| Stirling B | v | Cumbernauld B | ||
| Brad Duthie David McAlister Dave Hewitt John Blake Richard Warcup |
1494 1567 1547 1531 1463 |
½ - ½ ½ - ½ 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 |
1418 1225 1085 |
Derek McAteer Liam Heron Mark Heron Rayhan Hussein Chrysa Mitraka |
| 4 - 1 |
Time control: 15 minutes each for all moves
| Name | Grade | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Place | |
| 1 | Kabir Pandit | u/g | 1 W 9 | 2 B 13 | 3 W 4 | 4 B 3 | 5 W 6 | 1 |
| 2 | John Blake | 1631 | 1 B 10 | 2 W 8 | 2 B 3 | 3 W 7 | 4 B 5 | =2 |
| 3 | Graham Anderson | 1629 | 1W 11 | 2B 6 | 3 W 2 | 3 W 1 | 3 B 4 | =4 |
| 4 | Dave Hewitt | 1536 | 1 B 12 | 2 W 7 | 2 B 1 | 3 W 8 | 4 W 3 | =2 |
| 5 | Tom Wallace | 1492 | 0 W 13 | 1 B 15 | 2 W 14 | 2 B 6 | 2 W 2 | =10 |
| 6 | Brad Duthie | 1434 | 1 B 14 | 1 W 3 | 2 B 10 | 3 W 5 | 3 B 1 | =4 |
| 7 | Gordon Allcock | 1388 | 1 W 15 | 1 B 4 | 2 W 13 | 2 B 2 | 3 B 8 | =4 |
| 8 | Tony Pitson | 1377 | 1 Bye | 1 B 2 | 2 W 12 | 2 B 4 | 2 B 7 | =10 |
| 9 | Kenny MacPherson | 1308 | 0 B 1 | 0 W 12 | 1 B 15 | 1½ W 14 | 2½ B 11 | =8 |
| 10 | Mick Bloor | 1164 | 0 W 2 | 1 B 11 | 1 W 6 | 2 B 12 | 2 W 13 | =10 |
| 11 | Gordon Bowie | 616 | 0 B 3 | 0 W 10 | 1 Bye | 1 B 13 | 1 W 9 | =13 |
| 12 | Alex Brimlow | 548 | 0 W 4 | 1 B 9 | 1 B 8 | 1 W 10 | 1 B 14 | =13 |
| 13 | Dave Gendall | u/g | 1 B 5 | 1 W 1 | 1 B 7 | 2 W 11 | 3 B 10 | =4 |
| 14 | Glen Wilson | u/g | 0 W 6 | 1 Bye | 1 B 5 | 1½ B 9 | 2½ W 12 | =8 |
| 15 | Nadzieja Lu-cartoryjska | u/g | 0 B 7 | 0 W 5 | 0 W 9 | 1 Bye | 1 - | =13 |
Congratulations to Kabir, winning this with 5/5 on his first attempt! An honorable mention to Alex as well, for beating Kenny in round 2 - a grading difference of 760. Well done Alex!
