A History of the Insurance Chess Club
One of history’s most infamous misquotes is the one attributed to the American author Mark Twain who didn’t ever say ‘The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.’ (Equally unreliable is the notion that Mark Twain was the avid chess player that some sources have suggested).
Announcing the death of the Insurance Chess Club (founded 1893) might likewise be premature. Nevertheless there seems to be little sign of continuing regular activity post-Covid. Let’s hope that the club may revive and thrive – as it indeed did after a proposal had been made in July 1907 to dissolve it because of falling membership numbers.
Writing as an ICC member since 1967 (admittedly with something of a long lapse from 1977 to 2007) my purpose in now presenting a potted history of the club is twofold. One is to pay tribute to Rodney E. James who with much help and encouragement from Ian Hunnable published in 1993 an admirably detailed and industriously researched History of the Insurance Chess Club: Volume I – 1893 to 1953. The second is to offer my own affectionate showcasing of the ICC’s history to a readership of chess lovers that will I hope be interested and entertained to read it. In doing so I am replicating from the year 1901 the expressed hope of a former officer of the ICC who desired to preserve a record of the club’s history for ‘an admiring posterity.’
1893 to 1918
Who were the notable founding officers of the ICC? Where did the club play its matches? Who were the strongest players? Do any famous chess names come into the story?
The credit for founding the ICC belongs to H.H. Wilson of the Guardian, 11 Lombard Street. He used the Post Magazine as vehicle to advertise his intention. Founded in 1840 and still published today, The Post is a trade magazine for the general insurance industry. Regular reports of the ICC were published in the magazine after the ICC got going in 1893 with 229 members from 51 different offices. Finding suitable headquarters was a merry dance for the first few years. The London Salvage Corps offered space at 11 Queen Street but it became necessary also to try The Cyprus at 8 King William Street, The Windmill at 151 Cannon Street and other short term venues before settling on The Cabin, Old Jewry in 1899.
Mentioning the names of notable officers and players will always risk the unintentional omission of names that deserve to be included. Moreover at this very long length of time the names are unlikely to mean anything to modern day readers; nor indeed are the names of the many long-defunct insurance companies from whom the early ICC membership was drawn. Modern new buildings inevitably too have long replaced some or all of the old headquarters: a search on the internet will not for example enlighten us of the former location of The Cabin, Old Jewry. My friend Roger Harris kindly informs me that The Cabin Ltd restaurant chain was founded around 1898 (later becoming Cabins Ltd) before disappearing in the 1930s. The one used by the ICC stood at No. 6 Old Jewry next to the Three Crowns pub at No. 5. The whole building was rebuilt circa 2007 so we cannot inspect today the premises occupied by those intrepid ICC members of pre- World War One vintage.
G.H. Ryan of the Royal Exchange was the founding President of the ICC in 1893. He served in that capacity for 44 playing seasons until his death in 1937. He was knighted in 1911 in recognition of his prominence in the profession of Actuaries. T.F. Lawrence of the Prudential joined in 1896 and went on to win the ICC championship seven times. He played in ten of the cable matches between the UK and the USA from 1897 to 1911 including two occasions in 1902 and 1903 when he played on top board and drew each time with the famous grandmaster H.N. Pillsbury, winner of the Hastings international tournament in 1895.
G.H. Ryan and T.F. Lawrence were sufficiently strong players that they regularly gave simultaneous exhibitions against invited groups of ICC member players. The ICC had been launched with a very grand flourish on 20th March 1893 when J.H. Blackburne the top British player of his generation gave a blindfold simultaneous display against eight of the founder members. His fee of five guineas (‘a lot of money in those days’) reflected his fame and status. Blackburne dominated British chess in the second half of the 19th century. In 1895 and 1896 the ICC commissioned a series of lectures on opening play by Isidor Gunsberg, another leading British player. Great excitement accompanied the hiring of the world chess champion Dr. Emanuel Lasker to deliver a series of lectures for which his fee in 1898 was ten guineas. He returned in 1908 playing twenty opponents after delivering a lecture on the Ruy Lopez opening.
Amongst the opposing teams on the ICC’s early fixture lists were Hastings, Cambridge University and Oxford. The first ever matches were in 1902, 1908 and 1907 respectively, afterwards becoming annual encounters that were eagerly enjoyed by the members. In its first three decades the ICC was competitively a member team in the London League while also fixing up friendly matches against a variety of opposing clubs. It has been said that Insurance has a number of peer professions such as Accountancy, Banking, Civil Service and Law. Throughout its history the ICC has played matches against representative clubs of these professions, both competitive and friendly.
