Chess Scotland Noticeboard

Geoff Chandler · Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 3:26 pm Post subject: Masters who have visited Scotland

I know it's being updated but let's not forget Howard Staunton 1852.

admin · Site Admin Joined: 09 Jan 2007 Posts: 1386

David Bronstein playing in the East Kilbride Open!

Paul Denham · Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2009 2:47 pm Post subject:

Andy (Admin) and all,

Does anyone out there have any photos of GM David Bronstein at the East Kilbride Open?

They would be great for our EKCC website and would probably be of interest to the CS Historian.

Cheers
Paul

Geoff Chandler · Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2009 4:49 pm Post subject:

There is also a whole of set of English and Commonwealth GM's who have
played in Scotland during some of the The Briitish Championships
held in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Ayr.

Hort is also missing from the main list.

I had a couple fo pints with him in the Castle Club and showed him the
bit in Vukovic's book where Vukovic said Hort fell off his chair in shock
when Keres sacced a piece against him.

Hort said this was untrue.

Don Heron · Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 8:07 pm Post subject: GMs visiting Scotland

1990 Sax and Pinter two GMs who played for Honved against Wandering Dragons in the european cup match - not mentioned so far.

A Muir · King Joined: 15 Feb 2007 Posts: 489 Location: Dumbarton

For other Masters visits, I think we should stick to the legends eg Karpov,Botvinnik,Keres etc and not widen to any IM/GM who has visited Scotland.

Does anyone know how many games Karpov played in 1984 ? Is 23 right?

I think Karpov played 23 opponents. There were originally 25 but he did not wish to play Roddy McKay (Scottish Champion in 1971,1974,1976,1979, 1982 and a previous rival in junior tournaments eg World Junior in 1969) or Graham Morrison (Scottish Champion in 1981). These two players were only told at the last minute they could not play and were not replaced.

As for myself (SCA rating 2255 then) , Dougie Bryson, Mark Condie, Phil Giulian etc - although international players at the time,we were considered lesser threats and allowed to play

Alan McGowan · Bishop Joined: 13 Jul 2008 Posts: 23

Thanks to everyone who has commented in the Forum, or who has contacted me directly regarding Masters Who Have Visited Scotland. Perhaps it would be helpful if I explained some of the reasoning behind the material I choose to supply to the Webmaster, Douglas Bryson.

For a number of years, the priority for me has been to provide information on all the Scottish Championships, commencing with 1884. So far, I have managed to cover the years up to 1958. At the same time, I have been working on the Richardson and Spens Cup events, trying to provide round-by-round results, where available, or at least the full details of each final. The Richardson has been covered from 1899-1969, with only a few gaps at this point. The late Gerry Wilson did most of the work on the post WWII years.

The Spens has been covered from 1902-1939, again with only a few gaps. The post WWII years are not so easy to cover, as the BCM and Chess stooped listing the teams, giving only the bare result. Therefore, further enquiries are required, and time, to track down more detailed reports.

Not only are these the most significant, regular, events in the history of chess in Scotland, but I was able to work on this material from my own library, or other easily accessible material (The Scotsman Online).

Having attempted to cover the main events, and occasionally looking for a change of material, you will note that articles have already been supplied on various other subjects (CS Homepage, bottom right, Chess Scotland History Archives, Latest Additions).

The 'Master Visits to Scotland' is a continuation of an attempt to record any material of significance regarding the history of chess in this country. I selected the Masters that made promotional visits to Scotland, again because there was a reasonable amount of material that was easily available to me.

I do not agree with Andrew Muir's opinion, expressed in this Forum, that "we should stick to the legends...". Just because Mieses was not as strong as Capablanca does not mean that his visits should be ignored, nor those of Reti, Frank Marshall or Teichmann. They are all part of the historical record.

Now, other Masters have visited Scotland in different capacity. Hort, who has been mentioned, being one of them. Also, Olafsson, Ree, Hübner, Lombardy and Tatai are other Masters who have visited Scotland, playing in Glasgow September weekend congresses. Dr Euwe, former world champion, has even visited Scotland when he was head of FIDE. Is he a legend? Does he deserve a mention?

Eventually, if my eyesight is not lost, there may be some report, somewhere, of these visits. At the moment, such visits are not at the top of the list, as there is a significant amount of other material that I feel should be recorded first.

For example, I had already noted the need to do something about significant matches that took place between Scottish teams and European opponents: Castlemilk v Partizan Belgrade; Wandering Dragons v Honved; Glasgow v Turin (home and away), for example.

Other tournaments should be recorded. The major international tournaments of Dundee 1867 and 1967; Scottish Junior International 1969; Troon 1984; Home International Team Tournament 1975; Glorney Cups; Student Team Tournaments; Paul Motwani's world title when he was a junior; Olympiads....

Such articles may come under their own heading, rather than under Master Visits to Scotland', but they are all worthy of mention.

So, Geoff, I will try not to forget Staunton in 1852. I will make a point of fitting it in to the other 75 articles that I am working on! Unless, of course, you would be willing to do the piece yourself, perhaps for own web site, but also for Chess Scotland.

Please feel free to communicate directly with me on any matters relating to the history of chess in Scotland. I welcome suggestion, or notes about omissions and corrections.

Should anyone be willing to help, please let me know. It may just involved re-typing an article from Scottish Chess, or something that I can scan and send.

Lastly, I am missing a number of issues of the SCA Bulletins (Nr. 1, Autumn 1960). I am looking for issues 3-9, 13, 18, 19, 25 and others.

I am also looking for issues of that fantastic publication by Bernard Partridge, the High School of Glasgow Bulletin. It ceased publication in June 1970.

If anyone is willing to part with copies, please let me know at amcgowan@golden.net

Thanks.
Alan McGowan
Historian, Chess Scotland

Trevor Davies · Queen Joined: 15 Feb 2007 Posts: 131

Wasn't it Yusupov (spelling?) who gave a simul in Glasgow Montrose about 2 years ago? Dvoretsky's visit at around the same time is also noteworthy.