15-07-2013, 09:58 AM
This was my first time at the Scottish Championships and it was pretty good. Helensburgh was very pleasant and the playing conditions were excellent. I think the chess was very competitive with very few quick draws and there was a nice finish with Roddy whupping Mark Hebden to take the Scottish title.
I do think there are a few areas to think about for next year
1. Andy Muir is right, the tiebreak for the Scottish Championship was frankly ridiculous. It really put the status of the Championship on a par with a grading prize - that cannot be right
2. I think there needs to be some thinking about the pairings. There were a few little problems and it was difficult to see the benefits of accelerating (the pairings that resulted in round 3 looked very odd). Perhaps 'keeping it simple' is the way ahead
3. On a personal note, I would really like the games to start at a different time. 1pm really cut the day in half, so it was tricky to do anything touristy in the mornings and the games usually finished at an in between time, too early for supper, but no time to really do anything.
Many thanks to everyone who put a lot of work in to make the Championships such a success.
I do think there are a few areas to think about for next year
1. Andy Muir is right, the tiebreak for the Scottish Championship was frankly ridiculous. It really put the status of the Championship on a par with a grading prize - that cannot be right
2. I think there needs to be some thinking about the pairings. There were a few little problems and it was difficult to see the benefits of accelerating (the pairings that resulted in round 3 looked very odd). Perhaps 'keeping it simple' is the way ahead
3. On a personal note, I would really like the games to start at a different time. 1pm really cut the day in half, so it was tricky to do anything touristy in the mornings and the games usually finished at an in between time, too early for supper, but no time to really do anything.
Many thanks to everyone who put a lot of work in to make the Championships such a success.