Tony Pitson (left) presents the trophy to Kabir
| Dunfermline Minnows 5½ - 10½ Stirling Bruce | ||
| Round 1 | ||
| Calum Smith | 1 - 0 | Graham Anderson |
| Gonzalo Forero | ½ - ½ | Bill Cook |
| Gordon Greig | ½ - ½ | John Blake |
| Mark McLintock | 0 - 1 | Brad Duthie |
| Round 2 | ||
| Calum Smith | 0 - 1 | Bill Cook |
| Gonzalo Forero | 0 - 1 | John Blake |
| Gordon Grieg | ½ - ½ | Brad Duthie |
| Mark McLintock | 0 - 1 | Graham Anderson |
| Round 3 | ||
| Calum Smith | ½ - ½ | John Blake |
| Gonzalo Forero | 0 - 1 | Brad Duthie |
| Gordon Greig | 1 - 0 | Graham Anderson |
| Mark McLintock | ½ - ½ | Bill Cook |
| Round 4 | ||
| Calum Smith | 0 - 1 | Brad Duthie |
| Gonzalo Forero | 1 - 0 | Graham Anderson |
| Gordon Greig | 0 - 1 | Bill Cook |
| Mark McLintock | 0 - 1 | John Blake |
| Stirling E | v | Badgers Brook B | ||
| Tom Wallace Dave Gendall Kenny MacPherson Mick Bloor Glen Wilson |
1389 1326 1158 |
0 - 1 0 - 1 ½ - ½ 0 - 1 ½ - ½ |
1644 1497 1386 1267 877 |
John Smith Dave McGillvray Derek Raffan Gordon Walker Peter Woollven |
| 1 - 4 |
| Grangemouth B | v | Stirling E | ||
| Ian Mason Alasdair Sandham Hugh Hanlon Nicolas Whitton Daniel Kitaev |
1572 1341 1319 1032 743 |
1 - 0 ½ - ½ 1 - 0 1 - 0 1d - 0d |
1398 1389 1326 1158 |
Aaron Nobile Tom Wallace Kenny MacPherson Mick Bloor |
| 4½ - ½ |
| Badgers Brook B | v | Stirling Juniors | ||
| Dave McGilvray Derek Raffan Gordon Walker Peter Woollven Craig van der Heever |
1497 1386 1267 877 |
1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 |
592 406 |
Glen Wilson Ross Warcup Alex Brimlow Douglas Pringle Gordon Bowie |
| 5 - 0 |
| Stirling C | v | Stirling E | ||
| Craig Manson Tony Pitson Gordon Allcock Ross Coupland No Player |
1448 1413 1284 |
0 - 1 0 - 1 ½ - ½ 1 - 0 0 - 0 |
1398 1389 1326 1158 |
Aaron Nobile Tom Wallace Kenny MacPherson Mick Bloor No Player |
| 1½ - 2½ |
| Stirling C | v | Stirling Juniors | ||
| William Spiers Martyn Roe Tony Pitson Gordon Allcock Mick Bloor |
1640 1413 1284 1158 1425 |
1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 |
990 592 406 |
Martin Pringle Ross Warcup Alex Brimlow Gordon Bowie Douglas Pringle |
| 5 - 0 |
The Juniors are very, very close to pulling off wins...
It was the Night of Knight Moves. On board 5, Douglas, as White got to here against Mick.
The Bishop fork on c3 looks strong, but Douglas rescued it with Nd5!! After Qa5, unfortunately he didn't follow it up with Nxc3, but with Bd2 instead - not losing the fork, but not really gaining any advantage.
On board 1, honorary junior for 1 night only Martin, had a fantastic game against the returning William. After some early pressure, Martin got a wee bit stuck, and after move 28 ... Qh6 was here.
In time trouble, he found 29 Ng5! Not only threatening the fork on f7, but the Bishop on b7. Accidentally handing the exchange back later in the game was unfortunate, but a valiant effort against someone graded 600+ points above him.
