Chess clubs around the North East are staging their biggest recruitment drive of recent years as new players are taking up the game in droves. Encouraged by playing online, many new players are joining chess clubs – in schools, libraries, social clubs and pubs. Clubs are reaching out more to recruit new members – offering a mix of friendly and competitive chess.
Alnwick Grandmaster Danny Gormally enjoyed a handsome victory in the North East Qualifier for the 2024 UK Blitz Championships, held on Sunday 6th October at Gosforth Empire Club. Gormally scored 14.5 points out of 15, well ahead of the field.
I may have just played my finest chess game of the year. Despite never entering the Northumbria Individual Championship before, I decided to leap into the deep end and compete in the prestigious Zollner section for the first time.
Alnwick grandmaster Danny Gormally won the 60th Northumberland Weekend Congress, but only after seeing off a strong challenge from three seriously under-rated junior players.
The 2024-25 Northumberland Individual Championships are under way, with a total of 62 players set to battle it out over the next seven months for the coveted Zollner, Sell and Gilroy trophies. This is an impressive entry, up some 50 per cent on previous years and underlining the welcome increase in chess activity on Tyneside in the last few years.
As any sports fan will tell you, in Cup Finals underdogs often rise to the occasion and defeat the favourites. In the Northumberland Summer Chess Cup Final, Forest Hall Badgers pulled off an impressive giant-killing act to defeat Morpeth A, while Gosforth Regents defeated their club mates Gosforth Centurions in the Plate Final.
The Northumberland Weekend Congress celebrates its 60th edition later this month at the Parks Leisure Centre, North Shields. Over 130 players are expected to compete for a total of £2,200 in prizes.
The Northumberland Summer Cup and Plate’s 22 teams have been whittled down to just four for the Finals, which take place on Monday September 16 at Gosforth Chess Club. Morpeth take on Forest Hall Badgers in the Cup Final, while Gosforth Regents play Gosforth Centurions in the Plate Final.
The Northumbria Masters Congress in Darlington concluded this Bank Holiday Monday with a striking success for Gosforth’s James Moreby, who won the International Master tournament. His IM result, called a norm, means he needs just one more such success to qualify for the title.
The Northumbria Masters Congress is in full swing this Bank Holiday weekend, with a total of nine Grandmasters and 11 International Masters playing nine games each at the Dolphin Centre, Darlington. The congress, with 150 players in total, is the North of England’s top annual international event.