20 May 2019 - Trophy Presentation

It's two years this week since Stirling chess club stalwart David Brodie died aged just 56. He remains much missed, so it was very good to see his daughters Marissa and Nadine at the club to present their father's memorial trophy to the current leading junior, Alex Brimlow.

David was a great encourager of keen young players and would have loved to have seen the recent surge in membership at the club, both in terms of juniors and adults.

It was great to see Alex receive the trophy - which will be contested each season from now on - and it was lovely to meet Marissa and Nadine again and to be able to recall happy memories of their father's years at the club.

13 May 2019 - Robert Togneri Trophy

Time control: 15 minutes each for all moves

	Name	Grade	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Place
1	Graham Anderson	1695	1 W 10	1½ B 5	2½ W 4	3 B 3	4 W 7	1
2	David McAlister	1634	1 B 11	1½ W 6	1½ B 5	2½ W 4	3½ W 3	=2
3	Steve Smith	1582	1W 12	1B 8	2 W 11	2½ W 1	2½ B 2	=8
4	Bill Cook	1562	1 B 13	1½ W 7	1½ B 1	1½ B 2	2½ W 12	=8
5	Dave Hewitt	1530	1 Bye	1½ W 1	2½ W 2	2½ B 7	3½ B 9	=2
6	Robert Leckie	1497	1 W 14	1½ B 2	1½ -	1½ -	1½ -	14
7	Brad Duthie	1494	1 W 16	1½ B 4	2½ W 10	3½ W 5	3½ B 1	=2
8	Richard Warcup	1493	1 B 15	2 W 3	3 B 9	3 -	3 -	=5
9	Aaron Nobile	1398	1 B 17	2 W 13	2 W 8	3 B 12	3 W 5	=5
10	Gordon Allcock	1342	0 B 1	1 W 15	1 B 7	2 W 14	3 B 11	=5
11	Martin Pringle	1251	0 W 2	1 B 14	1 B 3	2 W 16	2 W 10	=10
12	Robert Togneri	1164	0 B 3	1 W 17	2 B 16	2 W 9	2 B 4	=10
13	Ross Warcup	858	0 W 4	0 B 9	1 W 17	1 -	1 -	=15
14	Craig Thomson	725	0 B 6	0 W 11	1 B 15	1 B 10	2 W 17	=10
15	Douglas Pringle	400	0 W 8	0 B 10	0 W 14	0 B 17	0 B 16	17
16	Glen Wilson		0 B 7	1 Bye	1 W 12	1 B 11	2 W 15	=10
17	Garth Armitage		0 W 9	0 B 12	0 B 13	1 W 15	1 B 14	=15

Because there's just not enough photos of me being presented with a trophy, here's another one.

29 April 2019 - David Brodie Junior Trophy

Monday night saw the inaugural David Brodie Junior Trophy - an allegro competition for the juniors. Unfortunately, Gordon couldn't make it for the start of the competition, but did get a couple of games when Ross retired after round 4.

Time control was 12 minutes, with 5 second increment, for all moves.

Round 1
Idris 0 - 1 Alex
Douglas 0 - 1 Ross

Round 2
Ross 0 - 1 Idris
Alex 1 - 0 Douglas

Round 3
Idris 1 - 0 Douglas
Ross ½ - ½ Alex

Round 4
Alex 1 - 0 Idris
Ross 0 - 1 Douglas

Round 5
Idris 1 - 0 Gordon
Douglas ½ - ½ Alex

Round 6
Douglas 1 - 0 Idris
Alex 1 - 0 Gordon

Congratulations to Alex on his unbeaten 5/6, and winning the trophy! There were some very entertaining games played, especially Ross - Idris in round 2 when Ross fought back from a Queen down to gain equality, and Douglas - Alex in round 5, when, with a bit more time, I'm sure Douglas would have gone on to win. Well done all! Thanks to Dave and Jim for their support and organisation on the night.

25 April 2019 - Central League Division 1

Cumbernauld A		v		Stirling A
Ralph Stirrat David Johnstone George Thomson Liam Heron Mark Heron	1788 1558 1534 1189 1000	½ - ½ 1 - 0 1 - 0 0 - 1 1 - 0	1771 1712 1667 1550 1488	Jim Shemilt Steve Smith Graham Anderson Dave Hewitt Brad Duthie
		3½ - 1½

18 April 2019 - Central League Division 2

Cumbernauld B		v		Stirling C
Derek McAteer Liam Heron Mark Heron Zayd Khan Ibrahim Khan	1429 1189 1000 458 351	1 - 0 0 - 1 1 - 0 0 - 1 0 - 1	1379 1385 1226	Martyn Roe Tom Wallace Gordon Allcock Nikolai Hermann Kenny MacPherson
		2 - 3

Thanks to Tom Wallace for providing his game.