In the interests of balance, Martyn also had a nice Nb6 move to win against Ross - but it wasn't as nice as the two above :)
| Stirling B | v | Grangemouth B | ||
| Brad Duthie Dave Hewitt John Blake Richard Warcup Martyn Roe |
1494 1547 1531 1463 1425 |
½ - ½ 0 - 1 ½ - ½ 1 - 0 1 - 0 |
1572 1341 1319 1281 1161 |
Ian Mason Alasdair Sandham Hugh Hanlon Crawford Welsh David Fowler |
| 3 - 2 |
| Stirling Wallace 7 - 9 Dunfermline Minnows | ||
| Round 1 | ||
| Kabir Pandit | ½ - ½ | Ian Robertson |
| David McAlister | 1 - 0 | Gonzalo Forero |
| Richard Warcup | 1 - 0 | Stewart Brisbane |
| Tom Wallace | ½ - ½ | Gordon Grieg |
| Round 2 | ||
| Tom Wallace | 0 - 1 | Ian Robertson |
| Kabir Pandit | 1 - 0 | Gonzalo Forero |
| David McAlister | 1 - 0 | Stewart Brisbane |
| Richard Warcup | 0 - 1 | Gordon Grieg |
| Round 3 | ||
| Gordon Allcock | 0 - 1 | Ian Robertson |
| Tom Wallace | 0 - 1 | Gonzalo Forero |
| Kabir Pandit | 1 - 0 | Stewart Brisbane |
| David McAlister | 0 - 1 | Gordon Grieg |
| Round 4 | ||
| David McAlister | 0 - 1 | Ian Robertson |
| Gordon Allcock | 0 - 1 | Gonzalo Forero |
| Tom Wallace | 0 - 1 | Stewart Brisbane |
| Kabir Pandit | 1 - 0 | Gordon Grieg |
| Stirling C | v | Badgers Brook B | ||
|
William Spiers Gordon Allcock Martyn Roe Tony Pitson Robert Togneri |
1640 1284 1425 1413 1236 |
0 - 1 0 - 1 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 |
1644 1497 1485 877 |
John Smith Dave McGilvray Mark Brown Peter Woollven Craig van der Heever |
| 3 - 2 |
Gordon's appearance on board 2 (out of grading order) was to the late arrival of Craig M back from holiday - Gordon stood in when it seemed as if Craig wasn't going to make it.
| Stirling E | v | Stirling B | ||
| Aaron Nobile Tom Wallace Kenny MacPherson Mick Bloor Craig Thomson |
1398 1389 1326 1158 824 |
½ - ½ 0 - 1 ½ - ½ 0 - 1 0 - 1 |
1494 1567 1547 1531 1463 |
Brad Duthie David McAlister Dave Hewitt John Blake Richard Warcup |
| 1 - 4 |
| Grangemouth A | v | Stirling A | ||
|
Graham Hamilton Alan Bell Dougie Will David Wallace Ian Mason |
1984 1970 1816 1735 1572 |
1 - 0 1 - 0 ½ - ½ 0 - 1 1 - 0 |
1793 1753 1662 1592 |
Kabir Pandit Jim Shemilt Steve Smith Graham Anderson Bill Cook |
| 3½ - 1½ |
This is my game from board 4, where I had White against David Wallace. A very topsy-turvy game - after 18 g4 I felt I had he initiative, but handed it back with 22 Qh5 and 25 Qh6. 29 Ne5+ saved my bacon.
| Stirling B | v | Stirling C | ||
| Brad Duthie David McAlister Dave Hewitt John Blake Richard Warcup |
1494 1567 1547 1531 1463 |
½ - ½ 0 - 1 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 |
1425 1398 1389 1413 1284 |
Martyn Roe Aaron Nobile Tom Wallace Tony Pitson Gordon Allcock |
| 3½ - 1½ |
| Grangemouth B | v | Stirling C | ||
|
Ian Mason Alaisdair Sandham Hugh Hanlon Crawford Welsh David Fowler |
1572 1341 1319 1281 1161 |
½ - ½ 1 - 0 ½ - ½ 0 - 1 1 - 0 |
1640 1448 1398 1326 1158 |
William Spiers Craig Manson Aaron Nobile Kenny MacPherson Mick Bloor |
| 3 - 2 |
Thanks to Kenny for providing the game below, where he was Black and facing Bird's opening for the first time.
