25 September 2014 - Central League Divison 1

Cumbernauld v Stirling A
Steven Kelly   Mark Monaghan   Ralph Stirrat   George Thomson   J Pearson	1906   1782   1737   1593   1568	½ - ½   ½ - ½   ½ - ½   ½ - ½   0 - 1	1907   1787   1782   1727   1416	Shivan Murdochy   Jim Shemilt   Steve Smith   Graham Anderson   Gordon Allcock
		2 - 3

Gordon finished first, in just less than an hour, when a passed pawn in the endgame proved unstoppable. I didn't see much of the other games, but I finished last, agreeing a draw to win the match. I thought I was winning, but the computer disagrees, and rudely pointed out that if my 30th move in the position below had been Qf7+ instead of Qg4+, I would have won.

Anderson - Thomson

22 September 2014 - Central League Division 2

Stirling C v Stirling B
Gordon Allcock Robert Leckie Craig Manson David Brodie Mick Bloor	1416 1362 1262 1236 1199	0 - 1 ½ - ½ 0 - 1 1 - 0 0 - 1	1573 1566 1536 1442 1245	John Blake Bill Cook Tony Pitson Dave Hewitt Robert Togneri
		1½ - 3½

The game below is from board 1, where Gordon Allcock had White against John Blake.

Allcock - Blake

15 September 2014 - Thornton Cup

As well as the allegro match between the two Stirling teams, there was the battle of the Roberts - Mr Leckie v Mr Togneri - in the Thornton Cup. The game played as below, with analysis from Mr Leckie.

Leckie - Togneri

15 September 2014 - Central Allegro League

Stirling Bruce 8½ - 7½ Stirling Wallace
Round 1
Paul Prescott	½ - ½	Steve Smith
John Blake	0 - 1	Tony Pitson
Bill Cook	½ - ½	Robin Hayles
Graham Anderson	1 - 0	Martyn Roe
Round 2
Paul Prescott	1 - 0	Martyn Roe
John Blake	0 - 1	Steve Smith
Bill Cook	1 - 0	Tony Pitson
Graham Anderson	1 - 0	Robin Hayles
Round 3
Paul Prescott	1 - 0	Robin Hayles
John Blake	0 - 1	Martyn Roe
Bill Cook	0 - 1	Steve Smith
Graham Anderson	½ - ½	Tony Pitson
Round 4
Paul Prescott	1 - 0	Tony Pitson
John Blake	½ - ½	Robin Hayles
Bill Cook	½ - ½	Martyn Roe
Graham Anderson	0 - 1	Steve Smith

Starting their defence of the Central Allegro League title, Bruce managed to grind out a victory over Wallace in a match that went down to the very last game. My lucky underpants were over-worked in rounds 1 and 2 - I recovered from a piece for a pawn down to a roughly equal endgame. I then survived Martyn missing a fork to win my rook. In my second game, Robin allowed me to queen a pawn, as he forgot that it could promote.

The last round saw Bill and John agreeing draws, before I miscalculated against Steve to lose a rook while already behind. This left the match tied at 7½ - 7½, before Paul triumphed against Tony.

Thornton Cup - 8 September 2014

The first competitive game of the season was played at the club last Monday, a prelimnary round match of the Thornton Cup. Dave Hewitt had White against 10 year old James Warwick. The game is notable as James' first ever competitive game (when James is a GM in 15 years time, Dave will happily claim "Ach, beaten him."), and a discovered checkmate from a pawn promotion.

Hewitt - Warwick