Scottish Championship 1894

The eleventh annual Congress of the Scottish Chess Association was held in the rooms of Glasgow Chess Club, beginning on Friday, 23 March.

Sheriff Walter Cook Spens (1842-1900) was one of the group that founded the Scottish Chess Association in 1884. This was the only time that he won the championship.

The Best Game prize of £5, presented by Mr J.D. Chambers, was awarded to Sheriff Spens, who donated the money to the funds of the Scottish Chess Association.

 
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
 Pts
1. Sheriff Spens
■
1
1
0
1
1
1
1
1
 7
2. G.E. Barbier
0
■
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
 5
3. J. Finlayson
0
1
■
1
0
1
0
1
1
 5
4. W. Seligmann
1
1
0
■
0
½
½
1
1
 5
5. A.B. Law
0
0
1
1
■
0
1
1
0
 4
6. J. Gilchrist
0
0
0
½
1
■
0
½
1
 3
7. J. McGrouther
0
0
1
½
0
1
■
0
0
 2½
8. D. Forsyth
0
0
0
0
0
½
1
■
1
 2½
9. G.A. Thomson
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
■
 2

The crosstable from the BCM 1894, p 246 has been amended slightly as the score of McGrouther-Gilchrist was shown as a win for both players.

 

Minor Tournament

There were 14 entrants for this event:-
R.A. Boyd, Lenzie; J. Connor, Garelochhead; A.C.A Jonas and C.M. Jonas, Coatbridge; G.F. Krasser, Glasgow; W.N. Paton, Glasgow; P.C. Lyness, Glasgow; R. McCann, Islay; Wm McCombie, Glasgow; H.T. Mitchell, Glasgow; J. Macaulay, Edinburgh; J. Muirhead, Glasgow; J. Phillips, Glasgow; W. Service, Coatbridge.

The winner was C.M. Jonas with 12/13, ahead of Krasser. A.C.A. Jonas, J. Muirhead and W. Paton tied for third place. Two prizes were awarded byt the SCA, but A.B. Law (the future Prime Minister) provided an additional prize for third place. A few games seem not to have been played, perhaps because they could not affect the final placings. (With one round remaining, Jonas had 11 and Krasser 9.)

Handicap Tournament

This originally had 19 entrants, but three withdrew to avoid the problems and delays associated with byes. There remained:-

Class 1: Spens, Barbier, Seligmann.
Class 2: Krasser, CM Jonas, AC Jonas and McGrouther.
Class 3: Macaulay and Lyness.
Class 4: Mitchell, Service, Phillips, Connor and McCann.
Class 5: Sharp.
Class 7: Bennett

The final match was between Spens, who had to give odds of a knight, and Connor (Class 4). Their first game was draw, but Spens won the second and thereby became the first to win the Championship and the Handicap events at the same Congress.

 
Sources:
The Chess Monthly, Vol. XV, September 1893-August 1894, pp 263, 264 and 294.
British Chess Magazine 1894, pp 246-8.
Glasgow Herald (various reports).

 

Alan McGowan
Historian, Chess Scotland

updated 10/5/2020