Scottish Championship 1946

The 53rd Annual Congress of the Scottish Chess Association was held in Glasgow, April 19th to 23rd.

From the June 1946 British Chess Magazine, p183:

The championship was decided by the games between the three experienced contenders in this tournament, Fairhurst, Combe, and Aitken. Fairhurst played throughout with his customary blend of soundness and keenness and fully deserved his victory—his seventh in this event. Combe also showed to advantage, playing with remarkable swiftness and daring, even in complicated tactical positions; it is a great loss to Scottish chess that in Elgin he is so much cut off from first-class practice. [Although he would go on to win the British championship later the same year. AMcG.] Aitken played interesting chess but was not in his most accurate form; his best game was certainly against Fairhurst where he drew a difficult Rook ending with a pawn less.

Roth and Thomson were newcomers to this event though the latter is well known in Scottish chess. Both played in imaginative and attacking style: they will secure better results when experience has tempered vigour with discretion. Thomson, in particular, is not done justice by the bare figures as all his games were hard-fought, most going to a second sitting.

At the annual meeting of the S.C.A. on Monday, April 22nd , Mr. C.S. Forbes, Dundee , was elected President, and Mr. W.A. Fairhurst, Mr. J. McGrouther, and Mr. Aird Thomson were elected directors. The 1947 Congress will be held at Dundee , as part of the Dundee Club's centenary celebrations. Some minor changes were made in the constitution.

Scottish Championship 1946	1	2	3	4	5	Total
1. W.A. Fairhurst	■	1	½	1	1	3½
2. R.F. Combe	0	■	1	1	1	3
3. Dr J.M. Aitken	½	0	■	1	1	2½
4. K.F. Roth	0	0	0	■	1	1
5. A.A. Thomson	0	0	0	0	■	0

Combe - Aitken [A22]
Scottish Championship 1946
Played in the last round.
[Notes by Combe]

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.g3 Bc5 4.Bg2 a6 Making room for his B, but allowing White a central advance which leads Black to part with this piece in a few moves. 5.Nf3 d6 6.d4 exd4 7.Nxd4 0-0 8.0-0 Bxd4 9.Qxd4 Nc6 10.Qd2 Be6 11.b3 Qd7 Getting ready to play ..Bh3, which White's next prevents. 12.Nd5 Bxd5 13.cxd5 Ne7 14.Bb2 Qf5 15.e4! Qg6 [If 15...Nxe4 16.Bxe4 Qxe4 17.Rfe1 Qxd5 then 18.Qc3 Qg5 19.Rxe7 The black queen's duties are too much for her.] 16.Rac1 Rac8 17.f3 Threatening 18. Bh3. 17...Ne8 18.Qb4 Rb8 19.Rfe1 c5 Air he feels he must have! 20.dxc6 a5 21.Qb6! d5 [Preventing by the queen-pin an advance of the c-pawn. If instead 21...Nc8 22.c7 or even Qxb7!] 22.Ba3 Nxc6 23.Bxf8 Kxf8 24.exd5 Nb4 25.Qc5+ Kg8 26.Bf1 Nxa2 27.Rcd1 b6 28.Qe7 Nd6 29.Re6! More forcing than the complacent collection of Black pawns, which would follow 29. Qc7 Rf8. 29...fxe6 30.Qxd6 Re8 31.Bb5 Rf8 32.dxe6 Qg5 A last effort coming near perpetual check. 33.Bc6! Qe3+ 34.Kg2 Nc3 35.e7 Re8! 36.Bxe8 Qe2+ 37.Kh3 Nxd1 38.Bb5 The point of this is the check on move 41. Flashy, but sufficient. 38...Nf2+ 39.Kg2 Ne4+ 40.Bxe2 Nxd6 41.Bc4+ Kh8 42.Bf7 Nxf7 Honourable suicide. 43.e8=Q# [Or, as one spectator insisted, 43.e8=R# On investigation this gentleman proved to be a problemist - of course.] 1-0

Fairhurst - Combe [A52]
Scottish Championship 1946 (1), 20.04.1946

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Nc3 Bc5 6.e3 Ncxe5 7.Be2 d6 8.Nxe5 Nxe5 9.0-0 0-0 10.Na4 Bb6 11.b3 Qh4 12.Nxb6 axb6 13.Bb2 Bg4 14.f3 Be6 15.e4 Ng6 16.g3 Qe7 17.f4 f5 18.Bf3 Kh8 19.Re1 fxe4 20.Bxe4 Qd7 21.Bxb7 Bg4 22.Qd4 c5 23.Qd5 Rad8 24.Bc6 Qc7 25.Bb5 h6 26.Qd3 Qf7 27.Qe3 Bh3 28.Bc6 Qc7 29.Bd5 Qd7 30.Be6 Bxe6 31.Qxe6 Kh7 32.Qxd7 Rxd7 33.Re6 Rfd8 34.Rae1 d5 35.cxd5 Rxd5 36.R1e2 Rd2 37.Kf2 Rxe2+ 38.Kxe2 Ra8 39.a3 b5 40.f5 Nf8 41.Re7 1-0

Alan McGowan
Historian/Archivist, Chess Scotland

revised 21/11/2020