Lanarkshire Congress

1960 - 1st Lanark Easter Congress

The South Lanarkshire Chess League, by now in its tenth year, made plans for its first Easter Congress at the Clydesdale Hotel, Bloomgate, Lanark, on Saturday, April 16th and Monday 18th (no play on Sunday). Further information was available from Mr Peter W. Campbell, Hon. Secretary of South Lanarkshire C.L., of 19 Braxfield Terrace, New Lanark.

The Premier section was a 6-player, all-play-all, though the British Chess Magazine reported that it was a four-round Swiss System.

Premier
1. A. Macleod (Dingwall) 4; 2. M. Fallone (Larkhall) 3; 3-4. W. Gray (Lanark) and M. Freeman (Ayr) 2. Other players were Mrs S.M. Steedman and Lt.-Col. W.G. Irvine-Fortescue.

Alastair Macleod and Michael Freeman were undergraduates at Glasgow University. William Gray was Lanark champion.

Major
1-2. J.W. Tait (Ardrossan) and A.F. Hoggan (Glasgow); 3-4. D. Perrow (Larkhall) and J. Simpson (Falkirk).

Minor
1. T. Hutton (Glasgow); 2. P. Johnstone (Glasgow); 3-4. W.T. Allan (Lanark) and A. Kilpatrick (Larkhall).

Left-right: Alastair Macleod, Lt-Col. W.G. Irvine-Fortescue, William Gray, Michael Fallone, Mrs S.M. Steedman and Michael Freeman. (Photo courtesy of Michael Freeman).

The good work of the South Lanarkshire organisers meant that this congress became a regular event on the tournament circuit, continuing into the early 1970s, by which time it was held in Bothwell. It may also have helped inspire the Glasgow League, which held its first congress in 1962.

Sources
Michael Freeman
British Chess Magazine 1960, pp. 66 and 172.

Details of later congresses follow:

1961 - 2nd Lanarkshire Congress
Clydesdale Hotel, Lanark, April 1 and 3. (22 players.)

Mr A.J. Birnie, President of the South Lanarkshire League, welcomed the 22 entrants, who included among their number two blind players from the Glasgow Mission to the Blind. At the end of the last session Mr D. Perrow, Vice-President, paid tribute to the players, particularly so to Mr R. Glen, a blind player, who had won all his games, and therefore headed his section. Mrs S. Steedman graciously presented the prizes.

Premier 1-2 J.W.S. Allan and H.D. Holmes; 3. W. Wylie
Major 1. D. Perrow; 2. D. Kilpatrick; 3-4 J. Simpson and M. Mitchell
Minor 1. R. Glen; 2-3 J.H. Rule and I. Crozier

Scottish Chess Association Bulletin Nr. 3.
BCM 1961, p. 129.
Neither source provided scores, but the BCM said it was a four-round Swiss.

1962 - 3rd Lanarkshire Congress
The 3rd Easter Congress was quite well attended with 12 entries for the Premier, 8 for the Major, but only 4 for the Minor. The Premier and the Major provided keen competition; the Minor suffered from the shortage of players.

Two players dominated the Congress. H.D. Holmes in the Premier lost only a ½ point in the five rounds, and P. Messer, a Scottish junior internationalist , who won all his games in the Major.

Premier H.D. Holmes 4½/5; D. Kilpatrick 4; P. Clark, G. Livie 3½
Major P. Messer 5/5; T. Hutton 4; I. McLeod 3
Minor H. Duggan 5/6; J.H. Rule 4. (Double-round event.)

Scottish Chess Association Bulletin Nr. 7.

1963 - 4th Lanarkshire Congress
Clydesdale Hotel, Bloomgate, Lanark, April 13-15

Premier G. Bonner; H.D. Holmes, E. Allan 3½
Premier 'A' W. Ballantyne 5/5; W. Wylie, E. Marshall 3½
Major W. Shaw, R. Finlayson
The Lanark Easter Congress is growing in popularity; this year thirty players took part. The Premier had a strong entry with G. Bonner, E. Allan, W.G.I-Fortescue, H.D. Holmes and G. Simmonds of the BCF.

Scottish Chess Association Bulletin Nr. 11.
BCM 1963, p. 141.

1964 - 5th Lanarkshire Congress
The annual Easter Congress run by the Lanarkshire League was held this year in Bothwell. There were forty-two players in all and four tournaments were played.

Premier
The Premier had a number of the strongest players in Scotland, including the Scottish champion, M. Fallone. Play was of a high standard and the competition among the five leading players right through meant keen interest at all stages with excitement at the end. The result of the adjourned fifth round game between Ballantyne and Bonner was only reached after the sixth round had been finished. The position then was that Ballantyne needed only a half-point while Bonner needed the full point. He got it late on the final evening.
G. Bonner 4½/6; M. Fallone, W. Ballantyne, H.D. Holmes, J. Robertson 4

Premier B M. Ogston 5½/6; H. McArthur 4; J. Christie 3½
Major C. Ross 5/6; D. Petrie 4½; N. Lindsay, W. Cowie 4
Minor I. Jardine 6/6; J. Findlay 3½; R. Musgrave 2½; T. McAllister 1

Scottish Chess Association Bulletin Nr. 14.

1965 - 6th Lanarkshire Congress
Bothwell Town Hall, April 17-19

The Congress had a record entry of 48, and for the first time a player from Lanarkshire, an ex-Scottish champion, won the Premier.

It is worth noting that Pritchett, Watson and Glendinning had come straight from the Glasgow Junior Congress, where they had to play eight rounds.

