11 May 2017 - Under 1500 Cup

Cumbernauld v Stirling
Ronnie Wallace Derek McAteer Steven Monaghan Daniel McAteer Steven Gentleman	1460 1330 1284	½ - ½ 1 - 0 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1	1474 1454 1449 1387 1243	Dave Hewitt Gordon Allcock Brad Duthie Craig Manson Tom Wallace
		1½ - 3½

Dave Hewitt writes:- A tight and exciting cup final. Stirling went ahead early on due to Brad's quick win against Steven M courtesy of a Bxf7+ tactic, and the lead was extended after Tom beat the other Steven in a very sharp-looking game. Things looked good for Stirling at this stage, but Derek won an exchange against Gordon and duly converted the win, so that put things very much back in the balance. I'd perhaps been better for a while against Ronnie but lost my way a little against good defence and we found ourselves in drawish territory but without either of us being able to offer due to the match situation.

Meanwhile Craig and Daniel were having a right old scrap on board 4, with Craig having passed pawns and back-rank threats but starting to run short of time. I kept shuttling across the room to see what was what, and was relieved when a N exchange led to a clear win for Craig as he was able to queen two pawns in quick succession and then deliver mate with two minutes left on his clock. With the match now decided, Ronnie and I immediately shook hands and we all went home.

Thanks to Cumbernauld for their hospitality and good sportsmanship in a match that could have gone either way - a Cumbernauld win on board count was a distinct possibility for a while. Stirling thus win the u1500 cup for the the eighth time in the past ten seasons. This one was particularly nice for the club to win, on behalf of David Brodie who is still the u1500 captain but has been absent due to illness this past while as most of you will know - I've been acting as his stand-in.

L to R: Brad Duthie, Tom Wallace, Craig Manson, Gordon Allcock, Dave Hewitt

Thanks to Tom for providing his game.

[Event "U1500 Cumbernauld v Stirling"] [Site "Cumbernauld CC"] [Date "2017.05.11"] [Round "F"] [White "Wallace, T"] [Black "Gentleman, S"] [Result "1-0"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. b3 e6 4. Bb2 d6 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Nf6 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. e5 Nd5 9. c4 Qa5+ 10. Nd2 Nb6 11. exd6 Bxd6 12. Bxg7 Rg8 13. Bh6 Be5 14. Qh5 Qc3 15. Rd1 Bb7 16. Be3 Rg7 17. Qh4 Nd7 18. Bf4 Bf6 19. Qh5 a6 20. Bd6 Rc8 21. c5 Be5 22. Bc4 Bxd6 23. cxd6 Nf6 24. Qh4 Rxg2 25. Kf1 Rg4 26. d7+ Kxd7 27. Ne4+ Ke8 28. Nxf6+ Kf8 29. Nd7+ Ke8 30. Qxg4 Rd8 31. Qg8+ Ke7 32. Qg5+ Ke8 33. Nf6+ Ke7 34. Ne4+ Qf6 35. Qxf6+ Ke8 36. Qxd8# 1-0