James Priest, a Year 6 pupil at Delaval Middle School in Blyth, finished eighth out of 41 young players from across the region in the recent Northumberland Junior Chess Championships.

Competing against children from some of the north east's most exclusive schools, James, of Village Park in Blyth, put in a "superb performance" according to one of his tutors.

Charlie Storey, who recently established a chess programme at Delaval Middle School, said: "He did really well, especially when you consider that he was up against students from schools with established chess programmes.

"Some of these students have been playing chess since they were five or six, so it's an extremely impressive result."

"James has been playing for a year now and he is a bit of a natural at it."

Mr Storey hopes to revive the popularity of chess and insists children still enjoy the game.

"All good chess players need an enthusiasm for the game and they need to be on a structured training programme," he said.

"But most of all they need encouragement from friends and family to play against.

"James has that, his Dad even sat through all the competition, and he's becoming an excellent chess player."

Mr Storey, a professional chess tutor, was recruited by Delaval Middle to develop the 'National Chess Syllabus' in school.

The syllabus comes with its own bandana exam system, which recognises pupils' progress in a similar way to judo and karate belts.