Prizewinners LOCAL hero Andrew Burnett, from Kirkcaldy, successfully defended his title by regaining the Open tournament trophy and first prize at the Glenrothes Congress, played last weekend at the Lomond Centre, Glenrothes. The tournament, which pioneered the Premier League scoring system in chess (one point for a draw, three for a win), is ideal for Burnett's "take no prisoner" approach to the game. Famed on the tournament circuit for going all out for the win, regardless of consequences, Burnett's typically aggressive style saw him winning four and drawing just one (in round two to Iain Robertson), finishing with an unbeatable 13/15. Burnett's win was made all the easier following some uncharacteristic play from pre-tournament favourites IM Stephen Mannion and reigning Scottish champion IM Douglas Bryson. Loses against lower rated opposition in the early rounds saw both unable to catch-up with the front runners. Glasgow Polytechnic's Alan Minnican was caught-out in the fourth round by Burnett's Blue Peter "and here's one I prepared earlier..." approach to the game. In the offbeat Nimzovitch variation of the Sicilian Defence, popularised by the Polytechnic school of chess, not only does Burnett demolish his opponent in devastating style, but confesses during the post-mortem analysis that, in the position where Minnican resigns, he'd had the same position on the board in his preparation for the game! Prize winners Open - 1 A Burnett (Kirkcaldy) 13/15; 2-3 K Beaton (Polytechnic) A Norris (Crowwood) 12; 4-8 IM D Bryson (Shettleston), I Robertson (Dunfermline), A Minnican (Polytechnic), S Pimental (W.Dragons) G Fyfe (Kirkcaldy) 10. Challengers - 1 G Saxton (Kirkcaldy) 13/15; 2-3 D Hewitt (Battlefield) B Wilson (Bon Accord) 12. Major - 1 A Thomson (Stirling) 15/15; 2 D Harvey (Perth) 11; 3-5 M Chalmers (Castlehill), R Dowling (Corstorphine) G Thomson (Livingston) 10. Minor - 1 B Thompson (Kirkcaldy) 13/15; 2 A Wright (Livingston) 12; 3-4 J McDade (Inverness) C Knox (Greenwood) 11. Mannion,S - Hopper,P [B09] Glenrothes Open (1) 1 e4 d6 2 d4 Nf6 3 Nc3 g6 4 f4 Bg7 5 Nf3 0-0 6 Bd3 Nc6 7 e5 dxe5 8 fxe5 Nh5 9 Be3 Bg4 10 Be2 f6 11 exf6 exf6 12 Qd2 Ne7 13 0-0-0 Nf5 14 h3 Bxf3 15 Bxf3 Re8 16 Rde1 Rxe3 17 Rxe3 Bh6 18 Rhe1 Nxe3 19 Kb1 Ng3 20 Qd3 Ngf5 21 d5 Qe7 22 g4 Nd6 23 b3 Re8 24 Re2 Qd7 25 Qd4 f5 26 Qxa7 f4 27 Qd4 Qf7 28 Na4 Bg7 29 Qd3 Qf6 30 c3 b5 31 Nb2 Qxc3 32 Qxc3 Bxc3 33 Nd3 g5 34 h4 h6 35 Kc1 Ne4 36 hxg5 hxg5 37 Rh2 Nxd5 38 Nf2 Ndf6 39 Nh3 Kg7 40 Re2 Bd4 41 Kc2 Be3 42 Re1 Rh8 43 Bg2 Rd8 44 Rd1 Rxd1 45 Kxd1 Nf2+ 46 Nxf2 Bxf2 47 Bf3 Kf7 48 Kd2 Ke6 49 Kd3 Ke5 50 a4 Be1 51 Bd1 Ne4 52 Bf3 Nd2 53 Bd1 f3 54 b4 f2 55 Be2 Nf3 56 Ke3 0-1 A Burnett - A Minnican Glenrothes Open (4) Sicilian Nimzovitch 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 e5 Nd5 4 Nc3 e6 5 Ne4 Nc6 6 c4 Nb6 7 b4 Nxb4 8 Bb2 Be7 9 a4 a5 10 h4 h6 11 Ra3 Qc7 12 Rh3 Rg8 13 Qb1 Nc6 14 Rg3 Nd4 15 Nxd4 cxd4 16 Bxd4 Ra6 17 c5 Nd5 18 Nd6+ Kf8 19 Raf3 f5 20 Bxa6 bxa6 21 Rxf5+ exf5 22 Qxf5+ Nf6 23 exf6 Bxd6 24 fxg7+ Ke8 25 Qg6+ Kd8 26 Bf6+ 1:0 Beaton,K - Fyfe,G [B29] Glenrothes Open (5) 1 d4 d6 2 Nf3 g6 3 c4 Nd7 4 Nc3 e5 5 e4 Bg7 6 Be3 Ngf6 7 Be2 0-0 8 d5 Ng4 9 Bg5 f6 10 Bh4 Nh6 11 Qd2 Nf7 12 g4 Bh6 13 Qc2 Bf4 14 Bg3 Nc5 15 Bxf4 exf4 16 Nd4 a5 17 0-0-0 Ne5 18 Rdg1 g5 19 h4 h6 20 hxg5 hxg5 21 Rh6 Qe7 22 Rgh1 Qg7 23 f3 Rf7 24 Bd1 Nxc4 25 Qh2 Kf8 26 Rh8+ Ke7 27 Rxc8 1-0
John Henderson - "Scotsman"