A city tradition in separate chapters
La Spezia's chess history includes a circle founded in 1892 at the initiative of Giovanni Battista Valle. In 1898 the city circle was among the founders of the Unione Scacchistica Italiana, an early national organization that ceased activity at the end of 1911.
The present A.S.D. Spezia per gli Scacchi appears under the same name and federation identifier in both 2018 and 2026.
Its renewed competitive phase is dated to 2017, giving the modern association a defined history separate from the city's earlier chess chapters.
Why Lerici matters to Italian team chess
The Gulf of Poets entered the history of the Italian Team Championship chiefly through Arnaldo Pace, an organizer and promoter of the La Spezia festival who proposed the competition in 1958. The FSI governing board formally approved it on 12 October that year.
The inaugural championship was played in Lerici from 31 October to 4 November 1959 with eleven teams. This places the La Spezia area at the beginning of the Italian Team Championship's history.
Climbing the league pyramid
The competitive relaunch begun in 2017 started in Promozione and moved through Serie C and Serie B before reaching Serie A1 in 2024. Promotion in 2025 then carried the leading team into the following year's Serie Master.
La Spezia consequently made its debut in Italy's highest national club-team competition in 2026. The first campaign ended on 30 April with the team retaining its place, turning a rapid passage through the divisions into at least a second season at the top level.
A public base inside Anna Frank school
Since March 2025 Anna Frank lower secondary school has hosted the city School Chess Hub run by the club. In the same setting the association holds recurring introductory courses, alongside in-person play and access to a chess library.
In 2026 the second course for lower secondary students concluded there after ten lessons and a final mini-tournament. The hub therefore brings first instruction, over-the-board practice and a possible route into club activity into one setting.
Sharing the Levante Ligure Open with Sarzana
In 2025 Spezia per gli Scacchi jointly organized the eighth Open Internazionale del Levante Ligure with S.D. Scacchistica Città di Sarzana.
The event records cooperation between two distinct organizations, not a single combined club identity.
Sources
- 1.Chi siamo, A.S.D. Spezia per gli Scacchi
- 2.Servizi, A.S.D. Spezia per gli Scacchi
- 3.Società: A.S.D. Spezia per gli Scacchi, 2026, Federazione Scacchistica Italiana
- 4.Società: A.S.D. Spezia per gli Scacchi, 2018, Federazione Scacchistica Italiana
- 5.20 settembre 1920, nasce ufficialmente la FSI, Uno Scacchista
Show 9 more sources
- 6.Il Campionato Italiano a squadre, Uno Scacchista
- 7.Il circolo scacchistico spezzino approda alla massima categoria nazionale, Città della Spezia
- 8.Al via il Master di scacchi, La Spezia per scrivere la storia, A.S.D. Spezia per gli Scacchi
- 9.Una salvezza al cardiopalma: La Spezia resta nel Master, A.S.D. Spezia per gli Scacchi
- 10.Polo Scacchistico Scolastico, Istituto Comprensivo Statale Anna Frank
- 11.Concluso il 2° corso per gli studenti delle medie, A.S.D. Spezia per gli Scacchi
- 12.La Spezia torna capitale degli scacchi con l'8ª edizione dell'Open Internazionale del Levante Ligure, Comune della Spezia
- 13.Virtuosi della scacchiera. Tre giornate di sfide nel prestigioso Open, La Nazione
- 14.Squadre C.I.S. 2026 - Serie Master girone 1, Federazione Scacchistica Italiana
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