NCCU HISTORY
History
of the counties who
constitute the NCCU
Yorkshire
Chess Association (by Steve Mann)
The 1st
YORKSHIRE CHESS ASSOCIATION
becomes the BRITISH CHESS ASSOCIATION
Prior
to 1841 there were no chess organisations beyond the level of local clubs,
specifically no county or national organisations.
In 1840 the idea of a chess 'carnival' which would draw together players
from various clubs, players who otherwise would probably not meet over the chess
board, was mooted. This came to
fruition in Leeds on 18th January 1841 when the success of the event was capped
by the formation of the YORKSHIRE CHESS ASSOCIATION in order to make such things
a regular event.
The
first meeting after the YCA's inauguration in Leeds was in November 1841 in
Wakefield, and thereafter meetings were held annually:
1842 in Halifax, 1843 in Huddersfield, 1844 in Nottingham (in response to
an invitation from that town), 1845 in Leeds, 1846 in Wakefield, 1847 in Hull
and 1848 also in Hull. The
invitation to the YCA to venture outside Yorkshire for its 1844 meeting suggests
interest in such an organisation elsewhere in the country might have been
developing. That the Yorkshire
players were prepared to travel to Nottingham foreshadowed the subsequent
expansion of the association.
These
annual meetings were in a sense the forerunners of modern weekend congresses, as
they involved mainly individual competitions.
Often there was also a team match between, say, the host town and a
visiting team. One or two
nationally or internationally prominent chess masters would be in attendance,
and proceedings would culminate in a dinner with speeches and toasts.
No
meetings were held from 1849 to 1851, but in 1852 the YCA met again in Hull and
decided to expand geographically under the new name NORTHERN AND MIDLAND
COUNTIES CHESS ASSOCIATION embracing clubs from Newcastle-upon-Tyne to
Birmingham. The N&MCCA met in
1853 in Manchester.
After
meetings in Liverpool in 1854 and Leamington
in 1855 the N&MCCA met in 1857 back in Manchester.
Here the decision was made to make the organisation into a national one
under the somewhat bald title of the CHESS ASSOCIATION.
At first this national body held meetings roughly annually:
1858 in Birmingham, 1860 in Cambridge and 1861 in Bristol.
In common parlance the word 'British' came to be added at the start of
the CA's name, so the 1861 meeting decided formally to adopt the commonly used
title of BRITISH CHESS ASSOCIATION.
This
final change of name was attended by what for many was a far more significant
change, as henceforth meetings were held almost solely in London:
1862 and 1866 both in London, 1867 in Dundee (at the invitation of Dundee
Chess Club), 1868/9, 1870 and 1872 all in London.
This neglect of the 'provinces' continued when meetings resumed after a
period of inactivity, as the 1885, 1886 and 1887 meetings were all in London.
The policy of using venues outside London in alternate years was briefly
adopted before the demise of the BCA: Bradford
in 1888, London in 1889, Manchester in
1890, and London again in 1891.
The WEST
YORKSHIRE CHESS ASSOCIATION and the YORKSHIRE COUNTY CHESS CLUB
The
formation in 1852 of the Northern and Midland Counties Chess Association from
the first Yorkshire Chess Association had deprived the founding Yorkshire clubs
of their own local association so it is not surprising that in April 1856 a
replacement organisation was formed, but under a different name - the WEST
YORKSHIRE CHESS ASSOCIATION. The
limitation to the West Riding of Yorkshire, stretching from Leeds and Bradford
in the north to Sheffield in the south, was perhaps partly a pragmatic
reflection of the relative difficulty of travel to other parts of the county.
The
WYCA met annually throughout the ebb and flow of chess activity in the rest of
the country. When the need arose it
assumed the role of a county organisation, as for instance when it organised
Yorkshire's team in the first ever county match, when on 20th May 1871 Yorkshire
met Lancashire over a nominal twenty boards in Bradford.
In this match some games were left unfinished without adjudication while
some of the games were never started, but five were won by Yorkshire, four were
won by Lancashire and two were drawn.
