Scottish Championship - It's all over for this year

"It's all over and I'm standing pretty in this dust that was a city"

Believe it or not, there are 2 boards in there!

24 hours have passed since the incredible ending to this years Scottish Championships.  I think very few people would have imagined that this years event, which was criticized on the noticeboard, would be one of the best events we have broadcast in Scotland.

Personally I think this format works.  I can see where people are coming from with respect to holidays, I also have to take a week of work as would any other Arbiter who helps out who has not retired.  Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining, I love arbiting and doing all the other bits I do at the Scottish.  This is my third Scottish as an Arbiter and it is the highlight of the season for me. 

Highlight for me has been the way Clement, Anthony, Andrew and Jonathan Scott have played, they really took the tournament to Keti and Craig.  Also the reaction of the staff to how the players were in the centre.  I was given fantastic feedback on us and they staff would love to have us back

The lowlight was missing round 2!

Everything is now done, grading sent off.  Final games are uploaded.  It is really over for another year.  Hope to see you all next year at the 119th Scottish Championships!!

We are the champions - Part 2

Finally it is over and we have a winner.  Firstly can I thank Lord Kirkwood for agreeing to present the prizes.

Ladies and Gentlemen, can I introduce to you, the 2011 Scottish Chess Champion Grandmaster Keti Arakhamia-Grant

In joint second place, we have  IM Craig Pritchett, Clement Sreeves, Jonathan Grant, Anthony Dempsey,

Grading prize and the Scottish Boys Champion, Jonathan Scott

Girls Champion, Alice Lampard

Player of the Year, FM Alan Tate

Cherie Booth award, Aly Roy

 Weekend Open Winner, FM Neil Berry

 Weekend Major winners Jannic Konarski  and Iain Campbell

And finally Weekend Minor winners Kathleen Rutherford and Jamie Underwood

Scottish Championships Day 9 - There can be only one!

"With heart, faith and steel. In the end there can be only one."

 In just under 6 hours time, one of these four people will be crowned Scottish Champion 2011.  Who will it be?  The maths is like something out of a Higher maths exam.  

For Anthony to win, he must win his game or draw with Jonathan winning

For Keti to win, she must win her game and Jonathan and Clement draw

For Jonathan to win, Keti must win and he wins against Clement

Finally for Clement to win, he has to win with Keti winning, or, and I really need to double check this, draw and the top board draws.

It's close, It's tight and there is next to no chance of a quick draw in these games, they are going to the wire folks!

We had a visitor today, another one of those shady characters who are involved with Rampant Chess.  I wonder if he also has a list of all the people in Scotland who have not bought one yet?

This morning we had to use the main hall for the weekend congress.  I decided to put the Minor on the electronic boards and broadcast the games.  I don't know about you, but I found them great fun to watch and far more enjoyable than the quick draws we have seen this week at times.  I wonder if this is the way forward to market chess,  Ignore the strong players and show the masses.  There is a perverse logic in that.

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been following this blog during the Scottish.  I started it as a bit of a joke and I now have over 400 people reading it each day,  which for someone who failed O Level English the first 2 times he sat it, is something my teacher would never have believed!  (For those who are not familiar with O Levels, I think they are called standard grades now).  I'd especially like to thank the people who have taken the time to speak to me to tell me they enjoy it (both by e-mail and verbally) :D

Plan is for a winners blog and I'll follow up with a review of the week.  

Enjoy the chess

Andy

Scottish Championships Day 8 - That Arthur Daley moment...

Beware of this man.  He is a smooth talker and can sell both snow to an Eskimo and sand to an Arab.  You want proof I hear???

His latest victim caught in the act of purchasing the dreaded "Rampant Chess".  He has the name of every chess player in Scotland who does not have a copy and he will hunt you down mercilessly...  You have been warned...

 Speaking of suspicious characters...

What do you think they are up to (answers of the back of a fiver to the usual address please!)

We had a scare at the start of the round.  We thought we had a players strike!!

Lots of defaults under the FIDE rules (showing of course the folly of such an idea!).  Turns out most of the players were downstairs watching the Weekender!

This is an unusually close Scottish, 2 rounds to go and it can be anyone of the top 9 boards who can win.  Who says the Scottish is now boring!  Result I don't want is a draw on board 1 and wins on 2, 3 and 4.  Will be a nightmare to determine the winner if that happens!!

Dave is away home and I am the resident teccie, Sitting here with 3 computer screens looking more and more like the Phantom of the Opera!  Just watch out for the Chandeliers!

