Edinburgh Chess Club held a one day open chess event at their premises in the city on Saturday 6th December 2025.
The event drew players from across Scotland including a number who are originally from Europe.
The format was a 15 round blitz event (i.e. games that usually last around 10 mins), with a format set to ensure that the eventual top players have all played each other.
The early leader was Scottish Champion Andrew Greet (Bellshill), who had a perfect record over the first 6 rounds. However, consecutive losses to Keith Ruxton (Edinburgh) and Ian McDonald (Bon Accord), brought those two into contention, along with Yevgeni Sprenger de la Iglesias (Phones, Glasgow).
Several players were seen with head in hands, or staring blankly at the ceiling as the short time control caused mistakes, blunders amidst some excellent play.
Yong prospects Devesh Sharma and Haruo Uegaki (both Edinburgh West), and Jainill Vadalia (Phones & Glasgow Polytechnic) fared well with some notable victories, while at the other end of the spectrum, Scottish Seniors International Alastair White (Edinburgh), showed he is still a force to be reckoned with.
Ian McDonald had a fantastic run against the top ranked players, but with a possible win in sight, slipped up against Edinburgh club president Craig Thomson.
All of the top players swapped the lead in the later rounds under the pressure of having to win every game to retain the lead, but it was eventually Edinburgh club champion Keith Ruxton, who emerged victorious by half a point.
Final result as follows:
- Keith Ruxton 12.5 / 15
- Ian McDonald 12 / 15
- =Yevgeni Sprenger de la Iglesias & Andrew Greet 11.5 / 15
Thanks to Iain Cowe for writing this report