Thanks to David for providing this game, played recently as a qualifier for the Richrdson Cup (club championship), and for the new format for showing games.
| Badgers Brook B | v | Stirling B | ||
| Mark Brown Dylan Gillies
Gordon Walker
Peter Woollven
Craig van den Heever
|
1485 1378 1267 877 |
0- 1 ½ - ½ ½ - ½ 0 - 1
0 - 1
1 - 4
|
1494 1567
1547
1531
1463
|
Brad Duthie
David McAlister
Dave Hewitt
John Blake
Richard Warcup
|
Thanks to Brad for providing the game below, where he had White against Mark Brown.
| Stirling A | v | Badgers Brook A | ||
|
Kabir Pandit Steve Smith Graham Anderson Bill Cook David McAlister |
1753 1662 1592 1567 |
1 - 0 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1 |
1994 1943 1896 1497 1485 |
Kenny McGeoch Mark Cooke Andrew Newton Dave McGilvray Mark Brown |
| 1 - 4 |
Unfortunately Jim was unable to take his place on board 2 due to illness, and we hope he's feeling better soon. Well done to Kabir on board 1, playing his first ever over the board long form game, and saving the team from a whitewash!
| Stirling B | v | Stirling Juniors | ||
| Brad Duthie David McAlister Dave Hewitt John Blake Richard Warcup |
1494 1567 1547 1531 1463 |
1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 |
592 406 |
Glen Wilson Ross Warcup Alex Brimlow Gordon Bowie Douglas Pringle |
| 5 - 0 |
| Stirling Bruce 9-7 Stirling Wallace | ||
| Round 1 | ||
| Graham Anderson | 0 - 1 | Kabir Pandit |
| Bill Cook | 0 - 1 | Steve Smith |
| John Blake | 1 - 0 | David McAlister |
| Brad Duthie | ½ - ½ | Tom Wallace |
| Round 2 | ||
| Graham Anderson | 1 - 0 | Tom Wallace |
| Bill Cook | 0 - 1 | Kabir Pandit |
| John Blake | 1 - 0 | Steve Smith |
| Brad Duthie | 1 - 0 | David McAlister |
| Round 3 | ||
| Graham Anderson | 0 - 1 | David McAlister |
| Bill Cook | 1 - 0 | Tom Wallace |
| John Blake | ½ - ½ | Kabir Pandit |
| Brad Duthie | 1 - 0 | Steve Smith |
| Round 4 | ||
| Graham Anderson | ½ - ½ | Steve Smith |
| Bill Cook | 1 - 0 | David McAlister |
| John Blake | 0 - 1 | Tom Wallace |
| Brad Duthie | ½ - ½ | Kabir Pandit |
Great to have John back playing competitive chess again, and an impressive debut from Kabir.
|
Name
|
Grade
|
Allegro Grade
|
Neil Irving Jim Shemilt Steve Smith Graham Anderson Bill Cook David McAlister Dave Hewitt John Blake Robert Leckie Brad Duthie Richard Warcup Craig Manson Martyn Roe Tony Pitson Aaron Nobile Tom Wallace Kenny MacPherson Nikolai Herrmann Gordon Allcock Robert Togneri Mick Bloor Martin Pringle Craig Thomson Tom McKay Jordan Leach Harry Gray Ross Warcup Garth Armitage Alex Brimlow Ross Coupland Gordon Bowie Douglas Pringle |
1901 1793 1753 1662 1592 1567 1547 1531 1497 1494 1463 1448 1425 1413 1398 1389 1326 1317 1284 1236 1158 990 824 770 653 623 592 580 406 |
1757 1648 1542 1629 1549 1624 1536 1531 1502 1434 1602 1222 1407 1377 1389 1492 1308 1121 1388 1166 1164 1244 734 770 653 623 751 395 548 664 616 408 |
Stirling chess club restarts for its autumn session on Monday 2 September, 7pm at the usual venue - upstairs in St Columba's. If you arrive late and the downstairs door is locked, just ring the bell and someone will come down to let you in. All chess players and enthusiasts welcome, as ever - it will be good to see existing members back after the summer break, and new recruits (or old stagers returning after a gap) are just as welcome. It will be a busy season with (probably) an extra league team plus the usual selection of club tournaments - lots of games for everyone, whether at the traditional one-game-per-evening rate or at one of the faster time controls. We have plenty of sets, boards, clocks etc - plus an extensive club library - so it's simply a case of coming along and playing. There is also regular coaching for juniors and eager-to-improve adults.