Scottish Championships - We are the Champions, part 1

For 2 of the tournaments, the hard slog is over and we have our champions to celebrate.  So without further ado we have the runner up in the Seniors, with a score of 4.5 out of 7,

 

 

Ian Mason, Runner up

The winner, and 2011 Scottish Senior Champion, with an impressive 5.5 out of 6 is.......

Donald Heron, 2011 Seniors Champion

Moving to the U1500 and the  Scottish U1500 Boys Champion

Carl Milton, U1500 Boys Champion

And, making it a family double, the U1500 Girls champion

Anna Milton, U1500 Girls Champion

Runner up in the U1500 was

Ian Hope, U1500 Runner-up

And finally, the winner of the U1500, scoring a magnificent 6 out of 7, despite having an argument with a traffic warden...

Mike Mitchell, 2011 U1500 Champion

Well done to everyone.  Part II of this blog will be on Sunday night.

Scottish Championships Day 7 - Have you ever had that strange sensation called De Ja Vu?

Donald and I did the draw last night, as luck would have it, the draw we were all anticipating finally came out.  Keti V Jonathan.  Wife V Husband.  GM, Olympiad Gold Medal Winner and former Scottish Champion v Strong player and former Scottish Champion. 

There was a buzz about the Scottish Chess community.  A few wags had posted on the notice board

"Hope we don't see this advert in the local rag this weekend...

For Sale

Double bed (surplus to requirements)
Will swop for two single beds or large one man tent

Contact J.Grant (Edinburgh)"  

This was history in the making.  As far as we could tell, never before had a husband and wife played, essentially for the Scottish Title.  I contacted Chessbase to put them on alert, IM Douglas Bryson contacted a few newspaper he had contacts with.  This was history in the making.  It was a good selling point for the tournament and a possible hook we could use to get some sponsorship.

We all forgot one important thing, and in that respect it is a lessons learnt.  Never ever ever expect chess players to do what you expect!  11 1/2 moves later and a draw is agreed.  Nothing wrong with that, it is within the rules.  Strangely enough I feel down.  I was really looking forward to the watching that game.  They are 2 players who play exciting chess and normally if their games are on I will watch them.

I'm grateful that the reporters treated chess with its usual contempt.  Could have been a disaster had they appeared!  Mind you, all we would have had to do is give them a few mobile phones to keep them amused...

I'm afraid my motivation is down after that game.  Serves me right for trying to hype it up.  It will never stop me trying to market chess in Scotland, just looking around the room here tells me we have enough dedicated (or is is committed) players in Scotland.  We just need someone to believe in us and throw us some money (or I win the Lottery!)

The Seniors and the U1500 (that's the Under fifteen hundred for Alex, who was about to announce it was the U150!) finish today.  It has been a close fought competition

Starting with the Seniors,  Donald Heron leads the way on 4.5, with last years joint champion James Kleboe 1/2 point behind.  Janic Konnarski and Ian Mason are on 3.5

Donald is playing Janic and James is playing Ian.  Any one of the 4 can win here (although for Ian and Janic, they can only be joint champions)

In the U1500 Mike Mitchell can only be caught if he loses.  Any other results and he wins.  He is guaranteed minimum of Joint U1500 champion!

If he does slip up, both Ian Hope and Bernard Cassidy can catch him if they win.

Will do a further blog tonight with the start of the weekender and the winners from the Senior and U1500

Scottish Championships Day 6 - This is a Scottish Summer???

I lied yesterday, it was not hot.  It was Arctic conditions compared with today.  Now I am not saying it is hot today but I have just discovered my laptop has a fan.  Sitting outside the window is a seagull with sunglasses on!  At first I thought it was a big robin but I realised the red chest was sunburn...

Round 6 is upon us, for the U1500 and the Senior, this is really the make or break round.

In the Championship itself, this was the Scene at the start of play on board 1

And 5 minutes later?

 And 5 minutes after that

WHAT HAPPENED????????

Oh Dear.  I asked one of the other players for a comment.  His expression says it all for me

Short draws, the plague of chess.  Only chess would allow such a stupid rule.  Could you imagine Ally McCoist turning round to Neil Lennon after 5 mins and saying "Hey big man, I cannie be bothered, lets call this a draw an go fer a swally....".  There would be a riot!

Last two days I have introduced the Seniors and the U1500's today it is the cast of the hundreds as I introduce everyone here :D

I'm off to learn Bulgarian so we can introduce the Sofia Rules next year.