The Scottish Chess Championship is organised by Chess Scotland, formerly the Scottish Chess Association. It has been running since 1884, and nowadays takes the form of a nine round tournament played over two weekends and the week in between. Auxiliary tournaments, such as grading-limited sections and a senior championship take place over the first seven days and there is a Weekend Congress on the second weekend.
Originally, the championship was by invitation only and could only be won by players who would be eligible to compete internationally for Scotland, but sometimes a titled player of another nationality was invited to compete in order to make title norms more likely.
In 2008 the Championship was replaced by an international open. The Scottish Champion being determined by the highest finishing Scottish player. The 2009 tournament being held in Edinburgh attracted nine Grandmasters. The 2010 event took place in Hamilton with the 2011 event back in Edinburgh. The 2014 Championships was incorporated into the Commonwealth Chess Championships which was held in Glasgow. In 2015 the Event was held in Edinburgh and the 2016 event will be back In Glasgow
The current Tournament Arbiters are IA Alex McFarlane and FA Andy Howie.
Recent notable winners include Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant in 2003 – the first woman player to win the Scottish Championship, and Jonathan Rowson, who became the first Scottish player to clinch the Grandmaster title on home soil in 1999, and did the Scottish / British double in 2004. In 2013 Roddy McKay won the title some 39 years after first winning his first title in 1974
1884 - John Crum1885 - Daniel Yarnton Mills1886 - Georges Emile Barbier1887 - Daniel Yarnton Mills1888 - George Henry Mackenzie1889 - James Marshall1890 - William Neish Walker1891 - John D. Chambers1892 - Daniel Yarnton Mills1893 - William Neish Walker1894 - Sheriff Walter Cook Spens1895 - Daniel Yarnton Mills1896 - Daniel Yarnton Mills1897 - Daniel Yarnton Mills1898 - George Brunton Fraser1899 - Daniel Yarnton Mills1900 - Daniel Yarnton Mills1901 - Dr. Ronald Cadell Macdonald1902 - E Macdonald1903 - James Borthwick1904 - Dr. Ronald Cadell Macdonald1905 - Dr. Ronald Cadell Macdonald1906 - Dr. Ronald Cadell Macdonald1907 - William Gibson1908 - AJ Mackenzie1909 - AJ Mackenzie1910 - George W Richmond1911 - JA McKee1912 - William Gibson1913 - AJ Mackenzie1914 - William Gibson1915 - C Wardhaugh1916 to 1919 - No Championship Held1920 - P Wenman1921 - William Gibson1922 - William Gibson1923 - William Gibson1924 - C Heath1925 - G Page1926 - JA McKee1927 - Dr. Ronald Cadell Macdonald1928 - Dr. Ronald Cadell Macdonald1929 - William Gibson1930 - William Gibson1931 - William Gibson1932 - William Fairhurst1933 - William Fairhurst1934 - William Fairhurst1935 - James Macrae Aitken1936 - William Fairhurst1937 - William Fairhurst1938 - William Fairhurst1939 - Max Pavey1940 to 1945 - No Championship Held1946 - William Fairhurst1947 - William Fairhurst1948 - William Fairhurst1949 - William Fairhurst1950 - PB Anderson1951 - A. Aird Thomson1952 - James Macrae Aitken1953 - James Macrae Aitken1954 - PB Anderson1955 - James Macrae Aitken1956 - James Macrae Aitken1957 - James Macrae Aitken1958 - James Macrae Aitken1959 - Peter Coast1960 - James Macrae Aitken1961 - James Macrae Aitken1962 - William Fairhurst1963 - M Fallone1964 - AM Davie1965 - James Macrae Aitken, PM Jamieson1966 - AM Davie1967 - G Bonner1968 - David Levy1969 - AM Davie1970 - G Bonner1971 - E Holt, RM McKay1972 - G Bonner1973 - PM Jamieson1974 - RM McKay1975 - DNL Levy, S Swanson1976 - RM McKay1977 - CW Pritchett1978 - PA Motwani1979 - RM McKay1980 - Danny Kopec1981 - G Morrison1982 - RM McKay1983 - CA McNab1984 - CSM Thomson1985 - ML Condie, RM McKay1986 - Paul Motwani1987 - Paul Motwani1988 - RM McKay1989 - ML Condie1990 - SR Mannion1991 - Colin McNab1992 - Paul Motwani1993 - Colin McNab, Paul Motwani1994 - Jonathan Parker1995 - SR Mannion, Colin McNab, John K Shaw1996 - DM Bryson1997 - DM Bryson1998 - John K Shaw1999 - Jonathan Rowson2000 - AJ Norris, John K Shaw2001 - Jonathan Rowson2002 - Paul Motwani2003 - Paul Motwani, Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant2004 - Jonathan Rowson2005 - Craig Pritchett2006 - Jonathan Grant2007 - Andrew Muir2008 - Alan Tate2009 - Iain Gourlay (Scottish Champion 6.5), GM S. Arun Prasad (Open Winner 7.5)2010 - Andrew Greet2011 - Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant2012 - Jacob Aagaard2013 - RM McKay2014 - Alan Tate2015 - Neil Berry (Scottish Champion 7), GM Korneev, Oleg (Open Winner 7.5) 2016 - Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant (Scottish Champion 6), Matthew J Turner (Open Winner 7.5)