We meet every Monday evening until just before Christmas, when there is a two-week festive break before we recommence until the end of May. The first night, this coming Monday, will see the club agm - usually taking about 90 minutes - followed by a few rounds (ideally five, if there's time) of blitz chess at the fast and furious rate of three minutes per game plus two seconds added per move.
Hope to see lots of people on Monday as things get going again. It's a busy, friendly and competitive club and very much the place to come if you're in the Stirling/Dunblane/Hillfoots etc area and want to improve your chess.
It was a busy season in terms of the internal competitions, with the number of graded games seeing an increase compared with 2017-18. There were 70 games played in the three regular time control competitions (25 Richardson Cup including the qualifying tournament, 36 Lindsay Cup, 19 Thornton Cup), 14 up on the previous season, while the allegro format saw an increase from 114 to 159 games (54 and 38 in the two Robert Togneri Trophy tournaments, 65 in the Quickplay Cup, 12 in the new David Brodie Trophy and two allegro playoff games in the Lindsay Cup). The number of ungraded blitz games increased slightly, from 77 to 79. A summary of internal games played over the past five seasons is as follows:
| Season | Graded regular | Graded allegro | Blitz | Overall |
| 2018-19 | 70 | 171 | 79 | 320 | 2017-18 | 56 | 114 | 77 | 247 |
| 2016-17 | 55 | 81 | 62 | 198 |
| 2015-16 | 65 | 111 | 103 | 279 |
| 2014-15 | 76 | 125 | 20 | 221 |
The main increase in 2018-19 came in the allegro category, due to three factors: the introduction of an allegro tournament for juniors, the experiment of having two-game mini matches in the knockout phase of the Quickplay Cup, and the overall rise in club membership, with most of the new people being keen on the faster stuff. The number of regular long-form games returned to its normal level after two seasons in each of which two Richardson players started then withdrew during the tournament; this time, happily, all seven were able to stay the course.
For the third season in a row there was no overspill – everything was completed by the last club night, although one of the Lindsay semi-final replays took place away from the club, two Lindsay group-stage games were not played (with no effect on the qualifying places), and the latter stages of the Quickplay Cup became quite complicated due to the old problem of people being away on holiday in the spring.
Once again, thanks are due to Steve Smith for feeding the regular and allegro results into the Chess Scotland grading system. The busy league schedule remains a concern in terms of getting internal games played, and in the coming season it will be a case of people playing games in the internal competitions whenever the league schedule serves up a gap, especially in the first half of the season.
Richardson Cup (main club championship)
Steve Smith retained the title with a score of 4½/6, ahead of David McAlister (making his debut) and Martyn Roe (lowest grader and winner of the autumn qualifying tournament), each on 3½/6. It was one of the closest Richardsons in recent years: with two rounds to go any of four people could still win it, and a tiebreak or even a playoff looked quite likely. It was Steve’s sixth win overall in a sequence dating back to 1988-89, taking him to joint-third in terms of most titles, level with A W Gray, George Owen and James Keddie, and behind only Maxwell Thornton (15) and Paul Prescott (10).
It was the thirteenth consecutive season when the highest-grader won the tournament – the last instance of this not happening was John Blake’s second win, in 2005-06, when he was graded below Steve. It was also only the fourth time in the past 15 seasons when the winner lost a game en route to the title – Steve lost on time to Dave Hewitt this season and the previous examples came courtesy of John losing to Dave in 2005-06 and Paul losing to Robin Hayles and Dave (again) in 2006-07 and 2011-12 respectively.
