Chess

GRANDMASTER Keti Grant won the 118th Scottish Championship in Edinburgh last Sunday, the first female outright winner of the Scottish title, as she shared the championship with GM Paul Motwani in 2003.

Keti, originally from Georgia but living in Edinburgh since 1996 and Britain's top woman player,did not have it her own way after being defeated by rising star Clement Sreeves, 19, in round 3. She was almost certainly lost against Andrew Green and the final round game, below, was another fluctuating struggle.

Sreeves impressed throughout and could have taken the title but was held to a draw by former champion Jonathan Grant, Keti's husband, in the final round. Sreeves will regret his costly decision to take a quick draw against Green in round 6.

Veteran IM Craig Pritchett was also in contention until defeated by surprise comeback player Tony Dempsey of Edinburgh who has not played internationally rated games since 1996.

Scottish Championship rd 9, White: Keti Grant, Black: Tony Dempsey, See diagram - a position that will haunt Tony's dreams. He can force a draw and win the title with 45...Qc7+ 46 Ne5 and now 46...Rh1+!!, however the variations are hard to visualise in such a high pressure situation.

What he chose was much worse 45...Qd7?? 46 Ne5 Qf5 47 Qa8+! Rc8 48 Qxd5+ Kf8 Or 48...Kh8 49 Nf7+ Kg8 50 Nh6+ (double check) Kf8 51 Qf7. 49 Qf7 mate.

Despite the restricted strength in depth this was an exciting championship enhanced greatly by the live online games controlled by Andy Howie. The games are available for free download from ChessScotland.com

This article was first published in Scotland On Sunday, 24 July, 2011