26 April 2018 - Central League Division 1

Cumbernauld A v Stirling A
Steven Kelly   Ralph Stirrat   George Thomson   Derek McAteer   Steven Monaghan	1836   1748   1547   1404   1219	1 - 0   1 - 0   ½ - ½   ½ - ½   0 - 1	1767   1704   1663   1469   1428	Jim Shemilt   Steve Smith   Bill Cook   Dave Hewitt   Brad Duthie
		3 - 2

Thanks to Dave Hewitt for the game and comments below.

[Event "Cumbernauld A v Stirling A"] [Site "Cumbernauld CC"] [Date "2018.04.26"] [Round "-"] [White "Hewitt, D"] [Black "MacAteer, D"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] 1. d4 d5 2. Bg5 c6 3. c3 Bf5 4. Nf3 Nd7 5. e3 h6 6. Bh4 Ngf6 7. Nbd2 e6 8. Be2 Bd6 9. O-O Qc7 10. Bg3 O-O 11. c4 b6 12. Nh4 Bh7 13. f4 Ne4 14. Nxe4 Bxe4 15. Nf3 f5 16. Ne5 Nf6 17. Bh4 Bxe5 18. fxe5 Ne8 19. Rc1 g5 20. Bg3 Qh7 21. Bf3 f4 22. exf4 gxf4 23. Bh4 Bd3 24. Be2 Be4 25. cxd5 cxd5 26. Rc6 Ng7 27. Bf6 Qg6 28. Bf3 Bf5 29. Rc7 Rf7 30. Qc1 Ne8 31. Rc8 Rxc8 32. Qxc8 Rc7 33. Qb8 Bh3 34. Kh1 Bf5 35. h3 Kh7 36. Qd8 Qf7 37. Rg1 Rc2 38. h4 Rxb2 39. Rc1 Rc2 40. Rxc2 Bxc2 41. Bg4 Bf5 42. Bxf5+ exf5 43. Kg1 Nxf6 44. exf6 Kg6 45. Qd6 b5 46. Kf2 Qxf6 47. Qxd5 Qxh4+ 48. Kf1 a6 49. Qd6+ Qf6 50. Qxf4 Qe6 51. Qg3+ Kf7 52. Qc7+ Qe7 53. Qc6 Qf6 54. Qb7+ Kg6 55. Qd5 h5 { Another ten or so moves were played after the ones given here - we'd both stopped recording by the end - before Derek kindly accepted a draw offer and thus prevented me from losing on time (I was down to about 30 secs and he had a good bit more). Pretty sure he was winning courtesy of his a-and b-pawns in the Q+Ps ending when we shook hands, although my own passed pawn had just moved to d5 and was looking tricky to stop without conceding a perpetual, as his Q was on a2 and his K was on g5 at the end. One of those games where I probably should have won earlier but was then lucky to escape with a draw - I've had a few of those this season. } 1/2-1/2

24 April 2018 - Central League Cup

Stirling v Badgers Brook
Jim Shemilt   Steve Smith   Graham Anderson   Dave Hewitt   Craig Manson   Richard Warcup   Gordon Allcock	1767   1704   1622   1584   1455       1284	½ - ½   0 - 1   1 - 0   ½ - ½   0 - 1   1 - 0   1 - 0	2054   2012   1782   1562   1430   1375   1175	Kenny McGeoch   Mark Cooke   Fabio Biancalana   Graham Kerr   Dave McGilvray   Derek Raffan   Gordon Walker
		4 - 3

This re-arranged fixture was played in Broxburn, although it was technically a home tie for Stirling. Can chess get any more exciting than this? After an hour and a half, all of the games seemed to my inexpert eye very even. Gordon then won on board 7, followed by a draw on top board for Jim (showing how to blockade pawns) to put Stirling 1½-½ up. Steve then lost, bringing Badgers Brook right back into it. Craig got mated having run out of time a couple of minutes beforehand, swiftly followed by Richard mating Derek. 2½-2½, with Dave and me still playing. Dave then agreed a draw to make it 3-3. My game against Fabio had been a topsy-turvy affair - White (Fabio) castled Queen side, Black castled King side, and the pawn storm against the castled Kings began. Fabio sacrificed a Bishop with check to get in at my King, although I couldn't see how he could win. A few moves later, I saw exactly how he could win, but fortunately for me Fabio didn't (thanks, lucky underpants!). A Bishop up, I continued but made heavy weather of it, and Fabio constantly found mating threats against my exposed King. In the end, Fabio's clock ran down and he lost on time. A very hard-fought match, but Stirling progress to the final on 7 May against Grangemouth.

22 April 2018 - Juniors - East of Scotland Megafinal

A huge well done to Ross Warcup, who won the East of Scotland Megafinal (Under 8) tournament yesterday in Edinburgh with a perfect 6/6. The full cross-table is here.

Also, well done to Alex Brimlow, who scored 3/6 in his section.

16 April 2018 - Central League Division 2

Badgers Brook B v Stirling B
Mark Brown Kenny Aiston Dave McGilvray Derek Raffan Peter Woollven	1468 1433 1430 1375	½ - ½ ½ - ½ 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1	1584 1455 1428 1386 1107	Dave Hewitt Craig Manson Brad Duthie Tom Wallace Mick Bloor
		1 - 4

9 April 2018 - Central League Division 2

Stirling C v Grangemouth B
Tom Wallace Gordon Allcock Chris Mintern Robert Togneri Idris Benwell	1386 1284   1273 510	½ - ½ 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1 1 - 0	1601 1499 1335 1095 1014	Ian Mason Bill Gray Crawford Welsh David Fowler Scott Dickson
		1½ - 3½

2 April 2018 - Under 1500 Cup

Badgers Brook v Stirling
Mark Brown Kenny Aiston Dave McGilvray Derek Raffan Gordon Walker	1468 1433 1430 1375 1175	0 - 1 ½ - ½ 1 - 0 0 - 1 0 - 1	1455 1428 1386 1284 1107	Craig Manson Brad Duthie Tom Wallace Gordon Allcock Mick Bloor
		1½ - 3½

29 March 2018 - Central League Cup

Cumbernauld v Stirling
Stephen Kelly   Mark Monaghan   Ralph Stirrat   George Thomson   Derek McAteer   Steven Monaghan	1836   1764   1748   1547   1404   1219	½ - ½   0 - 1   ½ - ½   ½ - ½   1 - 0   0 - 1   0d - 1d	1767   1704   1663   1584   1469   1428   1284	Jim Shemilt   Steve Smith   Bill Cook   Dave Hewitt   Tony Pitson   Brad Duthie   Gordon Allcock
		2½ - 4½