Chichester Chess Club

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Chichester Club

The information below is what I have located from the Hampshire Chess Archives, or other sources (mainly the British Newspaper Archives). I welcome updates to correct any incorrect details, or to supply additional information. Chichester is part of West Sussex, but has been a member of the PDCL since around the 1992/93 season1, hence including details here.

Picture above from Chichester Chess Club website.

Club History

In November 1877 a meeting was held at the Odd Fellows Hall, and the outcome of this meeting was the formation of the Chichester Chess club. All 18 attendees stated they were intending on joining the club, and Mr GR Downer was elected the Secretary. Mr Downer played for Sussex in the first match against Hampshire in 1887.

Chichester Club Formed - Southern Weekly News - 10 Nov 1877
Chichester Club Formed – Southern Weekly News – 10 Nov 1877

Early Matches

Dipping into Anthony Fulton – “The Southern Counties Chess Union – a retrospective” book2 this mentions that Sussex were one of the first counties to form an association. The chess clubs of Sussex’s leading towns, including Brighton, Chichester, Eastbourne and Horsham play each other on a frequent basis throughout the late 1870’s and early 1880’s.

This is also noted in the newspaper’s reports on Chichester’s AGM, where matches against Littlehampton, Havant and Southampton are also mentioned. Correspondence chess was also on the agenda with opponents including Ireland and Yorkshire in 1886. Apart from these matches, internal tournaments were the key activity and Mr Downer was the winner of the County Challenge Cup as per the 1883 AGM.

Chichester - Littlehampton Hampshire Telegraph - 19 Jan 1878
Chichester – Littlehampton Hampshire Telegraph – 19 Jan 1878
AGM 1883 - Bognor Regis Observer - 26 Sept 1883
AGM 1883 – Bognor Regis Observer – 26 Sept 1883

An interesting game was played against Brighton in 1880, where 4 players per team played a consultation match on the telephone. It seemed a result could not be agreed from the final position, but I give this below, and in this case with Brighton playing White is would seem they were winning. The two advanced pawns with the Rook and Bishop are more than a match for Black’s two Rooks.

Telephone Match Croydon Guardian and Surrey County Gazette - 20 Nov 1880
Telephone Match Croydon Guardian and Surrey County Gazette – 20 Nov 1880

I found numerous newspaper reports of friendlies between Portsmouth and Chichester before the 2nd world war, but less afterwards. But in 1958 a friendly was organised between Chichester and Portsmouth, which was played over 8 boards. This resulted in a narrow win by Portsmouth (4½ – 3½).

Chichester vs Portsmouth - Portsmouth Evening News -10 Dec 1958
Chichester vs Portsmouth – Portsmouth Evening News -10 Dec 1958

Portsmouth & District Chess League

Chichester would have played more often in the Sussex league, but in the early 1990’s they joined the Portsmouth & District Chess League, and currently this is the only league they play in.

Since joining the PDCL, their teams have won all current Division titles and cups, with their most recent Division One title being in 2021/2022.

Trophies

Chichester league / cup wins in the Portsmouth Leagues. Full details of the PDCL League winners can be found here.

SeasonLeague / CupClubTitle
1992-1993Portsmouth LeagueChichesterDivision 2
1995-1996Portsmouth LeagueChichester BDivision 3
1998-1999Portsmouth LeagueChichester BDivision 2
2002-2003Portsmouth LeagueChichesterDivision 3
2006-2007Portsmouth LeagueChichester CDivision 3
2008-2009Portsmouth LeagueChichester ADivision 1
2008-2009Portsmouth LeagueChichester CDivision 3
2008-2009Portsmouth CupChichesterCole Plate
2009-2010Portsmouth LeagueChichester BDivision 2
2009-2010Portsmouth CupChichesterCole Plate
2012-2013Portsmouth LeagueChichester CDivision 3
2013-2014Portsmouth LeagueChichester CDivision 3
2014-2015Portsmouth LeagueChichester BDivision 2
2016-2017Portsmouth LeagueChichester ADivision 1
2015-2016Portsmouth LeagueChichester ADivision 1
2016-2017Portsmouth LeagueChichester BDivision 2
2016-2017Portsmouth LeagueChichester CDivision 3
2017-2018Portsmouth LeagueChichester ADivision 1
2017-2018Portsmouth LeagueChichester CDivision 3
2018-2019Portsmouth LeagueChichester ADivision 1
2018-2019Portsmouth LeagueChichester BDivision 2
2019-2020Portsmouth LeagueChichester ADivision 1
2019-2020Portsmouth LeagueChichester BDivision 2
2021-2022Portsmouth CupChichesterCole Plate
2021-2022Portsmouth LeagueChichester ADivision 1
2023-2024Portsmouth LeagueChichester BDivision 2
2023-2024Portsmouth LeagueChichester CDivision 3

Additional Information

Please do contact me if you have any additional information to add to this brief history of Chichester Chess Club. 

Whilst researching Chichester I came across this excellent club history of the Horsham Chess club. This would be a great thing for clubs to do, written by members who have played or been involved in their clubs for many years.

Acknowledgements and Sources

  • British Newspaper Archives
  • Portsmouth Evening News
  • Southern Weekly News
  • Anthony Fulton – “The Southern Counties Chess Union – a retrospective”
  • Chichester Chess Club website.
  • Hants and Berks Gazette and Middlesex and Surrey Journal
  • Croydon Guardian and Surrey County Gazette
  • Littlehampton Hampshire Telegraph
  • Bognor Regis Observer
  • Hampshire Chess Archives
  1. I am uncertain when Chichester joined the PDCL and would welcome confirmation on this. ↩︎
  2. Currently the Kindle version is just £3.99 on Amazon. ↩︎

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