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Glasgow International Tournaments 1973 to 1976
During the years 1973 to 1976, the annual Glasgow weekend congress included an international tournament which saw several major players visit the city.
Glasgow International 1973 R. Hübner Germany H. Ree Holland R.M. McKay Scotland O. Hindle England B. Kernan Ireland M. Stean England D. Levy Scotland I.J. Sinclair Scotland H. Williams Wales N. Young Scotland P. Jamieson Scotland K. McAlpine Scotland Generous financial support from the Corporation of Glasgow, plus contributions from chess organisations and individuals, made it possible to invite players from abroad to take part in the principal event. The final list of acceptances revealed that it was possibly the strongest tournament ever held in the city.
West German grandmaster, Robert Hübner, took first place as anticipated but had to work hard for his 4½ points. He drew with the other foreign visitor, Hans Ree, and the outcome of his game with Roddy McKay was unclear until the Scottish player west astray in time trouble. McKay did well to finish in 3rd place ahead of several experienced internationalists and took the prize for the leading Scot. This was an ornamental chess set presented by "Chess", Sutton Coldfield.
Peter Jamieson, the Scottish Champion, never quite recovered from his first round defeat by Hübner.
All the games in the International Tournament were featured on demonstration boards and at several playing sessions the spectator accommodation, with a capacity of 100, was almost full. Special ringside seats were reserved for Friends and Supporters of the Congress.
Source:
Scottish Chess Nr. 34, February 1974, p 8.
Glasgow International 1974 F. Olafsson Iceland MJ Basman England R. Bellin England B. Cafferty England R.M. McKay Scotland D.J. Findlay Scotland P. Jamieson Scotland M. Fuller Australia A.J. Miles England I.J. Sinclair Scotland S. Swanson Scotland N.J. Young Scotland The Corporation of Glasgow contributed generously for the second successive year towards the cost of staging the International Tournament. The organising committee assembled a strong field, including grandmaster Olafsson from Iceland, Tony Miles - the World Junior Champion, and Max Fuller - the Australian Open Champion.
Miles, who had won his title in the Philippines in August, was soon wishing that he was back in Manila. He lost his opening game to Jamieson and scored another zero in round 2 when he met Findlay. The tournament was classed a triple-point event for the 'Cutty Sark' Grand Prix and if Miles had done well, he would have taken the lead in the race for the £1000 first prize.
Olafsson did not start in grandmasterly fashion, conceding a half point to Cafferty in the first round. At one stage in his second game he judged it prudent to offer Sinclair a draw which was declined. From then on, the Icelander never looked back, and after collecting the full point against Sinclair he defeated Fuller, Basman and Bellin to become a worthy winner of the £100 first prize. Bellin, hopeful of gaining a share of the prize money, played on against Olafsson in the last round for eight hours but eventualy succumbed, leaving Basman to collect the other prize of £60.
Olafsson commented on the improvement in the general standard of play in Scotland since his visit to Dundee in 1967. He was particularly impressed by Sinclair and McKay. In his view, both have the potential to gain their international master titles provided that they have the opportunity to compete regularly in strong events.
Source: Scottish Chess, Nr. 37, February 1975, p 2.
Glasgow International 1975
The ravages of inflation are only too apparent when one compares the cost of staging the 1975 Congress with that for 1973 - a 33% increase! In difficult times for all local authorities, the City of Glasgow District Council generously agreed to guarantee the same financial support as had been granted previously by the now defunct Glasgow Corporation. The organising committee augmented the funds with money-raising schemes including a successful sponsored simultaneous display by the 1974 Scottish Champion, R.M. McKay.
With many international events scheduled to take place in Western Europe during the autumn, it proved extremely difficult to assemble a strong field for the 3rd Glasgow International Tournament. The Committee were indebted to David Levy, whose last minute endeavours assured foreign participation. Grandmaster Lombardy and I.M. Tatai proved popular visitors with players and spectators. When not engaged in play, Father Lombardy [a Catholic priest, AMcG] was often seen browsing over games in other parts of the building, and never seemd to tire of signing autographs for the youngsters. He took a keen interest in the Junior International Tournament, and his tip for top honours in the future is Tim Upton, who has shown a very rapid improvement over the past twelve months.
