Clay Cross Chess Club was formed in Autumn 1977. First meetings took place through that Winter in the Adult Education Centre, and in the following Autumn a 6-player Clay Cross team entered the North Midland Chess League. The expanding club rapidly outgrew the classroom space available at the centre and a number of local venues have hosted its meetings, Pilsley Miners Welfare being the longest-established until its closure. At the height of chess club popularity in the 1980s and 1990s CCCC had about 50 active members and could field 5 or 6 teams each week, playing in various divisional league and cup tournaments organised by Sheffield & District Chess Association and Derbyshire Chess Association as well as the above-mentioned North Midland Chess League.