Premier M. Fallone 4½/5; G. Bonner, H.D. Holmes, C.W. Pritchett and W.P. Watson 3½

		F	B	H	P	W	B	G	S	B	C	J	J	L	A	R	G	Tot
1	M. Fallone	■	½		1		1	1							1			4½
2	G. Bonner	½	■		½	1		½			1							3½
	H.D. Holmes			■	0	½					1	1					1	3½
	C.W. Pritchett	0	½	1	■			1						1				3½
	W.P. Watson		0	½		■	1			1				1				3½
6	R.A. Batchelor	0				0	■						1	1			1	3
7	J.M. Glendinning	0	½		0			■					1			1		2½
	L.J. Stirling								■	0		0	1		1	½		2½
9	K.A. Brown					0			1	■	0			0			1	2
	J. Crossan		0	0						1	■	0				1		2
	I. Jardine			0	0				1		1	■	0					2
	P. Johnston						0	0	0			1	■	1				2
	G.W.G. Livie					0	0			1			0	■	1			2
14	B. Allen	0							0					0	■	½	1	1½
	I. Russel							0	½		0				½	■	½	1½
16	R. Gibb			0			0			0					0	½	■	½

Premier 'B' P.M. Jamieson 5/5; E. Taylor and C. Kidd 3½
Peter Jamieson was reluctantly excluded by the organisers from the main event because of his late entry.
Major S. Mannion 5/5; R. Finlayson 3½
Minor J. Weir 5/5; P. Burton 4

Scottish Chess Association Bulletin Nr. 17.
Der Schachspieler, Vol. 1, Nr. 6, Summer 1965.
BCM 1965, pp. 69 and 163.

1966 - 7th Lanarkshire Congress
Bothwell, April 16-19 (44 players).

Premier W.P. Watson 4½/5; W. Ballantyne E. Davis, C.W. Pritchett 3½
Premier 'B' 1-2 J. Findlay and J. Lumsden 
Major 1. J. McNeill 2. J. Sutcliffe
Minor 1-2 W. Burnside and D. Livingstone 3. R. Klemm

Scottish Chess Association Bulletin Nr. 19.
As can be seen, very few scores were given.

1967 - 8th Lanarkshire Congress
Bothwell Town Hall, March 25-27

Premier C.W. Pritchett 4½/5; I. Jardine and D. Jenkins 4
Premier 'B' E. Fitzjames and J. Sutcliffe 4/5
Major C. Jones and S, McIntyre 4½
Minor G. Rooney 7; M. Byrne 6

BCM 1967, p. 129.

1968 - 9th Lanarkshire Congress
Bothwell Town Hall, April 13-15 (70 players).

Premier 'A'
R.M. McKay 4½;
H.D. Holmes 4;
J. Lumsden, M. Rosenberg and J.M. Glendinning 3½;
D. Jenkins, J. Doyle, B. Sauvé, R. Amos 3 (11 others)

Premier 'B' I. Maver 4½; A. Everingham, R. Waugh 4
Major J. Borden 4½; C. Simpson, T. Docherty 4
Minor F. Degan 8; G. Ashburn 7

BCM 1968, p. 133.

1969 - 10th Lanarkshire Congress
Bothwell Town Hall, April 5-7 (63 competitors).

Premier 'A'
C.W. Pritchett and M. Rosenberg 4/5
J. Montgomery, C.J.A Jones and W. Ballantyne 3½
A.J.D. Baruch, G. Bonner and J. Robertson 3; I. Meiklejohn 2½

Rosenberg, at 15, was the youngest ever winner of the event.

Premier 'B'
T. Borland 4½; D.C. Bentley and J. Simpson 3½
Major R. Bhopal 4½; J. Gardner 4
Minor M. McIver 6½; D. Hughes and D. McIndoe 5½

High School of Glasgow Bulletin, 30 April 1969.
BCM 1969, p. 135.

Lanarkshire Congress, Bothwell, 1969
Tom Borland (r) - Victor Gaba
Photo: Tom Borland Photo Archive

1970 - 11th Lanarkshire Congress
Bothwell, March 28-30

Premier 'A'
R.M. McKay 4½
J. Lumsden, M. Rosenberg, B. Sauvé and W.P. Watson 3½
R. Amos, S.C. Hamilton, I. Maver and N. Rose 3
T. Borland, R. Clapham and J.A. Johnstone 2½

Premier 'B' 1. A. Ponting; 2. B. Whyte
Major 'A' 1. I. Gibson; 2. J. Sanders
Major 'B' 1-2. D. Hughes and B. Wilson
Junior S. McLelland

Scottish Chess Nr. 28.

Lanarkshire Congress, Easter 1970.

From left to right: Alan Shaw of Cathcart CC; Mrs Steedman of Bothwell, a long time supporter and organiser of the Lanarkshire Congresses and other events. The others, according to John Larkin, formerly of the Bellshill CC, are believed to be Stuart Henry and Pat Rooney, also members of that club.
Photo: JBW Robertson

Bothwell Congress 28-30 March, 1970
(L-R) Back: J. Lumsden, I. Maver.
In front of Lumsden is Jim Robertson, Nigel Rose (centre), John Johnstone, Roddy Mckay.
Others, l-r: ?, Peter Watson, Jim Doyle, S.C. Hamilton, Michael Rosenberg, Graham Patterson, Ben Sauvé, R. Clapham, S. Irving, Tom Borland
Photo: Tom Borland Photo Archive

1971 - 12th Lanarkshire Congress

Premier J. Lumsden and D. Itcovitz 4/5; I. Maver and A Ponting 3½

BCM 1971, p. 171. No other information given.

 

Compiled by Alan McGowan
Historian, Chess Scotland

added 27/3/2020