Top-class chess players of all ages pitted wit and strategy against each other in the Scottish Championships, with the event drawing almost 80 contestants from eight different countries.

Run under the auspices of Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) – the global governing body for chess – the Scottish Championships brought together several distinct tournaments: the International Open, the Scottish under-1800 FIDE (for players with a FIDE rating below 1800) and the Scottish Individual Rapid.

In addition, the Scottish players in the Open played for the Scottish Championship trophy, which dates back to 1907.  The first championship was played in 1884, making it one of the world’s oldest national championships.

The event attracted a high level of players including Andrew Greet, from Bellshill, the top-ranked Scottish player and the three-times Scottish Champion, including over the last two years; Norwegian Grandmaster Johan-Sebastian Christiansen; and Cambuslang’s Angus Dunnington, a former professional player recognised internationally for his extensive work in chess opening theory.

With there being no age distinction in the tournament, several young players competed directly with the adults, including Vladyslav Shopynskyi (8) and the event’s youngest player, six-year-old Aaradhana Raghavendran, along with the Scottish Junior Team in advance of them heading to Northern Ireland to represent their country in the Glorney Cup, played annually between the Home Nations.

French Grandmaster (and former President of the French Chess Federation) also visited and played the ceremonial first move to start the action on one of the days of the event (main picture).

At the end of the six days of competition, Johan-Sebastian Christiansen was crowned winner of the International Open. Andrew Greet took second place and became Scottish Champion for the fourth time and the winners of the Scottish under-1800 FIDE and the Scottish Individual Rapid were, respectively, Kinjal Dey (Bellshill Chess Club) and Daniel Maxwell (Bon Accord Chess Club, Aberdeen).

Chess Scotland President Alex McFarlane said: “It was great to see so many competitors of such a high standard here, especially since the high cost of coming to the UK for a tournament is deterring many overseas players from entering, and the quality of chess on show was wonderful to watch – so as well as giving congratulations to the winners, I would also like to compliment every contestant we had here.

“This is the first time the event has been held in Hamilton since 2010 (when it was also won by Andrew Greet) and the venue at the council’s HQ was ideal, both in terms of the room itself and the facilities and transport links in close proximity, so we would love to look at bringing top-class chess back here again in the future.” 

The event was opened by South Lanarkshire’s Interim Provost, Bert Thomson.

He said: “I am delighted see that this ancient and highly respected sport is so obviously flourishing and, considering we had so many young players taking part, then the future of the sport certainly appears to be in good hands.

“I was astounded at the skills of these top players from abroad and close to home, and I hope everyone enjoyed being a part of the high skill and fierce competition that I witnessed. It was great to have such an illustrious event taking place here and I hope we can have the chance to welcome it back again.”