27 April 2022 - Central League Cup

What was presumably the second semi-final in the seven-board cup was played at the neutral venue of Grangemouth and saw an experimental Stirling B team, including several new recruits, beat an experienced Dunfermline line-up in a close match. While normally players would be in grading order, allowance has been made for player improvements that are not yet reflected in their grade. Many thanks to Harry and Alan at Grangemouth for hosting.

Stirling		v		Dunfermline
Isaac Browning Sam Cook Richard Warcup Kenny MacPherson Dave Hewitt Nathanael Loch Ruaridh Simpson	1497 852 1477 1372 1531	1 - 0 ½ - ½ 0 - 1 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0	1563 1566 1555 1243 1412 1215 1315	Gordon Greig Fred Ossowski Gonzalo Ferero Mark McLintock Doug Rew Glynis Grant Peter Horne
		5½ - 1½

Thanks to Ruaridh for this game, where he had Black against Peter Horne.

[Event "Central League Cup - Stirling v Dunfermline"] [Site "https://lichess.org/CP90JoYa"] [Date "2022.04.27"] [White "Horne, P"] [Black "Simpson, R"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A01"] [Opening "Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Indian Variation"] 1. b3 Nf6 2. Bb2 d5 3. Nf3 c5 4. g3 Nc6 5. Bg2 Bf5 6. O-O Qd7 7. d3 Bh3 8. Nbd2 Bxg2 9. Kxg2 O-O-O 10. c4 d4 11. a3 e5 12. Ne4 Be7 13. Nfg5 Rdf8 14. Nh3 h6 15. Bc1 Nh7 16. f4 f5 17. Nd2 g5 18. fxe5 Nxe5 19. Nf3 Ng6 20. Nhg1 Nf6 21. e3 g4 22. exd4 gxf3+ 23. Qxf3 Rhg8 24. Qxf5 Nh4+ 0-1

Many thanks to Alan Bell of Grangemouth for these photos of the night.

25 April 2021 - Keddie Cup

Dave Hewitt writes: Monday evening saw the first OTB Keddie Cup since December 2019 (the December 2020 one was an online Chess960 tournament as people will recall), and there was a joint-record turnout: 29 people played in the 2017 Keddie and 29 played in this latest one. There were five preliminary groups - four of six and one of five - with all group winners going through to the quarter-finals plus the three best runners-up (the two unlucky people in that regard with Robbie and Harley, who both did well nonetheless). Isaac went right through the tournament with a 100% record, scoring 5/5 in his group then continuing his good form into the KOs - congratulations to him on taking home the silverware, a fine result at his first attempt. Gordon gave Isaac a proper scare in the final however, before going wrong in some late-game complications. He thus finished as tournament runner-up for the third time in eleven years, although happily he has won the Keddie during that same period too. Sam Cook and Richard both put in excellent efforts in two very hard-fought semis, and with all four semi-finalists being quite close in grade the latter stages of the tournament felt suspiciously like normal chess. Special mention should be made of Nadzieja and Callum qualifying for the KO phase - an excellent effort by both. Congratulations too to Kalina, whose tenth birthday coincided with the Keddie - she kindly brought along some snacks and Happy Birthday was duly sung. Thanks to Dave for organising the ties, and to Jim for the raffle prizes.

Some early action.

Isaac (left) and Sam in the semi-final.

Gordon and Richard in the other semi-final.

Gordon (left) and Isaac in the final.

Gordon, as club president, presents the trophy to Isaac. Congratulations Isaac!

20 April 2022 - Central League Cup

The first action in the Central League Cup - a seven board knock-out - in three years. It's still unclear exactly what form this competition will take, and even who else will enter it, but this was the first match played in it. While normally players would be in grading order, allowance has been made for player improvements that are not yet reflected in their grade.

Grangemouth		v		Stirling
Alan Bell John McLay Dougie Will Ian Mason Daniel Kitaev David Fowler Harry Leishman	1926   1823 1625 879 1153 622	1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1	1580 1795 1722 1657 1657 1542 1486	Sam Coates Jim Shemilt Steve Smith William Spiers Graham Anderson Bill Cook Brad Duthie
		3 - 4

Thanks to William for this game, where he had White against Ian Mason.

[Event "7 board KO Grangemouth v Stirling"] [Site "Grangemouth CC"] [Date "2022.04.20"] [Round "-"] [White "Spiers, W"] [Black "Mason, I"] [Result "1-0"] 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 d6 3. g3 f5 4. Bg2 Nf6 5. e3 Be7 6. d4 e4 7. Nge2 c6 8. d5 O-O 9. O-O Na6 10. f3 exf3 11. Bxf3 c5 12. Nf4 Nc7 13. a4 Rb8 14. Qc2 a6 15. e4 fxe4 16. Nxe4 Ng4 17. h3 Ne5 18. Bg2 Bd7 19. b3 Bf5 20. Bb2 Nd7 21. g4 Bxe4 22. Bxe4 Nf6 23. Bf5 Re8 24. g5 Nd7 25. Bxh7+ Kh8 26. Ng6+ Kxh7 27. Nf8+ { Black resigns. 27 ... Kh8 28 Qh7# } 1-0

4 April 2022 - Under 1500 Cup

Stirling		v		Grangemouth
Isaac Browning Brad Duthie Kenny MacPherson Harry Feather Gordon Allcock	1497 1486 1372 1330 1256	1 - 0 1 - 0 0 - 1 1 - 0 1 - 0	1303 1143	Crawford Welsh Davd Fowler Colin Neilson Thomas Hamilton Kieran Marshall
		4 - 1