Tyneside club matches attract new players

(Chronicle Chess 20 October 2023)

Club chess on Tyneside is thriving, with six divisions, 37 teams and up to 150 players taking part in the 2023-24 Northumbria League. Many of these players and teams are new to league chess.

This week Divisions 1, 3 and 5 have been in action.

Newcastle A, who won Division 1 last season as Forest Hall A before joining the newly formed Newcastle Chess Club, won narrowly 2.5-1.5 against just-promoted Jesmond.

On Board 1, Newcastle’s Tim Wall was held to a draw by Chris Goodall, while on Board 3 Jesmond’s Andy Trevelyan scored a surprise win over Matthew Forster. The two remaining boards went to Newcastle, with Andy Burnett and Zheming Zhang triumphing over Gary Murphy (a new Jesmond signing from Tynedale) and Sophie Atkinson, respectively.

The other four teams in Division 1 have yet to report results. Gosforth Empire, who have recruited Roger Coathup from Morpeth and Jack Erskine-Pereira from Liverpool, travel to South Shields A in what is expected to be a close match. Leam Lane Aces, with David Walker and Graeme Oswald on top boards, are slight favourites against Tynemouth A.

In Division 3, Morpeth B, Tynemouth B and Gosforth Centurions have all won their first matches.

Leam Lane Comets and Tynemouth C currently lead Division 5.

In the Northumberland County Championships, a total of 41 players in three competitions (Zollner, Sell and Gilroy) are playing the first of seven rounds.

In the Zollner, Tim Wall (Newcastle), David Armbruster (Gosforth) and Andy Trevelyan (Jesmond) lead with 1/1.

In the Sell, Paul Bielby (South Shields), Stuart Skelsey (Forest Hall), Mick Riding and James Ross (both Gosforth) are leading.

And in the Gilroy, eight players have won their first round games: Denise Mosse (Gateshead), Andrew Robinson, Mark McKay and David Pritchard (all Gosforth), David Peardon (South Shields), David Simm (Morpeth), Jeff Baird (Forest Hall) and Joseph Miller (Leam Lane).

On 14 October, Gosforth ran a blitz tournament, with all proceeds donated to Beam Café on Gosforth High Street, run by the Smile for Life Children’s Charity.

Next Monday, 23 October, Newcastle Chess Club is holding an open training session for members and visitors at Tyneside Irish Centre from 6:30pm to 9:15pm, with Tim Wall, a FIDE Trainer, leading a session with puzzles and exercises on “Attacking the Castled King. Entry is £2 and open to adult and junior players from any chess club. Anyone interested in coming along should contact: timpeterwall@gmail.com