25 February 2019 - Central Allegro League

Stirling Bruce 3½-12½ Grangemouth
Round 1
Graham Anderson	½ - ½	Uby Archibong
Bill Cook	½ - ½	Dougie Will
Brad Duthie	0 - 1	Ian Mason
Richard Warcup	0 - 1	Hugh Hanlon
Round 2
Graham Anderson	0 - 1	Dougie Will
Bill Cook	0 - 1	Ian Mason
Brad Duthie	1 - 0	Hugh Hanlon
Dave Hewitt	1 - 0	Uby Archibong
Round 3
Graham Anderson	0 - 1	Ian Mason
Bill Cook	0 - 1	Hugh Hanlon
Brad Duthie	0 - 1	Uby Archibong
Dave Hewitt	0 - 1	Dougie Will
Round 4
Graham Anderson	0 - 1	Hugh Hanlon
Bill Cook	0 - 1	Uby Archibong
Brad Duthie	0 - 1	Dougie Will
Dave Hewitt	½ - ½	Ian Mason

 

Stirling Wallace 8-8 Dunfermline Sharks
Round 1
Steve Smith	1 - 0	Fred Ossowski
David McAlister	½ - ½	Stewart Brisbane
Tony Pitson	0 - 1	Mark McLintock
Gordon Allcock	1 - 0	Derek Rodger
Round 2
Steve Smith	1 - 0	Derek Rodger
David McAlister	0 - 1	Fred Ossowski
Tony Pitson	0 - 1	Stewart Brisbane
Gordon Allcock	1 - 0	Mark McLintock
Round 3
Steve Smith	0 - 1	Mark McLintock
David McAlister	1 - 0	Derek Rodger
Tony Pitson	½ - ½	Fred Ossowski
Gordon Allcock	0 - 1	Stewart Brisbane
Round 4
Steve Smith	0 - 1	Stewart Brisbane
David McAlister	1 - 0	Mark McLintock
Tony Pitson	1 - 0	Derek Rodger
Gordon Allcock	0 - 1	Fred Ossowski

18 February 2019 - Central League Division 2

Stirling C		v		Grangemouth B
Craig Manson Tom Wallace Gordon Allcock Kenny MacPherson Tom MacKay	1436 1385 1226   766	½ - ½ 0 - 1 1 - 0 ½ - ½ 0 - 1	1720 1620 1351 1337 1104	Duncan Glassey Ian Mason Crawford Welsh Hugh Hanlon David Fowler
		2 - 3

18 February 2019 - Central League Division 1

Badgers Brook A		v		Stirling A
Suzy Cooke Kenny McGeoch Mark Cooke Fabio Biancalana Mark Brown	1997 1966 1964 1705 1483	½ - ½ 1 - 0 ½ - ½ 1 - 0 0 - 1	1771 1712 1667 1576 1488	Jim Shemilt Steve Smith Graham Anderson Bill Cook Brad Duthie
		3 - 2

With nearly as many as call-offs as the Scotland squad, we travelled in hope more than expectation. Bill and Brad finished pretty much together, at 1-1, then Jim finished with a draw on the top board. I offered a draw with both of us down to three minutes - I had hoped that my passed a5, b5 and c5 pawns would win the game, but see below. In time trouble at the very end, down to seconds, Steve blundered his Bishop (which was waiting to take Kenny's last remaining pawn and thus secure the draw) to give Badgers Brook the victory.

