2025-12-08 Stirling E -v- Dunfermline B

Alongside the match on Monday night between the Stirling D -v- C teams already reported upon, the E Team had a good win over Dunfermline B.

   Central League Division 2

   Stirling E             3-2  Dunfermline B

1. Sandy Carmichael  1357 1-0  Calum Newton     1508
2. Mick Murphy       1087 0-1  Douglas Rew      1369 
3. Mick Bloor        1084 0-1  Daniel Lynch     1239
4. William Feather   875  1-0  Ali Shuttleworth 1207
5. Stewart Cairns    719  1-0  Brian Easton     999

Here is Stewart's victory on board 5.

[Event "Stirling E v Dunfermline B"] [Site "Stirling"] [Date "2025.12.08"] [Round "?"] [White "Easton, B."] [Black "Cairns, S."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "999"] [BlackElo "719"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "92"] [GameId "2253634069524498"] [EventDate "2025.??.??"] 1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 Bf5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Be2 Nc6 6. a3 Bd6 7. Ne5 Nd7 8. g4 Ndxe5 9. gxf5 Nc4 10. fxe6 fxe6 11. Bxc4 Bxf4 12. exf4 dxc4 13. Qh5+ g6 14. Qg5 Nxd4 15. Qxd8+ Rxd8 16. O-O Nxc2 17. Ra2 O-O 18. Nc3 Rxf4 19. Rc1 Nd4 20. Kf1 Rdf8 21. b3 Nxb3 22. Re1 Nc5 23. Nb5 Nd3 24. Ree2 Nc1 25. Nxc7 Nxa2 26. Rxa2 Rc8 27. Nxe6 Rh4 28. Kg2 c3 29. Rc2 Ra4 30. Ng5 Rxa3 31. Ne4 b5 32. Nd6 Rd8 33. Nxb5 Rb3 34. Nxa7 Rd2 35. Rc1 c2 36. Nc6 Rb1 37. Ne7+ Kf7 38. Nd5 Rxc1 39. Ne3 Rb1 40. Nxc2 Rxc2 41. Kg3 Rbb2 42. f3 Rxh2 43. f4 Kf6 44. Kg4 Rb3 45. f5 h5+ 46. Kf4 Rh4# 0-1

2025-12-08 Match between the Stirling D and C Teams

   Central League Division 2 
  
   Stirling D         1½-3½ Stirling C   
   
1. Harry Feather 1461  0-1  Nathanael Loch   1515    
2. David Fowler  1304  1-0  Kenny MacPherson 1506 
3. Tom Wallace   1313  0-1  Kelechi Nwosu    u/g     
4. Josh Heesom   u/g   0-1  Toby Geyer       1302
5. Victor Liu    928   ½-½  Rudra Pardhi     930

Stirling D had white on boards 1 and 4  

2025-12-03 Division 2 Match at Grangemouth

Stirling E travelled to Grangemouth to face their Cs, with both teams having non-playing captains - Bill Gray for the hosts and Graham Anderson for the visitors - watching on.

Grangemouth C          3½-1½ Stirling E 

1. Crawford Welsh 1486  1-0  Mick Murphy     1087 
2. Joe Johnstone  u/g   1-0  Mick Bloor      1084 
3. Harry Leishman 847   1-0  Rudra Pardhi    930 
4. Arran Short    u/g   0-1  William Feather 875 
5. Tyler Doney    u/g   ½-½  Stewart Cairns  719 

The home team had White on boards 3 & 4

Graham provides this report on the match:

Some wild games...Stewart was N+5P against N+2P in the endgame. I blinked, and it was then N+2P v N+2P. Not entirely sure how he managed to lose those pawns, but he held out for a draw. Mick M's game is below...he missed several mates. Mick B's King found its way to g3 by about move 15, but survived a ferocious attack to be 2 pawns up in the endgame, then contrived to lose. William had a lovely mate at the end (game also below).

