About this independent guide
Updated 18 October 2026 · Échecs en Savoie, independent guide
Échecs en Savoie is an independent editorial guide devoted to chess in Aix-les-Bains, Savoie, Haute-Savoie and the Alps. It is not a club, not an association, not a chess school: it lists, explains and points readers towards those who keep the game alive on the ground.
Independent editorial site, not affiliated with the Académie d'Échecs d'Aix-les-Bains or any club.
The domain name aixlesbains-echecs.org once hosted the website of the Aix-les-Bains chess club. That is no longer the case. The official website of the Académie d'Échecs d'Aix-les-Bains is now aixlesbainsechecs.org (without a hyphen): that is where, and nowhere else, you should look for its opening hours, fees, lessons and contact details. This guide does not speak on its behalf, takes no registrations and represents no club, no committee and not the French Chess Federation.
What you will find here
The guide meets three practical needs of people who play, or want to play, chess at the foot of the Alps:
- Finding where to play: the clubs affiliated to the French Chess Federation (FFE) in Savoie, Haute-Savoie, Isère and Hautes-Alpes, presented neutrally, with the federation's public data and a link to their own website.
- Finding a competition: the season's tournaments, rapid and blitz events, and summer festivals in the resorts such as La Plagne and Les Menuires.
- Learning the local history: the French championships and the European championship played in Aix-les-Bains and in the Alpine resorts, with their winners.
Where the information comes from
Every dated, numerical or named fact is checked at source before publication. The main sources are:
- the website of the French Chess Federation (echecs.asso.fr): club pages, number of licensed players, calendar of approved tournaments, regulations;
- FIDE and the European Chess Union for international competitions;
- the official websites of clubs and tournament organisers;
- the regional press and encyclopaedias for earlier editions of the championships.
When a piece of information could not be confirmed, it is not published. Practical details (opening hours, subscriptions, venue addresses) change often: they are dated in the text, and the reference is always the website of the club or organiser concerned.
What this guide does not do
- It takes no registrations for a club, a course or a tournament.
- It publishes no invented reviews, no in-house rankings and no testimonials.
- It never speaks on behalf of a club: when a club is mentioned, it is as an outside source or party.
Reporting an error
Has a club changed venue, has a tournament been moved, is a result wrong? The published information comes from public sources: the quickest correction is to update the club's or tournament's page on the FFE website, which this guide rechecks at each update. The pages are reviewed at least at the start of each sporting season, in September and October.
The equipment mentioned
Some pages link to practical guides and articles from the Palais des Échecs, an online shop specialising in chess, when they complement the subject at hand (how a chess clock works, choosing a travel set, the club directory). These links are editorial: they change neither the choice of clubs presented nor the content of the pages.