A more serious point is that this most recent Richardson was the weakest in terms of grading strength for at least the past 15 seasons. With none of Neil, Jim, Graham or Bill being able to play, it comprised two A-team nominees, three from the Bs and two from the Cs, with an average grade of 1522. While this made for an exciting and open tournament, it demonstrates a worrying trend in terms of the overall state of the club: lots of members (good), but a lack of top-end strength (not so good). This coming season, with Graham and Bill potentially back in the line-up, the average Richardson grade should be a little higher, and it’s to be hoped that this marks the start of an upward curve.
The list that follows might be of interest in terms of the comparative strength of Richardson tournaments over the past 15 years. Apart from where indicated, all tournaments had seven players, and the details show the average grade followed by the grade for the highest and lowest players:
2004-05 average 1650, high 1927 Paul Prescott, low 1524 Robin Hayles
2005-06 average 1612, high 1746 Steve Smith, low 1489 Robert Togneri
2006-07 average 1622, high 1939 Paul Prescott, low 1465 Robin Hayles (eight players)
2007-08 average 1598, high 1915 Paul Prescott, low 1488 Gordon Allcock (six players)
2008-09 average 1603, high 1937 Paul Prescott, low 1488 Harvey Kelly
2009-10 average 1631, high 1938 Paul Prescott, low 1495 John Blake
2010-11 average 1592, high 1957 Paul Prescott, low 1288 Gordon Allcock
2011-12 average 1600, high 1972 Paul Prescott, low 1292 Jonathan Blake
2012-13 average 1654, high 1943 Paul Prescott, low 1564 Tony Pitson
2013-14 average 1675, high 1949 Paul Prescott, low 1518 Dave Hewitt
2014-15 average 1751, high 1960 Paul Prescott, low 1536 Tony Pitson
2015-16 average 1725, high 1970 Paul Prescott, low 1460 Gordon Allcock
2016-17 average 1633, high 1910 Shivan Murdochy, low 1469 Robert Leckie
2017-18 average 1543, high 1704 Steve Smith, low 1386 Tom Wallace
2018-19 average 1522, high 1712 Steve Smith, low 1379 Martyn Roe
For 2019-20, the intention is to retain the seven-player format, comprising the champion (Steve), the Lindsay Cup winner (Tom Wallace), the next four by grade who want to take part, plus the winner of the now customary KO for the next four graders, contested in the first few weeks of the season. The scheduled dates for the first two rounds are 14 October and 4 November, while the qualifying KO dates are 23 September (semis) and 14 October (final).
Lindsay Cup (reserve championship)
Tom Wallace won the Lindsay for the second time in three seasons (and hence the second consecutive time he had played in it), beating newcomer Kenny MacPherson in the final on the last night of the season. Both semi-finals went to replays (and in one case a second replay at a faster rate) and were exciting for players and spectators alike, with the defeated players (Nikolai Herrmann and Mick Bloor) each having chances to win.
With an increased number of players due to the early-season surge in membership, the Lindsay reverted to a four-group format (having had just two large groups the previous season), with five or six players per group. There was the usual issue with people dropping out during the autumn, and groups A and D ended with just three players each, groups B and C five and four respectively. Two players went through to the quarter-finals from each group, with the closest group being C, where Nikolai – who had an excellent first season and was, like Kenny, rewarded with an eventual first grade in the 1300s – beat Robert Togneri, more than 60 years his senior, in an allegro tiebreak to split first and second place. Two more newcomers – Ross Coupland and Jordan Leach – also did well in the groups and qualified for the KO phase. Indeed, it was very encouraging to see each of the four quarter-finals being contested by an established member and someone who hadn’t attended the club before this past season.
With numbers still looking high, the intention for the new season is to again use the four-group format with two going through from each group. At present, even without the addition of more new members, it looks as if there could be around 18 starters in the Lindsay, so the intention is to begin fairly early – the first scheduled date is 21 October – with the group phase being completed around Easter and the KO games being played during May. As ever, it’s open to everyone who is not in the main Richardson all-play-all (including the three players defeated in the Richardson qualifying KO).
