West Wales Chess League

In just seven years' time the West Wales League will celebrate its centenary. We are the oldest constituent unit of the Welsh Chess Union. Monmouthshire followed our bid for autonomy four years later in 1936. We can only guess at why the decision was taken to form an association separate to the then exiting South Wales Chess Association but the economic status of the country at the time must have been one of the factors considered. 1932 was the middle of what was known as The Depression and travel costs to play in places in Monmouthshire and East Glamorgan would have been considerable.

Over the past 90 plus years the league has had its ups and downs. For a few years between 1957 and 1960 there were only three clubs  Swansea, Neath and Mond. Today there are only five but they encompass a much larger group of players with several clubs having fifty or more members.

Looking back over this period one can only wonder at some of the teams that entered. Aberystwyth University 1936-9 is perhaps the most mind-boggling. There is no record of these matches but Professor Vernon Charles Morton (1896-1978) was made a Vice-President of the West Wales League. He was Professor of Mathematics at Aberystwyth from 1923 until his retirement in 1961. There was no Mid Wales Association and competition elsewhere for them was virtually non-existent.

From the records it can be estimated that there have been 59 clubs in the West Wales since its formaation. None have survived from the league's creation. Some of these clubs changed their name over the years  G6 became Port Talbot; Woodmans became De La Beche; Killay became Glanmor became Rhyddings; Cardinals became Bishop Vaughan; so, it is sometimes difficult to keep track of them. The total number '59' therefore may be open to debate.

Most of the clubs were small in number, consisting of just a handful of players. Many survived for just one or two years. For example, Rob's Caf� (1966) in St. Helen's Road, Swansea which seems to have been a fore-runner of the Noah's Yard style of club; Builders (1980-2) a breakaway from the staid surroundings of Swansea YMCA; CPA (1985), Cwmrhydyceirw (1983-5) and Penlan (1985-7).

Some clubs faded away only to be re-formed as new clubs, years later. Port Talbot club closed its doors in 1957; was renewed by a break-away group of Castell Nedd players between 1983 and 1986 and was revived again by Bridgend players in 2013. The latter wanted Bridgend to play in the West Wales League but after contentions concerning the membership of Cardigan, Haverfordwest and Carmarthen, permission to join was refused and this was circumvented by setting up a group of Bridgend players in Port Talbot named initially G6. Llanelli is another club that has come and gone several times. They were members from 1933 to 1949; were reformed in 1962 and lasted until 1985.

WORKS TEAMS

The first of the works teams to grace the league was the Mond Nickel Works in Clydach in 1953. They were joined by Magnet in 1962 and British Electrical Repairs, SCOW, Tom Smith & Clarke, Police, Department of Environment, Fords and Swansea Telephone Area followed. Many of these establishments had their own social and sports' clubs and employer welfare seemed paramount. Today there are no works teams.

SCHOOLS

If the 60s was a decade highlighting works chess teams, then the 70s was a decade where youth came to the fore. A Swansea Schools League was formed in 1971, operating outside WWCL and it had three team competitions  Junior (Under 13), Intermediate (Under 15) and Senior (Under 18). The teams winning these events were from Gowerton, Bishop Vaughan, Bishop Gore, Olchfa and Bishopston. In late 1975 they were joined by a West Glamorgan Primary Schools Chess Association which ran team tournaments and teams from Swansea and Neath Port Talbot for the annual Welsh Intertown Team Tournament. The knock-on effect was a rapid growth in junior members in the West Wales League. Some schools even joined the West Wales League and they included Bishop Gore (1968-70), Bishop Vaughan (1968 and 1972-2010) and St. Michael's (2019-21).

There have also been several attempts to set up a Junior League within the auspices of WWCL. The original Minor League was for juniors only. A Junior League was established in 2013 which ran until 2017. It was a success in that over 60 children took part and two Divisions were created for differing age-groups. Teams from St. Michael's, St. Josephs (Port Talbot), Oakleigh, Bishop Gore, Dwr-y-felin, Ysgol Dyffryn Amman, Gowerton Primary, Sketty and Ysgol Gymraeg Dyffryn-y-Glowyr competed. However, travel seemed to be the main drawback and an east-west split was considered.

The latest incarnation is a league, known as the Dragon League, including junior (primary aged children) teams from Castell Nedd, St. Josephs (Clydach)  two teams, Crymlin (Jersey Marine) and Glynneath Library. This new competition started in 2025.

Most of the above school teams consisted of unregistered players and they are not therefore included in the estimation of league clubs (59) shown elsewhere.

LONGEVITY

The longest lasting clubs have been:

IN CONCLUSION

What makes a successful club? That is the sixty-thousand-dollar question.

Every club experiences an annual turnover of players. Players come and go for a variety of reasons and perhaps each year up to 20% of members depart; as far as juniors are concerned this can be as high as 40%. It is therefore of prime importance to recruit new members. Advertising has always been important and today a good website and social media outlet are essential. It also helps if a club has good administrators  plural!

A comfortable and affordable home venue which is easily accessible; a variety of activities within the club calendar and some degree of success in competitions are also important in providing a welcoming environment for new players and one in which they can develop their skills. Perhaps one should also include the importance of social activities outside the chess club which binds a membership together.

Accepting children into a club and developing their talents is hard work but the benefits are self-evident. Most of the leading players in our league today started there as juniors: Alan Young, Bill Hewitt, Steve Smith, Hywel Griffiths, Jonathon Thomas, Michael Beck, Rob Saunders, Adam Musson, Andrew Gibbons, Peter Bevan, Ian Jones, Andrew Thomas and Richard Cleveland were all teenagers or younger when they first played league chess.

Compiled from Annual Reports, Minute books and Year Books.