Sean Marsh
Mini-Uncut!

Shoppers in Middlesbrough’s Captain Cook Square were able to take a little time-out from over burdening their credit cards last Sunday 29th June 2003.

Cleveland Chess teamed up with Middlesbrough Borough Council to spend a few hours with the big outdoor chess set, inviting all-comers to try their hand at the world’s greatest game.

The idea was to bring the game of chess to the public, this raising its profile, and hopefully showing that the basics can be mastered in a matter of minutes by anyone, allowing everyone to enjoy a game.

The big pieces certainly caught the attention of the people. Within minutes, members of the public were eager to try out their skills. One young boy aged only four (‘On my next birthday I’ll be THIS many’ he said, holding out five fingers) won a great game but struggled to drag his captured pieces off the board as they nearly all bigger than him.

	Or Goldreich, one of our most promising juniors, occupied the board for the last 40 minutes or so,
and proved impossible to beat. A shopper by the name of Stuart, having been checkmated in three moves, was expected to make a hasty retreat, but battled gamely through two other games before calling it a day.
	Or was clearly happy with his performance and raises his arms to the sky with delight as shoppers applauded the young mans 3 - 0 win over Stuart

Help was on hand from Middlesbrough Borough Council’s Liz James and Cleveland Chess stalwarts Steve Henderson and David Smith.

We attracted the interest of the Evening Gazette and even Tyne Tees Television. Here's Sean Marsh with the TV Crew getting interviewed.
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