2025-11-12 Allegro Match at Grangemouth

Grangemouth Tigers -v-  Stirling Bruce

                 Round 1
John McLay   2058  0-1  Leo Gardner      1985
Alan Petrie  1692  0-1  Isaac Browning   1938
Joe Johnson   u/g  0-1  Kenny MacPherson 1568
Sean Gray     u/g  0-1  Dave Hewitt      1367
                   0-4

                 Round 2
            McLay  ½-½  Browning
           Petrie  1-0  MacPherson
          Johnson  0-1  Hewitt
             Gray  0-1  Gardner
                  1½-2½
                  1½-6½
                
                 Round 3
            McLay  1-0  MacPherson
           Petrie  1-0  Hewitt
          Johnson  0-1  Gardner
             Gray  0-1  Browning
                   2-2
                  3½-8½

                 Round 4
            McLay  1-0  Hewitt
           Petrie  0-1  Gardner
          Johnson  0-1  Browning
             Gray  0-1  MacPherson
                   1-3 
                  4½-11½

Bruce had white in the even rounds.

Individual scores:
Tigers: McLay 2½, Petrie 2/4, Gray 0/4, Johnson 0/4
Bruce: Gardner 4/4, Browning 3½/4, Hewitt 2/4, MacPherson 2/4

Dave Hewitt, the Stirling Bruce captain provided this summary of the match:

A hard-fought match ended in a fairly comfortable win for the visiting team, who reached the necessary score with a round to spare.

From a Stirling point of view, Leo - from Barcelona - had an excellent allegro league debut and looks like being quite a force in the Central League during the four years he'll be a student here. Isaac again showed his fondness for spending lengthy periods at the end of games living on the increment and doing it well. Kenny continued his recent good form. For Grangemouth, John and Alan were solid and reliable as ever, and Joe and Sean are getting stronger all the while and will certainly score better than this in matches to come.

2025-10-10 Two Matches against Dunfermline

Stirling hosted a double-header against Dunfermline, and both home teams ended the evening victorious.

Central League Division 1 Match

Stirling A           4-1  Dunfermline A

Isaac Browning 2054  1-0  Volodymyr Tushynsky 2176
John Iwuozor   2020  ½-½  Ian Robertson       2059
Leo Gardner    1889  1-0  John McBride        1715
William Spiers 1758  1-0  Calum Smith         1599
Sean Flanagan  1698  ½-½  Gregor McCloskey    1571

Stirling had white on boards 3 and 5

The Stirling A team had a strengthened line-up with Leo Gardner winning on his first appearance for the club. Isaac Browning, the Stirling A captain, reports: 

A tighter match than the score line would perhaps suggest. Ian and John Iwuozor (who had arrived ten minutes late) drew what seemed to be a fairly peaceful game; Sean and Gregor likewise. Leo, Stirling's newest recruit, managed to get the better of John McBride from a position with queens and two minor pieces each. 

I beat Volodymyr after emerging from a very complicated opening with an extra pawn, which eventually became two due to white's problematic structure. William was down a pawn at one point but managed to regain it and ultimately caught Calum's king in a mating trap to round off the match.

Central League Division 2 Match

Stirling D             3-2  Dunfermline B

1. Harry Feather 1461  0-1  Euan Bell        1429
2. David Fowler  1300  ½-½  Douglas Rew      1369
3. Tom Wallace   1313  1-0  Daniel Lynch     1239
4. Kai Austin    946   ½-½  Ali Shuttleworth 1207
5. Victor Liu    928   1-0  Barrie Dempster  896

Dunfermline had white on boards 3,4 and 5

The Junior players for both sides put in strong performance. Tom Wallace reports: 

A very close game tonight between Stirling D and Dunfermline B. 

Stirling Junior Kai Austin drew with Ali Shuttleworth with a perpetual quite quickly on board 4. David Fowler and Douglas Rew on board 2 swapped off pieces to leave a rook and 5 pawn draw. Another Stirling Junior Victor Liu won on board 5 against Barrie Dempster. 

On board 1 Dunfermline Junior Euan Bell beat Harry Feather which left the score 2-2 with my game on board 3 against Daniel Lynch deciding the overall result. 

I had black and put a lot of pressure on white until a miscalculation with not a lot of time left on both sides where Daniel had a dangerous passed d-pawn with only the queens and 4 pawns each. I sacrificed a b-pawn and Daniel quickly moved his queen up the queenside to capture more pawns and leaving his King to a back row mate which I gladly grabbed.

28/10/25 Two Allegro Matches at Dunfermline

Dunfermline hosted two Stirling teams in the Central Allegro League on Tuesday evening. Stirling Bruce had White on all boards in Rounds 1 and 3 in their match against the Minnows.