In
the season 1884-85 the first of a series of competitions between teams
representing member clubs was held. Alderman
Edwin Woodhouse, a former Mayor of Leeds, had offered to put forward a silver
cup to be held for one year by the winners.
Five clubs entered: Bradford, Dewsbury, Huddersfield, Leeds and
Wakefield. In the event both
Dewsbury and Huddersfield withdrew leaving three clubs in contention.
Bradford beat both Leeds and Wakefield and so became first holders of the
Woodhouse Cup, which trophy is still in contention today.
There
was a school of thought that there ought to be a chess organisation embracing
the whole of Yorkshire. This proved
a contentious issue, but the WYCA officers called a meeting of clubs in 1885 and
the YORKSHIRE COUNTY CHESS CLUB was thus formed.
There was doubt in some peoples' minds as to whether the WYCA and YCCC
were both needed, as they involved essentially the same clubs and drew their
officers from the same pool of players, shared common aims and were not in
opposition to each other. However,
for ten years the two bodies existed side by side.
The
first competition for the Woodhouse Cup had not been too successful as regards
the number of entries. Accordingly,
with the permission of the donor, the 1885 annual meeting decided to open up the
competition for the Woodhouse Cup to all clubs in Yorkshire, thus providing a
practical focus for a single countywide organisation. Also a competition for clubs too weak for the Woodhouse was
introduced since the Bradford Observer had offered a cup for this purpose.
The first listed Yorkshire individual championship was that of 1888.
The 2nd
YORKSHIRE CHESS ASSOCIATION becomes the COUNTIES CHESS ASSOCIATION
In
October 1865 a modest tournament took place in Redcar in the North Riding of
Yorkshire. It was decided to form
the NORTH YORKSHIRE AND DURHAM CHESS ASSOCIATION and to make the tournament an
annual event. Accordingly the
NY&DCA met once again in Redcar in 1866, then in York in both 1867 and 1868. At the latter meeting the title YORKSHIRE CHESS ASSOCIATION
was adopted. Its officials were
invited to the next WYCA meeting where they were advised that the WYCA felt this
assumption of a county title to be inappropriate in view of the seniority and
activities of the WYCA. This second
YCA was short lived since when it met again in York in 1869 it changed its name
to the COUNTIES CHESS ASSOCIATION, probably more because of the ambition
of its officials than the disquiet expressed by the WYCA!
The CCA counted its date of formation as 1865.
The
NY&DCA's founders aimed to cater for the 'provincial' player whereas the BCA
deferred more to the top players who gravitated, of necessity if they were to
meet their peers, towards London. Thus
while the BCA met usually in London, the CCA held meetings at various venues
around the country: 1870 in
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1871 and 1872 in Malvern, 1873 in Clifton, and 1874 in
Birmingham. After 1892 both the BCA
and CCA ceased functioning.
The third and
current YORKSHIRE CHESS ASSOCIATION
In
1896, forty years after the formation of the WYCA and fifty-five years after the
formation of the first YCA, the WYCA and the YCCC merged to form the present YORKSHIRE CHESS ASSOCIATION, which inherited the functions and
trophies of those two bodies.
The
major activity of the YCA, in terms of volume of games played, has always been
its team competitions with the Edwin Woodhouse Challenge Cup competition as the
premier event. Second teams of
Woodhouse clubs were admitted to the minor club competition for the Yorkshire
Daily Observer trophy, but this became a problem when from 1909 to 1914 it was
won each year by a second team, thus excluding from the honours the 'minor'
clubs for whom it had been instituted. This
was remedied by the introduction in 1914 of a competition for second teams of
Woodhouse Cup clubs, for a shield donated by I.M.Brown of Bradford.
In
1913 Leeds won the Woodhouse Cup outright by winning it a third successive time.
Fortunately Alderman Woodhouse was good enough to donate a replacement
silver trophy of equal size. This
second Woodhouse Cup was won outright in 1926 by Sheffield who had won in three
successive seasons. On this
occasion the day was saved by Leeds who donated back the original cup for
competition in perpetuity. The
second cup is still in the possession of Sheffield.