Thornton Cup (lower-grade knockout)
The previous season’s winner, Alex Scott, was unable to defend the title due to being on the other side of the Atlantic, but 18 members took part and the cup was won, early in the new year, by Gordon Allcock who beat Tom Wallace in an interesting final. As with the Lindsay, both semis went to replays (the losing players this time being Nikolai Herrmann and Robert Togneri), but oddly there were no other drawn games in the tournament.
There was a slight amendment to the qualification rules, due to a knock-on effect from the weaker than average Richardson. In recent seasons the Thornton ceiling has been a grade of 1450, but no one taking part in the four-player Richardson qualifying KO has been eligible even if their grade was lower than this. However, all of last season’s Richardson qualifying contestants were graded below 1450 (in fact all four were below 1380), and excluding all of them would have given the Thornton a somewhat odd structure, so it was decided to allow the three Richardson non-qualifiers (Robert Togneri, Gordon Allcock and Mick Bloor) into the event. It remains to be seen how things shape up for the coming season, but assuming the Richardson becomes stronger again the Thornton would revert to no sub-1450 players from the Richardson qualifying event being eligible. This is largely to give the lower-graded and ungraded members more of a chance of winning silverware than they have in the Lindsay.
The intended start-date for this season’s Thornton is 30 September, with games being slotted in as and when the league schedule allows (the introduction of a Stirling E team complicates matters with both the Thornton and the Lindsay), and the final will be played early in 2020. As with the Richardson and the Lindsay, games (including first replays) will be played at the rate of 30 moves in an hour followed by a quickplay finish of 20 minutes.
Keddie Cup (festive handicap)
An enjoyable pre-Christmas evening saw a junior member win the Keddie for the fourth season in a row, with 2017-18 runner-up Idris Benwell (grade 376) going one better this time and beating newcomer Harry Gray (estimated grade 1100) in the final. Harry was perhaps a bit weary in that his semi against Kenny MacPherson had gone to a second replay, whereas Idris had beaten Jordan Leach at the first time of asking, but it was a good final and an excellent tournament all round. Thoughts of a record entry didn’t quite come to fruition, but 27 was still a healthy number. Five group winners and the best three runners-up went through to the KO phase. In two groups it was impossible to split ties by normal means, so lots were drawn, although both of these runners-up (Garth Armitage and Tom McKay) were unlucky in that they still didn’t qualify for the KOs.
Given the sequence of junior wins, there has been some discussion of adjusting the rules to give the adult players a bit more of a chance. From an organisational / handicapper point of view, my feeling is that the recent sequence – with four different junior winners – is less of a concern than if the cup was being won by the same player repeatedly (and it should be noted that there were three consecutive adult winners – again all different – immediately before the current run of junior wins). One suggestion is that the lowest time-allocation (where the grading gap exceeds 720) should be upped from three minutes to four. I’m not sure about this – until a few years ago it used to be two minutes, and quite a few games were won by the higher-graded player on that basis! – and it might be worth seeing what happens this December before making another change of that kind. However, one adjustment that might be made immediately is that whereas the current system uses a player’s allegro grade, henceforth the higher of a player’s two grades could be used. Clearly this affects higher-graded adults as much as low-graded juniors, but the effect would probably be more marked for juniors. On that basis, only one member on the new grading list would have a Keddie grade below 500 (Douglas Pringle, 408) and only one more would be below 600 (Alex Brimlow, 548). The last two Keddies have both been won with grades below 400.
Thanks to all who assisted with arrangements and provided raffle prizes and home baking in the 2018 event, much appreciated as ever. The 2019 Keddie will be held on 16 December.
