"Oldest" chess club(s) in Canada?

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  • "Oldest" chess club(s) in Canada?

    Questions:

    1) What is the oldest chess club in Canada (or its predecessor components)? I think it was in Saint John NB in the 1830's.
    2) What is the oldest chess club in Canada (or its predecessor components) still in existence? The Montreal CC was founded in 1844 (happy 175th birthday!) and still exists today - although not continuously (inactive for the most part from the late 60's until about 2002).
    3) What is the oldest chess club in Canada (or its predecessor components) still in existence for the most continuous years? Winnipeg? Scarborough (since 1960?)? Montreal Lakeshore CC (in name (and continuous) since the early 60's, but under various names since the 1940's, and maybe not continuous). Hart House or another university CC? I would have to check old McGill yearbooks to see if it's been in continuous operation since the 1920's or so..
    Last edited by Hugh Brodie; Monday, 21st January, 2019, 05:41 PM. Reason: MCC started in 1844 (not 1843)

  • #2
    Originally posted by Hugh Brodie View Post
    Questions:

    1) What is the oldest chess club in Canada (or its predecessor components)? I think it was in Saint John NB in the 1830's.
    2) What is the oldest chess club in Canada (or its predecessor components) still in existence? The Montreal CC was founded in 1843 (happy 175th birthday!) and still exists today - although not continuously (inactive for the most part from the late 60's until about 2002).
    3) What is the oldest chess club in Canada (or its predecessor components) still in existence for the most continuous years? Winnipeg? Scarborough (since 1960?)? Montreal Lakeshore CC (in name (and continuous) since the early 60's, but under various names since the 1940's, and maybe not continuous). Hart House or another university CC? I would have to check old McGill yearbooks to see if it's been in continuous operation since the 1920's or so..
    lots of information on the Victoria Chess Club History at: http://victoriachessclub.pbworks.com...Club%20History

    (mostly due to the work of Paul Leblanc).

    Short form, the club has existed under various names since 1892. Looks like it has had a location more or less continuously since then but we don't have a continuous list of presidents.

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    • #3
      I doubt any chess club in Canada ran continuously for more than 60 years...and even that may be a stretch....so I would have a different question...which chess club in Canada has run from 1960 to 2019 continuously ...R.A.? Victoria? Scarborough (my definition of continuously is not closed for more than 3 months in any year

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      • #4
        I know that Montreal's Lakeshore CC started under that name in the early 60s...I would have to refer to newspaper columns for the exact year...and its been running ever since. Has Scarbirough been in continuous operation since 1960?

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        • #5
          The Concordia Chess Club in Kitchener has been in continuous operation since at least 1954.

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          • #6
            Hi,

            https://harthousechess.com/history/

            I didn't do the research myself but I trust those who wrote this.

            Alex F.

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            • #7
              There is a history of the SCC written by Maurice Smith & myself. It is my recollection that SCC has trooped on every year since being founded in 1960 (And only more recently does close for July/August). I believe I have the joint article somewhere on my computer, if anyone wants me to send it to them. I am at:

              bobarm111atgmaildotcom.

              Bob A

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Bob Armstrong View Post
                There is a history of the SCC written by Maurice Smith & myself. It is my recollection that SCC has trooped on every year since being founded in 1960 (And only more recently does close for July/August). I believe I have the joint article somewhere on my computer, if anyone wants me to send it to them. I am at:

                bobarm111atgmaildotcom.

                Bob A
                It's online at http://www.scarboroughchessclub.ca/History

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                • #9
                  Hi Erik: thanks........think I knew that at one time......but my memory........was gone.......

                  Bob A

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                  • #10
                    Ottawa's RA chess club has been in existence since the RA was founded back in the early 1950s. The first recorded club champion was Ron Rodgers in 1954 and the club has crowned a champion every year since then (with one overlapping year). Ron went on to win a remarkable seven championships.

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                    • #11
                      A few thoughts:
                      1) The Kingston Chess Club, of Kingston, Ontario, where I play these days, has run continuously since the mid 1950s, judging by its club trophies, one of which has been engraved continuously since then. There was certainly organized chess in Kingston before that, however. The late Dr. George Danilov, a medical doctor, National Master strength player, and father of Dr. Alex Danilov of Ottawa (who had much of his formative youth in Kingston) was one of the key Kingston chess people back then; he wrote a chess column in the 'Kingston Whig-Standard' newspaper for several years, and I have located some of his archived work there. Kalev Pugi, who served as CFC President in the 1970s, also was active many years before that; he was the main organizer for the 1966 Canadian Open in Kingston, which, with 116 players, was apparently the largest Canadian Open held in Canada to that time, and perhaps the largest Open in Canada! Perhaps Alex can provide more Kingston information from that era and before.
                      2) I did a 'Spotlight' article on Kingston chess for Chess Canada magazine in 2005 (while FM Robert Hamilton was doing an excellent job as Editor!), and wrote there that the oldest game score for Canadian chess which I have been able to locate is for a correspondence game between Kingston and Quebec City, from 1841. Quebec City won from the Black side of a King's Gambit. I wrote down the score, with my source an Italian periodical (similar to 'Chess Informant') specializing in correspondence chess. However, I no longer have that information handy; I suffered a dreadful flood in my apartment in 2014, and lost a lot of material to that. Perhaps someone could dig that game up!? Both of those cities -- Quebec City and Kingston -- were then already important political, military, transportation, and market centres; Kingston was actually the capital of the United Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada for a few years in the 1840s. Does anyone know of an earlier game score than 1841 in Canada!?
                      3) My other two 'Spotlight' articles for Chess Canada from 2005-2006 covered Saint John and Winnipeg. I was looking at the Winnipeg piece the other day, and club chess in Winnipeg dates continuously from the early 1890s, with the Winnipeg Chess Club. Saint John was covered in an earlier post on this thread.

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