The African Glasglow

[George Hay]

Ingo Zachos has named this variation, as it is used by Lubabalo Kondlo.
The opening starts the same (with possible transpositions) as the famous (or infamous) 1863 Wylie vs Martins WCM game that was repeated for 21 out of 40 games of the match! The game starts out:
1. 11-15 23-19, 2. 8-11 22-17, 3. 11-16 24-20, 4. 16x23 27x18x11,
5. 7x16 20x11, 6. 3-7. In 1863 they played 6. ... 28-24, but in the African Glasgow 6. ... 11-8 is played. While the Wylie vs Martins game is a masterpiece, I have wondered why not crash into the kings row with 11-8? It looks to me like a good move that opens up the single corner.

[George Hay]

BTW, this is a link to the Wyllie vs Martins game, shown move by move!
http://www.quadibloc.com/other/bo1211.htm

[rich beckwith]

George,

Interesting move-by move presentation in that link. I played the 11-8 line 5 times against R. King last year -- all draws. Lubabalo tried it against King in their 2008 match (using a riskier, more agressive line), and Ron missed a win. Lubabalo had more success in 2007 US events with it.

[Ingo_Zachos]

Actually the oldest game on 6 ... 11-8 I can find is a game Lewis - Dover (8) from 1885, which red won, but white had a good game for a very long time.

I guess the Glasgow opening is older then that time, at least older then the time when it was named "Glasgow", and the 6. ...11-8 line may have been played at that times as well. Maybe Cohen won with it against Sturges in their legendary match, but we will never know, as these games, sadly, have not been preserved.

Recently Lubabalo Kondlo used it to win the US Nationals 2007, but also GM Richard Beckwith, wo played it against GM Jack Francis at the 2005 US Nationals and at the WCM 2010 against you-know-who and the QT 2009 against GM Paolo Faleo.

Another player that used it was IM Roberto Tovagliaro at the QT 2009, scoring a win against Ian Caws and a draw agaist GM Shane McCosker.

No lesser player then Marion Tinsley, who contributed the opening section in Tom Wiswell`s "Checkers Made Easy", on page 35, note G) wrote:

"At G , 11-8 is good, all the early and most modern textbooks notwithstanding. For the original and daring palyer this pitch (11-8) is tailor-made"

Greetinx from a sunny, but cold Dortmund morning,

Ingo Zachos

[liam stephens]

There are two variations on the 11-8 line of the Glasgow shown in Anderson's 2nd Edition 1852, credited to W. Lewis.

Addendum:
Anderson in his 2nd Edition comments as follows:
" The 'Glasgow' is formed by the first five moves. It has been generally known by this name since Mr. James Sinclair of that city played it against the author at their match in Hamilton in 1828. But this opening was a favourite with Robertson, Miller, Tait, Blair, and other players of Glasgow, for years before that date."

So to call the 11-8 variation the African Glasgow is something of a misnomer. Perhaps we should call it "The Luas".
The boyos from Tallaght would know it backwards.

[George Hay]

Jim Loy's Lees' Guide lists the newly named African Glasgow in the Glasgow Chapter [Event "Lees' Guide p.75e"].
It ends with 11-8, with a result of 1/2-1/2, indicating an even position for this opening. The Wyllie vs Martins repeat
game of 1863 is also listed in the Glasgow Chapter [Event "Lees' Guide p.77, v.4"].
http://www.jimloy.com/lees/lees.htm

[George Hay]

Well, perhaps I move too hasty! The first edition of Lee's Guide (London, 1892) on page 36,
No. 11 Glasgow, note d, gives this caution about white's sixth move,"the novice should never throw
the piece (11-8), as it leads to a very weak game for white." Jim Loy's Lee's Guide is from an expanded
and latter day edition. Lee's Guide, 1892 somewhat contradicts, by example, Anderson's Second Edition, 1851.
In Anderson's Second (pages 26-27, white's sixth move of 11-8 leads to a draw in Glasgow variation 2,
and a win for white in variation 9. In the main Glasgow game (page 26) Anderson's sixth move for white is 25-22,
in contrast to 28-24 in the Wyllie vs Martins game. Getting back to Lee's Guide 1892, it shows
the Wyllie vs. Martins game on page 38 as Var. 4. The concluding note states "In their 1863 match this was
repeated twenty-one times." --George Hay

[liam stephens]

The cautionary note not to throw 11-8 is repeated in the later editions of Lees' Guide.

