Chess-players Victor Leonard Wahltuch (24/05/1875- 27/08/1953) and older brother Julius Eli Wahltuch (1968/69-18/09/1955) were sons of chess-playing medical practitioner Adolph Wahltuch who was born on 19/05/1837 at the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odessa, and after acquiring medical qualifications in Kiev arrived in 1863 in Manchester where he married and where his children were all born.

After the death of father Adolph on 25/11/1907, Victor decided to present a trophy in memory of his father for the championship of the NCCU. The trophy bears the title “Dr. Wahltuch Memorial Trophy”. Thus the top section of the NCCU Congress, hitherto called “First Class” though also referred to as the Championship, became formally contested for the Dr Wahltuch Championship Trophy. The trophy evidently was not “back-engraved with earlier winners of the championship, which originated in 1901.

The championship continued to be contested in an NCCU Congress at least as late as 1923, when the event was held in Manchester, and possibly right up to the outbreak of war.

By the 1960s (maybe well before) the format had changed. Each county nominated a participant, and these played each other on an all-play-all basis, normally in a county match where their game served for both competitions. These individual championship pairings were placed on board 1 of the match or on board 2, whichever made the colours correct for both competitions. Although an unfinished game would be adjudicated for the purposes of the county match, for the purposes individual championship an unfinished game had to be adjourned, with the “home” player obliged to travel to the opponent’s county for the resumption.

In recent times, the annual NCCU individual championship has been embedded in a congress, with a rota to determine which county in turn has the option of nominating an appropriate congress.

The inscription reads as follows:

NORTHERN COUNTIES CHESS UNION

D^r. WAHLTUCH TROPHY

Held by the winner of the Individual Championship

FOR ONE YEAR

PRESENTED BY V.L.WAHLTUCH ESQ

Feb. 24 1908

Does

anyone

have

a photograph?

A list of winners can be found here.