Auspicious Members
British Champions
Honorary Officers
Frederick Dewhurst Yates
1884-1932
FD Yates was a very solid board one in the Woodhouse Cup when we won it five years on the trot from 1911 to 1915. He was British Chess Champion six times in 1913, 14, 21, 26, 28 & 31.
Yorkshire History GM, Steve Mann, has done an excellent biography of him:
mannchess.org.uk/people/yates
Yates also merits an entry in Wikipedia:
wikipedia/yates
Michael John Haygarth
1934-2016
MJ Haygarth was also top board in the Woodhouse. He was active at the club for over three decades from the 1950s to the 1980s. He won the Leeds Chess Club individual championship three times on the trot from 1955 to 1957.
He represented England on several occasions, including two Olympiads (1960 and 1964).
After many attempts, he won the British Championship at Whitby in 1964, ahead of Golombek, Cafferty, Littlewood, Penrose, et al.
More on Haygarth at:
mannchess.org.uk/people/haygarth
Then:
Messrs Rhodes, Cadman and Woodhouse
1834 John Rhodes (Pres) and Robert Cadman (Treas) were among the founding members of Leeds CC. They were probably the best two players in Yorkshire at the time.
1837 They organised the first recorded over-the-board match in Yorkshire. (Leeds 6 Huddersfield 6 and 2 draws.)
1841 They were instrumental in the formation of the first Yorkshire Chess Association, which grew to become the Northern Counties Chess Association, which in turn helped to form the British Chess Federation.
1856 Inaugural meeting of the West Yorks Chess Ass held in Leeds, Mr Cadman in the chair. Feeling nostalgic perhaps for their old local meetings they were again instrumental in setting up the new association. Leeds, Wakefield, Huddersfield and Halifax were the founder members.
1885 The Woodhouse Cup began under WYCA auspices.
1896 The WYCA in turn grew into the (second) YCA.
Alderman
Edwin Woodhouse, JP
1834-1923
Edwin Woodhouse was Lord Mayor of Leeds in 1882, 1883 and 1905, by which time he was also a JP. He was also Hon Pres of Leeds CC for many years. He owned the Sunny Bank Mills in Armley and made a fortune in textiles. He used his wealth wisely by donating a magnificent silver trophy to what was then the West Yorkshire Chess Association and we still fight to the death over it to this day. An average player, he clearly loved his chess and was a regular at club and county meetings.
Now:
Messrs Jones, Browne and
Mason
Everyone knows that chess clubs, like football clubs, were only started to keep cricket players fit through the winter, and the cricket player we keep fit is Rupert Jones. We're not sure what his title is, but he happily undertakes a massive workload for the club.
Robin Browne led a breakaway from Alwoodley CC while Peter Mason rebelled against the hive mind at Rose Forgrove. Together they started the Leeds City Centre Chess Club, which won the LCA Division 1 four times on the trot from 2014 to 2017.
The original Leeds club was dead until Peter, Robin and Rupert organised the merging of the two clubs - and today all is well with the world once again.
In between:
Research ongoing...
More on Mergers
The LCC/LCCCC merger isn't the first in the club's history and it probably won't be the last.
1890s Merger or assimilation, call it what you will. Leeds wasn't really big enough for more than one chess club back then. Leeds Blenheim CC and Leeds Draughts & Chess Club disappeared from history pretty much as soon as LCC started a B team. Their members were gravitationally drawn towards the mother club in the town centre for the top competition.
1905 There were financial problems at the club after the Hon Treasurer "left the town" (along with the club's funds, reading between the lines). A merger with Leeds Insurance CC was suggested at the AGM. There is no record of what happened after that, but Leeds Insurance CC disappeared from history soon afterwards.
1980s LCC merged with Yorkshire Television CC for several years. The two clubs split again in 1988. Remarkably, YTV CC survived the divorce and carried on for many years.