At Fri 16 Sept:

Travel Inn and Travelodge have amended prices with best prices close to the venue:

Nearby:
Travel Inn (Monifieth) – Fri - £29, Sat £29 (adjacent to venue)
Travel Inn (Dundee East) – Fri - £29, Sat £29 (2 mins drive from venue)

Dundee centre (lifts available):
Travel Inn Dundee Centre - Fri - £39, Sat £39
Travelodge (Central, Dundee) - Fri - £42.75, Sat £42.75

Other Dundee:
Travelodge (Strathmore Ave, Dundee) - Fri - £29, Sat £29 (15 minutes drive to venue)
Travel Inn Kingsway West - Fri - £29, Sat £29 (20 mins drive from venue)
Travelodge (Dundee, Kingsway West) - Fri - £25.50, Sat £25.50 (20 minutes drive to venue)

http://www.premierinn.com
http://www2.travelodge.co.uk

CHESS TV CHANNEL TO BE LAUNCHED IN RUSSIA

In September 2011, the Federal office in
the area of Communication, Mass
communication and Cultural heritage of
Russia will receive a certificate of
registration and license to broadcast
television "Chess". The start of the
regular broadcasting is November 1,
2011.

The main objective of the channel is the coverage of chess life in Russia and abroad.
The time provided for translation of chess events will be 60-70 % of the airtime. The
time provided for its own production will be about 25 %.

Source of information: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://ru.wikipedia.org">http://ru.wikipedia.org</a><!-- m -->

Clubs are once again invited to nominate their representatives for the Nancy Elder and the MacIsaac. Tournaments. In the first instance, entries should be sent to Richard Heathwood,
the Membership Secretary, but also copied to Chris Hampton, the Organizer.
Two important changes have been made, experimentally, this season, to the format of both Tournaments

The main change is that both Tournaments will be played in an All-Play-All ('Round Robin') format.

Unless stated otherwise, the time control for matches played in both Tournaments will now be set at 30 moves in 1 hour followed, if necessary, by a 15 minutes time addition for completion.
If a draw is agreed by the players, a rematch is required with reversed colours.
We hope these changes will encourage a greater number of Clubs to enter nominees to either or both Tournaments! The deadline for receipt of all entries is set for Friday the 28th of October 2011

Thanks to Andy Howie for 160 Games from the Scottish Championship 2011 plus another 79 Games from Seniors Championships, U1500 event & some games from the weekend Minor.
Championship event - I have tidied up the details (corrected names & FIDE grades) from the live data broadcasts. I've not cross checked with the score tables - so if you spot any errors please let me know =)

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.chessscotland.com/gamedownload/games.htm">http://www.chessscotland.com/gamedownload/games.htm</a><!-- m -->

Cumbernauld chess club have moved into new premises which include a bar.
We would be interested to hear the views of other chess players on the availability of alcohol at chess clubs.Particularly clubs which already have bar facilities.
We are unsure whether we should allow alcohol on "Match Nights"
All thoughts appreciated.
Thanks.
P.S. Andrew, if you wish to add a poll to this subject you are welcome to do so.

The 38th annual Grangemouth Chess Congress concluded today, and the prizewinners in the various sections were as follows:

Premier

1= IM Stephen Burns-Mannion (Hamilton)
Daniel Maxwell (Bon Accord)
James Doyle (Shettleston)
Jonathan Scott (Edinburgh) - 4/5

(Jonathan Scott wins the trophy on tie-break (Sonneborn-Berger); he also wins the Brian Currie Memorial Shield for the best performance above published grade by a Junior in any of the adult tournaments - a tournament performance of 2385 compared with his published grade of 1848.)

