The Teesside Chess Association (formed in 1883; now called the Cleveland Chess Association) invited world-class players to give exhibitions, in order to raise money for the Association. Blackburne's fee for two simultaneous displays and a blindfold event in 1889 was 9 guineas (about £4,600 at 2006 values). Players paid the club a shilling for a simultaneous game or a half-crown to play him blindfold. In the simultaneous games he won 29, drew two and lost only one; in the blindfold he won seven and drew one with no losses.