Gosforth and Durham win chess ‘Oscars’
THE North East has received two of the UK’S most prestigious chess awards – the English Chess Federation’s Club of the Year and Congress of the Year – reflecting a renaissance in the region’s chess fortunes.
Gosforth Chess Club, which meets twice weekly (Monday evenings for adults and Saturday mornings for juniors) at the Gosforth Empire Club and Institute at 32-34 Salters Road, has won the ECF Club of the Year competition for the first time. The club has done energetic outreach work since the pandemic, virtually doubling its membership, with a regular
attendance of 30-40 adults on Mondays and 20-30 juniors on Saturdays.
The club has not just won multiple league division titles, but has also recruited heavily among young adults, particularly young women. Many of the club’s members are now in their 20s and 30s, and there are close to a dozen female adult members of the club.
Gosforth also has a thriving junior section, and has a roster of volunteer coaches running its sessions from 10am-noon on Saturdays.
This summer, the club has also branched out into outdoors chess, holding “Chess in the Park” days at Urban Green cafes in Exhibition Park and Gosforth Park. The third “park chess” day is planned for Saturday, 13 August, at the Jesmond Dene picnic area from 11am to
4.30pm. All players, from absolute beginner to experienced competitor, are welcome.
The ECF Congress of the Year award goes to the Durham Chess Congress, which this May was relaunched, with 160 participants, at Darlington’s Dolphin Centre – twice the numbers before the pandemic. The venue was provided by Darlington Council, and proved a big hit with players and spectators alike. The weekend event also made national media headlines thanks to a remarkable victory by eightyear-old Ukrainian Maksym Kryshtafor, who won all five of his games just days after arriving in the UK from Odesa.
What both awards have in common is Mick Riding, the chair of Gosforth Chess Club, who is also organiser of the Durham Congress and
the Northumberland Weekender, which is being held at The Parks Leisure Centre, North Shields, from September 30-October 2. To get involved in Gosforth Chess Club or play in the Northumberland Weekender, you can contact Mick at mickriding@hotmail.co.uk
Before then, the Northumbria Masters Congress (August 26-30, at St Mary’s Catholic School, Benton Park Road, Newcastle) still has plenty of places available for all levels and experience. To enter, contact Tim Wall at timpeterwall@gmail.com or visit www. northumbriamasters.com to enter online.
This week’s puzzles feature more tactics from the Chennai Olympiad, where Gold medals were won by Uzbekistan’s Open team and Ukraine’s Women’s team.