Perth and Kinross Congress

January 29 - February 1, 2004

The Perth and Kinross congress in the Quality Station hotel was a well received addition to the Scottish tournament circuit. Organiser Steve Mannion secured the support of the local council and offered a high class spacious venue, discounted hotel accommodation and a generous prize fund. The event was unlucky to clash with the Gibraltar International which had attracted most of Scotland's master strength players (including IM Steve Mannion jnr!).
  Neil Berry of Edinburgh took the Open prize of £400 with an unbeaten 4.5/5 having survived a lost postion against Dunfermline's Ian Roberston in the second round. Berry defeated both the improving Tweedie brothers from the Hamilton club before securing a long endgame win against David Findlay of Dundee in the final round.

OPEN
1. Neil Berry 4½
2= Craig Pritchett 4
2= Martin Mitchell 4
U-2000 GP = Ed Perry & Chris Sykes 3½
U-1750 GP = Kevin Mayo, John Wilman & Liam Gaffney 2½

CHALLENGERS
1. George Murphy 4½
2= Walter Pearson 4
2= Andrew MacQueen 4
2= Hugh Gourlay 4
2= Robert Lawson 4
U-1565 GP = Andrew Willetts & Richard Heathwood 3½
U-1475 GP = Anthony Anderson & Ian Nisbet 3½

MAJOR
1. Hugh Hanlon 5
2. Alan Petrie 4½
3= Michael MacDonald-Cooper 4
3= Richard Weames 4
3= David Cubitt 4
U-1300 GP Ian MacGregor
U-1000 GP Rhian Hughes

Funday Saturday

Funday Sunday

Primary 5 Saturday

Primary 5 Sunday

The congress seems to have gone down well with most of the competitors, and there seems a very good chance it will become a regular feature on the calendar. Steve Mannion, John Warren and Michael Roth are to be congratulated on their efforts. Donald Wilson

Perth Open round 4, White: Steven Tweedie (Hamilton, 2050), Black: Neil Berry (Edinburgh, 2278),

1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 e5 Ne7 5 a3 Bxc3+ 6 bxc3 c5 7 Qg4 0–0 8 Bd3 Nbc6 9 Nf3 9 Qh5 Ng6 10 Nf3, as played by Scotland no.1 Jonathan Rowson, is much more testing. 9...f5 10 exf6 Rxf6 11 Bg5 e5! For many years Black played only the modest retreat 11...Rf7 but the pawn advance is far stronger. It looks like Tweedie was unfamiliar with the book theory and never gets a chance to start playing. 12 Qg3 If 12 Qh4 e4 13 Bxf6 gxf6 14 Qxf6 exd3 or 12 Bxf7+ Kxf7 13 Qh5+ Kg8 14 Bxf6 gxf6 15 dxe5 Qf8, both lines look fine for Black with good winning chances if you have studied the sharp positions beforehand. 12...Rxf3! 13 gxf3 c4 The 7...0-0 line is discussed in depth in the impressive new book Play the French 3 by IM John Watson (Everyman £14.99). 14 Bf1 Watson only mentions 14 Be2 Qa5! favouring Black in all lines, 14...Qa5 15 Bd2 Nf5 16 Qg5 exd4 17 Bh3 Or 17 cxd4 c3 18 Be3 Nfxd4 19 Kd1 Bf5. 17...dxc3 18 Bxf5 White is justifiably worried about an impending Nd4 after 18 Be3. 18...cxd2+ 19 Kd1 Bxf5 20 Qxf5 Re8 0–1.

The First Perth Weekend Congress took place in 1975 at Perth High School and was run by Alan Borwell. There were 102 players competing for a total prize fund of just £125. The top prize winners of 29 years ago sound familiar, 1st= were Roddy McKay and Tim Upton - both players are still in the Scottish top 20 although it's a while since Tim (from the Scottish Chess report) was described as, “a most promising young schoolboy.” One feature of this and other events at the time, thankfully now eliminated, was the practice of unfinished games being adjudicated, nowadays frantic speed finishes are preferred but at least it's all your own fault if you mess it up.