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Yorkshire Chess History |
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Contents: |
NCCU v Scotland “International” Match Series: 1901-1913 |
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The Scottish Chess Association was formed in 1884, but at that time “international” team matches against either the British Chess Association or the Counties Chess Association were perhaps logistically impractical, and of course by the 1890s these English national organisations were fading fast.
With the formation of the Northern Counties Chess Union, in 1899, Scotland had acquired a contiguous “extranational” chess organisation with which it could engage in match play. On which side of the border the idea of an “international” match between Scotland and the Northern Counties of England originated is not immediately clear, but a series of such annual matches started in 1901, on the basis of the venue alternating year by year as to the side which was to be at home, and make the corresponding arrangements.
This started off okay, but hiccups occurred. In 1906, plans to hold the event in Liverpool, at the end of May or in early June, crystallised down to the end of May, then the whole thing fell through. Then in 1910, the NCCU had to cancel the match which had been scheduled for 14/05/1910 at the Windsor Hotel in Glasgow. This got habit-forming, as the 1912 match, originally scheduled for Whitsunday, similarly fell through. It had been hoped the Yorkshire CA would host the event early in the next season, but nothing came of that hope, perhaps in part because I. M. Brown was cutting back on organising by then. The problems seem to have been on the NCCU side in each case. The match was played in 1913, producing the first drawn match, after four adjudications by H E Atkins levelled up an on-the-day NCCU lead of 2 points. Plans for the 1914 match were abandoned because the BCF Congress was to be held that year in Chester. This might seem odd as the 1911 match in Glasgow was in the year the BCF Congress visited Glasgow, and that was not an obstacle. Then, of course, the War killed things off.
The Scottish Chess Association had relatively far-reaching eligibility criteria for entrants to the Scottish Championship and members of representative teams. Most of the Scotland players were born and resident in Scotland. Some, though not born in Scotland, were resident in Scotland, at least for a while, a good example being Daniel Yarnton Mills. More confusing, however, was the extension of eligibility to what might be termed the Scottish “diaspora”. Thus Dr Richard Wyse had been born in Leith, but was better known as a Cheshire player. More remotely, some not even born in Scotland fell within scope due to earlier family connections; John Dibbin Chambers of Manchester, Edmond Macdonald variously of Brighton and London, and Arthur John Mackenzie of Birmingham and later Hastings, all qualified this way.
Dates, venues and scores in these matches were as follows: (work in progress)
* Number of adjudication results missing from scores given. ** All adjudications were wins for Scotland
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Created 17/11/2018 |
Stephen John Mann |
Last Updated 17/11/2018 |