The following is intended as a series of comments rather than questions.

Maybe I’m becoming out of touch as I become older but, in the age of this celebrity culture thing, is it now considered to be acceptable for someone to be photographed whilst standing smiling at someone’s graveside?

I refer to the photograph of Andrew Muir which adorns the front cover of the recent edition of our Scottish Chess magazine. I know many people like to have pictures taken whilst visiting some tourist site or other (I’ve done this myself) but have we really reached the stage where someone’s grave is to be treated as if were just another such tourist site? Perhaps others may disagree but I find this to be both disrespectful and tasteless. Pictures of the graves of Alekhine, Capablanca and others have been published in numerous sources and indeed pictures Fischer’s headstone and grave have also been provided in various publications (New in Chess provided one not so long ago) but this?

These comments are in no way intended as criticisms of either Peter Woods who provides us with an excellent magazine or Andrew who is to be commended upon his achievements in Iceland (I’ve actually voted for him in the ballot for CS Player of the Year). As I say, these are just comments.

Not putting Player names on but running 6 boards here to test the firmware update as we have had some serious issues.

Delighted so far. Round 1 to upload other rounds will appear as live

Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5

Any news on when the Council meetings are going to be held? Time is moving on and decisions need to made in respect of next season, particularly given the loss of the grant.

Inverness Chess Congress
Friday, 6th to Sunday, 8th September 2013
Chieftain Hotel, 2 Millburn Road, Inverness, IV2 3PS

I am delighted to announce that a new weekend congress will be held in Inverness in September.

The number of entrants will be limited and places will be allocated on a first come first served basis. Players whose entries are received after the maximum capacity has been reached will not be accepted but may be offered a place on a reserve list should anyone withdraw.

The best way to make sure you’re among the entrants is to enter early. Don't put off until tomorrow...

The venue will be the Chieftain Hotel which has been a long term supporter of Inverness Chess Club.

The Chieftain Hotel is the preferred congress accommodation partner and has kindly agreed to offer special room rates to those attending the congress. The special rates can only be obtained by telephoning the hotel direct and are not available to book online. The number of rooms is limited so it would be a good idea to contact the hotel early, before the tourists book all the rooms. When contacting the hotel, tell them you are playing in the September chess tournament to ensure you are quoted the preferential rates.

Information on the hotel can be found at

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.chieftainhotelinverness.com/">http://www.chieftainhotelinverness.com/</a><!-- m -->

There is plenty of accommodation in Inverness but there is a music festival taking place in the city during the congress weekend so again early booking of accommodation is advisable.

The planning for the congress is at an early stage but more details will be available shortly. Although things could change to try to make the congress work successfully, early plans are –

• • Incremental time control
  • 7pm start on the Friday
  • 10am start on the Saturday
  • 9.30am start on the Sunday to allow a 6pm finish for those travelling by train. The last train from Inverness to Edinburgh/Glasgow leaves at 18:51
  • Three sections – Open, Major (Under 1850) and Minor (Under 1450)

Alan Tate is currently playing at the European Individual Championship in Poland. So far he has 1.5/4 and plays GM E Danilian next. How about you remove all the negative stuff about the grant being cut from the front page of the site and replace it with a link to this event so we can follow Alan's progress?

There's a problem with upload this week in that recent events in the past week are not showing in player records. The total games appears to be the one from May 1. However the latest grades appear to be correct.

More info once the programmers have a look.

The Prestwick Junior Saturday takes place this weekend at the Parkstone Hotel in Prestwick and will run alongside the Ayrshire Allegro. Prizes will be presented by Grand Master Paul Motwani.

More details can be found here - <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ayrshirechesscongress.co.uk/JuniorSaturday.html">http://www.ayrshirechesscongress.co.uk/ ... urday.html</a><!-- m --> or here <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://ayrshirejuniorchess.co.uk/events/junior-saturday/prestwick-may-2013/prestwick-saturday-entry-form.html">http://ayrshirejuniorchess.co.uk/events ... -form.html</a><!-- m -->

Entry is open to all players and not just players from Ayrshire.

Nice article about Magnus in todays Scotsman

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.scotsman.com/news/international/grandmaster-flash-brings-cool-to-world-of-chess-1-2921631">http://www.scotsman.com/news/internatio ... -1-2921631</a><!-- m -->

Good to see the chess profile being raised here

Prize winners

Open
1st=
IM Vitalijs Samolins Polytechnic
IM Stephen Burns-Mannion Hamilton
IM Andrew Muir Hamilton

Grading
Michael Grove Castlehill
Michael Ridge Edinburgh


Challengers

1st
Brendan O'Gorman DHSS

2nd =
David Hall Perth
Kai Pannwitz Inverness

Grading
James Mcrae Crowwood

Major
1st
Peter Clarke Polytechnic

2nd
Joe Watson - McPhie Paisley
Sandy Storey Ed Uni

Grading
Alain MacDonald Greenwood
Euan Gray North Juniors
John Pearston Cumbernauld

Minor
1st
Jack Stewart Greenwood

2nd=
David Congalton Greenwood
Vagif Ramazanov Bon Accord

Grading
Stuthi Hedge George Heriots
Sam Harper Lanark

I see that Declan's live grade has dropped 6 points despite winning all 6 games at the Megafinal.

Yes, I know its just a number etc, etc, etc.

Indeed, I had expected this. I understand the maths. But does the current grading system need modified? It seems to discourage aspiring juniors from playing lots of games in a season and taking part in events like the UKCC.

Updating the published grade twice a season would do it. But I guess the resource aren't available to make these changes anyway.

Sorry, this has probably been asked before.

Thanks,

Paul