9th April, 2003

DEFENDING champion Paul Motwani looks as if he's not going to have it
all his own way as he aims for a seventh title in the 110th Scottish
Championships being played at George Heriot's School in Edinburgh, as he
went through the unexpected trial of a determined challenge from one of
Scotland's leading juniors, Graeme Kafka.

Playing white, the odds were firmly on pre-tournament favourite Motwani
to effortlessly progress onto 3/3. Undeterred by his chances, Kafka
emerged from the complications from the opening with the better position
and an extra pawn after the dust had settled. Unfortunately for his
heroic efforts, Kafka couldn't stop Motwani steering the game into a
technically drawn ending.

Kafka's "metamorphosis" from top junior to a leading contender is
proving to be the highlight so far in the tournament. Kafka's
tournament performance rating (TPR) has now reached the dizzy heights of
2477 - over 450 points more than his published rating. Although it is
too early to view him as a leading contender for the title, his superb
start gives him a big chance to aim for a first International Masters
norm.

The surprise result on the top board allowed others to join Motwani and
Kafka in the lead. Top female player WGM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant, after
beating Iain Gourlay, joins the leaders on 2.5/3 - and another in the
hunt for the title and a first IM norm is Musselburgh's Mark Fraser, who
tops the table with a TPR of 2570. After beating Anglo-Irish IM Mark
Orr in the game of the day from round three, Fraser also joins the
leading pack at the top on 2.5/3.

Standings: 1-4 G Kafka, GM P Motwani, WGM K Arakhamia-Grant, M Fraser
2.5/3; 5-6 E Spencer, IM C Pritchett 2; 7-10 I Robertson, IM M Orr, I
Gourlay, GM C McNab 1.5; 11-16 S Brown, J Redpath, G MacArainn, J Grant,
A Grant, C MacDonald 1; 17-18 A Burnett, J Stevenson 0.5.
Orr soon finds himself being rocked after Fraser's stunning rook
sacrifice after 17 Rxh6!!, from which there is no defence: 17 ..Bxh6 18
Qg6+ Bg7 19 Ng5 is mating.

M Fraser - M Orr
110th Scottish Ch., (3)
Caro-Kann Defence
1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 g6 4 h3 Bg7 5 Nf3 Nh6 6 e5 0-0 7 Bf4 f6 8 Qd2 g5 9
Be3 Nf5 10 0-0-0 Nxe3 11 Qxe3 Bf5 12 g4 Bg6 13 h4 h6 14 hxg5 fxg5 15 Bd3
Bxd3 16 Qxd3 e6 17 Rxh6 Rxf3 18 Qg6 Kf8 19 Rdh1 Qd7 20 Rh8+ Bxh8 21
Rxh8+ Ke7 22 Qg7+ 1-0

JOHN B HENDERSON