Scottish Championship 1953

The 60th Congress of the Scottish Chess Association was held April 3-11 under the auspices of the Edinburgh Chess Club, in their rooms at 1 Alva Street, Edinburgh.

From the Glasgow Herald chess column of 17 April 1953:

The retention of the Scottish championship at Edinburgh By Dr Aitken was not unexpected, but his clean score and winning margin were. The opposition against him may not have been as strong as it was when he dropped two points last year, but it was good enough and representative enough to make his present win perhaps the most outstanding in the 60 years of the competition.

Dr. M. Rose retired through ill-health after completing two games; his score was cancelled, so only nine players appear in the crosstable.

Scottish Championship 1953	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Pts
1. Dr J.M. Aitken	■	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	8
2. E. Knopfler	0	■	½	1	0	1	1	1	½	5
3. N.A. Macleod	0	½	■	½	½	1	1	½	1	5
4. T.R. Harvey	0	0	½	■	1	0	1	1	1	4½
5. H.A. Turriff	0	1	½	0	■	1	0	1	½	4
6. S.L. Hart	0	0	0	1	0	■	½	1	1	3½
7. I.C. Kirkwood	0	0	0	0	1	½	■	½	1	3
8. R.A. Donald	0	0	½	0	0	0	½	■	½	1½
9. A. Lerchs	0	½	0	0	½	0	0	½	■	1½

Erwin Knopfler was the father of Mark and David Knopfler of Dire Straits.

Aitken,J - Macleod,N [B37]
Scottish Championship Edinburgh, 1953
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 g6 5 c4 Bg7 6 Nc2 Nh6 7 Nc3 d6 8 Bd2 f5 9 Qc1 Ng4 10 Be2 0-0 11 Bxg4 fxg4 12 0-0 Ne5 13 Ne3 e6 14 Ne2 Bd7 15 Bc3 h5 16 Qd2 Bc6 17 Nd4 Qe7 18 Nxc6 bxc6 19 Ba5 Bh6 20 Nf5 exf5 21 Qxh6 fxe4 22 Rae1 Qh7 23 Qxh7+ Kxh7 24 Rxe4 Rf7 25 c5 Nd3 26 cxd6 Nc5 27 Rc4 Nb7 28 Bc7 c5 29 Re1 Rd7 30 Rce4 Nxd6 31 Re7+ Rxe7 32 Rxe7+ Kg8 33 Bxd6 Rd8 34 Rxa7 Rxd6 35 Kf1 Rd2 36 Rb7 Rc2 37 a4 c4 38 a5 Rc1+ 39 Ke2 Ra1 40 Rb5 Kg7 41 Ke3 Ra4 42 Kd4 Kf6 43 Kc5 Ke5 44 Kb6+ Kd4 45 a6 Kd3 46 a7 Ke2 47 Ra5 Rb4+ 48 Kc5 Rxb2 49 a8Q Kxf2 50 Ra2 1-0

Macleod,N - Lerchs,A [B71]
Scottish Championship Edinburgh, 1953
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 g6 6 f4 Bg7 7 e5 dxe5 8 fxe5 Ng8 9 Bb5+ Kf8 10 Ne6+ 1-0

Donald,R - Aitken,J [B73]
Scottish Championship Edinburgh, 1953
Donald, the youngest player in the championship, missed a chance of breaking Aitken's record, for he had a winning advantage when on move 29 he made an oversight which lost a piece and the game. 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 g6 6 Be2 Bg7 7 Be3 Nc6 8 0-0 0-0 9 f4 Nd7 10 Qd2 Nxd4 11 Bxd4 Bxd4+ 12 Qxd4 Qb6 13 Qxb6 Nxb6 14 Nb5 Bd7 15 Nd4 Rfc8 16 c3 Na4 17 Rab1 Nc5 18 e5 dxe5 19 fxe5 Ne6 20 Bf3 Rab8 21 Rfd1 Nxd4 22 Rxd4 Be6 23 Bd5 Bxd5 24 Rxd5 e6 25 Rd7 Rc5 26 Rf1 Rxe5 27 Rfxf7 Re1+ 28 Kf2 Rb1 29 Rxb7? Rxb2+ 0-1

Ladies' Championship

Ladies' Championship 1953	1	2	3	4	5	6	Pts
1. Mrs R.P. Foggie	■	1	1	0	1	1	4
2. Mrs T.R. Harvey	0	■	½	1	0	1	2½
3. Mrs M. Hepburn	0	½	■	0	1	1	2½
4. Miss A.L. Dewar	1	0	1	■	0	0	2
5. Miss E.M. Humby	0	1	0	1	■	0	2
6. Mrs S.M. Steedman	0	0	0	1	1	■	2

Boys' Championship

Boys' Championship 1953	1	2	3	4	5	Pts
1. W. McLaughlin	■	1	1	1	1	4
2. R. Smeeton	0	■	1	1	1	3
3. M. Fallone	0	0	■	1	1	2
4. T. Gilligan	0	0	0	■	1	1
5. D. Foggie	0	0	0	0	■	0

 

Sources
The Scottish Chess Association Yearbook 1953-54
Glasgow Herald chess columns
BCM 1953, p117

Alan McGowan
Historian/Archivist, Chess Scotland 

revised 20/11/2020