| Dunfermline B v Stirling B | ||||
| Jamie O'Connor Calum Smith Stewart Brisbane Douglas Rew Matt Harris |
1642 1568 1512 1490 |
1 - 0 0 - 1 1 - 0 1 - 0 ½ - ½ |
1553 1474 1360 1387 1449 |
Tony Pitson Dave Hewitt Kyle Kirkpatrick Craig Manson Brad Duthie |
| 3½ - 1½ | ||||
Congratulations to Dunfermline B, who retain the Division 2 title!
| Grangemouth v Stirling | ||||
| Hugh Hanlon Crawford Welsh David Fowler Scott Dickson Harry Leishman |
1394 1272 1010 977 |
0 - 1 1 - 0 1 - 0 0 - 1 0 - 1 |
1474 1454 1449 1243 1163 |
Dave Hewitt Gordon Allcock Brad Duthie Tom Wallace Mick Bloor |
| 2 - 3 | ||||
Thanks to Dave Hewitt for the game below, the board 1 clash where Dave had White against Hugh Hanlon.
Hewitt - Hanlon
Some very sad news to report, with the death on 8 April of the much-loved former Stirling chess club member Nick Blake, aged just 22. Along with his brother Jonathan, Nick was a very active player from the middle part of the 2000s, encouraged by his father John who was club secretary at the time.
Nick was always keen, and his chess understanding and ability developed steadily, as shown by an increase in grading strength. By the 2012-13 season he was 1230 regular and 1398 allegro, with the grades having jumped by around 100 and 200 respectively since the previous year. The particular prowess at fast chess was evident to anyone who played Nick during this period, as he developed an efficient style that won him plenty of games.
There was a marked – and very encouraging – leap forward in the first few months of 2012. Prior to that, Nick had played in quite a few external tournaments with some good results but without much overall success (although as a young junior he had won the S1-2 section at the 2006 Glasgow Congress with a 7/7 score, and had come joint-second with 4/5 in the secondary tournament at the Edinburgh Congress in 2007). Now, though, he began winning prizes in stronger company: first place in the Minor section of the Lothians Allegro in January 2012 (another 100% score, 5/5 this time), then first in the Minor at the Perth Congress later that month (scoring 4½/5 and having beaten club colleague David Brodie in the last round). In the Knights section at Edinburgh that same spring he came joint-second with 4/5, and he was also joint-second in the Stirling club allegro that May. These were all excellent results, achieved against experienced players and indicating definite progress.
Just before this, Christmas 2011 had seen Nick win the club’s festive tournament, the Keddie Cup, for the third time in four seasons. This was a remarkable and unprecedented sequence, and it’s safe to say that he gave a lot of thought to how best to tackle the Keddie’s notorious handicapping system – to the extent that there began to be murmurings and mutterings about possible rule changes to prevent him winning it year after year! In the three years in which he took home the trophy – 2008, 2009 and 2011 – Nick had a 100% score each time (including beating his brother Jonathan in the 2008 final and his uncle Gerry in the 2009 one), and he was without doubt the most accomplished Keddie player the club has produced.
He also played in plenty of league matches during these years, for the Cs and occasionally the Bs, and in the allegro league there was even a spell when the club fielded a third team (as opposed to the two of recent seasons), with this extra foursome, Stirling Douglas, seeing Nick playing alongside his father and brother. The progress of 2012 petered out, however: another big interest, bowls, began to be the priority (partly because the timings often seemed to clash), and while Nick scarcely played any more competitive chess he became an equally respected – and equally missed – member of the Alloa East End Bowling Club. Had he continued with the chess – and continued to make progress as in that sequence of tournaments in 2012 – then Nick would certainly have become at least a B team regular, and quite possibly graduated to the As in due course. As it was, there was always quiet hope that he would return to the game some day – something which, sadly, will now never happen.
The club sends sincere condolences to John, Fiona, Jonathan and the rest of the Blake family.
Nick, left, meets his brother Jonathan, 2006.
Nick, right, meets his brother Jonathan, 2008.
Nick receives the Keddie Cup.
| Stirling B v Badgers Brook B | ||||
| Tony Pitson Dave Hewitt Brad Duthie Craig Manson Tom Wallace |
1553 1474 1449 1387 1243 |
0 - 1 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 |
1617 1315 1306 1188 |
Graham Kerr Mark Brown Derek Raffan Dylan Gillies Gordon Walker |
| 4 - 1 | ||||
Thanks to Dave for the game below, his board 2 clash with Black against Mark Brown.