Who were the notable founding officers of the ICC? Where did the club play its matches? Who were the strongest players? Do any famous chess names come into the story?
The credit for founding the ICC belongs to H.H. Wilson of the Guardian, 11 Lombard Street. He used the Post Magazine as vehicle to advertise his intention. Founded in 1840 and still published today, The Post is a trade magazine for the general insurance industry. Regular reports of the ICC were published in the magazine after the ICC got going in 1893 with 229 members from 51 different offices. Finding suitable headquarters was a merry dance for the first few years. The London Salvage Corps offered space at 11 Queen Street but it became necessary also to try The Cyprus at 8 King William Street, The Windmill at 151 Cannon Street and other short term venues before settling on The Cabin, Old Jewry in 1899.
Mentioning the names of notable officers and players will always risk the unintentional omission of names that deserve to be included. Moreover at this very long length of time the names are unlikely to mean anything to modern day readers; nor indeed are the names of the many long-defunct insurance companies from whom the early ICC membership was drawn. Modern new buildings inevitably too have long replaced some or all of the old headquarters: a search on the internet will not for example enlighten us of the former location of The Cabin, Old Jewry. My friend Roger Harris kindly informs me that The Cabin Ltd restaurant chain was founded around 1898 (later becoming Cabins Ltd) before disappearing in the 1930s. The one used by the ICC stood at No. 6 Old Jewry next to the Three Crowns pub at No. 5. The whole building was rebuilt circa 2007 so we cannot inspect today the premises occupied by those intrepid ICC members of pre- World War One vintage.
G.H. Ryan of the Royal Exchange was the founding President of the ICC in 1893. He served in that capacity for 44 playing seasons until his death in 1937. He was knighted in 1911 in recognition of his prominence in the profession of Actuaries. T.F. Lawrence of the Prudential joined in 1896 and went on to win the ICC championship seven times. He played in ten of the cable matches between the UK and the USA from 1897 to 1911 including two occasions in 1902 and 1903 when he played on top board and drew each time with the famous grandmaster H.N. Pillsbury, winner of the Hastings international tournament in 1895.
G.H. Ryan and T.F. Lawrence were sufficiently strong players that they regularly gave simultaneous exhibitions against invited groups of ICC member players. The ICC had been launched with a very grand flourish on 20th March 1893 when J.H. Blackburne the top British player of his generation gave a blindfold simultaneous display against eight of the founder members. His fee of five guineas (‘a lot of money in those days’) reflected his fame and status. Blackburne dominated British chess in the second half of the 19th century. In 1895 and 1896 the ICC commissioned a series of lectures on opening play by Isidor Gunsberg, another leading British player. Great excitement accompanied the hiring of the world chess champion Dr. Emanuel Lasker to deliver a series of lectures for which his fee in 1898 was ten guineas. He returned in 1908 playing twenty opponents after delivering a lecture on the Ruy Lopez opening.
Amongst the opposing teams on the ICC’s early fixture lists were Hastings, Cambridge University and Oxford. The first ever matches were in 1902, 1908 and 1907 respectively, afterwards becoming annual encounters that were eagerly enjoyed by the members. In its first three decades the ICC was competitively a member team in the London League while also fixing up friendly matches against a variety of opposing clubs. It has been said that Insurance has a number of peer professions such as Accountancy, Banking, Civil Service and Law. Throughout its history the ICC has played matches against representative clubs of these professions, both competitive and friendly.
1919 to 1953
The Rodney James book is a year-by-year statistical record that recites membership numbers; committee member names; results of matches and competitions. You’ll have seen already my selection of highlights from the pre-World War One era. My selection of highlights from 1919 to 1953 is partly governed by my memory of joining the ICC in 1967 and finding that some of the officials and players were living legends or were esteemed in recent memory. Later in 2007 when I first saw the Rodney James history book I came to understand why luminaries such as Len Durham, Godfrey Nurse, Alfred Tooke and Roy Wagstaff were held in such fond regard.
