Obituary
James (Jimmy) Grant
Draughts Champion
25/02/1943 - 08/12/2015
Jimmy was born in Edinburgh in 1943 but moved to Aberdeen as a child where he spent his entire life.
Jimmy worked as a grounds man for the Aberdeen council.
Jimmy was a close family man although he never married nor had children of his own he remained close to his brothers John and Norman and his niece Wendy.
Jimmy had two great loves in life. Music was very important to him and he would spend many hours listening to the radio or playing back his many recordings, but his greatest love was the popular board game Draughts which he became interested in whilst watching the outdoor boards in Union Terrace Gardens, Aberdeen.
Jimmy was just 14 years old when he first began to play taking on anyone who would give him a game. He quickly showed a talent and soon became a regular competitor beating many of the city’s top players.
Jimmy joined the Aberdeen Draughts Club which still runs today and entered his first national championship event the British Open held in Edinburgh in 1960.
The top players there told him if he was to succeed in the game then he would need to study the book lines of the game.
Jimmy got some draughts books and spent many hours studying the finer points of the game.
Jimmy’s dedication nearly came to fruition when he took part in his first Scottish Championship in Kirkwall in 1965 where he placed second.
Jimmy was crowned Scottish champion twice in 1983 and 1995, and he also won the English title once.
Jimmy represented Scotland many times in international competition and was very proud to have represented Great Britain & Ireland three times against the USA in 1973, 1989 and 1995.
Jimmy won the Aberdeen Championship title a record 48 times in 52 years from 1964 losing only in 1986, 1987, 2001 and 2002 an achievement unlikely to be seen again.
Donald Oliphant
Secretary, Scottish Draughts Association
