North East chess looks set for an exciting 2025 after a year of growth in all formats, with organisers confident of making a breakthrough at the adult and junior levels.

Going from rags to riches is the stuff of legend, but few people would expect it to happen from chess. Yet in the global chess explosion we are currently witnessing, an 18-year-old from India, Dommaraju Gukesh, is battling it out for the World Championship in Singapore with China’s Ding Liren for a $2.5 million (£2 million) prize fund.

Two teams from Newcastle Chess Club, formed just last year, have gone top in their divisions of the Northumbria League. Newcastle Dragons are leading Division 1 with 6 match points from four matches, while Newcastle Jesters lead Division 4 with 4 points from three matches.

The great Liverpool manager Bill Shankly once said that “football isn’t just a matter of life and death. It’s much more important than that.” But learning to cope with victory and defeat with equal grace, and recognising that a sport is just a game that we play by the rules, is a very important life lesson.