Chess Scotland

The first stage of this tournament, being played for the Glasgow 800 trophy, was held in Perth on 17-18 October. The participants were Scotland and Wales. (Ireland form the third part of the triangle - Ed.) Both countries fielded strong teams, although the Scottish side was weakened by the unavailability of Craig Pritchett and Roddy McKay, and the late withdrawal of Graham Morrison due to illness. This was balanced to some extent by the absence of George Botterill from the Welsh team. The 2-round match was played over 8 boards, 6 men and 2 ladies.

Scotland quickly took the initiative in the first round with Alan Norris playing very aggressively, while Douglas Bryson, playing much the same variation as he had played against Norway, was causing Phil Cunningham all sorts of problems. Indeed it looked at one stage as if Cunningham would soon be not one hour but two in arrears on the clock. Norris soon won, but Bryson eventually required an adjournment to secure the point. The games Upton-Cooper and Condie-Jones were both drawn, while Colin McNab, in an interesting tactical position in the early middlegame against Howard Williams, could do no better than a draw by repetition. Paul Motwani scored a good win against Stewart Hutchings, also after an adjournment, but unfortunately the two ladies lost. This made the score at the end of the first round 4½-3½ in Scotland's favour.

Round 2 was also very closely fought, with draws for Condie and McNab and another good win for Norris, although Hutchings got his revenge on Motwani. Kathy Hindle did well to wriggle out of a very cramped position, but eventually lost in a King and Pawn ending. After the adjournment, Tim Upton and John Cooper drew when both players queened, both Kings were fairly exposed, and the problem was to find the right balance between attack and defence. Rosie Jackson struggled valiantly for a long time trying to defend a difficult ending, but finally lost. This left all eyes on Douglas Bryson, who was having another marathon with Cunningham; this time Bryson was trying to win with Rook and 2 pawns v Rook and 1 pawn. It was always touch and go whether Cunningham would find enough resources to draw, but after 9 hours play (16 over 2 rounds!) Bryson clinched the win. This meant that Wales won the second round, also by 4½-3½, leaving the whole match as an 8-8 draw. Considering the average age of the Scottish team, they can take a good deal of credit from this result against a very experienced Welsh side. Wales then went on to beat Ireland 10½-5½, so Scotland will be hoping for at leats 11 points when they travel to Dublin in the spring.

The match was played in very good spirit throughout, and the whole occasion was thoroughly enjoyed by all those who took part. We are very grateful to Peter Thomson (Perth) Ltd. for providing the excellent playing facilities and refreshments throughout the event, to General Accident for the overnight accommodation, to the Provost and Council of Perth and Kinross District for opening the weekend's proceedings with a Civic Reception, and to the SCA [Scottish Chess Association] for the dinner on the Saturday night.

	Scotland	Rnd 1	Rnd 2	Wales	Rnd 1	Rnd 2
1	CA McNab	½	½	AH Williams	½	½
2	TJ Upton	½	½	JG Cooper	½	½
3	PA Motwani	1	0	SJ Hutchings	0	1
4	ML Condie	½	½	IC Jones	½	½
5	DM Bryson	1	1	P. Cunningham	0	0
6	AJ Norris	1	1	DJ Sully	0	0
7	Miss R. Jackson	0	0	Miss J. Garwell	1	1
8	Mrs KJ Hindle	0	0	Miss DM Evans	1	1
		4½	3½		3½	4½

Scotland's second match, against Ireland, was played at Castlebar, County Mayo, on 20 and 21 March, 1982. This resulted in a 9½-6½ win for Scotland, but it was not enough for overall victory in the tournament. As mentioned above, Scotland needed to score 11 points in this match to overtake Wales.

Sources:
Scottish Chess Nr. 66, December 1981 (Donald Smith).
BCM, May 1982, p. 192-3.

Celtic Triangular Tournament

1981-82