Hero of the Month
|
Chris Morrison
|
Scotland's
Chris Morrison was born in Aberdeen on Thursday 4 December 1958,
and his very eventful life to-date has certainly exemplified the saying
that "Thursday's child has far to go". I didn't meet Chris until
the 1970s, when in a national competition he beat me as Black in a mere
17 moves! At that time, he was one of Scotland's top chess teenagers,
and he later pushed his rating to 2250. Perhaps 1980 was his most glowing
year in terms of achievements relating to the Royal Game, since it was
then that he won the Scottish Correspondence Championship. His 2350+ correspondence
rating confirmed that Chris was really someone to be reckoned with in
that field. Actually, the same is true in his main profession, as he's
a highly experienced international lawyer after being in that business
for the past 20 years!Since 1995, Chris has worked and lived in Vietnam with his wife, Shona, and three sons: Craig (15), Duncan (13) and James (6). But guess who turned up at the recent Eksakt Weekend tournament in Tilburg, Holland...? Yes, you've got it: Chris "Globetrotter" Morrison! He was also with me eight years ago at the Manila Olympiad, there captaining the Scottish team, and also being the special person who, on 17 June 1992, brought me the happy news that I had been awarded the GM title.
Chris often loves to recount thrilling episodes from games using phrases like "shock horror" when referring to losing parties. I'm relieved to say that his middle initial is in fact "J" rather than "G" for "Globetrotter", because in the latter case the 20 bold letters in CHRISTOPHER G MORRISON can be rearranged exactly to make GRIM CHESS HORROR POINT!! Thankfully, Chris has a great sense of humour, so I don't have to worry about any lawsuits (do I?!).
To conclude this passage, if I ask you to give a verdict on our hero's play in game G6.7 , I know you'll be in favour after you've witnessed the action...