Bloomington-Normal chess club has served Illinois chess players in the Twin Cities of Bloomington-Normal, McLean County, and beyond for over 50 years.

 

Welcome!

 

WEEKLY PLAY

We play at several locations:

 

• Portillo’s in Normal on Monday nights from 6:00 PM – ?.  Support of Portillo’s is highly encouraged; they have a good (non-alcholic) beverage selection and The Club recommends you try the Strawberry Shortcake (or the Chocolate Cake, or the Lemon Cake, or the sandwiches, or…. 😀 )  There is a weekly USCF rated tournament almost every week from quick to regular, skittles play unrated, or just hang out.  (See under Online Play for LiChess link).

• The Proving Ground bouldering club in Bloomington on most Wednesday evenings for skittles play.

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• Activity and Recreation Center in Normal, Thursday afternoons 1:00-3:00 PM for skittles play.  (Age 55 and older, annual membership to ARC, $30.00 / year, required.)

 

ONLINE PLAY

During the pandemic we maintained a members-only Discord server and Lichess Team pages.  They are currently not active, but we’ve retained them for future use.  The Portillos group has a team for use if weather makes play at Portillo’s impossible.

• https://lichess.org/team/twin-city-chess-club

• https://lichess.org/team/mondays-at-portillos

• https://discord.gg/Xzu8xWu8KV  (grants temporary status to see the Discord server but as above it is currently not an active group)

Please contact us at bloomingtonnormalchess@gmail.com.

If you are looking for other over-the-board chess opportunities, the following sites may be useful too:

Illinois Chess Association
Springfield Chess Club
Greater Peoria Chess Foundation

United States Chess Federation

 

(The website last had updates 04/26/2026.)