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| Photograph copyright © John Saunders |
I was the co-director of the 7th London Chess Conference, which had the theme of Chess and Female Empowerment. The venue was one of our favourites - the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith.
I enjoyed being the official link between CSC and conference director John Foley’s ChessPlus organisation and chairing lots of sessions too.
The sessions were, generally speaking, highly positive and productive.
It was a real eye-opener to hear stories of the struggles some women have faced to find their way into the chess world. On the other hand, there were also stories of a much smoother passage, with little sign of discrimination. Jo Hutchinson’s very interesting and thoughtful presentation certainly showed a much more positive side to the story than most. We shall return to Jo's presentation in the near future.
Elsewhere, there were excellent bonus presentations from Matthew Sadler and Natasha Reagan, promoting their award-winning Game Changer book, plus Jonathan Rowson on his new book The Moves That Matter.
Judit Polgar arrived on the Sunday afternoon and her presence proved to be extremely popular. I had a short stint as her discreet minder when the queue for attention, autographs and photographs produced a potentially overwhelming groundswell of activity.
Many connections were made over the course of the weekend. The important thing now is for people to take ideas from the sessions and run with them. What can be achieved, if more people can work together?
Incidentally, material is being added all of the time to the official conference website so keep an eye out for updates.
It was back to The Irish Cultural Centre at the end of the week, for my final action of this year’s Classic. This time I was Chairperson for the annual CSC Tutor Conference.
The first of the two days focused heavily on safeguarding and classroom management skills. Neither are easy subjects but it is easy to understand why CSC places such a large emphasis on the two.
The second day brought a diverse range of other subjects, with one highlight being further developments with the chess in prisons project.
It was back to The Irish Cultural Centre at the end of the week, for my final action of this year’s Classic. This time I was Chairperson for the annual CSC Tutor Conference.
The first of the two days focused heavily on safeguarding and classroom management skills. Neither are easy subjects but it is easy to understand why CSC places such a large emphasis on the two.
The second day brought a diverse range of other subjects, with one highlight being further developments with the chess in prisons project.
It was very to see so many friends and colleagues over the course of the weekend and so far the feedback has all been very positive.
Business concluded, it was time to head off to King’s Cross once again as another Classic drew to a close.
We conclude with a gallery from my own experiences at the education conference with a sprinkling of moments from other parts of the Classic, featuring images from top photographers Lennart Ootes and John Saunders (both of whom gave permission to use their images).
Business concluded, it was time to head off to King’s Cross once again as another Classic drew to a close.
We conclude with a gallery from my own experiences at the education conference with a sprinkling of moments from other parts of the Classic, featuring images from top photographers Lennart Ootes and John Saunders (both of whom gave permission to use their images).
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| In full flow at the London Chess Classic Photograph copyright © Lennart Ootes |
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| Photograph copyright © Lennart Ootes |
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| Thoroughly enjoying charing sessions at the 7th London Chess Conference. Photograph copyright © John Saunders |
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| Photograph copyright © John Saunders |
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| Photograph copyright © John Saunders |
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| Photograph copyright © John Saunders |
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| Photograph copyright © John Saunders |
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| Photograph copyright © John Saunders |
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| Minder! Photograph copyright © John Saunders |
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| Conference Director John Foley Photograph copyright © John Saunders |
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| With Jo, my hard-working friend Photograph copyright © John Saunders |
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| CSC Teesside in action! Photograph copyright © Lennart Ootes |
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| Photograph copyright © Lennart Ootes |
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| Making the opening move for the eventual champion Ding Liren Photograph copyright © Lennart Ootes |
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| Photograph copyright © Lennart Ootes |
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| CSC Teesside following the live games, just behind CSC chief Malcolm Pein Photograph copyright © Lennart Ootes |
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| Judit Polgar was happy to visit the junior tournament. Organiser Aga worked very hard all week, as usual Photograph copyright © Lennart Ootes |
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| The fabulous Game Changer presentation Photograph copyright © Lennart Ootes |
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| Presenting the ECF Book of the Year award to Natasha and Matthew Photograph copyright © Lennart Ootes |
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| Chris Fegan getting a book signed; Tao happy to make another sale Photograph copyright © Lennart Ootes |
A concluding gallery will follow in the next blog post.
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