From Saturday 25th January to Saturday 1st February 2025, over thirty BCA members gathered at the Lauriston Hotel, Weston-super-Mare for the 31st Chess Theme Break. It’s a very popular event as it combines a holiday with chess coaching, a tournament and a variety of evening entertainment. We had twelve chess trainees, eight coaches and twelve friends and organisers. We welcomed new trainees Mark Noble, Susan Hughes and John Ramm, as well as new coach Tris Cole, to their first Chess Theme Break. Other chess coaches were Bill Armstrong, Colin Chambers, Stan Lovell, John Jenkins, Richard Murphy, George Phillips, and Gerry Walsh. The coaches were all BCA members who had come along as volunteers to help others improve their game.
The first three days were reserved for coaching, with two hour sessions every morning and afternoon. Sometimes the training took place in small groups. For those with less experience, one to one training was arranged.
As always, Gerry’s “How Good is Your Chess?” sessions were very popular!
After all that coaching everyone needed a breather, so the Wednesday was a free day. Many people took the opportunity to join an excursion to The Helicopter Museum, where we were divided into small groups and were taken around the large number of helicopters by a volunteer. The tour was a tactile one, especially for visually impaired visitors, and even included the chance to sit in the pilot’s seat and get to grips with the controls!
Earlier in the week we had a group lunch in a local café.
Guide dog owners made the most of the nearby beach!
On Thursday morning we were visited by Steve Yabsley of BBC Radio Bristol, who interviewed many of the coaches and trainees to find out more about the Braille Chess Association and our activities. Steve was given a Chess Theme Break hat as a souvenir!
Thursday also saw a resumption of chess activities, with the first two rounds of a mini time-handicap tournament for the trainees in the morning. If two players are of roughly equal playing strength they get half an hour each on their clocks. If one player is significantly stronger than the other the hour is divided in favour of the weaker player. This means everyone has a chance to win and there were some exciting games!
There was then a pause in the tournament to accommodate a simultaneous display by members of the Weston chess club in the afternoon. BCA members performed better than they had done in the year before! John Ramm won his game against Alex Keen, Gary Wickett drew with Malcolm Dinham, and Tony Lawton drew with Kerry Kyriacou. More importantly, we enjoyed seeing our friends from Weston chess club again this year!
The tournament was completed on Friday, with Lea Ryan emerging as the winner with an impressive score of 4 out of 5! That evening, Lea was presented with a trophy.
In the evenings we had music, dancing, a quiz, a murder mystery and a “Call My Bluff” style word game. Freya and Gill Smith organised a very successful raffle, which raised £171 for BCA funds. We rounded off the week with a traditional BCA Soirée, compèred by Lea Ryan!
All in all, it was a great week and people are already looking forward to the 32nd Chess Theme Break in 2026!