[Event "Grangemouth C V Stirling E"] [Site "Grangemouth"] [Date "2025.12.03"] [Round "?"] [White "Murphy, M.."] [Black "Welsh, C.."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A40"] [WhiteElo "1087"] [BlackElo "1243"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2025.??.??"] 1. d4 g6 2. e3 Bg7 3. Bd3 d6 4. Nd2 e6 5. f4 b6 6. Ngf3 Bb7 7. Qe2 a6 8. O-O Ne7 9. c3 Nd7 10. e4 O-O 11. e5 d5 12. g4 c5 13. h4 b5 14. g5 Nc6 15. Rf2 Qb6 16. Qe3 cxd4 17. cxd4 Rac8 18. Nf1 Rc7 19. Bd2 Rfc8 20. a3 Bf8 21. N1h2 b4 22. Ng4 Na5 23. Nf6+ Nxf6 24. gxf6 Nb3 25. Rd1 Nxd2 26. Qxd2 bxa3 27. bxa3 Bxa3 28. Rg2 Bb4 29. Qe2 a5 30. h5 Bc3 31. hxg6 fxg6 32. Bxg6 Bxd4+ 33. Nxd4 Rc1 34. Rxc1 (34. Be8+ Kf8 35. Rg8+ Kxg8 36. Qg2+ Kf8 37. Qg7+ Kxe8 38. Qe7#) 34... Qxd4+ 35. Kh2 Qxf4+ 36. Kh3 Rxc1 37. Bxh7+ (37. Bf7+ Kxf7 38. Qh5+ Kf8 39. Rg8+ Kxg8 40. Qe8#) 37... Kh8 38. Rg8+ Kxh7 39. Qh5+ Kxg8 40. Qe8+ (40. Qg6+ Kf8 41. Qg7+ Ke8 42. Qe7#) 40... Kh7 41. Qh5+ Qh6 42. Qxh6+ Kxh6 0-1

[Event "Grangemouth C v Stirling E"] [Site "Grangemouth"] [Date "2025.12.03"] [Round "?"] [White "Short, A."] [Black "Feather, W."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C62"] [BlackElo "875"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2025.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 4. d3 Bd7 5. Bd2 a6 6. Bc4 Nf6 7. O-O Bg4 8. Nc3 Bxf3 9. Qxf3 Nd4 10. Qd1 c6 11. Be3 d5 12. Bb3 Nxb3 13. axb3 d4 14. Bg5 dxc3 15. bxc3 Be7 16. Ra5 Qxa5 17. b4 Qa3 18. Qd2 a5 19. bxa5 Rxa5 20. g3 O-O 21. Rb1 b5 22. Qe1 b4 23. cxb4 Bxb4 24. Rxb4 Qa1 25. Rb1 Qa4 26. c4 h6 27. Bd2 Ra6 28. f4 Ng4 29. fxe5 Nxe5 30. Qf1 Qc2 31. Rd1 Qxd3 32. Bf4 Qxf1+ 33. Kxf1 Nxc4 34. Ke2 Ra2+ 35. Kf3 g5 36. Bc1 f5 37. Rd4 Ne5+ 38. Ke3 f4+ 39. gxf4 gxf4# 0-1

2025-12-01 Match between the Stirling A and B Teams

Central League Division 1

Stirling A             5-0  Stirling B

Isaac Browning   2054  1-0  Richard Warcup 1637
William Spiers   1758  1-0  Brad Duthie    1552
Sean Flanagan    1698  1-0  Ross Warcup    1494
Nathanael Loch   1515  1-0  Steve Smith    1549
Kenny MacPherson 1506  1-0  Bill Cook      1544

Stirling A had white on boards 3 and 4

Stirling A team captain, Isaac reports:

Stirling A had to rely on two members of the C team due to shortages, but neither Kenny nor Nathanael looked out of place. Kenny won in a bishop endgame after the game simplified fairly quickly. Nathanael attacked his way to a position with a queen and extra pawn vs two rooks, the exposed black king tipping the balance in his favour.

I managed to beat Richard after breaking out of a cramped position with an extra pawn. William, playing his fifth black from five games, managed to build up a space advantage in the centre and eventually triumph.

Sean and Ross' game went right down to the wire. Sean had an extra pawn, but Ross' passer on c2 had the white rook locked down. Therefore, it seemed for a while as though white wouldn't be able to escape, but Sean managed to open the h-file and bring his rook across to threaten mate, the possible pawn promotion an irrelevance. Ross, down to his last few seconds, was unable to find the saving tactic in time.

A hard-fought match, again not fully captured by the scoreline, under difficult circumstances for all.

