... to the 117th Scottish Championships. We hope that you will enjoy the event. Chess Scotland would also like to express its appreciation to both Hamilton Campus of the University of the West Of Scotland (UWS) and to South Lanarkshire Council for their support in the staging of this event. Without such support an event of this nature would be impossible to stage. Hamilton provides a central venue for the tournament as well as a town with significant historical interest it provides many activities for you to participate in when not actually playing. The seven day format is an innovation and feedback on this is sought before confirming arrangements for 2011. Obviously the cost of staging the event is a major factor in its organisation and would be significantly more but for the number of volunteers giving freely of their time for the benefit of chess in Scotland.