19th May, 2003

FOR over a century, chess was the only game officially allowed to be
played in the House of Commons. There, they even have an exquisite
'Chess Room', filled with ornate and decorative sets from around the
world, all gifted by foreign delegations.

But alas, in 1987, The Times reported that 'because of the diminishing
number of MPs with the time and inclination for chess,' the hallowed
Chess Room was to be thrown open for games of chance 'from mah-jong to
poker.'

Only two world champions have ever been invited in to play in the
revered Chess Room: Jose Raul Capablanca in 1919, when he took on 38 of
the best players in the House (w36, d2), and Garry Kasparov, who in 1989
won 10-0 in a similar match. Now, after last year's 5-0 landslide over
MSPs in the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish Youth Squad is set to play
there as they take on the House of Commons in a match on June 18th.

The team set to do battle against the MPs will be Joe Redpath, 17,
Edinburgh; Daniel McGowan, 16, Tiree; Steven Tweedie, 15 Airdrie; Colin
Hall, 17, Perth; Christopher Macdonald, 13, Stirling; and Louise Mcnab,
Aberdeen.

And, thanks to the initiative of Louise Macnab, the only girl in the
line-up, the squad will get to do something that both world champions
Capablanca and Kasparov didn't get the honour of - they will be received
at 10 Downing Street! On the morning of the match, the squad will be
invited into the official residence of the British Prime Minister by his
wife Cherie Blair, before going on to see her husband in action during
Prime Ministers Question Time, prior to the match starting at 7.00pm.

U Andersson - A Zapata
Capablanca Memorial, (4)
Old Indian Defence
1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 d6 3 g3 e5 4 Bg2 c6 5 Nc3 Be7 6 0-0 0-0 7 e4 Nbd7 8 d4
Qc7 9 Rb1 a6 10 b4 b5 11 dxe5 Nxe5 12 Nxe5 dxe5 13 c5 Be6 14 Qc2 Rfd8 15
Rd1 Rxd1+ 16 Nxd1 Rd8 17 Ne3 g6 18 Bb2 Ng4 19 Nf1 Bg5 20 Rd1 h5 21 h3
Rxd1 22 Qxd1 Nh6 23 f4 Bf6 24 Qd2 Kh7 25 Nh2 Bg7 26 Nf3 exf4 27 Ng5+ Kg8
28 Bxg7 Kxg7 29 gxf4 Qd7 30 Qxd7 Bxd7 31 Nf3 f6 32 e5 Nf7 33 exf6+ Kxf6
34 Nd4 Nd8 35 h4 Ne6 36 Nxe6 Kxe6 37 Kf2 Kf6 38 Ke3 Ke7 39 Kd4 Kf6 40 a3
Be8 41 Be4 Bd7 42 Kc3 Be8 43 Kb2 Bd7 44 a4 1-0

JOHN B HENDERSON