Vlastimil Hort in Scotland - 1980

From Scottish Chess Nr. 60, December 1980, p 31: Dundee Chess Club were honoured by the visit of Vlastimil Hort, ranked 7th in the world, to their premises at 12 Victoria Chambers, in June. He had been invited by the SCA to give tuition to the Scottish team pool of whom 6 would compete in the Malta Olympiad. This was Mr Hort's first visit to Scotland. As part of the training he gave a simultaneous display against 12 of the pool. Five of them - Condie, Giulian, McNab, G. Morrison, and Reid achieved draws. Although losing, Paul Motwani was singled out for special mention by GM Hort.

The visit culminated in a simultaneous display at Bonar Hall, Dundee on 16th June against 40 opponents from Tayside and Fife. Mr Hort's percentage score was 84.52. A.C. Petrie and G.D. Pyrich won, while 9 draws were conceded. The last visit by a GM to the area was in 1967 when Svetozar Gligoric took on 24 opponents after the International event here in Dundee.

Additional information:
David Stewart has advised that Hort visited the Castle Chess Club at the Royal Overseas League, 100 Princes Street, Edinburgh, during this visit to Scotland. Nothing official took place at the club, only an informal meeting with some of the club members.

Compiled by
Alan McGowan