[Event "Badgers Brook A v Stirling A"] [Site "Badgers Brook CC"] [Date "2019.02.18"] [Round "-"] [White "Anderson, G"] [Black "Cooke, M"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Be3 Bb4 7. Bd3 d5 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. exd5 cxd5 10. Bd2 { Not my finest opening, and I'm feeling quite deflated here. } 10... O-O 11. O-O e5 12. a3 Be7 13. b4 e4 14. Bb5 Bb7 { Although this seems fairly innocuous (it prevents Bc6), this move seems to be the cause of Black's later problems. } 15. Be3 { Although Black's d5 and e4 pawns look commanding in the centre of the board, they now can't really go anywhere. } 15... Rc8 16. Na4 { Aiming for c5. } 16... a6 17. Be2 Nd7 18. Rc1 { Looking to disrupt Black's pawns with c4. } 18... Ne5 19. Nc5 Bxc5 20. Bxc5 Re8 21. Qd4 Nc6 22. Qb2 Qg5 23. Rfd1 Ne5 24. Be3 Qg6 25. Qd4 Rc4 26. Qb6 Rc6 { We're both short on time to get to the time control, and only after I played my next move did I realise I could have just taken on b7... } 27. Qd4 Rf6 28. Kf1 Ng4 29. Bxg4 Qxg4 30. Qa7 { White makes the time control with seconds to spare. } 30... Bc6 31. Qxa6 Rg6 32. g3 Qh3+ { I'm not sure I can hang on to the pawn, but let's give it a shot. The option was for the King to run to the Queen side. } 33. Kg1 h5 34. Qf1 Qg4 35. b5 Bb7 36. a4 h4 37. a5 { Stockfish recommends Rd2 instead. } 37... hxg3 38. hxg3 Qd7 39. c4 Qd6 40. c5 Rxg3+ 41. fxg3 Qxg3+ 42. Kh1 Re5 43. Qg2 Rh5+ 44. Kg1 Qxe3+ 45. Qf2 { We're both down to three minutes here, and I offered a draw, which was accepted after a minute. White will have to sacrifice the Queen for the Rook, and Black has a lot of checks. Stockfish, however, has other ideas - Black wins. 45 ... Rg5+ 46 Kf1 Qh3+ 47 Ke2 Rg2 48 Qxg2 Qxg2+ 49 Ke3 Qf3+ 50 Kd4 Qf6+ 51 Ke3 d4+ 52 Rxd4 Qf3+ 53 Kd2 Qf2+ 54 Kc3 Qe3+ 55 Kc4 Qxc1+ 56 Kb4 e3 57 Rd8+ Kh7 58 c6 e2 59 Re8 e1=B+ 60 Rxe1 Qxe1+ 61 Kc4 Bc8 62 b6 Qe2+ 63 Kc5 Qe5+ 64 Kc4 Ba6+ 65 Kb3 Qb5+ 66 Kc2 Qxc6+ 67 Kb3 Qb5+ 68 Kc2 Qxa5 69 b7 Bxb7 70 Kb3 Ba6 } 1/2-1/2

Thanks to Brad for the game and (heavily edited) analysis below, where he had Black against Mark Brown.

