President's page

Message from Peter Cloudsdale, President ( ECF accredited coach.)

The three victorious County captains on the day with Peter Cloudsdale

"The Association has had a memorable season with a number of new initiatives and has made real progress in different areas.

The county had sucess in 3 events together with winning the Girls under14 Championship and the Ward Higgs postal event.

Our website, (due to Patrick Senior’s excellent effort) has helped to develop communication, ensuring news of events is available quickly and has helped to build links between our clubs and  chess organizations.

The Saturday League has been very competitive and I am pleased to see Leeds Juniors and Sheffield D and E incorporating juniors, so that they get valuable long play experience.

The Congresses have all been successful with notable performances by Jean Luc Weller (York), Kiruthika Rajeswaran (Huddersfield) and Andrew Ledger (Doncaster).The Junior Grand Prixs proved popular with good venues including Hull City, Meadowhall and Alcuin School.

I feel the association should  go in a new direction in various  ways:-                
To increase the adult membership, we need a vigorous campaign to attract more members, as some clubs are struggling to survive.  Wakefield is now flourishing thanks to efforts made to develop chess at QEGS.  I have attended open days at various schools to increase awareness.  Another initiative I have implemented is to visit primary schools and encourage them to form chess club, so that the children can eventually join local clubs.

Another issue I feel strongly about, is that clubs need to consider where they hold their meetings, because poor facilities do not attract any potential members.  It should be remembered that there are many other interests such as music, sport and drama, which compete for enthusiasts.

A further area we are concerned in with is, after consultation, to consider running chess events with the Blind Chess Association (BCA) we and would hope to incorporate people with other disabilities as well.

Some good news is that James Bowler won an English event and good performances were given by a number of juniors; especially Evie Hollingworth making her debut in the 4 NCL. Other good performances were by Amanda Hipshon and Francesca Fozard in various events.  The White Rose teams 1 and 2 have provided a good and well run platform for juniors to compete in, with the second team allowing strong juniors to meet adequately challenging opponents.    The Renaissance Academy run in Bradford by Charles Wood has opened chess up to many who would never have known about it.  Mike Butt at Hull chess club is making strenuous efforts to enliven the junior participation in their club.

I wish everyone an enjoyable and successful season!"

Peter Cloudsdale.