A KNOX Academy pupil has been at the heart of ending Scotland’s more than 50-year wait to bring home the Glorney Cup.

Ross Blackford was part of the five-strong chess team taking part in the competition, which involves elite junior players from England, Wales and Ireland.

The tournament was held at the University of Stirling last month, with Ross part of Scotland’s under-18 team.

Held over three days, the competition is split into four tournaments – Glorney Cup (five-player teams for under-18s), the Gilbert/Faber Cup (three-player teams for under-18s), the Robinson Cup (six-player teams for under-14s) and the Stokes Cup (six-player teams for under-12s).

One of the longest running international junior events, the Glorney Cup began in the late-1940s, in an upswell of widespread enthusiasm to get back to 'normality' after the Second World War.

It now includes separate 'open' under-18, under14 and under-10 team championships and a dedicated girls' team championship.

Favourites England came ahead of their three rivals in the latest tournament in all but the prestigious under-18 championships, in which a strong Scotland played superbly.

Seventeen-year-old Ross, of Gladsmuir, is a long-standing member of Dunbar Chess Club, whose president, Craig Pritchett, is an international chess master and writer.

Coincidentally, he played in the last Scottish youth team to win the Glorney Cup way back in 1965.