Slowly returning to full activity in 1919 after the interruption of World War One the ICC switched its headquarters to The Old Bell in Holborn where it would remain until 1956. Roger Harris informs me that the Old Bell public house stood in the same now-demolished block of buildings as the famous Gamages department store.
A simultaneous display was given by Sir George Thomas, already in 1920 a renowned player whose long and distinguished chess career would see him win a game against each of the two world champions Capablanca and Botvinnik.
The early 1920s brought the arrival of five ICC players who would become legends. In 1921 Alfred Tooke registered 11 wins playing on top board for the team. It was a precursor of a long span as one of the club’s strongest players in addition to serving as club auditor from 1925 until his death in 1955. A year later J. Mason of Matthews Wrightson began a notable family dynasty of grandfather, father and son each of whom would render long and loyal service to the club. Next up, in 1923, L.A. (Len) Durham of Bowring brought not only a mighty new team into the annual inter-office league competition but also the personal distinction of winning the individual ICC championship nine times. There must have been something magical about the first part of that decade because 1924 and 1925 marked the debuts of G.C.H. King and Godfrey Nurse who also were destined to give legion service to the ICC.
Rodney James of the National Mutual Life of Australasia joined in 1935 and would later hold the post of secretary. One of his many administrative initiatives occurred in 1951 when he sought to put right what he long had considered to be a wrong. In 1926 the ICC had affiliated itself to the Middlesex County Chess Association in accordance with the club headquarters of the Old Bell, Holborn being located in that county. Considering this to be illogical, Rodney James persuaded the members to affiliate the ICC with the British Chess Federation instead.
The ICC shut down completely for the duration of World War Two. After resumption in October 1945 a notable new joiner was Roy Wagstaff ‘who was subsequently to become one of the club’s most successful and efficient match captains for many years.’ Roy belonged also to the Wanstead & Woodford chess club and his story intermingles with that of J. Mason (grandfather), J.C. Hunnable (father) and I.D. (Ian) Hunnable (son). All three played for the ICC and for W&W (still today a thriving club with a rich and proud history of its own). Ian in time became a key officer of the ICC and he is today the President.
The Rodney James book is a year-by-year statistical record that recites membership numbers; committee member names; results of matches and competitions. You’ll have seen already my selection of highlights from the pre-World War One era. My selection of highlights from 1919 to 1953 is partly governed by my memory of joining the ICC in 1967 and finding that some of the officials and players were living legends or were esteemed in recent memory. Later in 2007 when I first saw the Rodney James history book I came to understand why luminaries such as Len Durham, Godfrey Nurse, Alfred Tooke and Roy Wagstaff were held in such fond regard.
Slowly returning to full activity in 1919 after the interruption of World War One the ICC switched its headquarters to The Old Bell in Holborn where it would remain until 1956. Roger Harris informs me that the Old Bell public house stood in the same now-demolished block of buildings as the famous Gamages department store.
A simultaneous display was given by Sir George Thomas, already in 1920 a renowned player whose long and distinguished chess career would see him win a game against each of the two world champions Capablanca and Botvinnik.
The early 1920s brought the arrival of five ICC players who would become legends. In 1921 Alfred Tooke registered 11 wins playing on top board for the team. It was a precursor of a long span as one of the club’s strongest players in addition to serving as club auditor from 1925 until his death in 1955. A year later J. Mason of Matthews Wrightson began a notable family dynasty of grandfather, father and son each of whom would render long and loyal service to the club. Next up, in 1923, L.A. (Len) Durham of Bowring brought not only a mighty new team into the annual inter-office league competition but also the personal distinction of winning the individual ICC championship nine times. There must have been something magical about the first part of that decade because 1924 and 1925 marked the debuts of G.C.H. King and Godfrey Nurse who also were destined to give legion service to the ICC.
Rodney James of the National Mutual Life of Australasia joined in 1935 and would later hold the post of secretary. One of his many administrative initiatives occurred in 1951 when he sought to put right what he long had considered to be a wrong. In 1926 the ICC had affiliated itself to the Middlesex County Chess Association in accordance with the club headquarters of the Old Bell, Holborn being located in that county. Considering this to be illogical, Rodney James persuaded the members to affiliate the ICC with the British Chess Federation instead.
