2017 British Chess Championships

The first round of the 104th British Chess Championships is now underway.

There are several North East chess players in action in the top section, including Grandmaster Daniel Gormally, International Master David Eggleston, Tim Wall, Charlie Storey, Roger Coathup, James Moreby and John Garnett.

Grandmasters Gawain Jones and Jonathan Hawkins have strong connections with the North East too, both having lived in the region in former times.

Additionally, Grandmaster Keith Arkell and International Master Richard Palliser have both helped with our Teesside juniors over the years.

Delancey UK Chess Challenge saviours and organisers Sarah and Alex Longson are in action also - fresh from organising two massive Gigafinals on consecutive weekends.

Other friends competing this year include FIDE Master Andrew Horton, whose games are certainly going to be instructive.

Plenty of local interest this year!

You can follow the games 'live' here.

Radio Chess

Malcolm Pein - Founder and Chief Executive of CSC - has just appeared live on Radio 5 Live to talk about our charity and the impact chess lessons have on our children.

He left listeners with a challenge.

White to play and checkmate in two moves!

Why not go and tweet your answer here?

https://twitter.com/bbc5live

Park End KO Championship

My last chess tournament of the current school year was the Knockout Championship at Park End Primary.

122 children entered the tournament and here are the results from the latter stages, together with some captured moments from the tense games.

Photograph © Park End Primary Twitter

Park End KO Chess Championship 2017

Last 16

Reggie Foxton 1-0 Kai S. Kelly

Callum Daniels 1-0 Kai Kelly

Zane Yusefi 0-1 Kian Baines

Joshua Lloyd 1-0 Zak Marshall

Ian Robson 0-1 Danni-Leigh Harrison

Lillie Cunningham 0-1 Ebony Duffy

Sam Glew 1-0 Leonie Mulraney

Dominic Jamieson 1-0 Rio Joseph

Photograph © Park End Primary Twitter

Quarter-Finals

Callum Daniels 1-0 Kian Baines

Joshua Lloyd 1-0 Danni-Leigh Harrison

Ebony Duffy 1-0 Reggie Foxton

Sam Glew 0-1 Dominic Jamieson

Photograph © Park End Primary Twitter

Semi-Finals

Joshua Lloyd 1-0 Ebony Duffy

Callum Daniels 0-1 Dominic Jamieson 

Photograph © Park End Primary Twitter

Final

Dominic Jamieson 1-0 Joshua Lloyd

Roll of Honour

Champion: Dominic Jamieson

Runner-up: Joshua Lloyd

=3rd: Ebony Duffy, Callum Daniels

I presented medals to all four semi-finalists as part of the school assembly last Tuesday.

On the same day, we were very pleased to see Ian (winner of the parent's mini-tournament the previous day) when he came back into school to help with his daughters Y3 class during their chess session.

This very happy photograph concludes our reports on the year 2016-7.

Thank you to all of our schools for such a fantastic year of chess!

Northern Gigafinal 2017

Last weekend brought the Northern Gigafinal of the Delancey UK Chess Challenge. Gigafinals are for those who scored highly at the regional Megafinals.

The Wright Robinson College in Manchester was once again the venue.

The last time I was in Manchester it was to see these promising youngsters, back in December...

Last weekend I was there again to see lots more promising youngsters, including a plethora of stars from CSC Teesside, spread across the many sections from Under-7s upwards.

I was delighted to be reunited with two of my top CSC friends - David Hardy and Glenn Trueman - on the CSC stall, where we all spread the word about the CSC while trying to avoid defeat against a veritable avalanche of eager young chess challengers.

There's no doubt about it - Gigafinals are very tough events and it is not at all easy to score even a single point. However, our Teesside children really got stuck in and everyone did themselves proud.

The full results can be accessed here (click on the relevant part of the 'Tournament Selection' to see the results according to section) but here are the collated Teesside scores.

Under-7 Boys

1.5/6: Zachary Green, Jack Wilkinson

0/6: Oscar Watson


Under-7 Girls

3/6: Natasha Pointon 


Under-8 Boys

3.5/6: Aryan Nalawade

2.5/6: Aditya Paul

1.5/6: Seth Holland, James Thompson

0/6: Kenneth Bezrucko


Under-8 Girls

3/6: Isobel McGlade, Lily Tattersall

2.5/6: Emily Rowe-Simpson

2/6: Farrell Scott


Under-9 Boys

3/6: Samuel Bolton

2/6: Ben Meager

1.5/6: Ajay Selvan

1/6: Cartlon Nevison


Under-9 Girls

3.5/6: Freya Costello

1/6: Evie Veasey


Under-10 Boys

3/6: Ellis Anderson, Henry Parker

2/6: Matthew Finn



Under-10 Girls

2.5/6: Eleanor Lamb

2/6: Eleanor Whitwell

1.5/6: Evie Harbisher, Molly Bryce


Under-11 Boys

3/6: Joshua Nichol


Under-11 Girls

2/6: Keya Shah, Leia McCusker


Under-12 Boys

3.5/6: Ihsaan Mahmood

3/6: Benjy Millward


Under-14 Boys

1/6: Matthew Bradwell


There are clearly some outstanding scores there and, more importanly, excellent experience was gained by all of our players. Watch out when you next have to play against them!

All of our CSC Teesside schools enter the UK Chess Challenge every year. Any schools wishing to join the fun should keep an eye on the UKCC website. Entries usually open in the Autumn term.

Following a period of great uncertainty, the UKCC is now in very safe hands after being taken over by Sarah and Alex Longson.

Sarah and Alex have lots of exciting plans to further develop the UKCC and we are looking forward to seeing the plans come to fruition.

Chess on TV

A short time ago I reported on a day of filming at Park End Primary School.

I am delighted to add that the special chess report was featured on the ITV Tyne Tees News last night.

Our previous blog report showed the action from behind the scenes and here is the view from the other side of the camera, both from the screenshots below and the programme itself, which can be seen here.

Fabulous performances from the Park End children and staff alike! We could do with a weekly TV programme now...

Park End Chess Parents

Park End Primary School in Middlesbrough continues to produce innovative chess events.

Today we delivered a Training Day for an eager set of parents, some of whom were more than a little tired of losing to their children at chess. 

It was time to turn the tables!

The morning sessions featured intensive coaching and some written work. 

We did spot one or two children entering the training room with flimsy excuses ('I'm just bringing this chair back') but we knew for sure they were simply there to spy on our hard work and preparation because...following an excellent school lunch the parents spent the afternoon playing their children!

Some of the parents played in a tournament as their final piece of preparation and, as the scores clearly show, it was a very competitive affair. Ian was crowned champion after many close battles.

Then it was time for the serious games as the children descended on the training room.

We didn't keep a full record of the scores (we didn't want to cause any family arguments between parents and children) but the expressions below should tell a few tales of their own...

Chess levels the playing field and breaks down all barriers. More chess in schools! More chess for all!

Library Chess Update

Further details are now available about the special project bringing together CSC Teesside, our local libraries and our local chess clubs.

Everyone is welcome and there is no need to book. Just turn up and take part!

Juniors, adults, novices and Grandmasters are all welcome.

David Smith of Middlesbrough Chess Club will lead the sessions at Middlesbrough Central Library.

Sean Cassidy of Stockton Chess Club will lead the sessions at the Stockton Central Library.