Chess

GM JONATHAN Rowson will take on 24 players in a simultaneous display at at 11am on Saturday at Perth Concert Hall – spectators are welcome and entry is free. Prizewinners at the Perth and Kinross Chess Festival, held in January, qualified to challenge the Scotland number one. The Festival, which took place at Scone airport, on the outskirts of the town, was part of a year-long programme of events to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the Royal Burgh Charter, granted to Perth in 1210.

GM John Shaw of Kilmarnock shared top prize with Irish/Russian GM Alex Baburin. Shaw defeated his business colleague, Danish GM Jacob Aagaard, in the key final-round game.

Perth Open round five – White: J Shaw (2460), Black: J Aagaard (2560) 1 e4 c5 2 c3 Nf6 3 e5 Nd5 4 Nf3 e6 5 d4 cxd4 6 cxd4 d6 7 Bc4 Nc6 8 0-0 Be7 9 Qe2 0-0 10 Rd1 Bd7 11 Qe4 Rc8 12 Bd2 b5 13 Bxd5 exd5 14 Qxd5 Bg4 15 Nc3 b4 16 Nb5 dxe5 17 Qxd8 Rfxd8 18 dxe5 Bxf3 19 gxf3 Nxe5 20 Be3 Nxf3+ 21 Kg2 Nh4+ 22 Kh3 Rxd1 23 Rxd1 a6 24 Rd7 Nf5 25 Nd4 Nxe3 26 Rxe7 Nd1 (See diagram.) Forks two pawns and forces the rook's retreat – hard to believe this will be a White win in less than ten moves. 27 Re2 g6 28 Nb3 Rd8 28...a5 is more to the point with the idea 29 Nxa5 Ra8. 29 Kg2 Rd5 30 Kf3 f6 31 Rc2 a5 32 Ke2 a4 33 Nd2 a3 34 Kxd1 b3 35 axb3 1-0.

South African president Jacob Zuma suffered an embarrassing double check during his recent state visit to Britain. He presented a gift to the Queen of a chess set featuring Zulu and Xhosa warriors, unaware that former president Nelson Mandela gave the British monarch a similar set in 1996.

In December, Zuma took part in a chess tournament in his home state of KwaZulu-Natal. "Chess is very important as it makes you a better and knowledgeable human being," he says. "I like games like chess and bridge because they stretch your brain to the limit. They make you think strategically."

The European Individual Chess Championship is underway in Croatia, where former Scottish champion Alan Tate and GM Keti Grant (both of Edinburgh) are representing Scotland. The official site www.eurorijeka2010.com shows all the action – the contest continues until Friday.

• This article was first published in Scotland on Sunday, March 14, 2010