CSC Teesside Training Day

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CSC Teesside Training Day

Middlesbrough Community Learning Centre

7.7.2014

John Foley - the chief trainer of Chess in Schools and Communities - returned to Teesside yesterday to deliver another day of top quality instruction and highly entertaining chess challenges.

As usual, we were very pleased with the facilities offered by the Middlesbrough Community Learning Centre, which is a fantastic venue, ideally suited for such an event.

There were 10 delegates. Some have already been working in our Teesside schools for a number of years and others were new to the whole CSC experience.

The game of Fox and Hounds was one of a number of stepping stones used by John to help work our way up to more challenging material.

John went on to demonstrate some key logical techniques as the fox tried to escape the attention of the hounds.

Next up was a session of mapping out territory on the chess board. This led to some very creative work and interesting colour patterns.

An increase in the level of challenge led to an increase in analytical discussion...

...and some genuine delight at solving the ''Eight Queens'' problem!

John eventually switched to mini-games. Can three pawns beat a bishop? Can five pawns beat a rook?

The event concluded with the ''Ultimate King Hunt'' challenge. The 10 delegates joined forces in an attempt to checkmate John's lone king. The delegates had to play moves in strict rotation, without conferring. This game the lone king a slim chance of survival...

...which John certainly made the most of, as he pulled off an unlikely stalemate.

Draw!

Thank you John for a fabulous training day and thank you to all of the delegates for supporting the event and making it such a success.

Please keep an eye on the Chess in Schools and Communities website for further training opportunities.