Brown - Hewitt
| Stirling C v Grangemouth B | ||||
| Craig Manson Brad Duthie Tom Wallace Robert Togneri Mick Bloor |
1387 1449 1243 1267 1163 |
1 - 0 ½ - ½ ½ - ½ 1 - 0 0 - 1 |
1721 1700 1272 1010 977 |
Ian Mason Baha Eksioglu Crawford Welsh David Fowler Scott Dickson |
| 3 - 2 | ||||
Thanks to Craig for the game below, from board 1, where he had Black against Ian Mason.
Mason - Manson
| Stirling v Cumbernauld | ||||
|
Jim Shemilt Graham Anderson Steve Smith Bill Cook Dave Hewitt Gordon Allcock Tony Pitson |
1756 1692 1676 1657 1474 1454 1553 |
½ - ½ ½ - ½ ½ - ½ 1 - 0 1 - 0 0 - 1 1 - 0 |
1729 1624 1556 1330 1284 |
Ralph Stirrat Mark Monaghan George Thomson Derek McAteer Steven Monaghan Daniel McAteer Steven Gentleman |
| 4½ - 2½ | ||||
The position below is from my game on board 2, where I was Black. Can you find the correct defense to the mate threat on g7?
I played 37 ... Ng4+ 38 hxg4 Qf6. This should just lose for Black - White swaps Queens, takes the pawn on c7, gets the Knight to a2, and plays the pawn majority down the king-side. In the time-scramble at the end, I managed to capture all of White's pawns to steal the draw.
The correct defense is 37 ... Qd6+ 38 g3 Nh5. Not exactly intuitive. If White captures the Knight on h5, his own Knight on e6 is en prise. Moving the King to break the pin on the g3 pawn leads to checks until the King has to return to h2, and Black just plays Qd6. Easy when you know how...
Thanks to Dave Hewitt for providing the game and analysis below, as an example of a blunder which he thinks is worse than 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. Nc3.
Chadha - Hewitt
| Stirling Wallace 7 - 9 Dunfermline Sharks | ||
| Round 1 | ||
| Jim Shemilt | ½ - ½ | Stuart Black |
| Steve Smith | 1 - 0 | Peter Horne |
| Craig Manson | ½ - ½ | Stewart Brisbane |
| Tom Wallace | ½ - ½ | Michael Roy |
| Round 2 | ||
| Jim Shemilt | 1 - 0 | Stewart Brisbane |
| Steve Smith | ½ - ½ | Michael Roy |
| Craig Manson | ½ - ½ | Peter Horne |
| Tom Wallace | 0 - 1 | Stewart Black |
| Round 3 | ||
| Jim Shemilt | 1 - 0 | Peter Horne |
| Steve Smith | 0 - 1 | Stuart Black |
| Craig Manson | 0 - 1 | Michael Roy |
| Tom Wallace | 0 - 1 | Stewart Brisbane |
| Round 4 | ||
| Jim Shemilt | 0 - 1 | Michael Roy |
| Steve Smith | 1 - 0 | Stewart Brisbane |
| Craig Manson | 0 - 1 | Stuart Black |
| Tom Wallace | ½ - ½ | Peter Horne |
I was going to do a post to detail the results of rounds 5, 6, and 7 but I now realise that I haven't documented rounds 3 and 4, played back in November, so here we go...
Division 1:-
Round 3 - 26 Nov 2016 - Thistles 3 - 2 Forth Valley A
Round 4 - 26 Nov 2016 - Forth Valley A 0 - 5 Dundee City A
Round 5 - 26 Feb 2017 - Forth Valley A 4 - 1 Wandering Dragons A
Round 6 - 26 Feb 2017 - Hamilton A 4½ - ½ Forth Valley A
Round 7 - 26 Mar 2017 - Forth Valley A 1½ - 3½ Edinburgh West
Forth Valley A are relegated from Division 1.
Divison 3:-
Round 3 - 26 Nov 2016 - Dunfermline Knights 3½ - 1½ Forth Valley B
Round 4 - 26 Nov 2016 - Forth Valley B 2 - 3 Oban
Round 5 - 26 Feb 2017 - Edinburgh 2 1½ - 3½ Forth Valley B
Round 6 - 26 Feb 2017 - Forth Valley B 1 - 4 Bon Accord
Round 7 - 26 Mar 2017 - Forth Valley B 4 - 1 Wandering Dragons B
Forth Valley B are relegated from Division 3.
Thanks to Dave Hewitt for providing the game below - his 7th round clash as Black against Edward McCosh.
McCosh - Hewitt