[Event "Badgers Brook A v Stirling A"] [Site "Badgers Brook CC"] [Date "2019.02.18"] [Round "?"] [White "Mark Brown"] [Black "Brad Duthie"] [Result "0-1"] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 { C01: French Defense: Exchange Variation, 3...exd5 } 4.c3 Nf6 5.Bg5 { (+0.13 ? -0.53) Inaccuracy. A better move was 5. Bd3. } ( 5.Bd3 5...Bd6 6.Nf3 6...O-O 7.O-O 7...c6 8.Re1 8...Re8 9.Bg5 9...Rxe1+ ) 5...Be7 { (-0.48 ? +0.22) Inaccuracy. A better move was 5... Bd6. } ( 5...Bd6 6.Bd3 ) 6.Bd3 h6 7.Bf4 Bg4 8.f3 { (+0.18 ? -0.50) Inaccuracy. A better move was 8. Nf3. } ( 8.Nf3 8...O-O 9.O-O 9...Bd6 10.Bxd6 10...Qxd6 11.h3 11...Bxf3 12.Qxf3 12...Nbd7 ) 8...Be6 { (-0.78 ? -0.20) Inaccuracy. A better move was 8... Bd7. } ( 8...Bd7 9.Ne2 9...c5 10.O-O 10...Nc6 11.Na3 11...c4 12.Bc2 12...Qa5 13.Ng3 ) 9.Ne2 Nbd7 10.b4 Nh5 11.Be3 Bd6 12.O-O Qh4 13.f4 Bg4 14.Nd2 { (-1.01 ? -2.62) Inaccuracy. A better move was 14. Na3. } ( 14.Na3 14...Qe7 ) 14...Qe7 15.Kf2 { (-2.26 ? -4.06) Inaccuracy. A better move was 15. Bf2. } ( 15.Bf2 15...Nxf4 ) 15...Qh4+ 16.Kg1 Qe7 17.Bf2 Nxf4 18.Nf3 Bxf3 19.gxf3 Qg5+ 20.Ng3 { (-2.90 ? -7.19) Mistake. The best move was 20. Bg3. } ( 20.Bg3 ) 20...Nh3+ { (-7.74 ? -1.76) Blunder. The best move was 20... h5. } ( 20...h5 ) 21.Kg2 Nf4+ 22.Kh1 O-O-O 23.Be3 h5 24.Rg1 Qf6 25.Bc2 { (-2.33 ? -3.51) Inaccuracy. A better move was 25. Nf5. } ( 25.Nf5 25...Nxd3 ) 25...h4 { (-2.76 ? -1.49) Inaccuracy. A better move was 25... g6. } ( 25...g6 26.Qd2 ) 26.Nf5 Nh5 { (-1.08 ? -0.41) Inaccuracy. A better move was 26... g6. } ( 26...g6 27.Qd2 27...Ne6 28.Nxd6+ 28...cxd6 29.f4 29...Nb6 30.Qd3 30...Nc4 31.Raf1 ) 27.Bg5 Ng3+ 28.Rxg3 hxg3 29.Bxf6 Rxh2+ 30.Kg1 Nxf6 31.Nxd6+ cxd6 32.Bf5+ Kb8 33.Qe1 Rdh8 34.Qxg3 Rh1+ 35.Kg2 Rxa1 36.Qf2 { (0.00 ? -5.87) Blunder. The best move was 36. Qxd6+. } ( 36.Qxd6+ 36...Ka8 37.Qc7 37...Rxa2+ 38.Kg1 38...Ra1+ 39.Kf2 39...Ra2+ ) 36...Rah1 { (-6.13 ? -3.38) Mistake. The best move was 36... Rhh1. } ( 36...Rhh1 ) 37.Kg3 { (-4.13 ? -9.33) Mistake. The best move was 37. Qg3. } ( 37.Qg3 37...Kc7 ) 37...Nh5+ { (-9.52 ? -5.91) Mistake. The best move was 37... R8h4. } ( 37...R8h4 38.Qd2 38...Nh5+ 39.Kf2 39...R4h2+ 40.Ke3 40...Rxd2 41.Kxd2 41...Ng3 42.Bd3 ) 38.Kg4 g6 39.Bd3 Nf6+ { (-7.08 ? -3.47) Blunder. The best move was 39... f5+. } ( 39...f5+ 40.Kg5 ) 40.Kg5 Nh7+ 41.Kf4 Nf8 42.Bf1 Ne6+ 43.Ke3 f5 { (-7.83 ? -4.96) Mistake. The best move was 43... g5. } ( 43...g5 44.Qg2 44...f5 45.c4 45...R8h2 46.cxd5 46...Rxg2 47.Bxg2 47...Re1+ 48.Kf2 ) 44.a4 { (-4.74 ? -7.72) Inaccuracy. A better move was 44. f4. } ( 44.f4 44...R8h4 ) 44...R8h2 45.Bg2 f4+ { (-9.12 ? -6.11) Inaccuracy. A better move was 45... Rc1. } ( 45...Rc1 46.f4 46...g5 47.Qd2 47...Rg1 48.Kf3 48...g4+ 49.Kg3 49...Rhxg2+ 50.Qxg2 ) 46.Kd3 Rd1+ { (-7.22 ? -3.09) Blunder. The best move was 46... Ra1. } ( 46...Ra1 47.a5 47...Nxd4 48.cxd4 48...Ra3+ 49.Ke2 49...Ra2+ 50.Kf1 50...Ra1+ 51.Ke2 ) 47.Kc2 Ra1 48.Kb3 Rb1+ { (-4.98 ? -3.04) Mistake. The best move was 48... a6. } ( 48...a6 49.Qe2 49...Nc7 50.Qf2 50...Rah1 51.b5 51...axb5 52.a5 52...Ka7 53.Kb4 ) 49.Ka2 Rc1 50.Kb2 Rd1 51.a5 { (-3.96 ? -6.01) Inaccuracy. A better move was 51. Kc2. } ( 51.Kc2 ) 51...Ng7 52.a6 { (-5.75 ? -13.68) Inaccuracy. A better move was 52. Kc2. } ( 52.Kc2 52...Ra1 ) 52...Nf5 53.Qe2 { (-16.29 ? -58.85) Inaccuracy. A better move was 53. c4. } ( 53.c4 53...Ne3 54.Qe2 54...Rxg2 55.Qxg2 55...Nxg2 56.c5 56...bxa6 57.cxd6 57...Ne1 ) 53...Ne3 54.Qb5 { (-63.75 ? ? Mate in 7) Mistake. The best move was 54. Kb3. } ( 54.Kb3 54...Rxg2 55.Qxg2 55...Nxg2 56.b5 56...Ne3 57.Kb2 57...Rd2+ 58.Kb1 58...Rc2 ) 54...Rxg2+ 55.Kb3 Rb1+ 56.Ka3 Nc4+ * 0-1