W. Lombardy USA V. W. Knox England C.J. Lennox Scotland R.M. McKay Scotland S. Tatai Italy B. Eley England D.N.L. Levy Scotland M. Macdonald-Ross England I.J. Sinclair Scotland P.M. Jamieson Scotland A.T. Ludgate Ireland S. Swanson Scotland The foreign stars safely negotiated round 1 in which the major surprise was Jonathan Lennox's win over former British Champion, Brian Eley. McKay was unable to halt the American's progress in the second round but the Italian I.M. was comfortably held to a draw by Knox. Levy, the joint Scottish Champion, had the distinction of drawing with Lombardy in round 3, but the other joint title holder, Swanson, was struggling with only a half point after three games. The large number of spectators who gathered for the round four clash between Lombardy and Tatai were not disappointed. The grandmaster commented after the game that he had been stimulated by the big gallery following the game on the demonstration board. Lennox, who was having a good tournament, drew with McKay and as a result earned the plum pairing against Lombardy in the last round. The half point necessary to ensure the GM of the £100 first prize came after 16 moves. The general opinion seemd to be that McKay had the edge in his game with Tatai when the draw was agreed, but he had done well to secure a share of the spoils. Lennox gained what must have been his best result to date and Knox confirmed his recent good form south of the border. McKay's performance was his third successive 3/5 in this event, and Lennox becomes the only other Scot to achieve this score in the Glasgow International. [Walter Munn]
Source:
Scottish Chess, Nr. 40, December 1975, p 2.
Glasgow International 1976
Although the City of Glasgow Dictrict Council continued to give generous financial support to the Congress, it was not surprising, in view of the present economic climate, that the amount of the grant was reduced. Additional funds were received at a successful simultaneous display, which was given by Craig Pritchett earlier in the year. The total resources available, however, were only sufficient to cover the expenses of one foreign competitor and the relatively modest first prize of £100 was insufficient to attract any of the titled players from south of the border.
The organisers were again indebted to David Levy through whom arrangements were made for the participation of GM Westerinen. Further international flavour was added to the event when Chandler, the joint New Zealand champion, and E. Rayner, the joint Welsh champion, accepted invitations. D.E. Rumens, the leader in the Cutty Sark Grand Prix, was the only English competitor. It was anticipated that his uncompromising style of play would arouse considerable spectator interest.
Glasgow International 1976 D.E. Rumens England H. Westerinen Finland E. Rayner Wales S. Swanson Scotland P.M. Giulian Scotland C.W. Pritchett Scotland I.J. Sinclair Scotland M. Chandler New Zealand D.J. Findlay Scotland R.M. McKay Scotland J.Montgomery Scotland J.R.L. Webb Scotland
Montgomery, who was making a brief return visit to Scotland before emigrating to Eastern Europe, provided stern opposition for the Finnish GM in round 1. It was the endgame before Westerinen gained a winning advantage. Giulian, the joint Scottish champion, defeated his countrpart from the antipodes, but Pritchett could only draw with Rayner. In the next round, Rumens and Westerinen moved into the lead with two points. The former ended Giulian's successful run, which had started back in May in the Renfrewshire Open, and McKay was unable to add a GM scalp to his collection.. The leaders were content to share the point in round 3, and were joined by Pritchett, who had beated Sinclair and Chandler. Unfortunately, he was unable to add to his score, losing first to the GM and then to Rumens. Rayner, however, with the same opposition in reverse order, was able to score two draws, with the result that there was a tie for first place. In the three previous years, the invited GM won the event outright. Rayner, who drew 4 of his games, shared third place with Swanson, who only played in the event at the last moment, and defeated McKay in the last round.
Source:
Scottish Chess, Nr. 44, December 1976, p 10.Compiled by
Alan McGowanUpdated 19/5/2020
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