England’s Nigel Short has attacked Scotland’s Jonathan Rowson over his wanting to field a national team for Scotland, instead of having the UK represented by a single team that includes all its constituent territories.

Short’s remarks caused an uproar in Scotland and with Rowland for ignoring the sensitivities of Scotland’s struggle with its national identity. Rowland maintains that he gained his strength in Chess under the Scottish national team, and he never would have done so under a united UK team.

The best part of the source article is the opening paragraph:

We have long grown used to seeing questions of national identity played out on the football pitch. But for a game normally regarded as the cerebral opposite of the nation’s favourite pastime, chess would rarely seem to provoke such passions.

The reporter appears not to know much about the history of Chess.

(source)