Club Deportivo Zamora Z Ajedrez

♟️ About Club Deportivo Zamora Z Ajedrez

Club Deportivo Zamora Z Ajedrez is a federated chess club based in Zamora, Castilla y León, Spain. The club was founded in February 2025 with the goal of rebuilding organized chess activity in Zamora and creating a permanent local structure for tournaments, training, federation play, and community events. The club is led by Joaquín Anatol, who serves as President and is also the principal public contact. The current management team includes Alfonso Martín as Secretary, Luis Barrueco as Treasurer, Juan Miguel Pérez as Director of Training, José Miguel Barrueco as Director of Instruction, Daniel Ratón as Director of Communication, Juan Antonio Ardila as Director of Outreach, and Isabel M.ª Hernández as Logistics Coordinator. Its headquarters are located at Zona Zentro, Calle Diego de Losada 3, Zamora, where the club organizes regular tournaments, chess classes, meetings, and other activities. Despite being a relatively young organization, Zamora Z Ajedrez has expanded quickly. The club reports around 150 members, more than 50 tournaments organized since 2025, and a growing community around its local and provincial chess program.

🏆 Tournaments & Chess Activities

Tournament organization is one of the club’s main activities. Zamora Z Ajedrez runs frequent local competitions and has also developed a broader calendar across the province of Zamora. Its events range from weekly club tournaments to larger provincial, regional, and FIDE-rated competitions. The club organizes regular Friday evening tournaments at 20:00 at Zona Zentro. These smaller events provide members and visiting players with frequent competitive practice throughout the season. Beyond its weekly program, the club has organized or promoted events including the San Pedro Open, Torneo Virgen de la Vega, Torneo Tierra de Campos, Cabeza de Toro, Moraleja del Vino, Memorial Javier Delgado, and the I Open Freestyle de Castilla y León. Several of these tournaments take place in different towns across the province, helping expand competitive chess beyond central Zamora. One of the club’s most important new projects is the I Torneo de Ajedrez Sub-2400 Zamora, La Bien Cercada 2026. The FIDE-rated tournament takes place from November 20–22, 2026, at the club’s Zona Zentro headquarters. It is organized by Club Deportivo Zamora Z Ajedrez together with the Federación de Ajedrez de Castilla y León (FECLA) as part of the Zamora chess circuit. The event uses a seven-round Swiss format at 60 minutes plus 30 seconds per move, is limited to players rated below 2400, and offers more than €1,600 in prizes. The tournament also includes rating, women’s, local, senior, and junior awards.

🌱 Chess Training & Development

Training is another central part of the club’s work. Zamora Z Ajedrez provides continuous in-person chess classes for children and adults throughout the season at Zona Zentro. The training program includes beginner, intermediate, and advanced groups. Lessons are designed to match the age, playing strength, and goals of each student. This allows new players to learn the fundamentals while more experienced members can work on tournament preparation, strategy, calculation, and practical play. The club also supports members who want to enter official federation competition. It assists players with the federation-registration process and provides information about official tournaments, ratings, and competition opportunities within Castilla y León. Regular tournaments complement the training program. Because members have access to weekly competitions as well as larger open events, players can move naturally from instruction to practical tournament experience.

🥇 Team Chess & Achievements

Zamora Z Ajedrez also competes in official team events. In 2026, the club achieved fourth place in the Castilla y León Team Championship, which brought together 24 teams from across the autonomous community. The result was particularly significant because it represented the strongest performance recorded by a Zamora team in that competition. The achievement reflected the rapid development of the club only a little more than a year after its foundation. Team competition is an important part of the club’s wider strategy. By combining individual tournaments, federation participation, training, and team events, Zamora Z Ajedrez gives members several different ways to compete and progress. The club has also become increasingly active throughout the province. Events in Zamora, Benavente, Toro, Moraleja del Vino, and other locations demonstrate its effort to build a wider provincial chess circuit rather than concentrate all activities in one venue.

📚 History & Development

Club Deportivo Zamora Z Ajedrez was founded in February 2025 at a time when its organizers wanted to rebuild regular chess activity in the city and province. Since then, the club has expanded quickly through a combination of weekly events, larger tournaments, structured classes, federation competition, and outreach to nearby towns. By 2026, the organization reported around 150 people connected with the club and more than 50 tournaments organized since its foundation. Local media have also highlighted the renewed interest in chess in Zamora and the club’s role in bringing back established events such as the San Pedro tournament. Its tournament calendar now includes both traditional local events and more ambitious competitions. The introduction of the FIDE-rated Zamora, La Bien Cercada Sub-2400 tournament represents another step in that development and gives the club a recurring platform for attracting players from outside the province.