11 February 2019 - Central League Division 2

Stirling B		v		Badgers Brook B
Bill Cook Brad Duthie Dave Hewitt Tony Pitson Tom Wallace	1576 1488 1550 1456 1385	½ - ½ ½ - ½ ½ - ½ 1 - 0 1 - 0	1673 1547 1144	John Smith Dave McGilvray Gordon Walker Peter Woollven Craig van der Heever
		3½ - 1½

4 February 2019 - Central League Division 2

Stirling D		v		Stirling B
Kenny MacPherson Martin Pringle Idris Benwell Alex Brimlow Gordon Bowie	522 427	0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1	1576 1488 1550 1456 1456	Bill Cook Brad Duthie Dave Hewitt Richard Warcup Tony Pitson
		0 - 5

The juniors conducted themselves perfectly, and I was very proud of them. Idris lost the exchange early on, but through the middle stages of the game this didn't matter much. Dave's passed d pawn made steady progress up the board, and on promotion to a second Queen Idris resigned. Alex lost a pawn early on to Richard, but continued to fight on until he blundered the exchange, and with Richard's Rooks getting to the seventh, he was eventually checkmated in the corner. Gordon started brightly, looking to practice the pawn storm ideas we'd discussed over the last couple of weeks. Unfortunately he forgot to wait until Tony had castled to start advancing the pawns...

Thanks to Kenny and Martin for taking the harder games on boards 1 and 2. Martin in particular was unlucky not to finish with a draw, in a tricky Knight and three pawns ending.

30 January 2019 - Central League Division 2

Badgers Brook		v		Stirling C
Dave McGillvray Gordon Walker Peter Woolven Craig Van Der Heever	1430 1175	½ - ½ 1 - 0 1 - 0 0 - 1 0d - 1d	1436 1385 1228   1224	Craig Manson Tom Wallace Robert Togneri Nikolai Hermann Gordon Allcock
		2½ - 2½

28 January 2019 - Thornton Cup

In the Thornton Cup, the following game was played between Robert Togneri (White) and Gordon Allcock (Black). I'll let the moves speak for themselves...(because they have a lot to say)

