21 May 2015 - Lindsay Cup

Thanks to John Blake for providing this Lindsay Cup semi-final game, where he had Black against Dave Hewitt. This victory puts John in the Final, where he plays the winner of Robert Leckie - Gordon Allcock tie.

Hewitt - Blake

20 May 2015 - Central League AGM

Thanks to Graham Kerr of Badgers Brook for the following photos from the Central League AGM.

David Brodie (right) receives the Under 1500 from Central League President Ian Mason.

Dave Hewitt (right) receives the Division 2 shield from Ian Mason.

18 May 2015 - Robert Togneri Trophy

Dave Hewitt writes: There were 13 players and first place was shared by Bill and Jim - two more first-time winners, good to see, after Robin was a similar first-time winner of the autumn edition. The final round began with any of the highest four graders able to top the table, and in the event Jim beat Neil while Bill and Graham drew.

There were some impressive results further down the order. Mick had what is probably his best-ever result in these tournaments with 3/5, while David L continued to show a lot of promise, only playing four rounds but starting with a draw against me (when I was lucky to survive a two-pawns-down ending) followed by wins against Gordon and Craig. Perhaps the standout result of the night however was young James's r2 win against David B. All these things augur well for the future of the club.

Time control: 15 minutes each for all moves

	Name	Grade	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Place
1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12   13	Jim Shemilt   Bill Cook   Graham Anderson   Neil Irving   Robin Hayles   Dave Hewitt   Alex Scott   Gordon Allcock   David Brodie   Mick Bloor   Craig Manson   James Warwick   David Little	1705   1666   1610   1603   1522   1502   1453   1376   1332   1189   1134   u/g   u/g	½ W 8   1 B 9   1 W 10   1 B 11   1 W 12   ½ B 13   1 Bye   ½ B 1   0 W 2   0 B 3   0 W 4   0 B 5   ½ W 6	1½ B 10   2 W 7   1 B 4   2 W 3   1 B 6   1½ W 5   1 B 2   ½ W 13   0 B 12   0 W 1   1 Bye   1 W 9   1½ B 8	2 W 6   2½ B 4   2 W 12   2½ W 2   1 B 7   2 B 1   2 W 5   ½ B 9   1 W 8   1 Bye   1 B 13   1 B 3   2½ W 11	3 B 7   3½ W 13   3 B 5   3½ B 6   1 W 3   2 W 4   2 W 1   1½ Bye   2 B 11   2 B 12   1 W 9   1 W 10   2½ B 2	4 W 4   4 B 3   3½ W 2   3½ B 1   2 Bye   2 B 10   2½ B 9   2½ W 11   2½ W 7   3 W 6   1 B 8   -   -	=1   =1   =3   =3   =10   =10   =6   =6   =6   5   =12   =12   =6

11 May 2015 - Dave Hewitt wins the Thornton Cup!

Congratulations to Dave Hewitt, winner of this seasons Thornton Cup! The final game, where Dave had White against Gordon Allcock, is below, with analysis provided by Dave.

Hewitt - Allcock

11 May 2015 - Central League Division 1

Stirling A v Cumbernauld
Jim Shemilt   Steve Smith   Robin Hayles   Bill Cook   David Brodie	1787   1782   1584   1556   1236	½ - ½   ½ - ½   ½ - ½   ½ - ½   1 - 0	1797   1593   1233   1124   1117	Ralph Stirrat   George Thomson   Derek McAteer   Steven Monaghan   David Flaherty
		3 - 2

George Anderson Clarke - 1924-2015

Sad news: George Clarke, long-time member of Stirling chess club, died last Saturday on Mull, where he had been living with his daughter Rhona and family for the past few years. He was 90. George was a keen player rather than a strong one, and put in a great amount of effort at the club, being secretary and competitions organiser until the middle of the last decade. He was particularly keen on seeing juniors take up the game. He was very energetic on the publicity side of things, using his various contacts to organise chess displays at shops such as Tesco and also submitting weekly reports and puzzles to the Stirling Observer. He liked to see the season end with the club's strongest player giving a simultaneous display against the rest of the club, a tradition that has lapsed in recent years.

George was certainly a significant, distinctive and widely known member of Stirling chess club (he joined in 1985 and retained his membership even after the move to Mull), and he never missed a chance to mention it in a wider context, for instance there is a page about the club in the memoir which he produced in 2013. He was also a good friend of the club stalwart and strong player Maxwell Thornton, and with his passing another link with those days has gone.

Condolences to George's family.

4 May 2015 - Central Allegro League

Stirling Wallace 7 - 9 Badgers Brook
Round 1
Shivan Murdochy	1 - 0	Kenny McGeoch
Robin Hayles	½ - ½	John Smith
Robert Togneri	0 - 1	Dave McGilvray
Mick Bloor	1 - 0	Gordon Walker
Round 2
Shivan Murdochy	½ - ½	John Smith
Robin Hayles	0 - 1	Dave McGilvray
Robert Togneri	0 - 1	Gordon Walker
Mick Bloor	0 - 1	Kenny McGeoch
Round 3
Shivan Murdochy	1 - 0	Dave McGilvray
Robin Hayles	1 - 0	Gordon Walker
Robert Togneri	0 - 1	Kenny McGeoch
Mick Bloor	0 - 1	John Smith
Round 4
Shivan Murdochy	1 - 0	Gordon Walker
Robin Hayles	0 - 1	Kenny McGeoch
Mick Bloor	1 - 0	Dave McGilvray
Robert Togneri	0 - 1	John Smith

4 May 2015 - Stirling win the Under 1500 Cup!

Stirling v Dunfermline
Dave Hewitt Martyn Roe Gordon Allcock Robert Leckie Craig Manson	1442 1440 1416 1362 1262	1 - 0 ½ - ½ 0 - 1 ½ - ½ 1 - 0	1487 1476 1387 1273 1260	Bryan O'Rourke Matthew Stewart Peter Horne Ben Volland Derek Rodger
		3 - 2

Congratulations to the Stirling team on their victory in the Under 1500 Cup. As thing progressed through the evening, a victory did not look likely. A quick draw on board 4, followed by victory for Dunfermline on board 3 left Dunfermline in the driving seat. Martyn's game finished as a draw, and Derek finally succumbed to Craig's pressure (despite Craig playing for much of the game with one of the worst bishops in chess) to leave the match at 2-2. All eyes turned to board 1, where it looked dead drawn (White's rook and 3 pawns against Black's Bishop and 5 pawns, all pieces on the Queens side). A draw would have given the Cup to Dunfermline on board count. Unfortunately for Dunfermline, into the allegro finish and with just a few minutes remaining, Bryan missed a discovered attack on his Rook, and lost it completely. He struggled on for a few more moves, but Dave gained another pawn, and his passed e pawn was on its way to promotion before Bryan resigned.