Staff vs Students at St Marylebone

St Marylebone CE School has the distinction of being the closest secondary school to the CSC office on Baker St. It’s perhaps no coincidence then that it also has a thriving chess club, with up to 40 girls attending each week. Mr Ford, the club’s leader, has done an amazing job in the past couple of years, building this club up from scratch and generating plenty of interest amongst the school’s students, such that the school now competes in our annual Westminster tournament and many of its members join us for ChessFest in Trafalgar Square.

Mr Ford’s latest initiative is to encourage more of the school staff to take part in the club. Last week saw the second Staff vs Students Chess Match, offering the teachers the chance to gain revenge for the 8-4 defeat they suffered just before Christmas. The students have improved in the first three months of the year. Keen to win at any cost, the staff drafted two pupils in to bolster their team, including a Y12 student on Board 2. The rematch was indeed closer than the original. At one stage it appeared that the teachers might even achieve a draw, but in the end it was better management of the chess clock that helped the students to another victory, albeit by the closer score of 6.5-4.5.

Our huge thanks to Mr Ford for all he does promoting chess at the school. We look forward to finding out how the students get on in their next match, this time against pupils of their sister school, St Marylebone CE Bridge School. Staff vs student matches are a great way to generate more interest in school chess clubs. Which pupil will ever forget the time they beat one of their teachers…