Lowder tried it against Tinsley at Lakeside in 1974 and lost.
See CTTW page 125.

[George Hay]

While I don't have a copy of Checkers The Tinsley Way, I did find the first twelve moves (for each side) of the
Tinsley vs Lowder game in The Legendary Tinsley by Richard Pask on page 147, Variation 3 (Off Trunk).
http://www.bobnewell.net/checkers/paskpdf.html
Play continues 6. ... 11-8, 7. 4x11 17-13, 8. 9-14 25-22, 9. 11-16 32-27,
10. 7-11 29-25, 11. 11-15 22-17, 12. 16-20 26-23,...Black (Tinsley) eventually wins.

[George Hay]

http://icheckers.net/
Eureka! The Tinsley vs Lowder Lakeside 1974 game is in the database of Eric Strange's website.
It is right there in the Tinsley Game Pages, on page three, about two-thirds down the page.
It will appear as : Tinsley M vs Elbert L 1-0 11-15 23-19 8-11. 1974 will show up as the year
above the checkerboard. The Tinsley vs Lowder game also appears in Basic Checkers
by Richard Fortman. It is on page 338 with commentary in note G. --George Hay

[George Hay]

The African Glasgow opening was played in the 2004 USA vs Barbados GAYP International Match. The game was
played to a draw, R. Beckwith vs R. Grazette. (USA vs. BARBADOS 2004, page 48)
I found one of the two African Glasgow games played at the 2011 San Remo WQT. It is Jack Francis vs Richard Beckwith, and this is played to a draw. I was unable to find the second game, also a draw. The San Remo games are in the
games section of the Danish Draughts Association website. http://www.draughts.dk/

Jim Loy surprised me in his book More Memorable Checkers Matches. The 1863 R. Martins-J. Wyllie WCM was all draws with Martins retaining the title. OK, no surprise there. What is surprising is the match was 50 games, not 40. The famous repeat game was played 28 times, not 21. Also, there was another repeat game, but that game was only played 7 times.
--George Hay

[George Hay]

This is from the ACF forum Tournament Discussion>GAYP WCM DAY 4, Thu Sep 11, 2008:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1745
Game 13 of the GAYP 2008 WCM Ron King vs Lubabalo Kondlo (Draw)
is in the Games Transcripts>ACF Online Games Archive:
http://www.usacheckers.com/show_game.php?id=10036

[George Hay]

Robert Martins played 7. ... 11-8 against Charles Barker in 1888 to a draw.
This is in More Memorable Checkers Matches, game 296.
Even with black and white's third moves this opening is considered
a Glasgow (Checkers Lessons by Jim Loy, page 60).
1. 11-15 23-19, 2. 8-11 22-17, 3. 9-14 25-22, 4. 11-16 24-20,
5. 16x23 27x18x11, 6. 7x16 20x11, 7. 3-7 11-8, 8. 4x11 17-13,
...to a draw after black's 38th move.

[George Hay]

Tom Wiswell in 1952 writes in Checker Kings In Action on page 84:

There are many misleading theories about certain checker games which
authors repeat without checking. The notion that the 11-8 pitch in the
"Glasgow" is very week (11-15, 23-19, 8-11, 22-17, 11-16, 24-20,
16-23, 27-11, 7-16, 20-11, 3-7, 11-8) for example is one that has
been exploded only recently.

http://www.archive.org/details/checkerk ... c007338mbp

[George Hay]

The Wyllie vs Martins game that was played 28 times in their 1863 WCM has an opening that is different than
what is generally presented, including the link in my second post on this topic! The opening that is generally presented
is from the trunk Glasgow game in Lees' Guide. This diverges from actual play on black's third move, and converges with
actual play on black's 10th move. So the position is the same after black's tenth move and the moves in Lees' Guide and
the actual game are the same after that. In Lees' Guide first edition 1892 the Wyllie vs Martins game is Var. 4.
In More Memorable Checkers Matches Jim Loy presents the actual order of moves from Martins' notebook in the
Cleveland Public Library:
1. 11-15 23-19, 2. 8-11 22-17, 3. 9-14 25-22, 4. 11-16 24-20, 5. 16x23 27x18x11, 6. 7x16 20x11,
7. 3-7 28-24, 8. 7x16 24-20, 9. 6-19 29-25, 10. 4-8
The position now is the same whether from Lees' Guide or the actual moves.