The ICC shut down completely for the duration of World War Two. After resumption in October 1945 a notable new joiner was Roy Wagstaff ‘who was subsequently to become one of the club’s most successful and efficient match captains for many years.’ Roy belonged also to the Wanstead & Woodford chess club and his story intermingles with that of J. Mason (grandfather), J.C. Hunnable (father) and I.D. (Ian) Hunnable (son). All three played for the ICC and for W&W (still today a thriving club with a rich and proud history of its own). Ian in time became a key officer of the ICC and he is today the President.
1954 to the present day
Photo: David Sedgwick (left): Hastings v ICC in April 2019.
From my own periods of membership I can provide some first-hand reporting of a seventy-year period that included surely the peak of membership numbers and activity for the ICC. I refer to the legendary 1972 Fischer versus Spassky world championship match that kept chess in the forefront of global news for several frenzied weeks as the brash American strove to break the Soviet monopoly of world chess supremacy. Chess clubs everywhere experienced a sudden surge of new members applying to join or at least come to learn and play the game. Let me now cite my e-mail correspondence with Ian Hunnable in 2007 in which he kindly reflected on that thrilling stage of the ICC’s history:
‘The Club is getting older. The nucleus of players supporting the activities has mostly been there for years. Our problem has been attracting new members, but then that is a problem facing clubs generally, and not only chess clubs. The membership peaked in 1975 at 513 but has declined ever since, now down to just 65.
‘The ICC was dependent on the inter-office competition [founded in 1907] for a constant supply of members, but along with the move out of central London by many offices in the late 1970s and 1980s, companies also reduced or removed their support for social and sporting activities with the result that the natural focus for team activity was lost. Also, the revolution in work practices and increased focus on competitiveness and cost-effectiveness, introduced by Maggie Thatcher, meant that fewer people had time to spend playing chess, let alone organising teams (which had suddenly become more difficult anyway).
‘Our inter-office competition, while it still exists in principle, is no longer active (it is in effect suspended). We have only three active teams and all three of those are ‘combined teams’ each comprised of players from two independent offices who have simply joined forces to make one (four board) team, those being JTW/Cornhill, ABI/Zurich and Ombudsmen (an amalgam of the regulatory bodies). Those three teams participate instead in the Combined Banks and Insurance Chess League which was formed in 1999, the Banks League having suffered from the same problems.’
Eighteen years have passed since Ian wrote those words and it is my current observation that the ICC is inactive. The most recent entry on the website is dated November 2021.
From my involvement as a player in the 1960s and 1970s I will put on record my warm endorsement from personal experience that Godfrey Nurse and Roy Wagstaff extended much kindness and encouragement to me in my capacities of playing for the club and also starting / running a new team that joined the inter-office competition in 1968. The team was still running after I left Howden Swann in 1976. On occasion of Howden Swann winning the championship of one of the lower divisions in 1969 little did I know the legendary esteem of the beaming and jovial Mr. L.A. Durham who presented our trophy at the AGM. If only I had known of the souvenir booklet of 1901 and the declared importance always to revere ‘those who have distinguished themselves in ICC competitions or service’.
From my second period of ICC involvement commencing 2007 I again acknowledge the danger of singling out individual names while unintentionally omitting others of equal or greater merit. But here goes, starting with Ian Hunnable who was Chairman before now becoming President and then Martin Page the devoted Secretaty sending out the annual reports and subscription reminders. Dr Julian Farrand the first ever insurance Ombudsman (appointed in 1989) played on top board for the ICC when his duties allowed. He passed away in 2020 leaving a widow the famous Baroness Hale (a.k.a. ‘The Spider Woman’) whose stellar career in legislation has included President of the UK Supreme Court. David Malcolm who first joined the ICC in 1960 was champion seven times and might have surpassed Len Durham’s all-time record of nine had he not risen through the ranks at Royal Insurance to become the very busy General Manager. In more recent time Mr Durham’s record of nine has been equalled by two long-serving ICC stalwarts Tony Paish and David Sedgwick. David is a distinguished officer of the BCF and is a FIDE International arbiter. Even so he kindly found time in his busy calendar to welcome me back to the ICC in 2007 and invite me to play in some of the annual fixtures versus Civil Service, Legal & General and others. I extend grateful thanks also to Geoff Naldrett who kindly offered me to play in the long-running Hastings versus ICC annual fixture. In his report of the match in April 2019 Geoff wrote: ‘Before start of play we were welcomed by our hosts who declared that this annual match has reached its 117th year. We were presented with a framed copy of the first match, played at the Queens Hotel, Hastings in 1902.’ The match seems not have been played since 2019 but I count it a personal pleasure and honour to have taken part in such an enduring chapter of chess history.
