Tynemouth Chess Club History

1 Early origins

Chess Clubs come and go. Not surprising really since chess has been played for hundreds of years. The earliest reference I have found, to a Tynemouth Club, is from a cutting that appeared in the Shields Gazette and Daily Telegraph dated March 28th 1864. In which an account of a successful chess dinner was reported. The M.P. for Tynemouth, Mr. G. O. Trevelyan was listed as one of the members. The venue was the old Albion Hotel, (Opposite the town hall), in Saville Street. The club has maintained it’s presence since those early days in one form or another, closing and restarting, and has usually been dependant on suitable premises being available. Of course if there is no column in the local press then very little is passed on.

2 Prewar

Again no written records have survived, but we do know that a thriving club existed in North Shields and met at the old YMCA in Bedford street. We know this because my Grandfather William B Smurthwaite was one time president, this being relayed to me by my uncle. Sadly most clubs closed during the war.

3 Postwar

Tynemouth Chess club was reformed in 1946 and first met above Lionel Clarke’s cycle shop in Saville Street, before moving back to the old YMCA in Bedford Street. This information came from Larry Snowdon who I met once when playing against the DHSS. He was one of the founding members and happened to be in my sister’s class at The High School. The next move was to the Liberal Club headquarters in Alma place. This was my first club having been a late starter and learning at school from one of the club members and a teacher at the High School Mr. George Adamson.
North Shields YMCA chess club was also in existence at this time and met in the New YMCA. The next move was to a room at the back of The Baptist Church in Whitley Bay when the club changed its name to The Whitley Bay Chess Club. We used to have a tea break during the evening! One of the members Mr. Ernie Lee was a turner by trade and made two of the club trophies, The Rook and the Queen. They were turned from steel, chrome plated then mounted on plinths. When our room became unavailable we moved to a class room in the nearby Marine Park School. Storing our equipment was a problem so a club member Mr. Alan Rogerson got his father to make a suitable large cupboard, about 2 metres tall. Having to finish before 10pm was a bind, so we next moved to the Corner House Pub. Not for long, and what a job moving the cupboard, it had to go up and down the fire escape. Rockliffe Rugby Club was the next venue and the cupboard moved into the boiler room. Another rugby club followed, North Shields and the cupboard was back up stairs again. At this stage the North Shields chess club that had been meeting in the Appleby Park social club folded and the members joined with us. There then followed a name change back to Tynemouth Chess Club. Spring Gardens public house was next and again upstairs for the cupboard. One day we read that the pub had gone into administration, but fortunately the new owners let us carry on. The end of this venue ended in spectacular fashion when the Licensee interrupted our session shouting “Get out, Get out now”. So we did and luckily found new premises the next day at the Marden Residents Club. This time the cupboard found a home in a store room but it was quite a walk to our playing area. This problem disappeared when we moved to our present venue The Hunting lodge in Monkseaton and the cupboard found a suitable niche upstairs. It’s always the corners in the stairs that give the trouble as well as finding a van or suitable hatchback to transport it.

4 Notable players

• John Leaf McNair - Independent Labour Party General Secretary and one time French translator to Dwight D Eisenhower
• Lembit Opic - Prominent Liberal Party M.P.
• Alf Duffield - Middlesbrough F.C. chairman and also managing director of Middlesbrough based ITM Offshore

5 Notable events

• Jamboree – In 1975 Keith Rockett and myself organised an annual Jamboree for local clubs. The format was for each club to field a team of eight to compete in a two round tournament. A large silver plated cup was found by Geoff. Ainsley in the council archives and was donated as the prize. The venue was Whitley Bay High School and the event ran for the next 15 years, eventually stopping when the entries were too low.
  *Bronstein Simultaneous – In 1975 during the Teeside Grandmaster Tournament we approached Harry Walsh the organiser to see if he could arrange for a Grandmaster to give a simultaneous event at the end of his tournament. We were gratified to find that David Bronstein was available. The event duly took place in the new Newcastle Civic Center. I did the driving and he stayed the night at Keith Rockett’s house. Halfway during the event there was a bomb scare and we all trouped out into the Haymarket. On resumption Bronstein carried on and finished the display in grand style. He asked us who he should give a draw to!

---

Problem 1

Game Position P.H.J. v Eric Whall W/B v Wallbottle 1979 - White to play

Problem 2

The cupboard once jammed on a low ceiling. How tall was the cupboard?

Phil Jackson 19/9/2023