12-12-2022 Padowans v Parents 2

Last night saw a return crunch match, with the Parents looking to avenge last year's doing. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be, as the Padowans took everything they've learned and put it into practice. Samay was first to finish, but the rest weren't far behind. Perhaps the parents would like to join us for coaching?

My thanks to the parents who took this in the spirit intended, and my apologies again for the equipment malfunction which saw some of the sets missing pieces. Thanks to the older Camerons for standing in as parents in a couple of games.

Padowans	v	Parents
Victor Samay Josh Elsa Cameron A Nadzieja Kalina Finn Jamie Aleks Elsa Victor Paul Cameron D	1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0	Dad Dad Mum Cameron D Mum Mum Mum Dad Finn's Dad Cameron D Dad Cameron A Dad Graham
	14 - 0

12-12-2022 Stirling E V Stirling C

Stirling E		v		Stirling C
Callum Richardson Harley Lang Mick Bloor Euan Tortolano Thomas Forsyth	1097 1082 1079	0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1 ½ - ½ 0 - 1	1523 1489 1418 1358 1283	Brad Duthie Bill Cook Kenny MacPherson Tom Wallace Sandy Carmichael
		½ - 4½

05-12-2022 Stirling B v Stirling A

Stirling B		v		Stirling A
Leyla Kim Dave Hewitt Bill Cook Sean Flanagan Kenny MacPherson	1569 1562 1489 1487 1418	0 - 1 0 - 1 ½ - ½ ½ - ½ ½ - ½	1722 1621 1523 1523 1358	William Spiers Steve Smith David MacAlister Brad Duthie Tom Wallace
		1½ - 3½

29-11-2022 Dunfermline A v Stirling A

Dunfermline A		v		Stirling A
Ian Robertson Fred Ossowski Gordon Greig Calum Smith Des Allan	2079 1561 1560 1626	0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1 1 - 0 0 - 1	1934 1722 1621 1562 1523	Isaac Browning William Spiers Steve Smith Dave Hewitt Brad Duthie
		1 - 4

28-11-2022 Stirling E v Grangemouth C

Stirling E		v		Grangemouth C
Gordon Allcock Callum Richardson Mick Bloor Harley Lang Euan Tortolano	1260 1097 1079 1082	½ - ½ ½ - ½ 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1	1252 1181 1022	Crawford Welsh David Fowler Scott Dickson Roman Kuznetsov Nicholas Kitaev
		1 - 4

28-11-2022 Stirling Castle v Stirling Douglas

Stirling Castle 8-8 Stirling Douglas
Round 1
Kris Dimitrov	0 - 1	Brad Duthie
Comnhall Ferguson	0 - 1	Sandy Carmichael
Stewart Cairns	1 - 0	Robbie McDermott
Thomas Forsyth	1 - 0	Cameron Deer
Round 2
Kris Dimitrov	1 - 0	Cameron Deer
Comnhall Ferguson	0 - 1	Brad Duthie
Stewart Cairns	0 - 1	Sandy Carmichael
Thomas Forsyth	0 - 1	Robbie McDermott
Round 3
Kris Dimitrov	1 - 0	Robbie McDermott
Comnhall Ferguson	1 - 0	Cameron Deer
Stewart Cairns	0 - 1	Brad Duthie
Thomas Forsyth	0 - 1	Sandy Carmichael
Round 4
Kris Dimitrov	1 - 0	Sandy Carmichael
Comnhall Ferguson	1 - 0	Robbie McDermott
Stewart Cairns	1 - 0	Cameron Deer
Thomas Forsyth	0 - 1	Brad Duthie

23-11-2022 Grangemouth Tigers v Stirling Wallace

Grangemouth Tigers 11½-4½ Stirling Wallace
Round 1
John McLay	1 - 0	William Spiers
Alan Bell	1 - 0	Nathanael Loch
Crawford Welsh	1 - 0	Tom Wallace
Harry Leishman	1d - 0d
Round 2
John McLay	1d - 0d
Alan Bell	1 - 0	William Spiers
Crawford Welsh	0 - 1	Nathanael Loch
Harry Leishman	½ - ½	Tom Wallace
Round 3
John McLay	1 - 0	Tom Wallace
Alan Bell	1d - 0d
Crawford Welsh	0 - 1	William Spiers
Harry Leishman	0 - 1	Nathanael Loch
Round 4
John McLay	1 - 0	Nathanael Loch
Alan Bell	1 - 0	Tom Wallace
Crawford Welsh	1d - 0d
Harry Leishman	0 - 1	William Spiers

