14th CSC Teesside Team Tournament: Redcar and Cleveland Section

The third and final CSC Teesside Team Tournament brought together most of our curriculum schools in the Redcar and Cleveland area.

Grangetown Primary hosted the event in style, even managing to produce three extra teams at very short notice to cover for three unheralded no-shows from elsewhere.

Errington took the title for the first time since 2014 with a perfect score of eight wins from eight games. Defending champions Wheatlands were in contention all the way through and are still very much a force to be reckoned with.

Final Scores

1st: Errington, 8/8

2nd: Wheatlands, 6/8

=3rd: Grangetown A and Grangetown C, 3/8

=5th Grangetown B, Grangetown D, 1/8


Roll of Honour

2011: Ings Farm and Throston

2012: Ings Farm and Billingham South

2013: Throston

2014: Errington

2015: Throston

2016: Sacred Heart

2017: Westgarth

2018: Westgarth

2019: Westgarth and Billingham South

2022: Fairfield and Throston

2023: Fairfield

2024: Wheatlands, Hemlington Hall and Preston

2025: Wheatlands, St. Pius X, Billingham South and Throston

2026: Park End, Billingham South, Errington


We conclude with a gallery from the event.

14th CSC Teesside Team Tournament: Stockton and Hartlepool Section

Hardwick Green hosted the second of out three CSC Teesside Team Tournaments and a very good job of it they did too.

This was the toughest title race of the three, although defending champions, Billingham South, managed to pull away from the pack during the final flurry of games.

Thank you to everyone who took part in the event. This was the only one of the three tournaments in which all of the eligible schools participated.

Final Scores

1st: Billingham South 7/8

=2nd: Hardwick Green, Preston, 5/8

=4th: Throston, Holy Trinity, 3/8

6th: Mill Lane, 1/8


Roll of Honour

2011: Ings Farm and Throston

2012: Ings Farm and Billingham South

2013: Throston

2014: Errington

2015: Throston

2016: Sacred Heart

2017: Westgarth

2018: Westgarth

2019: Westgarth and Billingham South

2022: Fairfield and Throston

2023: Fairfield

2024: Wheatlands, Hemlington Hall and Preston

2025: Wheatlands, St. Pius X, Billingham South and Throston

2026: Park End, Billingham South

Here is a gallery from the event.

14th CSC Teesside Team Tournament: Middlesbrough Section

Today brought the Middlesbrough section of our three annual CSC Teesside inter-school team tournaments, organised and delivered by Catherine Lloyd and myself.

Hosted by Park End Primary, four teams were in action, including the 2024 champions, Hemlington Hall.

It was a very good day, with all of the children fully entering into the spirit of the tournament. We mobilised two extra Park End teams to make up for two schools which were unable to send teams this time.

Hemlington Hall pushed hard to keep themselves in contention for another title, but ultimately they lost out to Park End Y5s.

Celebrating 10 consecutive years of chess curriculum sessions, Park End became champions for the first time and now proudly take their place on our famous roll of honour.

Final Scores

1st: Park End Y5s, 7/8

2nd: Hemlington Hall, 5/8

3rd: Park End Y4s, 3/8

4th Park End Girls, 1/8

Roll of Honour

2011: Ings Farm and Throston

2012: Ings Farm and Billingham South

2013: Throston

2014: Errington

2015: Throston

2016: Sacred Heart

2017: Westgarth

2018: Westgarth

2019: Westgarth and Billingham South

2022: Fairfield and Throston

2023: Fairfield

2024: Wheatlands, Hemlington Hall and Preston

2025: Wheatlands, St. Pius X, Billingham South and Throston

2026: Park End

The Stockton and Redcar and East Cleveland events will both be played tomorrow.

Here is a gallery from today's event.

2026 Online Easter Quiz

Thank you to everyone who supported this year's Online Easter Quiz.

Mike and Alice followed up their Online Christmas Quiz success with another victory tonight but the scores were very close all round.

The next such event will take place in December (strictly by invitation only).

Open Thoughts: Session Four

Today we enjoyed the fourth Open Thoughts session at Yarm's Costa Coffee.

I invited several new people for this session, including David Berry, who will soon be opening up Grind & Gambit, Teesside's first-ever chess cafe.

We had games of three-way chess, four-way chess, Maharajah chess, three-check chess and even some normal games of chess too.

The relaxed atmosphere promoted good fun and fine conversations. Chess should never be just about rating points and bragging rights!

Thank you to everyone who helped to make the morning such a great success, including Costa's Jolita, shown (above) making the first move.

It was also the chess gathering with the finest selection of colours for both chess pieces and drinks ever seen in the history of chess itself.

Open Thoughts will return towards the end of Summer.

Grind & Gambit

Coming soon: A brand new chess cafe, in Seaton Carew!

Here is what to expect:

'Grind & Gambit was born from a simple idea: coffee should fuel both the daily grind and the game plan.

As a proudly independent coffee shop and board game café in Seaton Carew, Hartlepool, we created a space where strategy meets speciality coffee.

Whether you're mapping out your next big move, attending our chess club in Seaton Carew, Hartlepool, catching up with friends, or finding a quiet corner to recharge, we’ve created a safe space that blends warmth, creativity and playful strategy.'

Follow this link for further details, including forthcoming news on the launch date.

Open Thoughts: Session Three

We enjoyed a very good Open Thoughts session at Yarm's Costa this morning.

The snow and other matters unfortunately meant that some of the invited people could not make it, but everyone who was present still had a very good time playing a variety of chess variants, including intriguing battles with both the Three Way and Four Way chess sets.

The next session is this series of invitational events will probably take place some time near Easter.

Thank you to everyone who made the morning such a great success, including Costa's wonderful Jolita, who makes everything possible.