Training Day Tour 2022-23: Manchester

It was great to return to Manchester to deliver the latest leg of the CSC Training Day Tour, following hard on the heels of the online day from earlier this month.

The train strikes failed to derail our journey, as my trusty assistant, the famous CSC Teesside Chess Tutor, Catherine Lloyd, kept the day on track with her expert driving skills.

It has been a year of changes for Manchester; the Central Library was the new venue for our training day this year and Neil Dainty is the new Regional Organiser, stepping into the considerable shoes of David Hardy.

The library facilities were excellent and during the break there were plenty of things to see, including an exhibition on the famous 'I was there' Sex Pistols gig at the Lesser Free Trade Hall of 1976. No; I wasn't there for that one, but I am very pleased to have been able to deliver this training day and to work with such an excellent set of delegates.

During the lunch break, we visited the library chess session upstairs, which was organised and run by Chris Pyves. This was a vibrant, fully-engaging and very impressive session, which attracted the attention many members of the public, of all ages and abilities. Our delegates took up the challenge to play some mini-games, to out their new skills into immediate practice.

It is worth pointing out that Chris was on our 2021 Manchester Training Day; he has achieved a lot since then.

All 13 delegates brought something different to the table; each one had a unique vision or special quality.

We covered a lot of ground and could easily have gone for much longer.

Thank you for working so hard, everyone!

Keep an eye on the CSC tour page for forthcoming dates and the rejuvenated CSC Facebook page for other updates.

Here is a gallery from our fabulous day.

Who said I have no fans in Manchester?

Learning about Queen moves in Manchester

I hope none of the delegates had a Rotten day

Meeting Chris Pyve again

Thank you, Neil and Catherine

Yarm Prep. School at the HMC Championship

We enjoyed our day at the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, where we took part in the HMC Championship.

Yarm A finished in third place, just half a point behind RGS B (RGS A were the champions).

Yarm B and Yarm C finished mid-table.

Thank you, QEGS, for being excellent hosts, as always.

CSC Teesside Chess Libraries Update

Here is a handy flyer, showing the times and locations of four of our library sessions.

There is no need to book; just turn up and play chess (although it is best to make sure the sessions are on before you travel).

Catching Up With My Tutors

During November, I have spent some time catching up with my CSC Teesside tutors.

I saw Catherine Lloyd at Holy Trinity and Preston, Richard Harris at Throston and Billingham South, Dave Edmunds at Ings Farm and Sean Cassidy in the train!

They all doing exemplary work, delivering chess lessons across Teesside.

 

Training Day Tour 2022-23: Back in the Office

Following on from our very successful day in Hull, the next leg of the Training Day Tour was much closer to home. In fact, it was in my home, as we delivered an online day from my office.

Online days enable us to connect with people who wouldn't usually be able to make it to one of our physical gatherings. On this occasion, three of the 15 delegates were participating from Gambia.

My great friends and colleagues Matt Piper, Chris Fegan and Dan Staples all helped on the day and we are looking forward to seeing the delegates in real life at some point in the future.

We enjoyed the mini-game challenges, for which we used Acorn Chess

New dates are being added to our Training Day Tour soon. Please keep an eye on this page for further details.

More Library Sessions

Library chess sessions have now resumed at Ingleby Barwick Library and they are on Fridays, from 4.00 - 6.00 p.m.

We now have five of our six chess libraries back up and running after the lockdown years closed them down and we are working and getting the Middlesbrough sessions back in action too.

All of the library sessions are free and open to players of all ages and abilities, from complete novices to Grandmasters. There is no expectation of commitment; just turn up whenever you want to.

In many cases, people who started at our libraries now play for our local chess clubs too.

I advise you to check with each library before attending the sessions, just to make sure they definitely on before you travel.