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1999 was the centenary year of the foundation of the
NCCU, and apart from organising a celebration dinner in Scarborough, Bill
O’Rourke pulled together a booklet on the history of the NCCU, with the
preamble on the right.
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“It was the general feeling of the 1999 Annual General Meeting
of the Northern Counties Chess Union that it would be wrong to allow the
Centenary of the Union to pass by without some reminder to mark the
occasion. It would be impossible to cover the entirety of this proud
affiliation of eight Northern Counties (Cheshire & North Wales,
Cleveland, Cumbria, Durham, Lancashire, Merseyside, Northumberland and
Yorkshire) over the last one hundred years without a great deal of time and
academic research.
“It is hoped that, instead this small history section goes
some way to giving a flavour of the Union and what it has achieved for
chess-playing throughout the North of England this century, and what it
does now and hopes to do in the future. Further still, I would like to
think it might also inspire other chess enthusiasts to get involved with
the organisation of chess playing and administration in the North, be it
through their club, county, local congress, local rapidplay, junior
coaching or bulletin writing. Because one thing is very evident over the
last 100 years – the game we love to play can only exist through the
efforts of motivated volunteers. Here’s to the next 100 years.”
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