CLUB and SCHOOL CHESS PUBLICATIONS

In the 1960s and 1970s there were several chess publications from clubs and schools. Although produced primarily for a local audience, it is known that they were read widely. When B.H. Wood, editor of CHESS visited the 1965 Glasgow Congress, he commented favourably on the richness of duplicated bulletins:- "at least three are as interesting to read as most printed chess magazines," he said.

These publications were packed with news, games and interesting features, as well as often providing detailed tournament reports. Scans of some issues have been provided and can be read in PDF format.

The most prominent publications were:-

High School of Glasgow Bulletin, edited by Bernard Partridge. Assisted by members of the school's chess club, Mr Partridge produced the bulletin from 1962 until the final issue of 30th June 1970.

Choice Chess, the magazine of Allan Glen's School Chess Club, which was edited by John Glendinning. This ran for a few years in the mid-1960s; it ceased publication with the September 1965 issue, when John took over as editor of the Scottish Chess Association Bulletin.

Thanks are due mainly to Alex McFarlane and John Glendinning for providing scans of the following issues:

Choice Chess, Vol. 1, Nr. 2, September 1963 (J.G.)
Choice Chess, Vol. 1, Nr. 3, Christmas 1963 (J.G.)
Choice Chess, Vol. 1, Nr. 4, March 1964 (J.G.)
Choice Chess, Vol. 2, Nr. 1, December 1964 (A.McF)
Choice Chess, Vol. 2, Nr. 2, February 1965 (A.McF)
Choice Chess, Vol. 2, Nr. 3, March 1965 (A.McF)
Choice Chess, Vol. 3, Nr. 1, September 1965

Der Schachspieler - a joint editorial effort from the chess players of King's Park School (W.P. Watson) and Rutherglen Academy (W. McAllister), which appeared in 1964. Pupils and former pupils of these schools even formed their own club - Parkglen - which entered teams in correspondence chess events and, more significantly, won the 1967 Spens Cup by defeating Edinburgh University.

Thanks again to Alex McFarlane for scanning the following issues from the late Ken Stewart's memorabilia.

Der Schachspieler, Vol. 1, Nr. 2, December 1964
Der Schachspieler, Vol. 1, Nr. 4, February 1965
Der Schachspieler, Vol. 1, Nr. 6, Summer 1965

OTHERS

Cathcart Chess Club apparently had several pulications; Zugzwang and, later, Gambiteer, the first issue of which appeared in February 1973. The latter was edited by Stan Beaton, with assistance from Ian Marks, Peter Watson, Frank Whitelaw, Alan Shaw and others. Peter Watson, the W.P. Watson of Der Schachspieler, also edited the Scottish Chess Bulletin for some time.

Zugzwang, Vol. 1, Nr. 1, November 1963
Zugzwang, Vol. 1, Nr. 5, May 1964
Zugzwang, Vol. 2, Nr. 1, October 1964

Crowwood CC had its own magazine in the 1980s and several publications came out of Edinburgh; Capital Chess, put together by Geoff Chandler, and Capa-Tal Chess, edited by Neil Clapperton with Ian Mullen looking after games. Its first issue was July 1988.

Further information and scanned contributions would be welcomed.

Alan McGowan
Historian, Chess Scotland

updated 22/6/2022