1 April, 2003

NEXT weekend sees the start of the 110th Scottish Championships at
George Heriot's School in Edinburgh. The move from its traditional
summertime slot clears the way for a veritable chess bonanza this year
in Edinburgh, as the capital city also plays host to the British
Championships from 20 July to 2 August at the same venue.

The early start to the Scottish Championships also means a slightly
earlier date for the finals of the Chess Scotland team competitions,
which were held on Saturday at the Grangemouth Sports Center. In a
repeat of last year's Richardson Cup Final, defending champions Glasgow
Polytechnic yet again ran up easy victors over Edinburgh West, who now
have the unlucky distinction of having lost all four of their finals in
the last six years.

The 5.5-2.5 victory for "Poly" was perhaps a little flattering in an
evenly matched encounter where all the games were closely contested.
Poly took the lead after David Watt, in a superior position, won on time
on bottom board over Bruce McNally. This was followed with a draw on
the top board between IM John Shaw and WGM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant. The
match was soon tied at 1.5-1.5 as Edinburgh West's Joe Redpath, the
youngest player in the match, beat Poly stalwart Ian Swan in the board
two encounter. However, Poly, with a wealth of experience in the middle
order, ground out the necessary wins to retain their title as Scotland's
top club.

Poly has now notched up eleven wins in the 104-year history of
Scotland's premier cup competition and is placed third in the order of
merit for Richardson wins. The now defunct Glasgow Club's record haul
of 33 wins keeps them alive in name only in the history books ahead of
their former rivals - though very much still in existence! - Edinburgh
with 23 wins. However, this year's win gives Poly a fifth successive
victory in the competition, a feat equalled only by Glasgow in the late
1960s.

Glasgow Polytechnic 5.5-2.5 Edinburgh West
(Polytechnic white on odds)
1 IM J Shaw draw WGM K Arakhamia-Grant; 2 J Redpath 1-0 I Swan; 3 E
Davis 1-0 J Grant; 4 N Farrell draw M Perez; 5 L Kirk 1-0 W Buchanan; 6
G Neave draw D Byrne; 7 G Rattray 1-0 P McInally; 8 B McNally 0-1 D
Watt.

J Redpath - I Swan
Richardson Cup Final, (Bd. 2)
Queen's Pawn Opening
1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 c5 3 dxc5 e6 4 c4 Bxc5 5 cxd5 exd5 6 e3 Nf6 7 a3 a5 8 b3
0-0 9 Be2 Nc6 10 Bb2 Bg4 11 0-0 Qe7 12 Nc3 Rad8 13 Nb5 Ne4 14 Nbd4 f5 15
Nxc6 bxc6 16 Ne5 Bxe2 17 Qxe2 Rc8 18 Rac1 Bxa3 19 Nxc6 Qd6 20 Nd4 Bxb2
21 Qxb2 f4 22 Rxc8 Rxc8 23 Nf5 Qd7 24 Qe5 Re8 25 Qxf4 Rf8 26 g4 g6 27 f3
Nd2 28 Nh6+ Kg7 29 Qd4+ Kxh6 30 Qxd2 Qa7 31 Kg2 g5 32 h4 gxh4 33 e4+ Kg6
34 Qxd5 Qc7 35 Qh5+ Kg7 36 Qxh4 Qc2+ 37 Qf2 Qxb3 38 Qa7+ Rf7 39 Qxa5
Qc2+ 40 Rf2 Qc1 41 Qe5+ Kg8 42 Qb8+ Rf8 43 Qb3+ Rf7 44 Rc2 Qe1 45 Rc8+
Kg7 46 Qb2+ Kg6 47 Rc6+ 1-0

JOHN B HENDERSON