The second of our Open Thoughts chess sessions took place today, at Costa Coffee in Yarm.
The series started in May, with a wonderful inaugural event.
These events are strictly by invitation only, partly due to space restrictions and partly due to an appreciation of who will derive the most benefit from the sessions and also who will bring the most to the sessions with their unique and special personalities.
Social chess should always be fun, as proved by the fantastic Chess by the Tees day at the start of this month.
Costa Coffee in Yarm acted as perfect hosts again, despite the pressure of space (the upstairs is currently being refurbished).
The wonderful Jolita (pictured, above) made the whole group feel very welcome.
Our colourful chess sets and boards, together with an array of chess variants (including the debut of Three Way Chess), all added to the fun.
On a personal note, I have to report that Clair defeated my Maharaja Queen (something whole groups of people - including Grandmasters - have never managed to do over the course dozens of CSC training days all across the UK) and Dara beat me 3-1 at Three Check Chess (although, looking at his scores against other players, I did well to score a single victory).
Thank you to everyone who helped to make the session such a great success.
The next Open Thoughts event will be towards the end of the year and I am hoping the people who were away this time will be available again.