Under-1900 Grading Prize =
Michael Ridge and Sam Gregory (both Edinburgh) - 3/5

Challengers

1. Alex Gillies (Shettleston) - 4½/5
2. Paul MacDonald (Greenwood) - 4/5
3= Michael Roth (Perth)
Phil Thomas (East Kilbride) - 3½/5

Under-1700 Grading Prize
Alan Birnie (Irvine) - 3/5

Major

1. Dave Hewitt (Stirling) - 4½/5
2= John Smith (Grangemouth)
Graham Allison (Grangemouth)
Maryann McDonald (Bon Accord)
Angus McDonald (Bon Accord) - 4/5

Under-1525 Grading Prize
Ian MacKay (Austin Friars) - 3½/5

Under-1425 Grading Prize =
Mike Mitchell (Glasgow) and Vasif Ramazanov (Bon Accord) - 3/5

Minor

1. Fergus Skillen (South Morningside) - 4½/5
2. Andrew McCusker (Hamilton) - 4/5
3= Robert Kelso (Cumbernauld)
Lawrence Freel (Hamilton) - 3½/5

Under-1150 Grading Prize
Robbie Mcleod (Castlehill) - 3½/5

Saturday Primary

1. Andrew Gillies (Hamilton) - 6/7
2. Euan Dawson (Lawhead PS) - 5½/7
3. Jack Turner (St Andrews) - 5/7

Medals: Tom Constance (Lawhead PS), Aaron Gourlay (Perth) and Darren Gillies (Hamilton) - 4/7
Euan Gray (Mile End) - 3½/7

Saturday Junior

1. Dan Clewett (Orkney) - 7/7
2. Leonardo Sani (Ninewells) - 5/7
3. Craig Gillies (Hamilton) - 4/7

Sunday Primary

1. Kirsty McCusker (Balmuildy PS) - 4½/7
2. Euan Gray (Mile End) - 4½/7
3. Darren Gillies (Hamilton) - 4/7

Medals: Andrew Gillies (Hamilton) - 4/7
Aaron Gourlay (Perth) - 3½/7

Sunday Junior

1. Dan Clewett (Orkney) - 6½/7
2. Craig Gillies (Hamilton) - 5/7
3. Michael Morrison (Bishopton) - 4½/7
(Dan Clewett also wins the Junior Trophy for the best combined Saturday/Sunday score.)

I'll send off the grading data for the adult tournaments tomorrow.

By popular demand (well, one person asked, but I thought others might also be interested), here's the draw for round 4 of the Grangemouth Congress Premier:

1. Alan Grant (3) v Stephen Burns-Mannion (2½)
2. Shivan Murdochy (2½) v Daniel Maxwell (2½)
3. Jonny Scott (2½) v Jim Doyle (2½)
4. Ian McDonald (2) v Ian Robertson (2)
5. Richard Wiltshire (2) v Mike Ridge (2)
6. Roddy McKay (1½) v Steven Brown (1½)
7. Neil Farrell (1½) v Andrew Newton (1½)
8. Sam Gregory (1½) v George Neave (1½)
9. Hugh Brechin (1½) v Raj Bhopal (1½)
10. Stephen Hogg (1½) v Graham Hamilton (1)
11. Stephen Robinson (1) v Ed Spencer (1)
12. Duncan Walker (1) v Ewan Taylor (1)
13. Ian Marks (1) v Steven Kelly (1)
14. Neil Thomson (1) v Jim MacRae (1)
15. Kenny McGeoch (½) v Richard Carter (½)

Stephen Hilton Wrote:I am sending you greetings from Rhodes.
After 4 rounds I am on 2 points, with two losses as white against players from Ukraine and Croatia, and 2 wins as black against players from Greece and Poland. Tomorrow will be tough though as I have white against former double world champion Sergey Krylov from Russia.

Sorry, didn't mean to send that private message to everyone!

I suck at internet

I am participating in the Great Scottish Swim at Strathclyde park on the 24th of September. It is a 2 kilometre swim the length of the park.

Hopefully I am a bit better at swimming in open water than I am at Chess!

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.greatswim.org/">http://www.greatswim.org/</a><!-- m -->

I am taking the opportunity to raise money for the Children's Liver Disease
Foundation, <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.childliverdisease.org">www.childliverdisease.org</a><!-- w -->. Every day in Britain two children are diagnosed with liver disease. The CLDF provides support for children, young people and their families affected by liver disease. They also conduct research on liver disease.

Any donations, for what is a great cause, would be greatly appreciated.

<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.justgiving.com/KevinCampbell1">www.justgiving.com/KevinCampbell1</a><!-- w -->

Thanks,

Kevin Campbell