Scottish Championship 1885

From the British Chess Magazine 1885.

The second annual Congress of the Scottish Chess Association was held at Edinburgh during the week beginning Monday 3rd August. Play went on daily from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. in the Rooms of the Edinburgh Chess Club, Philosophical Institution, which were kindly placed at the disposal of the Association. The members of the Association were also allowed the use of the Reading Rooms and Library of the Philosophical Institution during the Congress.

The programme was the same as last year's, and included three contests, (l)a Major Tournament; (2) a Minor Tournament; and (3) a Handicap; and the prizes were :—Major Tournament, 1st, Championship Cup, value £25, for one year, and £4 4s., 2nd, £2 2s., and 3rd, £1 1s.: Minor Tournament, 1st, £3 3s., and 2nd, £2 2s. : Handicap, 1st, £3 3s., and second, £1 11s. 6d.

The Meeting has been fully more successful than that of last year—12 competitors having entered for the Major Tournament, 8 for the Minor Tournament, and 16 for the Handicap, as compared with 10, 7, and 10 in these contests respectively last year.

The entrants for the Major Tournament were :—G. B. Fraser, Dundee; Christopher Meikle, John Fraser, D. M. Latta, and John Macfie, Edinburgh; Sheriff Spens, J. D. Chambers, D. Forsyth, P. Fyfe, R. Pirrie, and Jas. Marshall (recently of Crieff), Glasgow; and D. Y. Mills, London. General regret was expressed at the absence of Mr. John Crum, the holder of the Championship Cup during the past year, who was unavoidably prevented by business from attending. Mr. Court of Glasgow, and Messrs. Walker and Baxter of Dundee, all strong players, were also unavoidably absent. The following is the score in the

Major Tournament (Championship)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Points
1 Mills, Daniel Yarnton
■
=
=
=
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
9½
2 Fraser, John
=
■
=
=
1
=
1
1
1
0
1
1
8
3 Fraser, George Brunton
=
=
■
=
1
1
=
=
0
1
1
1
7½
4 Meikle, Christopher
=
=
=
■
0
0
1
1
1
1
=
1
7
5 Forsyth, David
0
0
0
1
■
1
0
1
=
1
=
1
6
6 Chambers, John Dillon
0
=
0
1
0
■
=
1
=
1
=
1
6
7 Spens, Walter Cook
0
0
=
0
1
=
■
0
1
0
1
1
5
8 Fyfe, Peter
0
0
=
0
0
0
1
■
0
1
1
1
4½
9 Marshall, James
0
0
1
0
=
=
0
1
■
0
1
0
4
10 Macfie, John
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
■
0
1
4
11 Latta, David Miller
0
0
0
=
=
=
0
0
0
1
■
0
2½
12 Pirrie, Robert
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
■
2

Minor Tournament

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Points
1 G.P. Galloway
■
 1
½
0
1
1
1
1
5½
2 W.W. Robertson
0
■
0
1
½
1
1
1
4½
3 A. Berwick
½
1
■
1
0
0
1
1
4½
4 W. Urquhart
1
0
0
■
1
1
0
1
4
5 A.W. Buchan
0
½
1
0
■
1
0
1
3½
6 J. Phillips
0
0
1
0
0
■
1
1
3
7 Dr Donald
0
0
0
1
1
0
■
1
3
8 W. Hodge
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
■
0

Mr. Galloway won the 1st prize. Messrs. Berwick and Robertson tied for 2nd prize, and on playing off Mr. Robertson was successful.

Handicap Tournament

There were sixteen entries to the Handicap, classed as follows :—
Class I. Sheriff Spens, G. B. Fraser, John Fraser, Mills,Forsyth, Chambers, and Fyfe.
Class II. Jas. Marshall and Latta.
Class III. Berwick, Buchan, J. Macfie, Phillips, Pirrie, and Robertson.
Class IV. Galloway.

Class I. gave to inferior classes the usual odds of Pawn and move, Pawn and two moves, and Knight respectively.

This competition was conducted on the pairing system—a single game being decisive.

Final Pairing: J. Fraser drew with Mills and they agreed to divide 1st and 2nd prizes.

The Annual General Meeting of the Association for the transaction of business was held on Friday, 7th August, at 3 p.m. Two of the Directors, Mr. C. R. Baxter, Dundee, and Mr. J. D. Chambers, Glasgow, having retired, in accordance with the Constitution and Rules, and Mr. W. W. Mitchell having died in November last, the Meeting elected in their stead, Mr. D. Y. Mills, London; Mr. A. J. McConnochie, C. A., Aberdeen; and the Rev. G. McArthur, Secretary of the Edinburgh Chess Club. The Meeting re-elected the other office-bearers of the Association. The time and place of next Congress was then considered, and it was resolved that it should be held in Glasgow in April next—the precise date to be fixed by the Committee and published not later than January.

D. F. [David Forsyth]

Additional notes
The philosophical Institution was at 4 Queen St., Edinburgh.

Mr Mills, who had taken part in the first Congress the year before, was based in Weston-super-Mare. He was permitted to enter the tournament because of a change in rules put forward earlier by Sheriff Spens, which allowed for Englishmen who had been members of Scottish chess clubs to take part. [The Scotsman.]

Sources:
British Chess Magazine 1885, pp. 327-330.
The Scotsman, 8 August, 1885, p. 6.
Thanks also to Rod Edwards (British Columbia, Canada).

 

Alan McGowan