Dunfermline Minnows          7½-8½ Stirling Bruce

                            Round 1
Ian Robertson           1979  0-1  John Iwuozor     1861
Calum Smith             1798  ½-½  Jim Shemilt      1659
Dimitris Giannakopoulos 1378  0-1  Kenny MacPherson 1568
George Webb             1352  ½-½  Dave Hewitt      1367
                              1-3

                            Round 2
                   Robertson  1-0  Shemilt
                       Smith  0-1  MacPherson
              Giannakopoulos  ½-½  Hewitt
                        Webb  0-1  Iwuozor
                             1½-2½
                             2½-5½

                            Round 3
                   Robertson  1-0  MacPherson
                       Smith  1-0  Hewitt
              Giannakopoulos  0-1  Iwuozor
                        Webb  0-1  Shemilt
                              2-2 
                             4½-7½

                            Round 4
                   Robertson  1-0  Hewitt
                       Smith  1-0  Iwuozor
              Giannakopoulos  1-0  Shemilt
                        Webb  0-1  MacPherson
                              3-1

Individual Scores
Minnows: Robertson 3, Smith 2½, Giannakopoulos 1½, Webb ½
Bruce:   Iwuozor 3, Shemilt 1½, MacPherson 3, Hewitt 1

In the other match of the evening, Stirling Wallace had White on all boards in Rounds 1 and 3 against the Sharks.

Dunfermline Sharks        9½-6½ Stirling Wallace

                         Round 1
Volodymyr Tushinskyi 2276  1-0  William Spiers  1784
John McBride         1780  0-1  Nathanael Loch  1581
Gregor McCloskey     1372  1-0  Douglas Heatlie 1454
Euan Bell            1404  ½-½  Toby Geyer      1487
                          2½-1½

                         Round 2
               Tushynskyi  1-0  Geyer
                  McBride  0-1  Spiers
                McCloskey  1-0  Loch
                     Bell  0-1  Heatlie
                           2-2
                          4½-3½

                        Round 3
               Tushynskyi  1-0  Heatlie
                  McBride  0-1  Geyer
                McCloskey  1-0  Spiers
                     Bell  0-1  Loch
                           2-2
                          6½-5½

                         Round 4
               Tushynskyi  1-0  Loch
                  McBride  0-1  Heatlie
                McCloskey  1-0  Geyer
                     Bell  1-0  Spiers
                           3-1 

Individual scores
Sharks:  Tushynskyi 4, McBride 0, McCloskey 4, Bell 1½
Wallace: Spiers 1, Loch 2, Heatlie 2, Geyer 1½

27-10-2025 Robert Togneri Trophy

The Robert Togneri Trophy, the club's bi-annual allegro tournament, was won on Monday night by eighth-ranked Toby Geyer, pictured below being congratulated by Club President Gordon Allcock.

25 people played in all, but only 18 played in all five rounds, mainly due to the younger juniors having to leave before close of play. However, there were no byes. Graham played in just round 3, to replace Jamie. Rudra and Garry then dropped out after Round 3, as did Steve to keep it at an even number. Victor and Elsa dropped out after round 4. Overall, 55 games were played: 12 in each of the first three rounds, ten in round 4, nine in round 5.

Thanks to Graham for the photograph and Dave for the crosstable.

2025-10-23 League Results Round-up

I had got behind with reporting the results of the Central League matches, but below you will find a major update starting with this week's results and going in reverse chronological order back to late September. The results start off with what I think was our first visit to the new Clackmannanshire club in Alloa for a competitive match.

   2025-10-22 Division 2 Match

   Clackmannanshire     0-5  Stirling C

1. Glen Wilson    1082  0-1  Nathanael Loch   1488
2. Luke Evans     u/g   0-1  Kenny MacPherson 1504
3. Dale Carberry  u/g   0-1  Kelechi Nwosu    u/g
4. Joseph Lambert u/g   0-1  Toby Geyer       1332
5. Roman Quinn    u/g   0-1  Dave Hewitt      1500

Two days earlier the Stirling B team were at home to Grangemouth B in while the E team ventured to Broxburn to play Badgers Brook.

   2025-10-20 Division 1 Match

   Stirling B           ½-4½ Grangemouth B

1. Brad Duthie    1552  0-1  Alan Bell      1948
2. Ross Warcup    1494  0-1  Daniel Kitaev  1928
3. Richard Warcup 1637  ½-½  Dougie Will    1839
4. Bill Cook      1544  0-1  Crawford Welsh 1243
5. Steve Smith    1549  0-1  Joe Johnson    u/g
   
   2025-10-20 Division 2 Match

   Badgers Brook          3-2  Stirling E

1. Kevin Brown      1318  0-1  Sandy Carmichael 1357
2. Antonio La Gamma 1269  1-0  Mick Murphy      1087
3. David Lawrence   1180  0-1  Stewart Cairns   719
4. Corey Dolan      u/g   1-0  Chris Woodhouse  u/g
5. Matthew McEwan   u/g   1-0  Elsa Liu         u/g

The previous Monday there was a double-header at home against Badgers Brook and Clackmannanshire.

