Scottish Centenary Tournament

This tournament celebrated the centenary of the Scottish Chess Association (SCA), founded in 1884. Now known as Chess Scotland (CS), following a merger with the Scottish Junior Chess Association in 2001, CS is the parent body for organised chess in Scotland. The SCCA is affiliated to CS, and organised this celebration correspondence tournament in 1984. A series of supplements recording the tournament games was published by the SCCA in 1994, and, fittingly, these web pages now bring the supplements back to life in 2004! The cross-table below gives final positions; you can play through selected games and also browse player profiles. Individual games can be downloaded from the game pages, and the tournament set is available from scottish games collections on this site.

Final X-Table

GM Norm 9½, IM Norm 7½						1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Pts
	1	Bryson, D M	SCO	GM	2575		0	0	1	½	½	1	1	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	10½
	2=	Anton, V-M	GER	(GM)	2610	1		½	0	½	1	1	1	½	½	½	½	1	½	1	9½
	2=	Povah, N E	ENG	(GM)	2475	1	½		½	½	0	½	1	1	0	½	1	1	1	1	9½
	2=	Webb, S	ENG	GM	2550	0	1	½		1	1	½	1	½	1	½	½	0	1	1	9½
	5=	Hintikka, E	FIN	IM	2440	½	½	½	0		1	0	0	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	9
	5=	Sørensen, H	DEN	IM	2470	½	0	1	0	0		½	½	1	½	1	1	1	1	1	9
	7=	Zagarovsky, Prof Dr V P	RUS	GM	2575	0	0	½	½	1	½		½	0	½	1	½	1	1	1	8
	7=	Vukcevic, B	YUG	GM	2495	0	0	0	0	1	½	½		1	½	½	1	1	1	1	8
	9=	Földi, Dr J	HUN	IM	2555	½	½	0	½	½	0	1	0		½	½	½	½	1	1	7
	9=	Strand, K W	NOR	(IM)	2450	0	½	1	0	0	½	½	½	½		½	½	½	1	1	7
	11=	Berta, M	YUG	GM	2430	0	½	½	½	0	0	0	½	½	½		½	1	0	1	5½
	11=	Sterud, E	NOR	IM	2425	0	½	0	½	0	0	½	0	½	½	½		1	½	1	5½
	13	Bohak, J	SLO	IM	2395	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	½	½	0	0		1	1	4
	14	Diaconescu, P	ROM	GM	2400	0	½	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	½	0		1	3
	15	Napolitano, Dr M	ITA	GM	2195	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0

Titles gained during the event are shown in bold in the x-table.