21-11-2022 Robert Togneri Trophy

Time control: 15 minutes each for all moves

	Name	Grade	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Place
1	Isaac Browning	1853	1 W 12	1½ B 6	2½ W 8	3½ W 4	4 B 2	=1
2	William Spiers	1692	1 B 13	2 W 7	2 B 4	3 B 5	3½ W 1	=3
3	Graham Anderson	1655	½ W 14	1½ B 11	2 W 9	2 B 10	3 B 12	=6
4	Matthew Demmon	1660	1 B 15	2 W 10	3 W 2	3 B 1	4 W 6	=1
5	Steve Smith	1636	1 W 16	1½ B 9	2½ W 6	2½ B 2	3 W 14	=6
6	Harley Lang	1585	1 B 17	1½ W 1	1½ B 5	2½ W 12	2½ B 4	=11
7	Brad Duthie	1581	1 W 18	1 B 2	1½ W 14	2½ B 8	3½ W 10	=3
8	Sean Flanagan	1579	½ B 19	1½ W 21	1½ B 1	1½ W 7	2½ B 20	=11
9	Dave Hewitt	1512	1 *	1½ W 5	2 B 3	2½ B 14	3½ W 18	=3
10	Bill Cook	1507	1 W 20	1 B 4	2 B 15	3 W 3	3 B 7	=6
11	Nathanael Loch	1447	0 B 21	0 W 3	1 B 17	2 W 20	3 B 13	=6
12	Kenny MacPherson	1399	0 B 1	1 W 17	2 B 20	2 B 6	2 W 3	=14
13	Tom Wallace	1358	0 W 2	½ B 18	½ W 21	1½ B 16	1½ W 11	=17
14	Sandy Carmichael	1349	½ B 3	1½ W 19	2 B 7	2½ W 9	3 B 5	=6
15	Mick Bloor	1114	0 W 4	1 B 16	1 W 10	1 B 18	2 W 17	=14
16	Robbie McDermott	u/g	0 B 5	0 W 15	1 Bye	1 W 13	1 B 19	=19
17	Callum Richardson	759	0 W 6	0 B 12	0 W 11	1 W 19	1 B 15	=19
18	Thomas Forsyth	750	0 B 7	½ W 13	1½ B 19	2½ W 15	2½ B 9	=11
19	Euan Tortolano	611	½ W 8	½ B 14	½ W 18	½ B 17	1½ W 16	=17
20	Cameron Deer	u/g	0 B 10	1 Bye	1 W 12	1 B 11	1 W 8	=19
21	Comhnall Ferguson	u/g	1 W 11	1 B 8	2 B 13	2 -	2 -	=14

Matthew (left) and Isaac share the Robert Togneri Trophy.

14-11-2022 Stirling A v Grangemouth B

Stirling A		v		Grangemouth B
Shubham Lakudkar William Spiers Graham Anderson Steve Smith Richard Warcup	2040 1722 1670 1621 1519	1 - 0 1 - 0 ½ - ½ 1 - 0 1 - 0	1711 1626 1459 1543 1022	Alan Petrie Ian Mason Alasdair Sandham Bill Gray Scott Dickson
		4½ - ½

Thanks to Steve and William for the games below.

