Sometimes the NLC team wins chess matches. Mostly it loses them.
But it always wins the fight that really matters: neckwear.
Many have attempted to better the Libs in matters of Windsor-knot excellence. Some, it transpires, have sought to sidestep the fight entirely, as this excerpt of the Streatham and Brixton Chess Club’s 1979 newsletter (‘Knightmare’) shows:
Eastman Cup (By Nigel Povah)
Well at last we’ve done it!
Our quest for the elusive Eastman Cup (we were losing semi-finalists in
1978) took a fairly smooth course this year. We had a comfortable victory
against Harrow in the first round and were paired against Drunken Knights in
the second round. The match was scheduled to be played at the National Liberal
Club in December, and it just so happened that I had managed to field a team of
10 players over 190. But Jeremy Thorpe and the gods were not on our side
because our players were not suitably dressed (collar and tie being
necessary!), so the match was abandoned only to be held at a later date under
more casual circumstances – we won 7.5 – 2.5.
The NLC shall never be beaten.
