Scottish Chess Championship

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 final seven days.

The championship can only be won by players who would be eligible to compete internationally for Scotland, but sometimes a titled player of another nationality is invited to compete in order to make title norms more likely.

In 2008 the Championship was replaced by an international open, and the 2009 tournament being held in Edinburgh attracted nine Grandmasters. The 2010 event took place in Hamilton.

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.

The current Tournament Arbiter is Alex McFarlane.

Winners

• 1884 - J Crum
• 1885 - Daniel Yarnton Mills
• 1886 - GE Barbier
• 1887 - Daniel Yarnton Mills
• 1888 - George Henry Mackenzie
• 1889 - J Marshall
• 1890 - WN Walker
• 1891 - JD Chambers
• 1892 - Daniel Yarnton Mills
• 1893 - WN Walker
• 1894 - WC Spens
• 1895 - Daniel Yarnton Mills
• 1896 - Daniel Yarnton Mills
• 1897 - Daniel Yarnton Mills
• 1898 - GB Fraser
• 1899 - Daniel Yarnton Mills
• 1900 - Daniel Yarnton......
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