Scottish Championship

Reports by JBH

 

APRIL 13: THE 110th Scottish Championships ended in a two-way tie for the national
title, as defending champion GM Paul Motwani and Woman Grandmaster
Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant finished equal first on 7/9.

Going into the final round, overnight leader Motwani had the benefit of
a half point lead over his nearest rival. Yet, despite the advantage,
Motwani found the going tough playing Anglo-Irish IM Mark Orr, who
defended accurately to force a draw in the top board clash. This left
the way open for lone female player Arakhamia-Grant to catch up with
Motwani, and she did so by brushing aside the challenge of GM Colin
McNab for the full point.

Unlike most national titles the Scottish Championships is not decided by
tiebreak or by a playoff - if the players tie, then they share the
title.

For Motwani, the shared title win puts him on seventh heaven as he
equalled the modern-day record of IM Roddy McKay (achieved between
1971-1988) with seven title wins in the Championship roll of honour -
still some way off the all-time record of 11 titles won during a golden
30 year period from 1932-1962 by the eminent bridge designer WA
Fairhurst (not to mention the 10 titles won during the same period by
his arch-rival, Dr. James Aitken).

As for Arakhamia-Grant, one of the world's top female players who now
lives in Edinburgh, it's her first national title win - and she now
emulates the feats of Hungary's Judit Polgar by having the distinction
of entering the record books by becoming the first woman to win the
national title.

Despite a highly-creditable third place with a Boys Own stuff
performance, Graeme Kafka could only draw with Joe Redpath and thus
fails to get the IM norm.

Final standings: 1-2 GM P Motwani, WGM K Arakhamia-Grant 7/9; 3 G Kafka
6; 4-7 IM C Pritchett, I Gourlay, J Grant, M Fraser 5; 8-12 GM C McNab,
IM M Orr, A Grant, J Redpath, I Robertson 4.5; 13-14 A Burnett, J
Stevenson 4; 15-17 E Spencer, S Brown, C MacDonald 3; 18 D MacArainn
1.5.

K Arakhamia - C McNab
110th Scottish Ch., (9)
Pirc Defence
1 e4 g6 2 d4 d6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 Be3 Nf6 5 Qd2 c6 6 Nf3 Qa5 7 Bd3 Bg4 8 0-0-0
Nbd7 9 Kb1 e5 10 dxe5 dxe5 11 Bc4 0-0 12 h3 Bxf3 13 gxf3 Rfd8 14 a3 Qc7
15 Ba2 Bf8 16 Qe2 b5 17 Bg5 Be7 18 h4 Nf8 19 Bxf6 Bxf6 20 h5 Rd4 21 Rdg1
Rad8 22 Qe3 Qd6 23 hxg6 hxg6 24 Ne2 Rd7 25 Nxd4 exd4 26 Qd2 Qe5 27 Rg4
c5 28 Bd5 Rxd5 29 exd5 Qxd5 30 Qe2 c4 31 Qe4 Qd6 32 f4 b4 33 f5 Bg7 34
fxg6 fxg6 35 axb4 1-0

APRIL 12: GRANDMASTER Paul Motwani looks to be heading for a seventh national
title at the 110th Scottish Championships taking place at George
Heriot's School in Edinburgh, as the defending champion and top seed
takes a crucial half point lead over nearest rival Woman Grandmaster
Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant, going into the final round.

In round seven, Motwani easily mowed down Alan Grant to extend his lead
at the top, as Arakhamia-Grant drew with IM Craig Pritchett. In the
penultimate round, with a win over the hapless Alan Grant,
Arakhamia-Grant cut Motwani's lead back again to half a point after he
drew with long-standing Dundonian rival GM Colin McNab - their 54th
meeting in competitive play, Motwani now ahead by 3 in their personal
duel by a score of 28.5-25.5.

With the title at stake in the final round, Motwani has white against
Anglo-Irish IM Mark Orr, and Arakhamia-Grant, vying to be the first
female to win the national title, also has white against McNab.

While the natural order of things has been restored at the top after
sixteenth seed Graeme Kafka sensationally led the tournament at the
midway point, he continues to be the revelation of this year's
Championship. In round seven, Kafka defeated Orr and went on to draw
with Iain Gourlay to be firmly placed in third behind the leaders going
into the final round - and crucially a full point ahead of the rest of
the field.

