CSC Training Day Tour 2023-24: Birmingham

The 2023-24 CSC Training Day Tour continued with its busiest-ever spell of dates, with a fine day in sunny Birmingham.

Nobody can remember the last time there was a CSC Training Day in this city (it was more pre-historic than pre-COVID), despite the best efforts emanating from some quarters to make it a reality.

It was a major triumph to finally overcome certain obstacles and plant the CSC flag in this particularly neglected city.

The last time I had been to Birmingham was to see Stray Cats, when I followed them to all four dates of their UK tour, but that was back in 2019. This time, together with the Great Catherine Lloyd and armed with enough chess sets and other chess equipment to last a lifetime, it was time for a completely different tour date.

The delegates came from far and wide to help us to reestablish a foothold in Birmingham and they included not only a former junior player who used to play in my tournaments in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but also a gentleman who, at 88 (and still going very strong) is almost certainly the oldest delegate we have ever had on our tours.

We had a great time working with everyone and we now hope to build upon this new success during the school year 2024-25 and beyond.

Thank you, everyone, for working so hard.

Here is a gallery from our busy day.

CSC Training Day Tour 2023-24: York

The 2023-24 Training Day Tour continued yesterday, with a day trip to sunny York, for the first time since May 2023.

The venue was the magnificent Tag Hall Explore, a very impressive and vibrant community hub, who provided us with everything Catherine Lloyd I needed to be able to deliver a very successful training day.

Thank you to everyone who helped to make the day such a great success.

This year's CSC Training Day Tour is drawing to close, but there are still a couple more date. Head here for further details.

Here is a gallery from our busy day.

CSC Training Day Tour 2023-24: Liverpool

The CSC Training Day Tour returned to Liverpool on Saturday, for the first time since the Summer of 2021.

Back then, in a tiny window between lockdowns, the delegates were all masked (I still don't know what most of them look like).

This time, we encountered the hottest day of the year so far and were thankful for the venue's impressive air conditioning.

The venue in question was the magnificent North Liverpool Academy and we must immediately thank the Academy's Principal, Emily Vernon, for providing everything we needed with the minimum of fuss.

Catherine Lloyd and I teamed up with Rob Steele (CSC Merseyside Regional Organiser) for the day and we were joined by no fewer than 13 eager delegates.

We had a very good day and it will be interesting to see how the delegates will now put their new skills to use.

We conclude with a gallery from the day.

Thank you, Liverpool!

Forthcoming dates for the 2023-4 CSC Training Day Tour can be found here.