2nd April, 2003

WITH Scotland having the second oldest chess associations in the world
(formed in 1884), it's only naturally that their annual cup competitions
also have a rich heritage.

In 1898, to coincide with his term as president of the national
association, Mr J.B. Richardson offered a stunning silver trophy to be
competed for by the leading clubs in the country as Scotland's premier
cup competition; Dundee being the inaugural winners in 1899.

Following the death in 1900 of Sheriff Walter Spens, a leading Glasgow
legal officer of his day and one of the original founding-members of the
Scottish Chess Association (which has now become Chess Scotland), a
public subscription among the membership was organised for a fitting
memorial in his name. So, in 1902, the Spens Cup was initiated as a
subsidiary event to allow teams to qualify for the Richardson Cup.

Last year, thanks to a nifty piece of detective work by Scotland On
Sunday columnist IM Douglas Bryson (who was captain of centenary winners
Shettleston), it was discovered that the original Spens Cup was
destroyed in a fire at the club premises of the Jewish Institute during
the war years between 1939 and 1945; and in 1946 the present cup was
gifted by the Jewish Institute to the SCA as a suitable replacement.

On finals day on Saturday at the Grangemouth Sports Centre, Holy Cross
and Irvine Porthead fought it out for in 101st Spens Cup Final. Despite
having a decisive rating advantage, Holy Cross soon found themselves in
trouble on the top two boards. However, Irvine failed to capitalize on
their chances as Holy Cross won the top three boards to take their first
Spens title with an emphatic 4.5-1.5 victory. And, in a closely-fought
Jack Campbell Rosebowl Final, Dunfermline beat Dumfries 4-2
A rather entertaining top board skirmish from the Spens Cup Final.

Black may well have been better after 23 ..Qxf8! However, the game
turns when Black, not realizing the strength of the queen sacrifice,
turns down the forced draw after 25 ..Nh3+ 26 Kh1 Nf2+ (26 Kf1? Ng1! 27
Qd1 Qb5+ wins) repeating the position.

Spens Cup Final:
Holy Cross 4.5-1.5 Irvine Porthead
(HC white on odds)
1 A Stalker 1-0 T Barrett; 2 G King 0-1 S Tweedie; 3 T Donohue 1-0 A
Birnie; 4 R Yates draw C Tweedie; 5 M Hanley 1-0 R Loughran; 6 R Gourlay
1-0 D Rooney.

A Stalker - T Barrett
Spens Cup Final, (Bd.1)
Leningrad Dutch
1 d4 f5 2 g3 Nf6 3 Bg2 g6 4 Nf3 Bg7 5 0-0 0-0 6 b3 d6 7 Bb2 c6 8 Nbd2
Qe8 9 Re1 Na6 10 c4 Ne4 11 Nxe4 fxe4 12 Ng5 d5 13 cxd5 cxd5 14 f3 h6 15
Nh3 exf3 16 exf3 Bf5 17 Nf4 Nb4 18 Rc1 a5 19 Rc7 Bf6 20 Ne6 Nd3 21 Nxf8
Nxb2 22 Qe2 Bxd4+ 23 Kh1 Nd3 24 Ne6 Nf2+ 25 Kg1 Bd3 26 Nxd4 Bxe2 27 Rxe2
Nd3 28 Rexe7 Qf8 29 Ne6 Qf6 30 Rg7+ 1-0

JOHN B HENDERSON