   2025-10-13 Division 1 Match

   Stirling A          3½-1½ Badgers Brook

1. Isaac Browning 2054  1-0  Kenny McGeoch   2014
2. John Iwuozor   2020  1-0  Stuart Ward     1868
3. William Spiers 1758  0-1  Jonathan Rowney 1543
4. Sean Flanagan  1698  ½-½  Colin Matthews  1394
5. Stephen Smith  1549  1-0  Corey Dolan     u/g
  
   2025-10-13 Division 2 Match

   Stirling D         4½-½  Clackmannanshire

1. Harry Feather 1461  1-0  John Blake       1546
2. David Fowler  1300  1-0  Glen Wilson      1047 
3. Tom Wallace   1313  1-0  Luke Evans       u/g
4. Kai Austin    946   ½-½  Vytautas Jakstys u/g
5. Victor Liu    u/g   1-0  Joseph Lambert   u/g

There was only one League match played in the week commencing Monday 6 October.

   2025-10-06 Division 2 Match

   Stirling C            3½-1½ Badgers Brook B
                        
1. Nathanael Loch   1515  1-0  Graham Kerr    1482
2. Kenny MacPherson 1506  1-0  Colin Matthews 1394
3. Kelechi Nwosu    u/g   0-1  Gordon Walker  1237
4. Toby Geyer       1302  ½-½  David Lawrence 1170
5. Dave Hewitt      1493  1-0  Peter Woollven 907

Going back to the last Tuesday in September, Stirling had two teams in action away to Dunfermline.

   30-09-2025 Division 1 Match

   Dunfermline A                4½-½  Stirling B
 
1. Volodymyr Tushynskyi    2176  1-0  Jim Shemilt     1707
2. Ian Robertson           2059  1-0  Richard Warcup  1637
3. Calum Smith             1599  ½-½  Brad Duthie     1552
4. Gordon Greig            1560  1-0  Douglas Heatlie 1563
5. Dimitris Giannakopoulos 1400  1-0  Steve Smith     1549
   
   30-09-2025 Division 2 Match

   Dunfermline B         2½-2½ Stirling C
                           
1. Gregor McCloskey 1630  1-0  Nathanael Loch   1515
2. Euan Bell        1427  1-0  Kenny MacPherson 1506
3. Douglas Rew      1369  ½-½  Harry Feather    1461
4. George Webb      1316  0-1  Toby Geyer       1302
5. Barrie Dempster  896   0-1  Dave Hewitt      1493

The last match in our round-up to link up with the two earlier results of the 2025-6 season, already posted, is an away match at Grangemouth

   24-09-2025 Division 1 Match

   Grangemouth B      2½-2½ Stirling A    
                       
1. Alan Bell     1948  ½-½  Isaac Browning 2054
2. Daniel Kitaev 1928  0-1  John Iwuozor   2020
3. Dougie Will   1839  1-0  William Spiers 1758
4. John Smith    1653  1-0  James Shemilt  1707
5. Bill Gray     1486  0-1  Ross Warcup    1494

15-09-25 Stirling E -v- Stirling D

Stirling E           2½-2½         Stirling D

Gordon Allcock  1230  0-1  Harry Feather 1461
Mick Bloor      1084  1-0  Tom Wallace   1313
Mick Murphy     1087  0-1  David Fowler  1300
Charles Thomson  u/g  ½-½  Kai Austin     946
Stewart Cairns   719  1-0  Josh Heesom    u/g

08-09-2025 Stirling Bruce -v- Stirling Wallace

The Club has entered two teams in the Central Allegro League and the new season started with a very close and hard-fought match between them. Stirling Bruce had the white pieces in rounds 1 and 3.

Stirling Bruce         9-7  Stirling Wallace

                     Round 1
Isaac Browning   1938  0-1  William Spiers 1784 
John Iwuozor     1861  1-0  Brad Duthie    1618 
Kenny MacPherson 1568  ½-½  Nathanael Loch 1581 
Bill Cook        1440  0-1  Toby Geyer     1487
                      1½-2½

                     Round 2
            Browning   1-0  Geyer
            Iwuozor    1-0  Spiers
            MacPherson ½-½  Duthie
            Cook       0-1  Loch
                      2½-1½

                     Round 3
            Browning   1-0  Loch
            Iwuozor    1-0  Geyer
            MacPherson ½-½  Spiers
            Cook       0-1  Duthie
                      2½-1½ 

                     Round 4
            Browning   1-0  Duthie
            Iwuozor    ½-½  Loch
            MacPherson 1-0  Geyer
            Cook       0-1  Spiers
                      2½-1½  
                      
Individual scores
Bruce:   Iwuozor 3½, Browning 3, MacPherson 2½, Cook 0
Wallace: Spiers 2½, Loch 2, Duthie 1½, Geyer 1