Scottish Championship 1955

The 62nd annual congress of the Scottish Chess Association was held under the auspices of the Bon-Accord club in the Pre-Nursing College, Albyn Place, Aberdeen, from July 15 until the end of the following week. Tournaments were played for the Scottish, Scottish women's, and Scottish boys' (under 17) championships, with major and minor tournaments for all classes.

From the September 1955 British Chess Magazine, pp267-8:

The championship attracted the large entry of fourteen-it was particularly strongly supported by the Aberdeen players themselves-and, at the request of the Bon-Accord Club, the SCA agreed to the innovation of playing the tournament on the Swiss System.

Championship

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Pts
1. Dr J.M. Aitken	■	˝	1	1	1	1	1		1						6˝
2. Dr R.C. Nairn	˝	■	1	1	˝	1	1					1			6
3. A. Lerchs	0	0	■		1	1			1		˝	1			4˝
4. P.B. Anderson	0	0		■					˝	1	1		1	˝	4
5. I. Middleton	0	˝	0		■		˝			1			1	1	4
6. Col. W.G.Irvine-Fortescue	0	0	0			■	1	1			˝		1		3˝
7. Dr N. Uri	0	0			˝	0	■	1	1			1			3˝
8. J.E. Bothwell						0	0	■	0	0	1	1		1	3
9. Dr F.H.C. Marriott	0		0	˝			0	1	■		1			˝	3
10. Dr M. Rose				0	0			1		■	0	1	0	1	3
11. E.A. Woods			˝	0		˝		0	0	1	■		1		3
12. G.D. Campbell		0	0				0	0		0		■	1	1	2
13. Dr R.F. Twort				0	0	0				1	0	0	■	1	2
14. T. Russell, jnr				˝	0			0	˝	0		0	0	■	1

A few comments by Dr Aitken from his BCM report:

Dr Nairn was the discovery of the tournament. Formerly of Cheshire, he has been in Aberdeen for several years but this was his first Scottish Championship and a most excellent début it was.

Lerchs (formerly a student at Aberdeen University, now resident in Belgium, whence he came to play in the tournament) was astonishingly unequal, being capable (sometimes in the same game) of simple blunders and again of play of real imagination and ingenuity.

The holder, Anderson, was not in his best form and a poor start soon made it clear he was not destined to retain his title. Middleton, who was Scottish Boy Champion in 1947, made an excellent impression with a soundly based positional style.

Ladies Championship

With four entries, the tournament was played as a double-round event.

	1	2	3	4	Pts
1. Mrs R.P Foggie	■	1˝	2	1	4˝
2. Mrs S.M. Steedman	˝	■	1	2	3˝
3. Mrs M.S. Hepburn	0	1	■	1	2
4. Miss L.M. Hogarth	1	0	1	■	2

Boys Championship

There were only two entries, who played a match for the first three wins.
George Dickson, Edinburgh, beat Andrew Nicol, Aberdeen, in straight games.

Sources
Glasgow Herald chess columns
BCM, September 1955, pp267-8

Alan McGowan
Historian/Archivist, Chess Scotland 

revised 19/11/2020