The mid to late 19th Century saw chess clubs and Associations being formed at a feverish rate. The explosion in the south led to the creation of the Southern Counties Chess Union (3rd September 1892). Their purpose to govern chess affairs in the southern region. When the initial meeting was held there was a notable absentee - Middlesex. Why?
One significant reason was the formation of the County of London in 1889. This administrative unit was formed from the following historic counties: Kent, Surrey and of course Middlesex. Consequently, it became difficult to adequately determine, 'What constitutes Middlesex?' Prior to 1889 Middlesex's boundary was clear to define as the Rivers Colne, Lea and Thames established natural boundaries between Essex, Hertfordshire and Surrey and the artificial boundary of Grimsdyke to help separate Middlesex from Buckinghamshire. The creation of the County of London in one fell stroke split Middlesex in twain!
The ensuing years would see the County of London encroach into Middlesex leading to the much cited jibe, 'Middlesex does not exist!' Since Middlesex did not have a chess association prior to 1889 thus be in the company of Sussex (1882), Surrey (1883), and Wiltshire and Kent (1889) when question of one was posed naturally there was concern as to what constituted Middlesex? Was it the historic boundary pre-1889? Or was it the part of Middlesex excluding County of London? Or was it in fact the historic boundary plus the other areas forming the County of London? The latter questions were considered unreasonable as Middlesex should not lose territory nor should it gain. However until the boundary of Middlesex was reasonably defined it would be impossible for anyone to attempt to create a chess association for it. This is proved when T.H. Moore the backbone of the London League failed with his attempt to do so in 1892 immediately after the formation of the SCCU. It would seem therefore that Middlesex would be without one.
However, the boundary was formalised in 1900. The growth of Unions in the late 19th Century saw 3 in existence as the Midlands Counties Chess Association (now Midlands Counties Chess Union) was formed in 1897 and the Northern Counties Chess Union formed in 1899. With 3 Unions in existence it was found that there were too many counties who could affiliate or participate in competitions run by more than 1 Union and this was creating a problem. So in 1900 a meeting was held in order to demarcate each Union's area. The discussions included how to deal with the County of London. It was accepted that it was too strong a body to compete independently so its areas were reallocated to its member counties. Middlesex was finally defined.
Although Middlesex was finally defined it was not until 1907 when F.W. Flear takes steps to form the Association. Once ratified the body joins the SCCU and a titan emerges both Regionally and Nationally. By the time the SCCU celebrated its 125th birthday Middlesex had won the Shannon Trophy (Open) a record 36 times. By the time the ECF crowns its 100th Champion (2019) the County had won the Lowenthal (Open) Trophy a record 29 times! Middlesex may be one of the younger counties but this has not been disadvantageous as it is certainly the most successful. The Open teams of the recent past do continue in this tradition but have yet to consistently field teams truly representing the county's strength. If they were to then many records would be threatened most notably the undefeated streak of 31 matches by former captain Dave Foley-Comer.
Internally the MCCA's longest running competition is the Middlesex League which initially was a cup competition. An attempt to run an All-Play-All format was tried prior to the WW2 but the league really came into its own after. The roll of honour will show that various clubs have had periods of domination but the club that really stands out is Cedars as this was essentially a junior team whose members went onto to become notable names in the chess world, Dave Rumens being one.
The MCCA have run or participated in other events including Correspondence, Individual Championship, Winters Trophy and Ralph Barnett Trophy. Many of these have fallen out of favour in recent years but it is hoped that at some stage they will be revived but the pressures of time and the increasing number of chess events may mean it will take a while if ever for these competitions to come back into the fold.
There are of course many personalities that could be discussed as well as the challenges the Association has faced to keep itself going but time and attention of the reader is limited so this brief history will have to suffice! At some stage it is hoped that a fuller history of the MCCA will be written whether by the MCCA itself or by some other interested party but it is hoped that this taster gives insight as to how the Association came into being and what it has done since.
Article written by MCCA General Secretary and SCCU Archivist Anthony Fulton