Having played four of the five titled players in the tournament, Kafka
has turned in a 2400+ performance so far, and now only needs a win in
the final round against good friend(!) Joe Redpath to unbelievably
record his first International Master norm.

Fortune favoured the lucky in round seven, when our hero beat Orr from
an inferior position to prove that old adage that when you're on a roll,
you're on a roll. Instead of 26 ..a4?, Orr was winning after 26 ..Bb5!
27 Kg3 Qe1.

Standings after Round 8: 1 GM P Motwani 6.5/8; 2 WGM K Arakhamia-Grant
6; 3 G Kafka 5.5; 4-6 GM C McNab, IM C Pritchett, I Gourlay 4.5; 7-13 IM
M Orr, A Grant, J Grant, J Redpath, M Fraser, I Robertson, A Burnett 4;
14 J Stevenson 3.5; 15-17 E Spencer, S Brown, C MacDonald 2.5; 18 G
MacArainn 1.5

G Kafka - M Orr
110th Scottish Ch., (7)
French Advanced
1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 c5 4 c3 Nc6 5 Nf3 Bd7 6 Be2 Nge7 7 Na3 cxd4 8 cxd4
Nf5 9 Nc2 Qb6 10 0-0 a5 11 Kh1 Nb4 12 Be3 Be7 13 g4 Nxe3 14 fxe3 0-0 15
Na3 Rac8 16 Qd2 Rc7 17 Rfc1 Rfc8 18 Rxc7 Rxc7 19 h4 Nc2 20 Nxc2 Qxb2 21
Bd3 Rxc2 22 Qxc2 Qxa1+ 23 Kg2 g6 24 h5 gxh5 25 Bxh7+ Kg7 26 gxh5 a4 27
Bd3 Bc6 28 Qf2 a3 29 Qg3+ Kf8 30 h6 Qxa2+ 31 Kh3 Qa1 32 h7 Qh1+ 33 Nh2
1-0

APRIL 9: THE Boys Own stuff performance of Graeme Kafka at the 110th Scottish
Championships came to a dramatic halt in round five, as reality set in
for the overnight leader with his first loss of the tournament.

Facing WGM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant in the top board clash of the round,
Kafka soon reverted to type as he found himself being outplayed by one
of the world's leading female players who ended his remarkable unbeaten
run. Despite the set back, the turnaround in Kafka's performance this
year has to be compared with last year's Scottish Championships in
Stirling, when he finished the tournament on the same point's haul he
has now: 3.5/9!

Arakhamia-Grant's victory gives her a share of first place on 4/5 as the
tournament reaches the decisive stages - and opens the possibility of
the Edinburgh-based Georgian internationalist becoming the first female
player to win the national title. She's joined in the top spot by
defending champion Paul Motwani, whose spectacular knight sacrifice made
short work of former champion IM Craig Pritchett.

With both leaders having already played each other, the race for the
2003 title will now depend on their performance against the rest of the
field. In round six, Motwani will have black on top board against Iain
Gourlay, while Arakhamia-Grant - who just may find herself facing
husband Jonathan Grant in the run-in for the title! - faces Anglo-Irish
IM Mark Orr.

Standings after Round 5: 1-2 GM P Motwani, WGM K Arakhamia-Grant 4/5; 3
G Kafka 3.5; 4-8 IM M Orr, IM C Pritchett, I Gourlay, A Grant, M Fraser
3; 9-11 GM C McNab, J Grant, I Robertson 2.5; 12-14 E Spencer, J
Redpath, S Brown 2; 15-16 A Burnett, J Stevenson 1.5; 17-18 C MacDonald,
D MacArainn 1.

P Motwani - C Pritchett
110th Scottish Ch., (5)
English Hedgehog
1 Nf3 Nf6 2 g3 b6 3 Bg2 Bb7 4 0-0 e6 5 c4 c5 6 Nc3 Be7 7 Re1 d6 8 e4 a6
9 d4 cxd4 10 Nxd4 Qc7 11 Be3 0-0 12 Rc1 Nbd7 13 f4 Rfe8 14 g4 g6 15 g5
Nh5 16 Nde2 f5 17 exf5 gxf5 18 Nd5 exd5 19 Bxd5+ Bxd5 20 Qxd5+ Kh8 21
Bd4+ Ng7 22 Ng3 Ne5 23 fxe5 dxe5 24 Bxe5 Qc5+ 25 Kg2 Qxd5+ 26 cxd5 Bxg5
27 Rc6 1-0

APRIL 8: THE surprise package of this year's Scottish Championships taking place
at George Heriot's School in Edinburgh has unquestionably been that of
Scotland's top junior Graeme Kafka, and the success story continues as
he now moves into the sole lead in the tournament.

