Sunday, July 27, 2014

"I was very impressed by Horton, especially in view of his age"

So says the tournament report. Well, I am 49.

Heh, actually it's not the current tournament we're talking about here but the 1960 Scottish Championship and the Horton concerned was my father.


The report also says:
Horton seemed to improve markedly as the tournament went on.
Well I'd have to, wouldn't I?

[Chess Scotland championship archive]

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I meant to comment on this before – how did your father happen to be in Aberdeen?

Most of these players are before my time, but I remember Raymond Baxter (damned as having an unattractive style) and I think that may be Sandor Vezy bringing up the field. Sandy Davie (boys champ) is still around - I spotted him at a bus stop the other day. Colonel Irvine-Fortescue I only recognise as a name on the same honours board that featured in the tale of Eric Holt. A quick search suggests the Irvine-Fortescues were quite an interesting family, with the likes of Mir Sultan Khan, Viscount Montgomery, Piz Gloria (and Hampshire 2nds) all being featured.

ejh said...

Sorry for the delay in replying, I've been away on campsites.

I think my father may have been at school in Scotland. His father, my grandfather, was in the navy and as is often the case with service families there was a lot of long-distance moving around. So although my father wasn't Scottish by nationality, he may have spent a long period of his youth in that country.

(My grandfather, unfortunately, died last year. I was the beneficiary of a small bequest which among other things enabled me to come to Aberystwyth.)