Mr Robert Togneri with the new club trophy, named in his honour for 50+ years service to the club.
The Stirling club has a fine collection of trophies presented in memory of notable members who are sadly no longer with us – the Richardson, Lindsay, Keddie and Thornton cups – but it is nice to also have something named after a club stalwart who is happily still around and actively playing chess.
Hence the Robert Togneri Trophy, pictured here being held by the man himself. The trophy marks Robert’s half-century of continuous membership of Stirling chess club – a membership that has now stretched beyond the 51-year mark, as he joined the club in the autumn of 1963 and played his first league match on 1 April 1964 (a board-four draw against J Allan of Dunfermline in a match which Stirling won 4½-½, the four wins coming courtesy of a strong line-up of Maxwell Thornton, J Rodger, James Keddie and D S Buchanan).
Robert has been with us ever since, and while his playing strength is less than once was (he made two appearances in the Scottish championship – at Ayr in 1968 and Glasgow in 1969 – when it was by qualification only), he is still a very handy player more than capable of chalking up wins in league matches and club tournaments. His heyday was in the time of adjournment sessions and home analysis, and woe betide anyone who takes Robert lightly in terms of endgame subtleties: these remain a strong and notable feature of his play.
The Robert Togneri Trophy itself will go to the winner of the twice-yearly club Swiss allegro tournament, the twentieth edition of which (and the first with an actual prize) was played in May. This saw the title shared by Bill Cook and Jim Shemilt, each of whom scored 4/5. They will be presented with the trophy – and can then debate who gets to keep it first – during the annual club curry night at the end of this month or in early July. With luck Robert will be there to make the presentation himself.
Although the trophy isn’t the kind that can be engraved with winners’ names – that would be tricky anyway, given the long history of the Swiss allegros (the first was held in January 2005) – by happy circumstance Robert once won the tournament that now bears his name. He was one of four joint-winners of the fifth edition, held in November 2007 – and who knows if he might not win it again in what everyone at the club hopes will be a long and happy chess-playing future for one of Stirling’s most notable, liked and well-respected players.