Photo: David Sedgwick (left): Hastings v ICC in April 2019.
From my own periods of membership I can provide some first-hand reporting of a seventy-year period that included surely the peak of membership numbers and activity for the ICC. I refer to the legendary 1972 Fischer versus Spassky world championship match that kept chess in the forefront of global news for several frenzied weeks as the brash American strove to break the Soviet monopoly of world chess supremacy. Chess clubs everywhere experienced a sudden surge of new members applying to join or at least come to learn and play the game. Let me now cite my e-mail correspondence with Ian Hunnable in 2007 in which he kindly reflected on that thrilling stage of the ICC’s history:
‘The Club is getting older. The nucleus of players supporting the activities has mostly been there for years. Our problem has been attracting new members, but then that is a problem facing clubs generally, and not only chess clubs. The membership peaked in 1975 at 513 but has declined ever since, now down to just 65.
‘The ICC was dependent on the inter-office competition [founded in 1907] for a constant supply of members, but along with the move out of central London by many offices in the late 1970s and 1980s, companies also reduced or removed their support for social and sporting activities with the result that the natural focus for team activity was lost. Also, the revolution in work practices and increased focus on competitiveness and cost-effectiveness, introduced by Maggie Thatcher, meant that fewer people had time to spend playing chess, let alone organising teams (which had suddenly become more difficult anyway).
‘Our inter-office competition, while it still exists in principle, is no longer active (it is in effect suspended). We have only three active teams and all three of those are ‘combined teams’ each comprised of players from two independent offices who have simply joined forces to make one (four board) team, those being JTW/Cornhill, ABI/Zurich and Ombudsmen (an amalgam of the regulatory bodies). Those three teams participate instead in the Combined Banks and Insurance Chess League which was formed in 1999, the Banks League having suffered from the same problems.’
Eighteen years have passed since Ian wrote those words and it is my current observation that the ICC is inactive. The most recent entry on the website is dated November 2021.
From my involvement as a player in the 1960s and 1970s I will put on record my warm endorsement from personal experience that Godfrey Nurse and Roy Wagstaff extended much kindness and encouragement to me in my capacities of playing for the club and also starting / running a new team that joined the inter-office competition in 1968. The team was still running after I left Howden Swann in 1976. On occasion of Howden Swann winning the championship of one of the lower divisions in 1969 little did I know the legendary esteem of the beaming and jovial Mr. L.A. Durham who presented our trophy at the AGM. If only I had known of the souvenir booklet of 1901 and the declared importance always to revere ‘those who have distinguished themselves in ICC competitions or service’.
From my second period of ICC involvement commencing 2007 I again acknowledge the danger of singling out individual names while unintentionally omitting others of equal or greater merit. But here goes, starting with Ian Hunnable who was Chairman before now becoming President and then Martin Page the devoted Secretaty sending out the annual reports and subscription reminders. Dr Julian Farrand the first ever insurance Ombudsman (appointed in 1989) played on top board for the ICC when his duties allowed. He passed away in 2020 leaving a widow the famous Baroness Hale (a.k.a. ‘The Spider Woman’) whose stellar career in legislation has included President of the UK Supreme Court. David Malcolm who first joined the ICC in 1960 was champion seven times and might have surpassed Len Durham’s all-time record of nine had he not risen through the ranks at Royal Insurance to become the very busy General Manager. In more recent time Mr Durham’s record of nine has been equalled by two long-serving ICC stalwarts Tony Paish and David Sedgwick. David is a distinguished officer of the BCF and is a FIDE International arbiter. Even so he kindly found time in his busy calendar to welcome me back to the ICC in 2007 and invite me to play in some of the annual fixtures versus Civil Service, Legal & General and others. I extend grateful thanks also to Geoff Naldrett who kindly offered me to play in the long-running Hastings versus ICC annual fixture. In his report of the match in April 2019 Geoff wrote: ‘Before start of play we were welcomed by our hosts who declared that this annual match has reached its 117th year. We were presented with a framed copy of the first match, played at the Queens Hotel, Hastings in 1902.’ The match seems not have been played since 2019 but I count it a personal pleasure and honour to have taken part in such an enduring chapter of chess history.