With the four overnight leaders tied in first place on 2.5/3, all had to
play each other in round four. The all-title clash on top board between
defending champion GM Paul Motwani and WGM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant, one
of the world's top female players, proved to be a lively sacrificial
encounter that, despite the excitement, ended in a draw.

On the next board, however, Kafka again proved to be in inspired form as
he literally blew his opponent, Mark Fraser, off the board with a
devastating sacrificial attack to win the game. Undefeated on 3.5/4,
the win now gives Kafka an unlikely half point lead over the field as
the tournament reaches its midway point. To show the remarkable
turnaround in Kafka's performance this year, we only have to look at
last year's Scottish Championships in Stirling, when he finished the
tournament on the same point's haul he has now: 3.5/9!

Kafka will now play Arakhamia-Grant in the top board clash of round
five. On board two, defending champion Motwani will play IM Craig
Pritchett, who has now moved back to Scotland from London, and is making
a much welcomed return to the national tournament. Pritchett, whose one
and only title win was in 1977 in Glasgow, moved into contention as he
joined the chasing pack of Motwani and Arakhamia-Grant on 3-points after
beating Ed Spencer.

Standings: 1 G Kafka 3.5/4; 2-4 GM P Motwani, WGM K Arakhamia, IM C
Pritchett 3; 5-6 I Gourlay, M Fraser 2.5; 7-12 GM C McNab, IM M Orr, A
Grant, J Grant, E Spencer, J Redpath 2; 13-14 I Robertson, A Burnett
1.5; 15-17 S Brown, C MacDonald, G MacArainn 1; J Stevenson 0.5

G Kafka - M Fraser
110th Scottish Ch., (4)
Advanced French
1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 c5 4 c3 Nc6 5 Nf3 Qb6 6 a3 Bd7 7 Be2 c4 8 Nbd2 Na5
9 g3 f6 10 0-0 Nh6 11 Re1 Nf7 12 Bf1 0-0-0 13 Bh3 f5 14 Qe2 Re8 15 Nf1
Nb3 16 Rb1 Nxc1 17 Rexc1 g5 18 Bg2 g4 19 N3d2 Bh6 20 Ne3 Bxe3 21 Qxe3
Qc6 22 b3 b5 23 bxc4 bxc4 24 Rb4 Qa6 25 Rcb1 Bc6 26 Qe2 Nd8 27 Qe3 h6 28
f3 gxf3 29 Qxf3 Qxa3 30 Rb8+ Kc7 31 Nxc4 dxc4 32 Qxc6+ 1-0

APRIL 7: 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

APRIL 6: IT may be the early stages of the 110th Scottish Championships as the
national flagship event reaches the second round at George Heriot's
School in Edinburgh, but already defending champion Paul Motwani looks
odds-on to capture his seventh title.

In round two, Motwani, one of a group of four overnight leaders on full
points, effortlessly moved on to 2/2 after beating first round hero Ian
Robertson of Dunfermline, surprise victor over second seed and four-time
champion Colin McNab in the opening round.

Motwani is now joined at the top on full points by one of Scotland's top
junior's Graeme Kafka, who beat Ed Spencer. Both players must now play
in round three in a forced pairing - Motwani looking the more likely to
overcome any "trial" set by Kafka to progress in the tournament to 3/3.

After his opening round shock, McNab's agony in the tournament continued
after he was held to a draw in round two by Edinburgh junior Joe
Redpath, and the second seed has now fallen 1.5-points off the pace set
by the early leaders.

Standings: 1-2 GM P Motwani, G Kafka 2/2; 3-6 WGM K Arakhamia-Grant, IM
M Orr, I Gourlay, M Fraser 1.5; 7-11 IM C Pritchett, J Grant, E Spencer,
I Robertson, G MacArainn 1; 12-17 GM C McNab, J Redpath, S Brown, A
Burnett, J Stevenson, C MacDonald 0.5; 18 A Grant 0.

