Yorkshire Chess
Association |
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History of YCA
Team Competitions and Trophies |
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For a list of
winners of these competitions click here.
The Edwin
Woodhouse Challenge Cup
In the season 1884-85 the first of a
series of competitions between teams representing member clubs of the West Yorkshire Chess
Association (WYCA) was held. Alderman Edwin
Woodhouse JP 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, perhaps because they felt too weak
compared with the others. Bradford beat both
Leeds and Wakefield and so became first holders of the Edwin Woodhouse Cup Challenge Cup,
the competition for which is still held today.
To remedy
the low volume of participating teams in the first year, with the permission of the donor,
the 1885 annual meeting of WYCA decided to open up the competition for the Woodhouse Cup
to all clubs in Yorkshire, thus providing a practical focus for a later single countywide
organisation. However, that didn't address
the discomfort of weaker towns when confronted by the prospect of playing Leeds, Bradford
or the like.
Yorkshire Daily Observer
Challenge Trophy
The
"minor" clubs were serve well when the Yorkshire Daily Observer offered another
cup for competition among Yorkshire clubs, this being specifically for clubs deemed too
weak to compete for the Woodhouse Cup. Leeds
Blenheim and Dewsbury dominated this minor competition from its start in 1885-86, and
Dewsbury won the trophy outright when in 1890 they won it for the third time. Such provision for trophies being won outright was
common in those days.
Fortunately,
the Bradford Observer offered a replacement trophy for the minor competition. The list of winners suggests the terms were that
it could not be won outright. In time the
competition was opened up to second teams of club in the Woodhouse Cup competition.
In 1913
the fate of the Yorkshire Daily Observer trophy befell the Woodhouse Cup when Leeds won it
for the third time in succession, which was the more stringent provision regarding this
trophy. The Yorkshire Chess Association,
which had acquired control of the above competition when it was formed by the merger of
WYCA and the Yorkshire County Chess Club, was exceedingly fortunate that Alderman
Woodhouse, twenty-nine years after donating the first trophy, donated a second one which
was of comparable size, though admittedly not as ornate.
In the
minor Bradford Observer Trophy competition, trouble was brewing as from 1909 to 1914 the
winners were all second teams of Woodhouse clubs, so that the "minor" clubs were
denied a fair crack at the trophy originally designed for them! This was remedied by the introduction in the
season 1913-1914 of a competition specifically for second teams of Woodhouse Cup clubs. As a trophy for this competition, a shield was
provided by Isaac McIntyre Brown, a prominent figure one way or another in chess
organisation in Yorkshire, the North and the country.
The
First World War
It is a
sad comment on the human condition that for the seasons 1915-16 to 1918-19 we have to
record the words "no contest" in the table of winners. Chess was still played, of course, but as with
most national and regional sporting activity, Yorkshire Chess Association competitions
were suspended "for the duration".
The First Woodhouse Cup
Re-Instated
The
season 1925-26 saw Sheffield win the Woodhouse Cup competition for the third year in
succession, and thereby win the trophy outright. Replacing
a solid silver trophy of such size is not of course easily done, so Leeds Chess Club did
its definitive "bit" for Yorkshire chess by donating back the original Woodhouse
Cup they'd won outright in 1913. The
stipulation was made that it could not be won outright but should be contested in
perpetuity.
A Peak
Then a Trough
The 1920s
saw three competitions running in parallel. The
Woodhouse Cup for the "major" clubs, the Woodhouse Cup clubs' second teams, and
the Bradford Observer Trophy for "minor" clubs.
Then a low level of entries led to the Bradford Observer Trophy Competition ceasing
to be run. The whereabouts of the trophy is
unknown. Wakefield was the last winner, in
1928-29. Clubs not in the Woodhouse club were
admitted to the IM Brown Shield competition, but there was as yet no promotion and
relegation between Woodhouse and IM Brown competitions.
The
Second World War
Competitions
were suspended for 1939-40 to 1944-45.
The
Woodhouse Cup and IM Brown Shield continued to be the only team competitions contested
until 1959-60 when a third competition was introduced, for the Silver Rook. The teams participating were third teams of clubs
in the Woodhouse Cup, second teams of club with a first team in the IM Brown, and other
club represented in neither Woodhouse nor IM Brown. After
1965-66 reduced entries led to the Silver Rook competition not being conducted for seven
consecutive seasons.
Silver
Rook Revived
For
whatever reason 1973-74 saw the reintroduction of competition for the Silver Rook. A significant change was also made in that
promotion and relegation were introduced. Hitherto
the only way of a new club getting into the Woodhouse Cup competition was following a
withdrawal, which was virtually unheard of. The
last club to achieve this was the IM Brown club Rotherham which was elected to the
Woodhouse Cup when Brighouse withdrew.
Five
seasons after the revival of the Silver Rook, starting in 1978-79, a fourth
"division" was introduced and the then YCA Honorary Secretary and Competitions
controller, Geoff Sunderland, donated the cup which bears his name. Whist this competition is still conducted, due to
reduced entries, it was found necessary starting 2000-01 to organise the competition as an
all-play-all twice competition, whereas all-play-all once is the normal format for all
divisions.
The
Future
Looking
back over the whole lifetime of the YCA so far, things are looking healthy enough, and
much better than 50 years ago, when there were only the Woodhouse Cup and IM Brown, with
now sign of growth. Looking back over only
the recent past it has to be said the volume of league activity has declined, with the AG
Sunderland Cup competition teetering on suspension. The
decision of the 2002 AGM to reduce the number of boards in Woodhouse Cup teams from ten to
eight, as in the other divisions, is a more worrying sign of long term loss of vigour.
Steve Mann, 07/08/02
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