The Scottish Chess Championship is organised by Chess Scotland, formerly the Scottish Chess Association. It has been running since 1884, and nowadays takes the form of a nine-round tournament played over two weekends and the week in between. Auxiliary tournaments, such as grading-limited sections and a senior championship take place over the first seven days and there is a Weekend Congress on the second weekend.
Originally, the championship was by invitation only and could only be won by players who would be eligible to compete internationally for Scotland, but sometimes a titled player of another nationality was invited to compete in order to make title norms more likely.
In 2008 the Championship was replaced by an international open. The Scottish Champion being determined by the highest finishing Scottish player. The 2009 tournament being held in Edinburgh attracted nine Grandmasters. The 2010 event took place in Hamilton with the 2011 event back in Edinburgh. The 2014 Championships was incorporated into the Commonwealth Chess Championships which was held in Glasgow. In 2015 the Event was held in Edinburgh and the 2016 event will be back In Glasgow
The current Tournament Arbiters are IA Alex McFarlane and IA Andy Howie.
Notable Winners
Recent notable winners include Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant in 2003 – the first woman player to win the Scottish Championship, and Jonathan Rowson, who became the first Scottish player to clinch the Grandmaster title on home soil in 1999, and did the Scottish / British double in 2004. In 2013 Roddy McKay won the title some 39 years after first winning his first title in 1974. In 2018 Murad Abdulla became the youngest Double winner of the title.
Winners
1884 - John Crum 1885 - Daniel Yarnton Mills 1886 - Georges Emile Barbier 1887 - Daniel Yarnton Mills 1888 - George Henry Mackenzie 1889 - James Marshall 1890 - William Neish Walker 1891 - John D. Chambers 1892 - Daniel Yarnton Mills 1893 - William Neish Walker 1894 - Sheriff Walter Cook Spens 1895 - Daniel Yarnton Mills 1896 - Daniel Yarnton Mills 1897 - Daniel Yarnton Mills 1898 - George Brunton Fraser 1899 - Daniel Yarnton Mills 1900 - Daniel Yarnton Mills 1901 - Dr. Ronald Cadell Macdonald 1902 - E Macdonald 1903 - James Borthwick 1904 - Dr. Ronald Cadell Macdonald 1905 - Dr. Ronald Cadell Macdonald 1906 - Dr. Ronald Cadell Macdonald 1907 - William Gibson 1908 - Arthur John Mackenzie 1909 - Arthur John Mackenzie 1910 - George W Richmond 1911 - JA McKee 1912 - William Gibson 1913 - Arthur John Mackenzie 1914 - William Gibson 1915 - C Wardhaugh 1916 to 1919 - No Championship Held 1920 - P Wenman 1921 - William Gibson 1922 - William Gibson 1923 - William Gibson 1924 - C Heath 1925 - George Page 1926 - JA McKee 1927 - Dr. Ronald Cadell Macdonald 1928 - Dr. Ronald Cadell Macdonald 1929 - William Gibson 1930 - William Gibson 1931 - William Gibson 1932 - William Fairhurst 1933 - William Fairhurst 1934 - William Fairhurst 1935 - James Macrae Aitken 1936 - William Fairhurst 1937 - William Fairhurst 1938 - William Fairhurst 1939 - Max Pavey 1940 to 1945 - No Championship Held 1946 - William Fairhurst 1947 - William Fairhurst 1948 - William Fairhurst 1949 - William Fairhurst 1950 - PB Anderson 1951 - Alexander Aird Thomson 1952 - James Macrae Aitken 1953 - James Macrae Aitken 1954 - PB Anderson 1955 - James Macrae Aitken 1956 - James Macrae Aitken 1957 - James Macrae Aitken 1958 - James Macrae Aitken 1959 - Peter Coast 1960 - James Macrae Aitken 1961 - James Macrae Aitken 1962 - William Fairhurst 1963 - Michael Fallone 1964 - Alexander Munro Davie 1965 - James Macrae Aitken, Peter Michael Jamieson 1966 - Alexander Munro Davie 1967 - Gerald Bonner 1968 - David Levy 1969 - Alexander Munro Davie 1970 - Gerald Bonner 1971 - E Holt, RM McKay 1972 - Gerald Bonner 1973 - Peter Michael Jamieson 1974 - RM McKay 1975 - DNL Levy, S Swanson 1976 - RM McKay 1977 - CW Pritchett 1978 - PA Motwani 1979 - RM McKay 1980 - Danny Kopec 1981 - G Morrison 1982 - RM McKay 1983 - CA McNab 1984 - CSM Thomson 1985 - ML Condie, RM McKay 1986 - Paul Motwani 1987 - Paul Motwani 1988 - RM McKay 1989 - ML Condie 1990 - SR Mannion 1991 - Colin McNab 1992 - Paul Motwani 1993 - Colin McNab, Paul Motwani 1994 - Jonathan Parker 1995 - SR Mannion, Colin McNab, John K Shaw 1996 - DM Bryson 1997 - DM Bryson 1998 - John K Shaw 1999 - Jonathan Rowson 2000 - AJ Norris, John K Shaw 2001 - Jonathan Rowson 2002 - Paul Motwani 2003 - Paul Motwani, Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant 2004 - Jonathan Rowson 2005 - Craig Pritchett 2006 - Jonathan Grant 2007 - Andrew Muir 2008 - Alan Tate 2009 - Iain Gourlay (Scottish Champion 6.5), GM S. Arun Prasad (Open Winner 7.5) 2010 - Andrew Greet 2011 - Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant 2012 - Jacob Aagaard 2013 - RM McKay 2014 - Alan Tate (chess player) 2015 - Neil Berry (Scottish Champion 7), GM Korneev, Oleg (Open Winner 7.5) 2016 - Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant (Scottish Champion 6), Matthew Turner (Open Winner 7.5) 2017 - Murad Abdulla (Scottish Champion 6.5), Andrei Maksimenko (Open Winner 7.5) 2018 - Murad Abdulla (Scottish Champion & Open Winner 8) 2019 - Colin McNab (Scottish Champion 6.5), Matthew Turner (Scottish Champion 7), Ritvars Reimanis (Open Winner 7) 2020/21 - Did not take place due to pandemic 2022 - Murad Abdulla (Scottish Champion 6.5) 2023 - Edwin Spencer (Scottish Champion 4) 2024 - Andrew Greet (Scottish Champion 7) 2025 - Andrew Greet (Scottish Champion 7.5), Johan-Sebastian Christiansen (Open winner 9) 2026 - Andrew Greet (Scottish Champion 7.5), Johan-Sebastian Christiansen (Open winner 8.5)
See also British Chess Championship
References
External links List of Scottish champions www.ChessScotland.com