The Staffordshire Chess Association have a long and proud history of promoting the teaching and playing of chess in the County. We run several County teams in the Midland Counties Championship and National Championships, several of our clubs have won Club Championships at National Level, we support junior chess in the County and many of our juniors have progressed to the England junior squad, we run an annual Congress, incorporating the individual Staffordshire Championship and the Staffordshire Under 21 Championship. We also run the Staffordshire Junior Championships for children from Under 8 to Under 18. However, all of this comes at a cost and we are going to have a budget deficit in 2017/2018, which is not sustainable. Like all voluntary organisations we struggle to make ends meet so we are looking for contributions to enable us to continue and enhance the services we provide. Chess is much more than just a game. For children especially, it is a valuable educational tool, teaching them logical thinking, problem solving, spatial awareness, social and inter-personal skills and much more. In many countries around the world chess is a part of the core national curriculum.