The
three events - Woodhouse, I.M.Brown and Yorkshire Daily Observer - continued
alongside for a while, but entries to the Yorkshire Daily Observer competition
for minor clubs in time dwindled to just one team for the 1929-30 season, and
from then on the trophy was not contested and was lost.
However, from 1959-60 the Woodhouse and I.M.Brown competitions, whose
matches were played on separate Saturdays, were supplemented by an I.M.Brown
"B" competition with matches on Woodhouse days.
For 1960-61 onwards the name Silver Rook Competition was adopted.
Hitherto
there had been no promotion and relegation between these competitions, but
during the 1970's the three were made into a 'league' structure with promotion
and relegation between divisions. In
1978 a fourth division completed the present structure.
A.G.Sunderland of Leeds donated a cup for the new division
In
yesteryear it was common for trophies to be won outright by a contestant winning
it for a second or third time. The
first listed Yorkshire individual championship was won by C.G.Bennett in 1888
but the trophy was won outright by James Raynor of Leeds who won the next two
years' competitions. The current
individual trophy was introduced for 1923-24.
Similarly the Bradford Observer Trophy was won outright by Dewsbury who
won it a third time in 1890, but luckily the Yorkshire Daily Observer Challenge
Trophy was donated in its stead in time for the following season.
The similar fate of the Woodhouse Cup is described above.
Yorkshire and
the awakening of The NORTH as a Single Entity
The
idea of a North versus South chess match was cherished by both Isaac McIntyre
Brown, secretary of the Yorkshire County Chess Club, and Joseph B. Reyner,
president of Manchester Chess Club. A
challenge was issued and a meeting of Southern players was called on September
3rd 1892 to consider the challenge from the North as well as the formation of a
Southern Counties Chess Union. Both
items were approved.
The
North versus South match over a hundred boards with six reserves on each side
was arranged, and took place on January 27th (or 28th) 1893, at Birmingham. The score over the hundred boards was 50-50, but adding in
the games between the reserves resulted in the smallest possible victory, 53½-52½,
in favour of the South. A return match was played over a hundred and eight
boards on April 7th 1894, at the Portman Rooms, London where the South increased
its winning margin to 64½-43½.
After
the London match the Northern players gathered at the St. Pancras Hotel where I.
M. Brown, the North’s main organiser in both matches, suggested the formation
of a Northern Counties Chess Union. A
resolution that such an organisation was desirable was passed, but there was no
immediate progress, partly because Lancashire, as yet lacked a county
organisation.
Isaac McIntyre
Brown , b. Leeds 13 Aug 1858;
Captain of The
North in the North versus South matches;
1st
Secretary of NCCU, at which time also Secretary of Yorkshire CA;
Editor British
Chess Magazine 1894-1919.
Yorkshire
Chess Association in 1999
The depth of chess playing in Yorkshire approaching
the Millennium is readily witnessed by the fact that not only is there the
strong Yorkshire league which dominates weekends during the chess season, but
also eleven local leagues: Bradford, Calderdale, Doncaster, Harrogate,
Huddersfield, Hull, Humber, Leeds, Sheffield, Sheffield Works and York.
No one congress dominates the scene in Yorkshire,
although York has the greatest number of players. Other major congresses take
place at Sheffield, Hull, Scarborough, Doncaster, Bradford and Calderdale.
Besides the British Rapidplay taking place at Leeds, Yorkshire is also
well-served by other strong rapidplays, of which the strongest are Sheffield and
Hull.
Juniors are catered for throughout Yorkshire by
junior clubs (Hebden Bridge, Hull, Sheffield, Rotherham and Wakefield) and
school leagues ( Bradford, Harrogate, Leeds and Wakefield).
Yorkshire clinched their first NCCU Open Counties
Championship this year since 1991, and compounded their success by winning the
U175 title as well, a winning double last achieved in 1985. The County appears
well set to consolidate its position as one of the leading counties within the
NCCU.
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