[Event "Thornton Cup SF"] [Site "Stirling CC"] [Date "2019.01.28"] [Round "SF"] [White "Togneri, R"] [Black "Allcock, G"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e6 4. Nf3 c6 5. Bf4 Bb4 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 Nbd7 8. e3 Ne4 9. Qb3 Qa5 10. Rc1 Ndf6 11. Bd3 O-O 12. Nd2 Nxd2 13. Kxd2 dxc4 14. Bxc4 Ne4+ 15. Ke1 Nf6 16. Be5 Nd5 17. Bd6 Re8 18. Bb4 Qd8 19. Qd1 Qh4 { 19 ... a5! wins the Bishop. } 20. Bxd5 exd5 21. Bd6 Rxe3+ 22. Kf1 { 22 Bg4 keeps the pressure up. } 22... Re6 23. Bg3 Qh6 24. f3 b6 25. Bf2 Ba6+ 26. Kg1 Rae8 27. Bg3 Re2 28. h3 Qe3+ { 28 ... Rd2. If Whites moves the Queen 39 ... Ree2 } 29. Kh2 Qxf3 30. Qf1 Qe3 { 30 ... Rxg2+ 31 Qxg2 Re2 } 31. Re1 Qd2 32. Rxe2 Bxe2 33. Qe1 Qe3 34. Bf2 Qe6 35. Qd2 Qd6+ 36. Bg3 Qxa3 37. Re1 Qe7 38. Qa2 a5 39. Qb2 b5 40. Qa2 a4 41. Bd6 { Both players have written this as the move, although it can't be correct... Qxd6+ } 41... Qe3 42. Be5 Qxc3 43. Rxe2 f6 44. Rc2 Qb3 45. Bd6 Qxa2 46. Rxa2 Re6 47. Bc5 Kf7 48. Kg3 g6 49. Ra3 h5 50. Kf3 g5 51. g3 f5 52. Kf2 Re4 53. Ra1 Kf6 { 53 ... h4 gives Black the opportunity to create a(nother) passed pawn. } 54. Kf3 g4+ 55. hxg4 hxg4+ 56. Kf2 Kg5 57. Rh1 { This seemingly innocuous move is the start... } 57... Re6 { Stockfish recommends 57 ... f4 58 gxf4 Rxf4+. After 57 ... Re6, the evaluation (previously in Black's favour) has moved to dead drawn } 58. Rh8 Kg6 59. Rc8 Kf7 60. Rc7+ Kg6 61. Rc8 Kf7 62. Rc7+ Kg6 63. Rc8 { Draw by repetition... } 63... Kg7 64. Rc7+ Kg6 65. Rc8 Kg7 66. Rc7+ Kg6 67. Rc8 Rf6 68. Rg8+ Kf7 69. Rc8 Kg7 70. Rc7+ Kg6 71. Rc8 Re6 72. Rg8+ Kf7 73. Rc8 Rf6 74. Rf8+ Kg7 75. Rc8 Kf7 76. Rc7+ Kg6 77. Rc8 Kf7 78. Rc7+ Kg6 79. Rc8 Kg7 80. Rc7+ Kg8 81. Rc8+ Kh7 82. Rc7+ Kg6 83. Rc8 Kf7 84. Rc7+ Kg8 85. Rc8+ Kh7 86. Rc7+ Kg6 87. Rc8 { Stockfish has stopped analysing this. It's adjudicated it as a draw for the last 20 moves... The game continues, although the scoresheets conflict from here. For completeness, the moves recorded as follows (from Black's scoresheet):- 87 ... Rf6 (this can't be right, because it's already on that square) 88 Rc7 Re6 89 Rc8 Kg7 90 Rc7+ Kf6 91 Rc8 Kg6 92 Rg8+ Kh7 93 Rc8 Rf6 94 Rc7+ Kg6 95 Rc8 Kf7 96 Rc7+ Ke8 97 Rh7 Rf7 98 Rh8+ Kd7 99 Rg8 Kc7 100 Ra8 Rf6 101 Rg8 Kd7 102 Rg7+ Ke8 103 Rg8+ Kf7 104 Rc8 Re6 105 Rc7+ Kg6 White's scoresheet has 87 ... Rf7 88 Rc7 (which can't be right either, because 88 ... Rxc7) 89 Rc8 Kf7. The rest of the moves concur. And here, on move 105, White claims a draw on the basis that no capture and no pawn move has been made for 50 moves (55 hxg4+). White has made 49 consecutive Rook moves. } 1/2-1/2

Hopefully the replay will be an easier game to transcribe.