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Yorkshire Chess History |
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Contents: |
Yorkshire Individual Championship |
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Initial Obstacles
The original Yorkshire Chess Association held annual meetings which in their way were the only thing remotely resembling a chess congress, as we use the term today, but it never organised a formal competition to determine a county champion. Indeed, it was in those days impractical to expect players from the length and breadth of the county to engage in any such event, on whatever basis it might be organised. In practice, a player such as John Rhodes of Leeds would be generally regarded as the best player in the county, yet that status was in no way official.
After 1852, when the YCA was transmuted into the Northern & Midland Counties Chess Association, there was no single organisation assuming responsibility for county-wide chess until 1868, when the Rev. A.B. Skipworth decided to call his organisation, albeit briefly, the Yorkshire Chess Association. That second YCA never organised an internal championship, and would possibly have had its presumed authority challenged by the West Yorkshire Chess Association if it had tried. As it turned out, by 1870, this second YCA had, like the original YCA, been transmuted into something larger, in this case the Counties Chess Association.
Introduction of a “Championship”
It was not until 1886 that there was one single organisation in place with generally accepted authority to represent the county as a whole, that being the Yorkshire County Chess Club. That organisation ran events which could claim to be a county championship, but they were not initially so styled. The top individual competition run by YCCC in 1885-86 was called merely called “Class A”. It was won by F H Wright of Wakefield, but was not explicitly described as attracting the title of “Yorkshire Champion”.
Besides the Class “A” there were lower classes, and it appears that winning the Class “B” of the “Yorkshire County Tournaments” qualified one to play in the Class “A”. This is apparent from the Sheffield Daily Telegraph of 26/10/1903, which tells us, “In Class B of this competition, Mr. H. A. Burrows, of Pontefract, has won the first prize of three guineas by defeating in the final round Mr. P. G. Bynon, of Leeds, who takes the second prize of a guinea and a half. Mr. Burton, by this victory, wins promotion to the first class.”
The Leeds Mercury Weekly Supplement of 18/02/1888 reported:
It is thus at this point that the title of “Yorkshire Champion” was formally adopted, and in 1888, the YCCC’s former “Class A” was being billed as the “amateur championship of Yorkshire” [Leeds Mercury Weekly Supplement, Sat 01/09/1888], the winner receiving the Yorkshire County Chess Club Medal (presumably “for keeps”) and tenure for a year of the Fattorini Trophy.
In 1890, James Rayner won the Fattorini Trophy for the second time, thereby winning it outright, in accordance with the terms of its presentation. What trophy, if any, there was between that time and the introduction of the currently used trophy is unclear.
The Modern Era
The present Yorkshire Individual Championship Trophy was introduced in 1926, on which occasion it was engraved retrospectively for 1924-25 as well as 1925-26, as the 1925-26 winner happened to have also won it the season before. The dates 1924 to 1927 on the trophy itself appear to refer to 1924-25 to 1927-28, with the competition being completed before the turn of the year, whereas thereafter years indicated seasons’ ending years.
The earlier competitions were, like the original events, knockouts. The system of competitors playing at each other’s home or club was still the norm around the early 1970s, but in time the approach was adopted of awarding the title to the highest eligible player in the top section of a pre-nominated weekend congress held in the county. That is the system operated now. No manner of organisation of this competition is satisfactory to all potential competitors. Whatever the system, not all the strongest candidates will be involved.
The following is a list of winners as recorded on the trophy, plus some earlier winners of competitions of uncertain status. Pre-1925 winners are subject to completion and checking. People’s clubs or home towns (sometimes not the same), or places of birth, are given for information, partly from memory.
After being lost, the trophy resurfaced in 2012 when it became apparent it had not been engraved since 1999/00. The details given from the second 1999-00 (!) entry to 2010/11 are as now appear on the trophy, retrospectively reconstructed, though they may not be wholly accurate, due in part to misinterpretation of seasons’ identities. It is believed no contest took place in one season in this period, which was presumably 2006/07, but maybe the second “1999/00” through to “2005/06” need moving on one place.
For another engraving catch-up, in 2017, the use of calendar years was adopted, as above.
Although allocation of the championship to a congress in 2022 was on the agenda of the 2022 YCA AGM, a different approach to organising the championship was suggested. It would have been better to retain the old system for 2022, pending investigation of the viability of the new system, but nothing was arranged for 2022, hence “no contest”. The old system was re-introduced for 2023.
* The correctness of the winner given on the trophy for 2003/04 is questioned by the named player himself! The 2010/11 name is similarly suspect. ** The only Yorkshire congresses Misa Kostic played in were in Bradford. The only Bradford Congress in which Richard Palliser achieved the same score was Bradford September 2007, so presumably this was really 2006-07.
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Created 25/04/2012 |
Copyright © 2012 to 2023 Stephen John Mann |
Last Updated 14/09/2023 |