Robert Togneri Trophy, November and May editions (27th and 28th in the series)
Remarkably, and very impressively, these were again both won by Graham Anderson, with 4½/5 and 4/5 respectively, taking him to four wins in a row and two clear in the series (nine wins, ahead of Steve Smith on seven and John Blake on five). Runner-up in the November edition (which had a joint-record entry of 23) was Richard Warcup, with Brad Duthie, David McAlister, Tony Pitson, Steve Smith and Tom Wallace in a big tie for third. In May (17 entrants), Brad Duthie, Dave Hewitt and David McAlister came joint-second. Both tournaments were played at a rate of 15 minutes for all moves, although in the May event Aaron Nobile was given an extra three minutes per game as an experimental adjustment for disability. The autumn allegro for 2019-20 will be on 2 December; at present there is no date for the spring edition, but it’s likely to be played in May.
Opening-night blitz
There was only time for four rounds of this (played at three minutes plus two seconds per move), but there was a clear winner: Graham Anderson, 3½/4. Brad Duthie was runner-up with 3/4. Eight players took part.
New Year blitz
This was well attended, with 18 players, all of whom stayed for the full seven rounds. Winner: Steve Smith, 6/7. Runner-up: Graham Anderson, 5½/7. This season’s tournament will be held on 6 January 2020.
Quickplay Cup
This was something of a stop-start affair, with a batch of games played in the autumn, then a long gap before a flurry of activity in the final couple of months of the season. The time control reverted an incremental one, 12 minutes plus five seconds per move (having earlier been a flat 15 minutes), and there was also a change in the structure, with two all-play-all groups each producing four qualifiers who then contested the knockout rounds in a series of two-game mini-matches. Curiously, none of the seven matches required extra games: five matches ended 2-0 and the other two 1½-½. The jury is thus out on the structure (which has the potential for Armageddon playoffs), and the suggestion is that the same structure is tried again this coming season – although with the group stage being completed earlier, ideally by Easter. Bill Cook and Tony Pitson both qualified from the groups then withdrew, their places in the quarter-finals being taken by Nikolai Herrmann and Kenny MacPherson respectively. The final was on the last night of the season, with Richard Warcup taking the title courtesy of a 2-0 win against Tom Wallace – who had already played (and won) the Lindsay Cup final that evening, and who had an excellent tournament season overall, reaching the final of each of the three competitions he entered. Richard became the seventh player to win the Quickplay Cup (which doesn’t have an actual trophy, just undying fame), with only Graham Anderson thus far having won it more than once.
David Brodie Trophy
A new addition to the calendar, a one-night, double-round allegro held in April for the junior members – five in this case – and played at a rate of 12 minutes plus five seconds per move. Alex Brimlow won with an unbeaten 5/6, ahead of Idris Benwell, 3/6. A fine new cup was kindly donated by Jim Shemilt, and it was very good indeed to see this presented to Alex by Marissa and Nadine, daughters of the much-missed club stalwart in whose memory this tournament is played. This season’s edition will be played sometime in spring 2020.
Dave Hewitt, competitions secretary, August 2019
Congratulations to Steve Smith, winner of the Richardson Cup for the second year in a row with 4½/6! Congratulations also to Richard Warcup, who defeated Tom Wallace in the final of the season long allegro competition!
On Monday night, the Lindsay Cup Final was played between Tom Wallace (left) and Kenny MacPherson. The game played out as follows, with Tom as White.
Bill Cook (right) presents Tom with the trophy.
On Monday night, the juniors participated in the very first Chessercise session - possibly the very first in the world. Taking inspiration from chess boxing, they played 6 minutes of chess followed by 1 minute of "carefully" chosen exercises. Kudos to Samay for a backward plank on one hand and foot, Alex for making more noise than everyone else put together while mooing like a cow, Ross for his touch "mooove" jokes, and Gordon for making the whole session seem effortless.
When they achieve their GM norms, I'll upload the videos to Youtube...
I hope you all enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to next year's session.
Congratulations to the B team, seen here with the Central League Division 2 shield. Left to right: Tom Wallace, Dave Hewitt (captain), Bill Cook, Brad Duthie, Richard Warcup, Gordon Allcock. Absent: Tony Pitson (top scorer) and Craig Manson. Well done all!
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.
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.
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.
| 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 |
| 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.
| 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 |
| 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.
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.
