Hi Folks,

Yes it is that time again. Gosh this year has gone fast.

The dates are  3/11/19     2/2/20     1/3/20    29/3/20

Please note only one day this year and two in March 2020 . The venue is very busy so we need to fit in  with them. Same place - Carnegie Conference Centre, Dunfermline. The dates are on the CS calendar.

I have not sent out entry forms yet as I have been so busy I forgot!!!  SORRY!

However, you all know the drill. Please tell me on this forum that you intend to enter and you can pay on the day. I will do the forms etc tonight and arrange for them to go onto calendar or be sent to clubs (depending on what D Bryson can do for me. He's a good lad!)

Fees remain at £100 per team which is very good for 5 players, 7 rounds. 35 games total WOW!

New teams very welcome and automatically join the bottom division.

Thanks

GG

Hi all,

Sam Coates, who will be representing Scotland for the first time at the World Youth Championships in Mumbai, spoke really well on the John Beattie show on Radio Scotland today with regard to his upcoming trip and his positive experience of Scottish chess generally. Check it out on the following link, it's 50 minutes in:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0008qtn

It is stated on facebook that he has died of cancer

George Thomson of Cumbernauld has sadly informed me that John Watson , ex-Cumbernauld and Stepps has died. I'll update you with more information when i get it

http://chess-results.com/tnr434677.aspx?...ES&flag=30

Teams are listed. Scots bottom seeds this time round , 37/37

Just a reminder, there are only 19 places left.

Please book in plenty of time to make sure you get in.

Available places keep going down almost daily.

http://congress.org.uk/congress/45/home

2 weeks to go until the Arran Rapidplay should take place. 


A total entry of 6 so far will see the event being cancelled unless entries pick up in the next week or so.

Hopefully they will and we shall have another successful event.

(Posting on behalf of Grangemouth Club)

Kevin Feighan, ex-Grangemouth player, died last week (possibly on 23rd August 2019, date not yet confirmed).
 
He was a very strong club player (once famously defeating a Scottish GM at the 1996 Scottish Open in Oban) and was well known as a national arbiter.  
 
He particularly relished the mathematical precision of end game positions.  On occasion, if a club colleague derided end games as "boring", Kevin would passionately demonstrate otherwise.
 
He was a first-rate coach who readily spent time passing on tips to beginners and inexperienced players at the club.
 
He was also for a while treasurer of the Central Chess League.
 
In short, he was a friendly, knowledgeable character who, until his retirement from over-the-board chess a few years ago, made a significant contribution to Scottish chess.
 
His funeral will be held at Falkirk Crematorium, Camelon at 1:45pm on Monday 2 September, 2019.
 
Bill Gray
Secretary Grangemouth CC

Just a few thoughts and questions about grading:

1. Junior grading addition. If an older junior plays a younger junior is the grading adjustment the difference between the two junior additions?

2. Grading calculation: If the grading system were to change from an annual system to a 6 monthly one would the way grades were calculated  have to change? If so in what way.

3. Genesis of grading system: Before anyone had a grade how were they calculated? Was there a default number used say 1200 and everyone was matched against that?

Question 1 is just for interest but your answers to questions 2 and 3 would be beneficial as I have just devised a grading system for the chess club I run and it would be interesting to see how it compares.

Tom Brown Legacy
 
“Monday 26th August Beefeater Hotel, Upstairs venue, Edinburgh Road, Newhouse , Motherwell , ML 1 5 SY 01698 860 277
 
A private room has been booked upstairs with refreshments. Tomorrow’s meeting will mainly be addressing how to promote Junior Chess in Scotland as part of the Tom Brown legacy
There will be representatives from Junior officials and volunteers in Central, Lothians, Lanarkshire, Glasgow,  and Ayrshire. Representing Chess Scotland will be Ian Brownlee and David Congalton.
Anyone with an interest in Junior Chess are also welcome
Any enquiries please contact the Admin Director, Ian Brownlee on 07899 832770”