Giffnock & Clarkston Chess Club

Chess In Scotland

• Chess in Scotland is co-ordinated by Chess Scotland (recently formed when the Scottish Chess Association and Scottish Junior Chess Association merged). Founded in 1884, it is one of the world’s oldest National Chess organisations.

• Chess Scotland co-ordinates chess in Scotland through the Scottish Championships and other competitions. It is purely a voluntary body, made up from reps from clubs, leagues and individual members.

• Full annual membership of Chess Scotland, including bi-monthly Scottish Chess is £26.00.

• Each year there are about 16 main weekend congresses, various team competitions, a great number of events just for juniors, plus a number of one-day allegro events held throughout Scotland - (check out the web site, http://www.ChessScotland.com for a full listing).

• There are about 50 chess clubs in Scotland, divided into 9 Leagues.

• Regular Chess Players receive a grading. A Chess Grade is achieved by playing 8 games against graded opponents in Chess Scotland competitions.

• Chess Scotland publishes Scottish Chess (alternate months), manages the above Website, and operates a Grading List for players. The Annual List contains ratings for about 2,700 chess players.

• Chess Scotland trains Arbiters and selects International Teams. Chess Scotland affiliates to FIDE, the world chess organisation, founded 1924, now representing over 100 affiliated countries.

• Scotland currently has 3 Grand Masters, and various other FIDE titled players.

(Many of the above details compiled with thanks to George Clark, Stirling Chess Club)