Iain J. Sinclair

Born: 01 May 1954, Glasgow.

Iain Sinclair, with the Glasgow League 1st Division trophy, won by Polytechnic CC in 1977.

Iain Sinclair learned chess around age 6. He would later play for the Paisley Grammar team (1965-71) which, under the guidance of the Deputy Head and noted chess/bridge problem composer Robert Gray, dominated the Paisey Schools chess scene at that time, winning the J P Coats (Anchor Mills) annual schools' tournament on numerous occasions. Iain was Board 1 and Captain in senior years and led the team to the advanced stages of the Sunday Times tournament on several occasions, though never managing to emulate the achievements of Ayr Academy and Dundee in reaching the fnal.

  • Associated with Anchor Chess Club, Paisley (1967-74), and Polytechnic CC, Glasgow (1975-81).
  • Scottish Boys' Champion 1969. Also played in 1971.
  • Glorney Cup team Member 1970 and 1972.
  • Won Renfrewshire County Championship 5 years in a row, 1970-74.
  • Scottish representative at several Junior International Tournaments: Danish Junior Open 1970 and 1971; Junior International Nice 1971.
  • Quadrangular Tournament 1970 (Scotland, Lancashire, Cheshire, The Hague).
  • Drew against Gligoric in simultaneous display 1970.
  • Drew with former World Champion Euwe in simultaneous display 1972.
  • Member of Scotland team at the World Students'/Youth U26 Youth Team Tournaments: Graz 1972; Teesside 1974; Caracas 1976; Mexico City 1977; Mexico City 1978.
  • Played for Scotland Juniors v Switzerland Juniors in the telephone matches 1970, 1972.
  • Played for Scotland in the Munich Junior Team Tournament 1972, scoring 4½/7.
  • Represented Scotland at the 1973 World Junior Championship at Teesside.
  • 1st place at the Mulcahy Memorial, Cork, 1974.
  • On the Scotland team at the Glasgow 800 Home International Team Tournament 1975.
  • British Universities select v Tel Aviv (at Cambridge University) 1974.
  • Member of Polytechnic CC team that won the Richardson Cup 1978.

Other events

  • Played in the Scottish Championships at Aberdeen 1970, Ayr 1974, Aberdeen 1975, Dundee 1976.
  • Glasgow September Congress: Junior events 1967-1972. Senior international 1973-79.
  • Glasgow Herald Congress 1975-1978.
  • Renfrewshire County Championship 1969-75.
  • Renfrewshire Open Championship 1969-72, 1974, 1976.
  • South of Scotland v Northern Counties Chess Union at Carlisle (1970-1972).
  • Edinburgh Junior Christmas Congress: 1967-1970.
  • IBM Greenock Congress: 1975-1977.
  • Cork Congress (Mulcahy Memorial), 1974-76.
  • Manchester Open 1970: scored 4½/6 earning a Junior Prize, shared with Jan Timman.
  • Enfield Congress 1973.
  • British Boys' Championships - U-16 Rhyl 1969; U-21 Coventry 1970 and Blackpool 1971.
  • British Championships: Clacton 1974, Morecambe 1975.


    Notable Moments
  • Beating an emergent Tony Miles in the British U-21 Champ 1970.
  • Beating an emergent Jon Speelman in the Glorney Cup 1972.
  • Beating the 1972 British Champion Brian Eley in the 1974 British Championship.
  • Won the B final Board 1 prize at the Students Olympiad in Venezuela in 1976


    Chess Problems

Although Iain stopped playing about 1982, he continued to take an interest in Chess Problems, both composing and solving. Some of his compositions having been published in magazines at home and abroad, including The Problemist, BCM, Feenschach (Germany), Boletim da UBP (Brazil), gaining a few Honorary Mentions and Commedations. His particular interest is Helpmates, and some examples of his work can be seen in: i) BCM April 1971, p160 10290 (3rd HM BCM Oct72 p403); and ii) BCM September 1972, p343 10471 (4th HM BCM Apr 74 p143), which he considers to be two of his better efforts.

On January 31, 1981 Iain took 2nd prize in the final of the Lloyds Bank British Chess Problem Solving Championship, which had 14 competitors. As Iain puts it, he was

    'Second to Nunn (more impressive when spoken than written!)'

 

Iain Sinclair, obviously happy with his cheque which he has just received from Sir Jeremy Morse.

Sir Jeremy, author of Chess problems: Tasks and Records (1995), has long been an enthusiast for chess problems and cryptic crosswords. The writer Colin Dexter, also a cryptic crossword afficionado, named his fictional detective, Inspector Morse, for him.

The final involved 8 problems, which had to be solved in two sessions of 75 minutes each. GM John Nunn scored 34 points out of a maximum 42 to take first place, followed by Iain with 27 points, and David Friedgood and Tony Lewis sharing 3rd and 4th places with 23.

Iain and David Friedgood later represented Britain in the World Chess Problem Solving Solving Championship for two-man teams in Arnhem, Holland in August 1981, as John Nunn was unable to take part.

Sources: BCM 1981, pp 166 and 508; Scottish Chess No. 62, April 1981, p 26; Iain Sinclair for information and photographs.


Alan McGowan
Historian, Chess Scotland