Scapegoating

Anyone who knows me will understand I don't usually comment on political issues.

Yet when I hear that 'experts' are blaming school exclusions for the rise in knife crime, drugs and gangs it really is too much of a red rag.

It is also cheap scapegoating of the worst kind.

It appears someone, somewhere has spotted two graphs with a similar-looking curve and used one to excuse the other - and let loose a rallying cry of 'blame the schools.'

Anyone who has worked in schools will be able to present a more balanced point of view. They will understand, for one thing, that school exclusions are extremely difficult to process (many years) and are only utilised as an absolute final resort. They are not something that could - or should - be commonplace or utilised on a whim.

Does anyone outside of education really understand or appreciate what schools are up against at the moment? It seems unlikely.

Year after year of budget cuts have come tumbling down from above. I try hard to convince schools of the benefits of introducing chess to their internal culture, at a relatively small cost - and all the time the very same schools are having to let staff go because they can no longer afford to keep everyone in work.

I have had Headteachers virtually in tears because they desperately want to keep an ethos of enrichment in their schools but simply do not have the financial resources to do so.

Class sizes continue to go through the roof. Who, now, remembers the promises from above to reduce class sizes to a maximum of 25 - and to keep them there? I do.

Countless teachers I have known have had to retire from the world of education for a variety of reasons, usually involving copious amounts of pressure. Fine, dedicated people who found the job was suddenly worlds away from the one they dreamed of doing. The felt they could no longer make a difference, when the desire to make a difference was the very reason they chose a career in education in the first place.

Yes - the problems of gangs, drugs and knife crime have complex backgrounds and causes. There are plenty of sizeable elephants in the room which nobody dare even mention (and to which I may return another time). If you a want a war on drugs, for example, do it properly.

But meanwhile, I can reiterate what I said more than once before. In all of my schools I know for sure how dedicated and committed the staff are, despite plenty of challenges and lengthening hours of duty.

So please...don't blame the schools.

Why the Long Face?

Just a little World Book Day fun for the lunchtime chess club.

Brand New Shadow

We are no strangers to shadows here on Teesside. Who can forget the impact made by my excellent friends Andrew MacQueen, Sean Cassidy and John Lydon? Yes, Teesside always enjoys visits by the shadows and all are welcome to return any time they like.

This week it was the turn of Jo Hutchinson, who had been present at my highly memorable Hull Training Day. Jo travelled all the way from Scunthorpe to shadow me for two full days in a couple of our Teesside schools.

The first of the two days was spent at The Links Primary School and Jo had a very good day teaching the children of Y4, Y5 and Y6 and facilitating rounds of the Delancey UK Schools' Chess Challenge.

A post-school chess challenge was issued and, try as I might, I could not distract my illustrious opponent from the game.

Even a celeriac and mushroom risotto failed to prevent intense analysis of our moves...nor did a very green smoothie from Mint Hobo.

The second day was spent at Park End Primary (stars of The One Show), where, of course, virtually every member of staff is as chess-mad as the children.

It was a day of Y3s and Y5s; six groups of children in total. Jo even found the time to play some of our excellent chess-playing staff, including the wonderful Miss King, who put up a very good fight in a Dutch Defence.

Then, fuelled by a wonderful Park End lunch...

...it was time for a big game with Mr Tapner.

Sorry, Mr Tapner - but that is checkmate!

Jo was excellent company and I hope we can work together again very soon.

The only problem is...the children all now want Jo to be their regular chess teacher, instead of me! (Eh...!?)

Thank you to everyone at both The Links and Park End for making the two days such a wonderful experience and for giving Jo a great Teesside welcome.

2019 Teesside Megafinal Details

Event: 2019 Delancey UK Schools' Chess Challenge Teesside Megafinal. This for anyone who has qualified for a Megafinal through their own school or club. Over-11s (children at Secondary/Senior schools) do not need to qualify; they can just enter at this stage.

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 5 May 2019

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.

The full list of timings 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

Gigafinal Qualification: All players require three and a half or more points out of six to qualify for the Manchester Gigafinal. 

The full Gigafinal dates have now been confirmed:

London, 29-30 June 2019, Orleans Park School, Twickenham

Midlands, 6-7 July 2019, Grace Academy, Solihull

Northern, 13-14 July, Wright Robinson College, Manchester

Southern, 20-21 July, Sandown Park Racecourse

The tournament is not just about qualifying for the Gigafinal. It should be seen primarily as an excellent experience for all competitors who will be able to learn a lot by playing against new opponents from a large number of different schools.

If you have not qualified for a Megafinal and would like to try to do so, please consider the Last Chance Saloons.

General Information: 

The Megafinal has a set number of 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.

International Chess Challenge: Both Games On!

The King's Gambit between Yarm Senior School and Hutt International Boys' School in New Zealand is getting very lively.

We last saw the position after 4 h4.

Yarm Senior School v Hutt International Boys' School

Now both sides have moved again.

4 ...g4

Meeting fire with fire, Black refuses to allow the pawn structure to be dismantled and the threatened pawn moves forward, attacking the knight.

5 Ne5

Black to play

The knight moves to the most aggressive post. Often, in the King's Gambit, the knight will be sacrificed on f7 to further reduce the pawn protection of the black king.

Meanwhile, the game between Hutt International Boys' School ands Park End Primary has started too.

Park End Primary v Hutt International Boys' School

1 g3 e6

In contrast to the Yarm game, this one has seen a cautious start by both sides, which will see both sides developing their pieces calmly before any major conflict occurs.

White to play

Yarm Prep. School UKCC

Yarm Prep. School had their Delancey UK Chess Challenge yesterday.

61 children entered the tournament, and there were players all the way from Year 2s (playing in their first-ever chess event) up to Year 6s.

We had a very good day and 16 players qualified for the Teesside Megafinal (more on that event in the next report).

Well done everyone!

Training Day Tour 2018-9: Newcastle

This year's Training Day Tour has taken me all the way from The Isle of Arran to Truro but the latest leg was somewhat closer to home.

This year's Newcastle Training Day brought record high temperatures for a winter's day, which was in complete contrast to the conditions of exactly one year ago, when half of the delegates couldn't even get to the venue due to an uncommon amount of snow.

Newcastle is a city steeped in history and culture, with the Theatre Royal, where I famously saw Evita three times in 2018, being one of my favourite theatres...

...and Lord Grey keeps an eye on the city from the magnificent monument.

It was while I was taking these photographs that I was suddenly accosted by Radio Newcastle, who wanted to ask me how many 'Duff's there were at the start of the Eastenders theme tune.

We spoke about chess too and the show is still available, here. Scroll to two hours and 22 minutes for the exclusive chess content.

The City Library proved to be an excellent new venue for us. 

We had 10 delegates yesterday and they came from a variety of backgrounds. There were teachers, librarians, parents...all wanting to augment their existing skills to be able to take their chess ventures a shade further.

I was assisted by CSC Tyneside's Regional Organiser, Tim Wall, who was able to inform the delegates of the current chess activities in the region.

Soon enough, it was time to put the delegates to work. Everyone entered into the spirit of the day and it was clear from the start we were in for a fun and lively day.

The delegates completed a whole range of tasks and the section on the benefits of chess generated a very interesting group discussion.

Tim was game for a challenge or two and he played the delegates in two special games.

A little more work and a few more games...

...and then we were ready for a real treat, as Tim had offered to perform his extraordinary party piece - The 12 Days of Chessmas.

Well, there is no following that - but Tim is now available for festive bookings...

Thank you, everyone, for making it such a successful day.