Further Notes
Readers of my little books of City of London history* will know that I have a fascination with insurance companies - not least the dramatic and famous 300-plus years history of the famous Lloyd’s of London insurance corporation. Accordingly the sight of the ICC’s first annual report of 1893/94 reprinted from the Rodney James book is guaranteed to absorb me in nostalgic delight. Most of the companies were long gone by the time that I began working at Lloyd’s in 1966. Commercial Union, Guardian, Norwich Union, Sun and Westminster were still going in 1966 but their names have subsequently vanished via mergers and takeovers leaving only Scottish Widows and Standard Life still operating under those names, and perhaps I should add Munich Re if the company named ‘Munich’ from 1893 was a forerunner of that giant entity.
I will pause to highlight that the Prudential who first joined the ICC in 1899 went on to be one of the constantly strongest teams. Playing under the name of Ibis they sometimes entered at least three teams in the Inter-Office competition such was their abundance of players. For me and fellow players of Howden Swann it was a delight to play matches against Ibis inside the majestic and distinctive red-brick gothic Prudential building in Holborn even though we usually were severely trounced in the match itself!
The name of Mr A. Rendtorff of Sterling Offices jumps out at me from the Rodney James book. In 1937 he was stand-in Chairman at an ICC meeting. He evidently shared two passions of mine: (1) chess; (2) insurance history! The Law and Practice of Reinsurance, first edition 1937, is a classic text book of the profession. In the preface we learn that the author Dr. C.E. Golding was ‘indebted to the indefatigable energy of Mr Rendtorff who had devoted much personal time to the gathering of a vast mass of extremely valuable and exhaustive information on the early records of reinsurance.’
*The City of London: Wandering and Wondering (2013; second edition 2024)
** So Long, C.U. (2017)
Jerry Dowlen, June 2025
Readers of my little books of City of London history* will know that I have a fascination with insurance companies - not least the dramatic and famous 300-plus years history of the famous Lloyd’s of London insurance corporation. Accordingly the sight of the ICC’s first annual report of 1893/94 reprinted from the Rodney James book is guaranteed to absorb me in nostalgic delight. Most of the companies were long gone by the time that I began working at Lloyd’s in 1966. Commercial Union, Guardian, Norwich Union, Sun and Westminster were still going in 1966 but their names have subsequently vanished via mergers and takeovers leaving only Scottish Widows and Standard Life still operating under those names, and perhaps I should add Munich Re if the company named ‘Munich’ from 1893 was a forerunner of that giant entity.
I will pause to highlight that the Prudential who first joined the ICC in 1899 went on to be one of the constantly strongest teams. Playing under the name of Ibis they sometimes entered at least three teams in the Inter-Office competition such was their abundance of players. For me and fellow players of Howden Swann it was a delight to play matches against Ibis inside the majestic and distinctive red-brick gothic Prudential building in Holborn even though we usually were severely trounced in the match itself!
The name of Mr A. Rendtorff of Sterling Offices jumps out at me from the Rodney James book. In 1937 he was stand-in Chairman at an ICC meeting. He evidently shared two passions of mine: (1) chess; (2) insurance history! The Law and Practice of Reinsurance, first edition 1937, is a classic text book of the profession. In the preface we learn that the author Dr. C.E. Golding was ‘indebted to the indefatigable energy of Mr Rendtorff who had devoted much personal time to the gathering of a vast mass of extremely valuable and exhaustive information on the early records of reinsurance.’
*The City of London: Wandering and Wondering (2013; second edition 2024)
** So Long, C.U. (2017)
Jerry Dowlen, June 2025
Photo: Hastings v ICC April 2019: Ian Hunnable and Martin Page with backs to camera while Anna Pontonutti of the Hastings team watches.
In the first ever Hastings v ICC match played in 1902 Hastings had three lady players. T.F. Lawrence one of the ICC's best ever players won his game on top board.
Photo: Dr Ian Calvert (far right) drew his game on top board versus H. Tebbs of Hastings in the match played in April 2019. ICC won the match 3.5 - 2.5
Photo: Jerry Dowlen at Hastings CC headquarters in April 2019. Hastings is one of the oldest and most famous chess clubs in Britain. This explains why the ICC was proud to secure a match against them in 1902, leading thankfully to the long-running tradition of an annual excursion to the seaside much enjoyed by the ICC players.
