The Commonwealth

[George Neave]

Is over. What conclusions, if any, can we draw about state of Scottish chess?

[George Thomson]

It seems ludicrous that many of our "better" players, from both England and Scotland could not be motivated to enter this wonderful tournament. I have seen many posts on here about lack of opportunity to play stronger players, get norms etc. Here was a wonderful opportunity to play a wide range of opponents from different countries. I think it is shameful that the "Great British" chess playing community did not offer more support to the Tournament Organizers who did a tremendous job in bringing such a prestiges tournament to our shores.I personally would like to say a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone involved.

[Jonathan Livingstone]

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the timing of the event was bang on the end of the school term for most regions, and actually during term-time for other regions. I am aware of the stated reasons for this early scheduling of the Scottish i.e a busy summer for chess with Olympiad and Glorney.

I am not one of our stronger players but was excluded from entering for this reason alone, and I know the early scheduling ruled out many other players.

[Alex Gillies]

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the timing of the event was bang on the end of the school term for most regions, and actually during term-time for other regions. I am aware of the stated reasons for this early scheduling of the Scottish i.e a busy summer for chess with Olympiad and Glorney.

I am not one of our stronger players but was excluded from entering for this reason alone, and I know the early scheduling ruled out many other players.

I echo this but thought I was in minority- perhaps dates do matter!

[Adam Bremner]

Is over. What conclusions, if any, can we draw about state of Scottish chess?

From the main event, not that much. From watching the live games it seemed there was a large group of young Indian players around 2000 who were very bad value, and the 2450+ guys who were just very good.

Some very encouraging performances in the junior events though, in particular the U12 and U14 sections. For quite a few of them it will have been their first 9 rounder, and that seems promising for the future.

[Andy Howie]

Is over. What conclusions, if any, can we draw about state of Scottish chess?

We need more people helping. Period!

[George Neave]

My own observations:
- With exception of Colin, the older generation Scots were disappointing e.g. Craig, Roddy below par and Andy M even withdrawing. Is the age finally showing?
- The early 20s generation (Calum, Andrew, Clement) were all OK but not really showing signs of breaking through to master level. Jury out still if that day will come.
- I thought Murad may shine and he definitely had a good event grading wise. However I guess we are still a few years away before we can be certain he really is our next serious master title candidate.
- The depth of talent in India is quite sobering but no more than one would expect given the 1 billion pus population, a recent World Champ and a tradition for strong corporate sponsorship.
- The absence of English titled players is still a mystery to me even taking into account the school holidays.
- Special mention, of course, for Alan Tate for winning the Scottish Title. He really is an inspiration for 30+ players to show step improvement is still possible at such an "advanced" age! I particularly like his lack of fear. Also, the way he is able to mix things against strong players is something worthy of close study.
- Finally, really enjoyed the online coverage and the blogs. Thanks for all who made it happen.

[Craig Pritchett]

Special thanks to the organisers, who quite definitely worked their socks off, and brought such a prestigious and strong international event to Glasgow (with help from our 'anonymous' sponsor and the Celebrate Lottery Grant). Congratulations to all the winners, and to the new Scot Champion, Alan Tate, of course. The strong Indian contingent provide a benchmark and inspiration to us all for future events ... throughout all the generational age groups that took part.

One, perhaps more than slight disappointment is the apparent lack of any interest on the part of the print and TV media and the seeming difficulty of obtaining commercial sponsorship these days.

When the likes of The Herald or Evening Times, for example (whose HQ is a mere stone's throw away from the event venue, on the other side of Queen Street Station), couldn't even manage to send a photographer to capture any number of obviously bankable 'good news' stories at the event - players of all ages, genders and ethnicities from all over the globe - it makes me wonder less about the 'state of chess in Scotland' than ... well over to you, dear reader!

[Andy Howie]

Craig,

I could not agree more!!

Alex, Dave and Lara were back at the venue doing the clean up today (I am back at work). Grading is up, photos are uploading as we speak and I have one final blog to write. Couple more jobs to do for CS then I am off on holiday for 2 weeks. I am avoiding chess for that period!

[Mike Scott]

Special mention, of course, for Alan Tate for winning the Scottish Title. He really is an inspiration for 30+ players to show step improvement is still possible at such an "advanced" age! I particularly like his lack of fear. Also, the way he is able to mix things against strong players is something worthy of close study.

Was not able to follow as many games as I would have liked but did enjoy Alan's final game in particular.

Well done to all involved.