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Dundee Chess Club
Club History (from the club's website)
Our club is thought to be the third oldest in Scotland, and, according to original minutes, was founded on Monday 8th February , 1847 at No 1. South Union Street, Dundee. Initially, membership fees were one Guinea per annum, equal to the annual pay of a labourer; indeed the club attracted some of towns’ most distinguished professionals, including Dr Blair Spence, a dentist in the city for 60 years. He later bequeathed £2760 to the club, a fortune at that time.
Two world champions graced the club- Wilhelm Steinitz in 1867, and Alexander Alekhine in 1923. In recent times, the club has performed well especially in the Richardson Cup; we also produced Scotland’s first Grandmasters with Paul Motwani and Dr Colin McNab.
In the 1990s the club, struggling for premises merged with fledgling club “Victoria”, hence our current name. Only once did we have our own premises, in 1955 when we purchased 10 Laburn Street for £400.
In 1997, we celebrated our 150th anniversary, with a meal at the Queens Hotel, with President James Chalmers chairing the event. Sadly Mr Peter Walsh, author of “The history of the Dundee Chess Club” was too ill to attend. Thanks to Peter for the information included in this summary.
Additional notes
Dundee hosted important tournaments in 1867 and 1967.
From the Glasgow Herald chess column of 14 September 1945 (p. 2): The Dundee club hopes to publish a book of games, etc., for its centenary in 1947. Dundee in its day was a notable chess centre, and the story of the club will make interesting reading.
Others connected to the club:-
Master visits
Aside from Steinitz and Alekhine, the club has been visited by Eliskases, Kostich and Znosko-Borovsky.
Alan McGowan
Historian, Chess Scotland