I wanted to post some comments/observations on the Scottish International Open

1. It was a excellent venue, plenty of space, great air conditioning, no problem with parking and just a really nice back drop to play in.  I think it is great news that we look likely to be returning to same venue for the next two years.

2. Edinburgh is an interesting place; nothing is cheap.  Things are either free or very expensive.
Of the free things, I really enjoyed the Bank museum, the national museum and the national gallery, but I enjoyed just wandering around the Royal Mile and surrounds too.

3. Having stayed at the University and rented an airb&b I can say that there seemed to be a very good range of accommodation which could cater for most tastes and budgets.

4. Thanks to Dave Stewart for organising the social events.  I really enjoyed his Harry Potter tour.  I hope that this might be something that develops in future years - how about an outing to a comedy club or a whisky tasting?

5. My thanks to the organisers, in particular, it was great that chess-results was regularly updated and pairings were posted pretty much immediately the last game finished.

I look forward to future years

Matt

https://www.chessscotland.com/news-post/...m-allegro/
 
In discussion with the organiser this event was listed on the CS calendar on the basis the results would be graded for the allegro list.
 
As of today (July 3, 2019) no results have been supplied despite several requests for data. The English Chess Federation also assisted by contacting the organiser and they too have not had any response. There has not been any acknowledgement of any contact.
 
Unless a satisfactory explanation is provided no events in future will be CS graded or calendar listed from this organiser.

Enjoyable, I shall write report for CS magazine.

June 20, 2019: The 2018-2019 grading year will finish on June 30. Data will be taken right up until the deadline. The July 1 FIDE import will be incorporated into this season’s data.

Thanks to all who supplied data or information this season. Thanks to our programmers Andrew McHarg and Gordon Rattray for website and program support.

Players can view their grading record by logging in to the online grading system. All result crosstables are listed here grouped into event type https://www.chessscotland.com/grading/results-tree/

If players spot any errors or omissions please contact the organiser of that event or email grading(at)chessscotland.com immediately. It is much easier to correct errors now than after the new season starts.
The new grading season will be created shortly after the Scottish Championships are complete. The Scottish Championship will be processed using new 2019-20 season grades and will be the first event of the new season.

***

Grand Prix: The 2019 Scottish Championship data will not be used for grading in the current 2018-2019 season. However the results will be incorporated into this season’s Grand Prix calculations. All sections of the Scottish Championships will be included twice: as the final GP event of 2018-19 and the first GP event of 2019-20.

***

Printed Grading List: The print run of the grading list will be limited to those who have pre-ordered a copy. These can be purchased now via the CS online membership system - cost £5.
There will only be a few copies available after the initial orders are fulfilled. The printed book should be available around August 10. The deadline for pre-ordered copies will be July 21.


Grading List pdf: A copy will be distributed to all grading officials and event organisers. A copy of the pdf will be available online to all CS members to view or download.

Rudolph (Rudi) Austin passed away on the 5th June 2019. He had been ill for some time. 

He will have been well known to chess players all over Scotland for his idiosyncratic playing style.

He favoured the Hippopotamus opening as white and his opponents were soon "out of the book".
It was not uncommon for Rudi to have a totally unbalanced position with a couple of his pieces "hanging" only for him to clinch a win after a few "quiet" moves.
As a team captain you could never be sure what result Rudolph would achieve but his games were never dull.

He had been a member of Edinburgh Civil Service Chess Club for nearly twenty years and before that was a member of Edinburgh Chess Club.
Until recently he was a regular competitor at weekend congresses and enjoyed considerable success over the years.
In his younger days Rudi was a formidable player competing for the Scottish Championship.
In the 1967 championships he was unlucky not to win his round 6 game which would have left him a half point ahead of the field with one round to go.

Rudolph was always friendly to both chess players and others.
He was a regular in his local cafes with his chess set, where he was always made welcome despite his modest purchases.

Rudolph was always apologetic when defeating opponents and gracious in defeat.
Often resigning lost games with a "not even Capablanca could save this one" and a shake of the hands.

He will be sadly missed.

There will be a memorial service for Rudolph in the week of 15th July. Details to be confirmed.

Can I make a request perhaps especially to those interested in junior chess to consider making a charitable donation towards the costs of Scotland's 20 juniors chosen to play in this year's Glorney Festival in Ireland?

Full details are at the Glorney Festival 2019 link at the CS news homepage. And details of the Appeal, being made through the Scottish Junior Chess Association Educational Trust  (SJCAET), have also been posted by Ian Brownlee at 'General Chess Chat/Glorney Appeal'.

The SJCAET charity is now in its fiftieth year and has long supported a wide range of domestic and international junior initiatives, including support for the Glorney events.

To help make this successful, please do publicise the Appeal widely (at your judgement) to friends on social media who you may think have an interest. No one need be a CS 'member' to take part!

A very long list of Scottish players have enjoyed their first, and generally, for ever unforgettable, international experience in these junior events, which go back in a distinguished unbroken sequence to shortly after the end of WWII.

Worthwhile tournaments!

In partnership with Chess Scotland (CS), the Scottish Junior Chess Association Educational Trust (SJCAET) would like to invite support to help cover the travel and accommodation costs of Scotland’s 20 junior representatives in the 2019 Glorney Festival International junior team championships next month in Ireland (21-24 July).

Full details about this year’s event can be found at the CS news page: https://www.chessscotland.com/news-post/glorney-festival/
Please make donations at the SJCAET Appeal website: https://wonderful.org/appeal/glorneygilbertinternational2019-1071b0af

And, if you are a UK taxpayer, please follow the Gift Aid prompt to add 25% of the value of your donation, courtesy of HMRC.

CS estimates that the total travel and accommodation costs of the 20 junior representatives to be in the region of some £6,000. This excludes any expense incurred by accompanying adults. Fuller details can be found at the SJCAET Appeal website.

This is an extremely worthwhile Appeal. The Glorney Festival offers invaluable international experience to our junior representatives. England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, France and the Netherlands once again compete this year.

Thank you.

 In partnership with Chess Scotland (CS), the Scottish Junior Chess Association Educational Trust (SJCAET) would like to invite support to help cover the travel and accommodation costs of Scotland’s 20 junior representatives in the 2019 Glorney Festival International junior team championships next month in Ireland (21-24 July).

Full details about this year’s event can be found at the CS news page: https://www.chessscotland.com/news-post/glorney-festival/
Please make donations at the SJCAET Appeal website: https://wonderful.org/appeal/glorneygilbertinternational2019-1071b0af

And, if you are a UK taxpayer, please follow the Gift Aid prompt to add 25% of the value of your donation, courtesy of HMRC.

CS estimates that the total travel and accommodation costs of the 20 junior representatives to be in the region of some £6,000. This excludes any expense incurred by accompanying adults. Fuller details can be found at the SJCAET Appeal website.

This is an extremely worthwhile Appeal. The Glorney Festival offers invaluable international experience to our junior representatives. England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, France and the Netherlands once again compete this year.

Thank you.
 

Many thanks to Jim Wallace for 149 games from the recent Edinburgh Premier 2019

https://www.chessscotland.com/features/game-downloads/

Ayr starts tomorrow and entries are still being taken until tomorrow around 17:30.

Entry lists, pairings, results and tables are all found here.