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Mistakes in the draw? On the board?

Put it all down to the ghost of former championship competitor, 1897 president of Chess Scotland and ex British PM, Andrew Bonar Law, who must have tread the floors of Victoria Hall before any of us who played / arbited in Helensburgh - he was just having a laugh.

How many spotted that the playing venue was completed in 1879 (said so in the entry form), long before the old codger departed Helensburgh, his home town, to enter Westminster politics? I bet he had a few bad pairings / played a few excruciating moves in the 1890s and, tickled that chess came back to Helensburgh this year, he thought he'd get his own back. Who'll give me odds?

Interesting chap was ABL ,he had the good sense to turn down the Tory
nomination to fight Glasgow Bridgeton.

Another ancient figure may have interfered with the draw at the Glasgow Congress many years ago. At the start of one round arbiter Ken Stewart wittily announced “This round features a pairing of historical importance, as Duncan attempts to gain revenge over Macbeth”. Duncan duly obliged.