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New Chess Players at the University of Bedfordshire Student Union Freshers Fair.
The always lively University of Bedfordshire Student Union Freshers Fair was held at Bedford and Luton campuses this week. Among the many stalls, was the University of Bedfordshire Chess Club, supported by local club players.
The majority of students who stopped by were new to chess, but had a keen interest to learn the game and were given basic lessons on how to play, simple check mate positions or played "pawn race" to learn about piece movement.
It was most encouraging to see women students and staff sit down to play a game of chess against experienced club players from Bedford and Luton. One student in particular impressed Bedford stalwart Peter Gill with her creative ideas and fighting spirit. The new Beth Harman maybe?
At this years Freshers Fair, women were encouraged to join us and break the cycle of "women don't play chess because they don't see women playing chess" at the club.
We're not the only ones to recognise this is a problem. Luton chess club has been approached by a production company commissioned by the BBC for a forthcoming TV show about chess in the messag below:
"My name is Andrei, I’m a Casting Researcher who’s currently trying to spread news of our new series Chess Masters (working title) in the hope of finding passionate chess players who’d be interested in taking part. We’d love to hear back from everyone!
One aspect we’re also trying to focus on is to encourage older players and women across all age brackets to apply for the series too - which is proving a bit more difficult. We’re open to a varied level of players in terms of ratings. So, if there’s anyone who’s unsure of their ratings, my recommendation would be to apply anyway.
I’m aware you might’ve shared the news/our flyer already, but if you happen to know anyone that might be interested, we’d be grateful if you shared our details with them.
They can contact us at chessmasters@curvemedia.com – an automated email would be sent with the link to the application form & more info (which sometimes ends in the Spam folder, so it’s best to double check)."
So, if you're reading this and would like to get involved, get in touch. And come to the chess club Tuesday night.