The NBCC's Historic Journey
Thank you for visiting the New Britain Chess Club's history website.
Founded on January 26, 1901, the NBCC is
Connecticut's
most historic chess organization.
From
1951 until 2004,
Arkadijs Strazdins - our club's greatest contributor, longtime president, and first NBCC historian - compiled and preserved our history.
After the passing of Mr. Strazdins in 2007, Andris Strazdins,
longtime
treasurer, kept
the
club
records at
his house until his passing in 2015. After the passing of Andris in 2015, the club records were given to Robert Cyr. Each year, the club
hosts
the Strazdins Cup/Stein to remember these gentlemen for their
many
decades of passionate and loyal service to our club.
Since 2005,
Robert has pursued additional projects, such as publishing annual newsletters and researching club records using the
Connecticut State Library database, to make our club's history as complete as possible. Unfortunately, most detailed records
on club events prior to 1951 were destroyed in a fire.
Robert built and designed this website as part of his massive project to preserve
and promote the extensive history of our rich and diverse organization.
The history published on this website (as shown on the menu on the left) is also kept in three binders below at Bob's home.
"NBCC - Highlights and History: 1900-2004" (520+ pages)
NBCC story, newspaper articles, various reports, selected tournament results, photos, games, and much more.
"NBCC - Annual Newsletters: 2005-2024" (570+ pages)
Highlights, membership achievements, trivia, photos, games, and much more.
"NBCC - The Archives: 1930s-Present" (40+ pages)
Listing of most tournament place winners, officers, venues, and record holders. Also included is a hall of fame for
members who have earned historic achievements in the NBCC. In regard to event winners who are published on this
website, please note that if trophies were awarded or if a playoff was used to break
the tie for first place, the first person listed in the tie was declared the champion.
Otherwise, the players involved in the tie were declared co-champions. To view the Excel file of the club archives, please click
here.
Copyright Permission
The NBCC has been granted copyright permission from the following state and local newspapers to republish the
hundreds of
articles
that have been written about our organization. The publishers and authors are the sole owners of these articles, and they must
receive full
credit for them. These articles are being republished on this website for the sole purpose of promoting the club and chess throughout
our
community.
Republication of these articles by our club for commercial use or for any other purpose than the aforementioned will be considered a
violation of
copyright law.
The New Britain Herald
The Hartford Courant
The Republican-American (based in Waterbury)
The Southington Observer
The Record-Journal (based in Meriden)
The Newtown Bee
The New Haven Register