Chess club

Chess clubs often provide for both informal and tournament games and sometimes offer league play.

Clubs are mainly attached to a national federation, either directly or through membership of a regional chess association.

The national federation in turn is a member of FIDE, the international governing body of chess.

The global aegis helps to establish uniformity of rules and playing conditions internationally, though some countries such as the United States use their own official set of rules with minor differences from FIDE rules.

The United States has many chess clubs affiliated with the United States Chess Federation (USCF).