Selected Games

Profiles

Anton, Volker-Michael GER	Born 1951 in Magdeburg, Germany. First postal game in 1967. Runner-up in ICCF World Cup II in 1971. Gained IM title in 1983 when he scored 10/13 in ¾-Final of World CC Championship. Achieved his GM title in the Scottish Centenary Tournament. An accountant by profession, disabled through muscular dystrophy, and confined to a wheelchair. Enjoys music, philately and photography.
Berta, Matyas YUG	Born 1934 in Senta, Yugoslavia. Learned chess when 5, but did not begin serious postal chess until 1961. Member of the Yugoslav Olympiad team, scoring 7½/8 to achieve the IM title in 1971. Became GM in the Potter Memorial Tournament in 1978, scoring 8/13 to finish 3rd behind A S Hollis and R Kauranen. His mother tongue is Hungarian, and he is a professor of Hungarian language and literature in Senta. Writes a weekly chess column in a local paper.
Bohak, Janko SLO	Born 1935 in Maribor, Slovenia. Learned chess when 9 and played his first postal game in 1960. Won the European Higher and Master Class sections, and then the World 15-player tournament. Achieved 2nd place in the XII World Semi-Final, and 6th place in the next ¾-Final to achieve his IM title. Became a FIDE arbiter in 1981.
Borwell, Alan Peter SCO	Born 1937 in York, England. Moved to Scotland in 1965, after having won the Postal Chess Club Championship in 1961-62. Was a member of the York team which won the National OTB Club Championship in 1964. Played in the British OTB Championships in 1966. Became president of the SCCA in 1977, and treasurer of ICCF in 1984. Already a CC IA, he added the CC IM title in 1993. He has been editor of the SCCA magazine since 1980. Alan was TD for the Scottish Centenary Tournament.
Bryson, Douglas Marshall SCO	Born 1957 in Renfrewshire, Scotland. First postal game in 1976. Scottish CC champion in 1979 and 1981. British CC champion in 1983, 1984 and 1985. Won NPSF 40 Tournament to achieve both IM and GM titles. Top board for Scotland in postal Olympiads. Also a very active OTB player, with FM title and IM norms (now IM). Writes a chess column in national newspaper, and produces Scotland's OTB rating lists. Enjoys football, hill-walking and politics (favours a fully independent Scottish nation!)
Diaconescu, Paul ROM	Born 1929 in Ploiesti, Romania. Learned chess when 6, and played his first postal game in 1947. Participated twice in World Semi-Finals, and has frequently represented his country in CC Olympiads, twice in Finals. Achieved his IM title in 1974, and his GM title in 1982 via the Europe-Echecs Invitation Tournament. Paul is general secretary of ICCF. An engineer by profession, he enjoys watching tv sport, particularly football, rugby, tennis and gymnastics.
Földi, Dr Jozsef HUN	Born 1933 in Pély, Hungary. Became National Master for OTB chess in 1955, and was a member of the Hungarian Students' team. National coach of Hungarian teams 1978-82. Achieved his CC IM title in 1982. He was a professor of languages before becoming a journalist. Married, with two children, his other interests include reading, music and travel.
Hawkes, John SCO	Born 1942 in Cheltenham, England. Lived in Perth, Scotland for several years until 1986, during which time he was games editor of the SCCA magazine. He now teaches English and chess in the south of France. His chess columns in the BCM (ENG), Gambisco (FRA) and CCY (ITA) are long-established. An internationally recognised connoisseur of postal play, he was board 1 for the GB team in the 1st European TT after being runner-up to A S Hollis in the British Postal Championship of 1970-71. John has provided many of the annotations for the selected games in this tournament, and thanks are due also to George Pyrich, who checked and updated the notes prior to publication.
Hintikka, Eero FIN	Born 1945 in Finland. Did not learn to play chess until 1962, and played his first postal game in 1972. Became National Master for OTB chess in 1977, and was 5th in the XX European CC Championship 1979-82. Achieved the IM title by finishing 6th in the Finjub XX Jubilee Tourney 1981-84. Having been a teacher, he now works in the food industry. He is married, with one child, and enjoys judo, classical guitar, motocross and rambling.
Napolitano, Dr Mario ITA	Born 1910 in Italy. Winner of the 1st and 2nd Italian CC Championships, he has played in many international tournaments. Achieved his GM title when he was runner-up to C J S Purdy in the 1st World CC Championship. He was also 2= in the 2nd, and 4= in the 3rd World Championships. A regular member of the Italian Olympiad team, and was also once runner-up in the Italian OTB Championship. An elder statesman of the game.
Povah, Nigel Edward ENG	Born 1952 in London, England. Learned to play chess at 7, and became an OTB IM. Was a chess professional as player, teacher and author. Became a CC IM in 1983, scoring 7/8 on board 1 in NATT I. Achieved his GM title in the Scottish Centenary Tournament. By profession, he is an occupational psychologist, with his own management consultancy business. Married, with two children, Nigel is also interested in computing, music, swimming and badminton.
Sørensen, Henrik DEN	Born 1945 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Learned to play chess in 1957 and became Danish Junior Champion in 1963. Began postal chess in 1961, and was the winner of the XIII European CC Championship, scoring 11/14. Achieved his IM title, scoring 8/10 on board 3 in the VIII Olympiad Prelims, and by scoring 5½/12 on board 2 in the Final. He is managing director of a Danish/UK subsidiary of a large Swedish business forms manufacturer. Married with two children.
Sterud, Edvard NOR	Born 1928 in Norway. Achieved his IM title in 1975. An army officer.
Strand, Karl Wilhelm NOR	Born 1938 in Kristiansund, Norway. Did not learn to play chess until age 21, but soon became National Master for OTB chess. Participated in the Norwegian CC Championship many times, achieving 2nd, 3rd and 4th placings. A National CC Master, he achieved his ICCF IM title in the Scottish Centenary Tournament. He works as head clerk in the Kristiansund Harbour Office. Married, with two children, he enjoys fishing, and watching football and other sports.
Vukcevic, Borislav YUG	Born 1947 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Was board 1 in the Yugoslav team in the IX Olympiad Final. Achieved his GM title in 1982 in the Belgrade 30 International Tournament.
Webb, Simon ENG	Born 1949, in London, England. Learned chess in 1956 when 7, but did not play his first postal game until 1981. Was British Under-18 OTB champion in 1966, and 4th in the European Junior Championship. He achieved IM and GM titles in the BPCF Jubilee Tournament in 1983, his first international CC event. He now lives and works in Sweden as a quality manager. Simon has also represented England at bridge, partnering his younger brother.
Zagarovsky, Prof Dr Vladimir P RUS	Born 1925 in Voronezh, Russia. Learned chess at age 7, playing his first CC tournament in 1955. Becane a CC IM in 1964, and a GM when he won the IV World CC Championship in 1965 with 9½/12. He was 4= in the V, 2nd in the VI, 3= in the VII, and 2nd in the VIII (on tie-break) World Championships. He has been a national delegate, a vice-president, and member of the ICCF Praesidium for many years.