Marsh's Angels: Second Match, First Checkmate

Marsh's Angels played their second match, this time against Thornaby Juniors.

The games were closer than last time and they certainly had their chances.

There were many bright spots, despite losing the match 1-3. 

Catherine made her league debut and Nicky found an excellent checkmate, to record the first-ever win by the Angels!

BBC Radio Tees at Ingleby Barwick Library

BBC Radio Tees Gary Philipson show featured one of our thriving Ingleby Barwick Library sessions. 

CSC volunteer Joe McGinnis was one of several people interviewed during the broadcast.

The chess section of the show can be found here, starting at the 37 minute mark. 

There is also a video of the action, which can be found here.

Well done, Joe!

Our library sessions are free for players of all ages and abilities, so why not give them a try?

Marsh's Angels: Second Practice Tournament

The first of the new D Division's fixtures saw the Marsh's Angels involved in a resounding 4-0 victory.

Unfortunately, the result was not necessarily in our favour.

Therefore, the Angels reconvened for a second practice tournament, in order to prepare for their second league match, which will be played later this week.

Katie was the champion of the day with an excellent 6/6, just as she was for the first training tournament.

Catherine (3/6) was second, followed by Nicola (2.5/6) and Nicky (0.5/6).

Let us see how they do in their forthcoming league fixture!

Second Ali Ghiassi Memorial Tournament

New event!

Click here for the details of the Second Ali Ghiassi Memorial Tournament, organised by the one and only Jo Hutchinson!

Sixth Teesside Megafinal: Essential Information

 I am very pleased to announce the details of the Sixth Teesside Megafinal.

Event: 2023 Delancey UK Schools' Chess Challenge Teesside Megafinal. This year, children do not need to have qualified from the initial phase to enter a Megafinal. Entry is open to all!

Venue: Yarm Senior School, specifically the Princess Alexandra Auditorium.  This is one of the North East's premier concert venues and we are delighted to be back here. Parking is available on site.

Date: Sunday 30 April 2023

Timings: Please arrive for 9.30 a.m. Play will start at 10.00 a.m. The prize giving will be at approximately 5.00 p.m. but we are hoping to pull the timings forward if we have the opportunity to do so on the day.

Closing Date for Entries: Tuesday 25 April 2023

The online entry form and other information can be found on the UKCC website.

Format: All players will play six rounds, on the Swiss system. We will combine some of the sections but the champions of each one will receive the trophies and titles. Tied places will be resolved by the Sum of Progressive Scores tiebreaker.

Arbiter: Sean Marsh

General Information: 

The Megafinal has a set number of 150 places. Once these have been booked the online entry system will not allow any more.

We cannot accept any more entries once the Megafinal is full and we will definitely not be able to take extra entries on the day.

If you miss out on a place on Teesside, please try another Megafinal. They are listed here.

We cannot offer full supervision anywhere outside of the playing rooms. Parents/guardians must supervise their children at all times other than when the children are in the playing rooms.

Parents, guardians, teachers and chess coaches will not be allowed in the playing rooms during the rounds.

Problems arising during the games will be solved by the tournament Arbiter. Children must alert the Arbiter to any problems by raising their hand. It is very difficult to solve problems retrospectively.

The venue's cafe will be open and basic refreshments will be on sale throughout the day. However, we advise you to bring a packed lunch too.

We will be working very hard on the day trying to ensure everyone has a great time. As usual with our events, we want to keep the pressure on the children to an absolute minimum. To help protect this ethos, we want the children to relax between the rounds and to temporarily forget about their chess battles. It would be greatly appreciated if all parents, guardians, teachers, chess coaches et al supported this ethos too and helped all of the children to enjoy the day without applying any pressure between the rounds.

Full reports will appear across our range of social media platforms. Please let me know on the day if you have any concerns regarding the use of photographs.

The Arbiter's decision in all matters relating to the tournament is final.

A full list of Megafinal rules can be found on the UKCC website.

Sixth Teesside Megafinal: Managing Expectations

As previously mentioned, the Sixth Teesside Megafinal (click on the link to find the entry form) will soon be here and it seems to be a good moment to think about general expectations.

The vast majority of children play in Megafinals so they can have fun, enjoy the company of their friends, make new friends and to test their chess skills against children from other schools. Their level of play will almost certainly improve as a consequence.

Chess tournaments can be tough, especially if a player has unrealistic expectations going into the event.

Mixing wins with a similar number of defeats is perfectly logical expectation. Expecting to win every game without any particular difficulties along the way is not so logical.

Occasionally, it is reported to me that a child is 'heartbroken' or 'devastated' after (what they see as) an unsuccessful tournament performance. It goes beyond hyperbole, because the parents in question really do appear to believe that what they are saying is true.

This usually isn't far away from those who claim they want their child to learn the art of resilience through chess, only to claim, retrospectively, that not only did their child have to play strong opponents but also that their opponents cheated in every game.

If expectations are realistic then we wouldn't have to navigate through so much smoke and so many mirrors.

We never apply pressure to our pupils to perform at tournaments either in our chess classes or on a one-to-one basis.

We cannot monitor or control parental pressure, but we do find ourselves having to deal with the aftermath.

I have plenty of stories to tell another time, including how a parent threatened to set his Rottweiler dogs on me after his son failed to win a game.

For now, here is a reminder of the ethos of our Teesside tournaments:

'We will be working very hard on the day trying to ensure everyone has a great time. As usual with our events, we want to keep the pressure on the children to an absolute minimum.

To help protect this ethos, we want the children to relax between the rounds and to temporarily forget about their chess battles.

It would be greatly appreciated if all parents, guardians, teachers, chess coaches et al supported this ethos too and helped all of the children to enjoy the day without applying any pressure between the rounds.'

Catherine's Community Triumph

In between teaching chess in several of our schools and playing for Marsh’s Angels in the local chess league, CSC Teesside Tutor Catherine Lloyd somehow found the time to teach a group of 14 friends from - and at - the Tees Valley Community Church.

The feedback has been universally excellent and further sessions are no doubt in the pipeline.

Well done, Catherine!

Marsh's Angels: Debut Match

Marsh’s Angels are making their match debut right now - against Thornaby Destroyers!

Special Guest at RTMAT

Ian Iceton, Trustee and Chair of the Finance and HR Committee of the River Tees Multi-Academy Trust, joined in with one of CSC tutor Catherine Lloyd’s chess sessions this afternoon.

Ian is a keen chess player (and, until very recently, was also a Trustee of CSC). 

He won a game against one of our Catherine’s star pupils and was very pleased to accept a copy of CSC Workbook One!

Chess has really taken off at RTMAT since Catherine started delivering her weekly sessions and we are very proud of the admirable efforts of all concerned.

Headteacher Leanne Chilton is also in the picture, alongside Ian and Catherine.

Marsh's Angels: Preparation

This evening brought a meeting of Marsh’s Angels, to discuss the forthcoming fixtures.

I do believe chess was actually mentioned a couple of times.