Project 50 Zoom Quiz 2022

We had a lot of fun during the Project 50 Zoom Quiz last night.

Dave Baillie is the new champion, with a fabulous score of 62 points from a possible 65.

The team of Matt, Florence and Clementine Piper finished in second place, with 56 points. Peter Harker and Stephen Ollis shared third place with 53 points.

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Training Day Tour 2022-23: Online Day

Following hard on the heels of the tour dates in Manchester and London, our final CSC Training Day of 2022 took place online yesterday.

Tour dates for 2023 will follow very soon, so please keep an eye on this page.

ECF Book of the Year 2022 Presentation

The ECF Book of the Year presentation took place two days ago. Grandmaster Michael Adams was unavailable, but he did send this message:

''I’m sorry that I can’t be with you in person, but wanted to thank the judges for your kind words about our book, and for awarding it the 2022 ECF Book of the Year award.

I would also like to thank Phil, without whom the book would never have come about, and our publishers Quality Chess for committing to this project.

When you are writing a book you can never be sure how it will be received, especially given the unusual format of our collaboration, even though I was very attracted to Phil’s original concept.

So, it has been very satisfying to receive so much positive feedback from readers, and winning this award is very gratifying, and makes all our hard work worthwhile.''

As the third part of the trio of judges, I was unavailable too. We normally make the presentation at the London Chess Classic which is, alas, taking a break this year.

Further details on Think Like a Super-GM can be found here.

Graphic Chess Comic

Incoming news from Colin Paterson in Glasgow: There is a brand new graphic chess comic! 

It is published by Dekko Comics/Rossie Stone and sponsored by North Glasgow Homes.

Further information is available at: https://dekkocomics.com.

Tutor Gathering

The annual CSC Teesside tutor gathering took place last night.

Over fine food, we discussed which schools and pupils have been naughty and which have been nice (one list is considerably larger than the other, but it saves on presents).

Mrs Lloyd, Mr Cassidy and Mr Harris were present.

If you look closely enough, you may be able to spot Mr Dave Edmunds too.

We rounded off the evening with a trip to the cinema to watch a film all about chess.

Wise Men

 

'Cold, Frankenstein and Mirth.'

Who said there are no wise men to be found within CSC Teesside?

There are at least three in this picture alone.

Classroom Tips

Tips to prevent illnesses sweeping through the classroom:

1) Open some windows.

2) Reduce the sickening heat to a level which deters reptiles from basking.

3) Open some windows.

4) Have a box of tissues in the classroom and encourage sniffers to use them.

5) Open some windows.

6) Instruct children to wash and dry their hands after toilet trips.

7) Open some windows.

8) Stop pretending the temperatures are sub-zero and saying: ‘I’m sooooo cold’ every two minutes.

9) Open some windows.

10) Instruct children to cover their mouths when they cough.

And, most of all, open some windows.

Tragic Scenes

There are still over two more weeks to go until the Christmas break, but we are already witnessing tragic scenes in staffrooms all across the UK.

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