we not have a big event that would get everyone excited? It was set up the same time there was a big chess boom going on, which is still going on now.”
Chess in Schools and Communities has supported over 3,000 UK state schools with lessons, clubs and equipment, and uses technology to enhance children’s social and critical thinking skills.
Mr Winlaw said: “We partly partner with ChessKid so we give a select number of our pupils that we teach in schools ChessKid accounts, so they can go and play safety online. The volume of games you get to play, it really does mean that you put everything you’re learning into practice and you do really improve.
“You can improve so much quicker with technology and that’s why we’re seeing so many amazingly strong young people.”
However, he added the importance of taking a break: “At the same time, it’s really important that you have some contact with the real world, whether you’re playing with your parents or with your friends, playing in person is really important.”
The ECF’s live commentary of the British Chess Championship final round was watched by 10,000 people and with the likes of Duolingo, a platform known for teaching foreign languages, now adding a chess module, it’s no wonder clubs like Hammersmith are seeing a rise of members.
Mr Winlaw said: “I would 100 per cent say that technology is helping people transition into clubs.
“You might not feel totally confident and so you start to play a bit online and once your rating is better you think, right now is the time to join a club.”