In the opening round, Motwani's "caveman" tactics quickly saw off the
spirited challenge of Joe Redpath, who saw his pet-line of the Prybil
System being ruthlessly savaged by Scotland's first grandmaster. In the
game, taking on c2 with the bishop may have been better - but
nevertheless just as dangerous: 14 ..Bxc2 15 f5 Re8 16 Nf4 Bd6 17 Ne6
Bd3 18 Rf2 and this isn't the sort of position you would like to defend
as black against Motwani.

P Motwani - J Redpath
110th Scottish Ch., (1)
Prybil System
1 d4 d6 2 e4 Nf6 3 Nc3 c6 4 f4 Qa5 5 e5 Ne4 6 Qf3 d5 7 Bd3 Na6 8 Nge2 f5
9 exf6 exf6 10 Bxe4 dxe4 11 Qxe4+ Kf7 12 0-0 Bf5 13 Qf3 Nb4 14 g4 Nxc2
15 gxf5 Nxa1 16 Bd2 Nb3 17 axb3 Qxf5 18 Ng3 Qc2 19 Nce4 Qxb2 20 Ng5+
fxg5 21 fxg5+ Ke8 22 Qe2+ Be7 23 Nf5 1-0

 

APRIL 5: THE Scottish Championships got underway at George Heriot's
School in Edinburgh, as MSP Iain Gray, Minister for Enterprise,
Transport and Life-long Learning, accompanied by John Glendinning, the
president of Chess Scotland, officially declared the 110th Scottish
Chess Championships open.

Formalities aside, top seed Paul Motwani got off to the best possible
start to the defence of his title as he outwitted Joe Redpath in a sharp
game, when the Edinburgh junior's pet-line in the Pribyl System was
blown apart by Motwani's legendary, tactical prowess.

Motwani's opening day victory puts him on the road to retaining his
title - and his chances of doing so were helped by the fact that the
other four titled players didn't win a game! IM Craig Pritchett, a
whole piece up, let his position slip against Andrew Burnett and had to
settle for the draw; WGM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant was held to a draw by
Mark Fraser; and likewise IM Mark Orr, who could only draw with Steven
Brown.

The biggest opening day shockerooney, however, came on board two with
the defeat of second seed and four-time champion GM Colin McNab, who
came unstuck and found himself surprisingly being checkmated in a wild
and complicated game by Ian Robertson - who himself was a reluctant
last-minute championship replacement for IM Douglas Bryson.

Leader board: 1-4 GM P Motwani, E Spencer, G Kafka, I Robertson 1/1;
2-14 IM C Pritchett, WGM K Arakhamia-Grant, IM M Orr, A Burnett, I
Gourlay, J Stevenson, M Fraser, S Brown, C MacDonald, J Grant 0.5; 15-18
GM C McNab, A Grant, J Redpath, G MacAriann 0.

Game analysis: Instead of the dubious 16 ..Nd4, Black could have
maintained an advantage with 16 ..Be2 17 Re1 Nd4! 18 a4 Bd6 19 d3 c6 20
Be3 Bh5. In a complicated position, White misses his chance to unravel
with the better position: 22 Nxf5! Rf6 23 d4 exd4 24 Qd3 Raf8 25 Nh4 Qe1
26 Nf3 Qf2 27 Bg5 and White's much better.

C McNab - I Robertson
110th Scottish Ch., (1)
English Opening
1 c4 Nc6 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 Nc3 e6 4 e4 Bb4 5 Qc2 d6 6 h3 0-0 7 Ne2 d5 8 e5 d4
9 exf6 d3 10 Qb1 dxe2 11 Bxe2 Qxf6 12 0-0 e5 13 Bd3 Bxh3 14 Bxh7+ Kh8 15
Be4 Bg4 16 Nh2 Nd4 17 Nxg4 Ne2+ 18 Kh1 Ng3+ 19 fxg3 Qxf1+ 20 Kh2 f5 21
Ne3 Qf2 22 Bxf5 Bc5 23 Bg6 Rad8 24 d4 Rxd4 25 Nf5 Rg4 26 Bh5 Rxf5 27
Bxg4 Qg1+ 28 Kh3 Qh1 mate 0-1