2025-11-26 Central League Division 2 Match

Clackmannanshire      2-3  Stirling E 

Vytautas Jakstys u/g  0-1  Mick Murphy     1087
Dale Carberry    u/g  1-0  Mick Bloor      1084
Joseph Lambert   u/g  1-0  Rudra Pardhi    930
Roman Quinn      u/g  0-1  William Feather 875
Lewis Wyper      u/g  0-1  Josh Heesom     u/g

E Team captain Graham Anderson reports on a close match at Alloa:

Boards 3,4 and 5 were all juniors, although the two Micks managed to keep the average age of the Stirling team at around 40.

Game of the night was Joseph-Rudra on board 3, where from quite a closed position Joseph managed to sneak a defended knight onto e6 and wreak havoc with Rudra's backline, then showed impressive end-game technique to claim the win. It's worth keeping an eye on both these players.

Graham also forwarded the game-score of a very nice win by Mick M on board 1, by first winning the exchange and then keeping the pressure on, which produced a fatal error from his opponent.

[Event "Clackmannanshire v Stirling E"] [Site "Alloa"] [Date "2025.11.26"] [Round "?"] [White "Murphy, M."] [Black "Jakstys, V."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A45"] [WhiteElo "1087"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "2025.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. e3 g6 3. Bd3 Bg7 4. Nd2 O-O 5. f4 d6 6. Ngf3 Nd5 7. Qe2 Bg4 8. h3 Bxf3 9. Nxf3 Nd7 10. Bd2 Re8 11. e4 N5f6 12. O-O c5 13. c3 b6 14. g4 Nf8 15. e5 dxe5 16. fxe5 Nd5 17. Bb5 Nd7 18. Bc6 Nc7 19. Bxa8 Qxa8 20. Ng5 f6 21. Nf3 cxd4 22. cxd4 Kh8 23. Rac1 Nd5 24. Qb5 Nb8 25. Qxe8+ {Black resigns. 25 ... Bf8 26 Qxf8#} 1-0

Dave Hewitt (1961-2025)

It is with great sadness and a sense of shock that the Club has to report the sudden death on 24 November of Dave Hewitt at the age of 64.

Dave has been the heart of Stirling Chess Club for a long time, having joined nearly 30 years ago in 1997 when he moved to the area, previously having been a member of both Battlefield and Cathcart Chess Clubs in Glasgow.

He was a keen player, often employing a sharp sacrifice, and Team captain of the Club’s B and C teams as well as the Stirling Bruce allegro team which he captained to victory in the allegro league. Under his captaincy the C team won the Central League Division 2 on numerous occasions, and the Under 1500 Cup. He also enjoyed playing in weekend congresses and won several first prizes over the years as well as a number of Club tournaments.

Dave's favourite openings

Dave also organised the Thursday night Lichess tournament which has been held every week for 5 years without fail since the summer of 2020.

Aside from his playing career, Dave was an indefatigable Competition Secretary for the Club, organising all the internal club competitions (a task made more complicated recently with the increase in membership following Covid), posting results, making sure that Team captains had enough players (and finding them when teams were short), and importantly welcoming and making new members feel at home. He was encouraging, kind and thoughtful to everyone.

Dave’s ability to marshal statistics and remember results and players was legendary and his emails definitely comprehensive!

In addition to chess Dave was a keen hill walker, having climbed well over 1000 Munros and walking in his beloved Ochils every week.

It will be impossible to replicate Dave’s contribution to the Club and he will be greatly missed, not only at Stirling but in the wider chess community.

Our thoughts go to Tessa his partner and his family.

2025-11-17 Two League Matches at Home

Central League Division 1

Stirling B           2-3  Grangemouth A 

Leo Gardner    1896  ½-½  John McLay       2016 
Richard Warcup 1636  0-1  Graham Hamilton  1905
Brad Duthie    1552  1-0  Pranav Hariharan 1747
Bill Cook      1544  0-1  Duncan Glassey   1722 
Steve Smith    1530  ½-½  Alan Petrie      1685 

Central League Division 2

Stirling E            ½-4½ Stirling C 

Mick Murphy     1087  0-1  Kenny MacPherson  1506
Mick Bloor      1084  0-1  Harry Feather     1461
Stewart Cairns  719   0-1  Toby Geyer        1302
Rudra Pardhi    930   0-1  Kelechi Nwosu     u/g
William Feather 875   ½-½  Tom Wallace       1313