Chess Scotland is the
governing body
A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...
for
chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...
in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
. It was formed in 2001 with the merger of the ''Scottish Chess Association'' (SCA) and the ''Scottish Junior Chess Association'' (SJCA).
It is one of the oldest national chess associations in the world, the SCA having been founded in 1884.
As the national organisation for chess, Chess Scotland is the affiliate to the International Chess Federation (
FIDE) and appoints the Scottish delegate to FIDE's Council. Its International Director is responsible for selecting the teams which represent Scotland at the biennial
Chess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 an ...
.
Objective and functions
Its principal objective is to "foster and promote the game of chess throughout Scotland among players of all ages".
Its principal functions are:
*to represent the interests of Scottish chess (at FIDE and elsewhere),
*to select individuals and teams to represent Scotland at international chess events,
*to hold national and international chess tournaments in Scotland
*to promote the game of chess in Scotland
*to train and appoint officials
* to operate a national grading system
Chess Scotland's functions are performed by unpaid volunteers and is registered as a
non-profit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
organisation. Its turn-over in 2009 was approximately £35,000, of which a third was provided by the
Scottish Government via annual
grant aid. In 2013 the Government grant ceased.
Membership
Many people can play chess and a significant proportion of these have an active interest in the game (e.g., internet chess, parents/guardians of junior players, etc.). The number of players currently known to CS is more than 5000, of whom about half are juniors. Approximately 3000 currently-active players have played sufficient games in official events (not necessarily events organized by CS) to be assigned a national rating (grade) for their standard of play. Chess Scotland therefore serves a very wide constituency from school children to International Grandmasters.
Organisation
The affairs of Chess Scotland are managed by its directors and other officials who work (with other promoters, as appropriate) to fulfil the objectives of the organisation. Most of these posts are filled by election at the Annual General Meeting of Chess Scotland. Chess events are supervised by certified arbiters who must undergo written and practical competency tests administered by Chess Scotland. Chess Scotland also maintains a register of approved coaches and chaperons. All of these officials (arbiters, coaches and chaperons) are required to undergo “Disclosure” certification, under Scottish Child Protection legislation.
Online
Apart from the publicity surrounding its events, Chess Scotland's activities are communicated to the general public (including children) and to its sponsors via its internet web-pages. An on-line forum promotes discussion of chess-related topics of current interest. In addition, Chess Scotland publishes a magazine which appears six times a year.
Rating system
The Chess Scotland on-line rating system is important for many players, and the rating system is a source of significant revenue to Chess Scotland. Application to Chess Scotland for the recognition of an event (or player) for rating purposes brings the event (or player) within the jurisdiction of Chess Scotland.
Commonwealth Chess Championships in Glasgow 2014
Chess Scotland was successful in bidding for the 2014 Commonwealth Chess Championships and they were held in Glasgow.
Grandmasters
*
Paul Motwani
Paul Motwani (born 13 June 1962) is a Scottish chess grandmaster. He was the first Scottish player to become a grandmaster.
Chess career
Born in Glasgow and raised in Dundee, he became World Cadet (Under 17) Champion in 1978, and won the firs ...
*
Colin McNab
Colin Anderson McNab (born 3 February 1961) is a Scottish chess player. He is Scotland's second player to be awarded the title of Grandmaster (GM), fulfilling its requirements in 1992 just after Paul Motwani. After achieving his three norms ...
*
Jacob Aagaard
Jacob Aagaard (born 31 July 1973) is a Danish-Scottish chess grandmaster and the 2007 British Chess Champion. He is Scotland's third-highest rated player as of July 2021, with an Elo rating of 2477. His peak rating was 2542. In 2004, he took ...
*
Jonathan Rowson
Jonathan Rowson (born 18 April 1977) is a Scottish chess player and philosopher. He is a three-time Scottish chess champion and was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1999. As Director of the Social Brain Centre at the United Kingdom ...
*
John Shaw
*
Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant
Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant (née Arakhamia) is a Georgian (former Soviet Union)-born Scottish Grandmaster of chess.
Chess career
In 1985, she won the World Junior Chess Championship for Girls, held in Dobrna (and taking silver in Adelaide three ...
*
Matthew Turner
See also
*
Scottish Chess Championship The Scottish Chess Championship is organised by Chess Scotland, formerly the Scottish Chess Association. It has been running since 1884, and nowadays takes the form of a nine-round tournament played over two weekends and the week in between. Auxili ...
References
External links
*
{{National members of the World Chess Federation
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
Chess in Scotland
Sports governing bodies in Scotland
2001 establishments in Scotland
Sports organizations established in 2001
Chess organizations
2001 in chess