[Event "Cumbernauld B V Stirling C"] [Site "Cumbernauld CC"] [Date "2019.04.18"] [Round ""] [White "Wallace, T"] [Black "Heron, L"] [Result "1-0"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. h3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 b5 7. a3 Bb7 8. Bd3 e5 9. Nf3 h6 10. O-O Nbd7 11. b4 Rc8 12. Bb2 Qc7 13. Rc1 Nb6 14. Nd2 d5 15. exd5 Nbxd5 16. Nxd5 Nxd5 17. Bxe5 Qc6 18. Re1 Be7 19. Qg4 Nf6 20. Bxf6 Qxf6 21. Be4 Rd8 22. Bxb7 Rxd2 23. Qc8+ Rd8 24. Bc6+ Kf8 25. Qxd8+ Bxd8 26. Re8# 1-0

8 April 2019 - Central Allegro League

Dunfermline Sharks 8-8 Stirling Bruce
Round 1
Fred Ossowski	½ - ½	Graham Anderson
Stewart Brisbane	½ - ½	Bill Cook
Peter Horne	0 - 1	Dave Hewitt
Mark McLintock	½ - ½	Brad Duthie
Round 2
Fred Ossowski	0 - 1	Bill Cook
Stewart Brisbane	½ - ½	Dave Hewitt
Peter Horne	1 - 0	Brad Duthie
Mark McLintock	1 - 0	Graham Anderson
Round 3
Fred Ossowski	½ - ½	Dave Hewitt
Stewart Brisbane	1 - 0	Brad Duthie
Peter Horne	½ - ½	Graham Anderson
Mark McLintock	0 - 1	Bill Cook
Round 4
Fred Ossowski	½ - ½	Brad Duthie
Stewart Brisbane	1 - 0	Graham Anderson
Peter Horne	0 - 1	Bill Cook
Mark McLintock	½ - ½	Dave Hewitt

 

Stirling Bruce 6-10 Cumbernauld
Round 1
Steve Smith	0 - 1	Ralph Stirrat
David McAlister	1 - 0	Derek McAteer
Tony Pitson	0 - 1	Liam Heron
Gordon Allcock	0 - 1	Mark Heron
Round 2
Steve Smith	1 - 0	Derek McAteer
David McAlister	0 - 1	Liam Heron
Tony Pitson	0 - 1	Mark Heron
Gordon Allcock	0 - 1	Ralph Stirrat
Round 3
Steve Smith	1 - 0	Liam Heron
David McAlister	0 - 1	Mark Heron
Tony Pitson	0 - 1	Ralph Stirrat
Gordon Allcock	0 - 1	Derek McAteer
Round 4
Steve Smith	1 - 0	Mark Heron
David McAlister	1 - 0	Ralph Stirrat
Tony Pitson	0 - 1	Derek McAteer
Gordon Allcock	1 - 0	Liam Heron

3 April 2019 - Central League Cup

Stirling v Grangemouth
Uby Archibong   Alan Bell   Graham Hamilton   Dougie Will   David Wallace   Ian Mason   Alasdair Sandham	2194   1991   1976   1914   1756   1620   1308	1 - 0   1 - 0   1 - 0   1 - 0   0 - 1   1 - 0   1 - 0	1771   1712   1667   1634   1576   1456   1226	Jim Shemilt   Steve Smith   Graham Anderson   David McAlister   Bill Cook   Tony Pitson   Gordon Allcock
		6 - 1

Thankfully Bill spared us a whitewash with a game that went right down to the last minute, when David blundered in time trouble to hand Bill a rook and the game. The match was already well beyond Stirling - I finished first, with probably my worst game ever, which is presented below in the hope that someone learns something from it. Tony may have had some chances to win had he not lost on time.

[Event "CL Cup - Grangemouth v Stirling"] [Site "Grangemouth CC"] [Date "2019.04.03"] [Round "SF"] [White "Hamilton, G"] [Black "Anderson, G"] [Result "1-0"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bf4 c5 4. Nc3 d5 5. e3 a6 6. Be2 Nc6 7. O-O Bd6 8. Ne5 cxd4 9. exd4 Qc7 10. Re1 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Bxe5 12. Bxe5 Qxe5 13. Bb5+ { Black resigns. } 1-0

I had considered castling on move 10 before the big exchange on e5, but I was worried I would lose my opportunity to exchange anything. It's not often, as Black against d4, that I emerge with d and e pawns intact and White has no central pawns. Of course, Stockfish recommends it. A good player always makes his King safe. My thoughts on Graham's reply had all been around 13 Bxa6 and where to put my Queen after that - d6 seems OK, but I would have to be careful of Nb5 and keep my eye on c7. Or maybe not. The lucky underpants have had their day, and I'll be shopping this weekend for a new pair.