Spens Cup 2004
On the sad and lonely death of Paul Morphy in 1884, one of Glasgow's leading legal officers, Sheriff Walter Spens, penned a very apt epitaph for his fallen hero, describing him as "The Pride and Sorrow of Chess". That same year of his death, Spens was one of the original founding members of the Scottish Chess Association. Following Spens's death in 1900, a public subscription among the membership was organised for a fitting memorial to his name, So, in 1902, the Spens Cup was initiated as a subsidiary event allowing teams to qualify for the Richardson Cup.
This years Spens Cup final was contested between Edinburgh Civil Service and Glenrothes, with the former being convincing 4.5 - 1.5 winners to lift the title for the first time since 1926. The tone for the match was set by Civil Service's Alan Prince, who with a forceful victory on top board led the way.
John Henderson - The Scotsman.
Final - played at Grangemouth Sports Centre.
| Civil Service | 4½ | vs | 1½ | Glenrothes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alan Prince | 1 | - | 0 | Ben Jenkins |
| David Stewart | 0 | - | 1 | George Pyrich |
| Douglas Heatlie | 1 | - | 0 | Thomas Thomson |
| Simon Bate | ½ | - | ½ | Stuart Blyth |
| Gerry Brown | 1 | - | 0 | Peter Selbie |
| Rudolph Austin | 1 | - | 0 | Neil Taylor |
Jenkins,Ben - Prince,Alan [B03]
Spens Cup, 2004
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bg5 Bg7 4.Nc3 c5 5.d5 b5 6.d6 Qa5 7.Qd2 Bb7 8.e3 a6 9.Be2 b4
10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.Nd1 e6 12.0-0 Nc6 13.Bc4 Qb6 14.e4 Ne5 15.Qf4 Nxf3+ 16.gxf3 Qd8 17.e5 Bg5
18.Qg4 h5 19.Qg3 h4 20.Qg4 h3 21.f4 Rh4 22.Qe2 Bxf4 23.f3 Qg5+
24.Kh1
24...Rg4 [24...Rg4 25.Nf2 Rg2 26.Nxh3 Rxe2 27.Nxg5 Rxh2+ 28.Kg1 Rxc2 29.Bb3 Rxb2 30.Rf2] 0-1
Semi-final - played at Blair Atholl.
| Civil Service | 5 | vs | 1 | Nairn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Stewart | ½ | - | ½ | Richard Birkett |
| Crawford Macnab | 1 | - | 0 | Klem Majewski |
| Douglas Heatlie | ½ | - | ½ | Liam Gaffney |
| Simon Bate | 1 | - | 0 | Robert E Rough |
| Rudolph Austin | 1 | - | 0 | Iain Farmer |
| George Anderson | 1 | - | 0 | Eoghan Farmer |
Blair Atholl was decided as a suitable central venue where Messrs Anderson, Austin, Bates and Macnab enjoyed a pre-match lunch in the hotel bar. Meanwhile the closure of the Forth Road Bridge and Douglas's usual late start, lead to a hair raising journey up the A9 to reach the venue in time.
Our strength on the lower boards and battling qualities on the top boards again proved to be the decisive factor.
Round 1 - played at East Kilbride Town Hall.
| Civil Service | 4 | vs | 2 | East Kilbride |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alan Prince | ½ | - | ½ | Alex Nisbet |
| Crawford Macnab | ½ | - | ½ | Tom Brisbane |
| Simon Bate | ½ | - | ½ | John Dykes |
| Gerry Brown | 1 | - | 0 | Ian McKenzie |
| Rudolph Austin | 1 | - | 0 | Andrew Howie |
| George Anderson | ½ | - | ½ | Alex Ian Nisbet |
We managed to fight our way through the Christmas shopping traffic for our match against East Kilbride. We were slightly higher graded on all boards and this made most difference on the lower boards where we secured the victory.
Grading Data