Chess - The Scotsman 05/04/2012

THE Scot to watch these days is FM Alan Tate from Edinburgh, who over the past couple of years has set the heather ablaze with some memorable performances on the international stage.

His most impressive outing was a giantkilling performance in late 2010 in Croatia, where he scored a grandmaster “norm”.

Tate now has three international master norms to his name, which is remarkable because, at 32, he’s something of a late developer in a game where the norm chasers these days are invariably pre-pubescent teenagers. At the recent European Individual Championship in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Tate notched his fourth IM norm with a superb performance of 5.5/11, scored against tough opposition that included seven GMs and one IM. Despite having one more norm now than is needed, FIDE requirements dictate that he needs only to raise his rating from 2350 to 2400 to claim the title. And in Plovdiv, with a gain of around 17 Elo points, he’s back on track after the loss of roughly the same points at Cappelle La Grande in February.

As one major European event finishes, another gets underway with the 11th European Senior Team Championship in Rogaska Slatina, Slovenia. Scotland have two teams competing this year:Scotland A: FM Philip Giulian, FM Peter Jamieson, Gerald Bonner, Alastair White and Alan Borwell; Scotland B: Douglas McKerracher, Ian Marks, Stephen Smith, George Murphy and Hugh Flockhart.

D McKerracher - J Jorgensen

European Senior Team Ch., (2)

Alekhine’s Defence

1 e4 Nf6 2 e5 Nd5 3 Nc3 c6 4 Nf3 d6 5 Bc4 e6 6 0–0 Nd7 7 exd6 Bxd6 8 Ne4 Be7 9 d4 b5 10 Bd3 h6 11 Re1 Qc7 12 c3 Bb7 13 a4 a6 14 axb5 cxb5 15 Ng3 N5f6 16 Qe2 Nb6 17 Ne5 Bd5 18 Nh5 Nxh5 19 Qxh5 Bf6 20 Rxa6! b4 21 Rxa8+ Bxa8 22 Bb5+ Kf8 23 c4 g6 24 Qe2 Kg7 25 Bf4 Qa7 26 Ng4 Qb7 27 d5 Nxd5 28 cxd5 Qxd5 29 Ne3 Qd4 30 Bg3 Qxb2 31 Qxb2 Bxb2 32 Rb1 Bc3 33 f3 Rc8 34 Kf1 Rc5 35 Ba4 Bb7 36 Bd6 Ba6+ 37 Kf2 Rc8 38 Bxb4 Rb8 1–0