[Event "Stirling A v Grangemouth B"] [Site "Stirling CC"] [Date "2022.11.14"] [Round ""] [White "Smith, S"] [Black "Gray, B"] [Result "1-0"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 Ne7 5. Qg4 c5 6. Nf3 Nbc6 7. Bd3 g6 8. O-O cxd4 9. Nb5 Bc5 10. a3 Nf5 11. Re1 a6 12. Bg5 Qb6 13. Bf6 Rg8 14. Nd6+ Nxd6 15. exd6 { 15 b4 } 15... Bxd6 16. Qg5 Kd7 17. b4 Kc7 18. Qh4 h5 19. c4 dxc4 20. Bxc4 Bd7 21. Nxd4 Kb8 22. Nf3 Ka7 23. Red1 Qc7 24. Rab1 Rac8 25. b5 axb5 26. Bxb5 Rge8 27. Bxc6 Bxc6 28. Qd4+ Ka8 29. Qxd6 Qa5 30. Nd4 Bd5 31. Qb4 Qc7 32. Qa4+ Kb8 33. Nb5 Qc5 34. Be5+ { Black resigns. 34 ... Rc7 35 Nxc7 Qxc7 36 Qxe8+ Ka7 37 Bxc7 Bb3 38 Rxb3 b5 39 Qxb5 h4 40 Qa4# } 1-0

 

[Event "Stirling A v Grangemouth B"] [Site "Stirling CC"] [Date "2022.11.14"] [Round "-"] [White "Mason, I"] [Black "Spiers, W"] [Result "0-1"] 1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. e4 e5 5. d5 Ne7 6. Be3 O-O 7. Qd2 f5 8. f3 f4 9. Bf2 g5 10. g4 h5 11. h3 Nd7 12. Nge2 Nf6 13. Nc1 c5 14. Nb3 b6 15. Bd3 a6 16. Qe2 hxg4 17. hxg4 Bd7 18. Nd2 Kf7 19. O-O-O Ng6 20. Rdg1 Rh8 21. Qe1 Qc7 22. Rxh8 Rxh8 23. Rh1 Qb8 24. Be2 b5 25. Rxh8 Nxh8 26. Qf1 b4 27. Ncb1 Ng6 28. Qh1 Qc8 29. Nb3 Qd8 30. N1d2 Qc7 31. Kb1 a5 32. Nc1 Qc8 33. Nd3 a4 34. Ne1 Kg8 35. Ng2 Bf8 36. Qd1 Kg7 37. Qh1 Be7 38. Kc1 Qh8 39. Qxh8+ Nxh8 40. Kc2 Nf7 41. Ne1 Nh6 42. Nd3 Nhxg4 43. fxg4 Nxg4 44. Bxg4 Bxg4 45. Bxc5 dxc5 46. Nxe5 Be2 47. Nd3 Bd6 48. Nf2 g4 49. b3 a3 { White resigns } 0-1

14-11-2022 Badgers Brook A v Stirling B

Badgers Brook A		v		Stirling B
Andrew Newton Kenny McGeoch Suzy Cooke Mark Cooke Jonathan Rowney	2007 1998 1969 1887 1622	1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 ½ - ½	1569 1523 1513 1562 1487	Leyla Kim Brad Duthie Nathanael Loch Dave Hewitt Sean Flanagan
		4½ - ½

Thanks to Dave for this game, where he had White against Mark Cooke.

[Event "Badgers Brook A v Stirling B"] [Site "Badgers Brook CC"] [Date "2022.11.14"] [White "Hewitt, D"] [Black "Cooke, M"] [Result "0-1"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bf4 { A48 London System } Bg7 4. e3 d6 5. Bd3 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Nbd2 Nh5 8. Bg3 Nxg3 9. hxg3 e5 10. c3 Qe7 11. e4 Nf6 12. d5 Ng4 13. Nh4 f5 14. Be2 Nf6 15. exf5 gxf5 16. Qc2 Nxd5 17. Bc4 c6 18. Bxd5+ cxd5 19. Rae1 f4 20. Qd3 Be6 21. c4 e4 22. Qe2 e3 23. cxd5 Bxd5 24. Qd3 exf2+ 25. Kxf2 fxg3+ 26. Kg1 Qxh4 27. Rxf8+ Rxf8 28. Qxd5+ Kh8 29. Nf3 Qb4 30. Re7 Qxb2 31. Qxd6 Qf2+ 32. Kh1 Rxf3 33. Re8+ Rf8 34. Rxf8+ Qxf8 35. Qxg3 Bd4 36. Qh4 Qf1+ 37. Kh2 Qg1+ 38. Kh3 Qh1+ *

Quite similar to my recent loss to Graham Hamilton in the Grangemouth A match, although at least here I did have one brief opportunity to break out from the bind: if I play exf5 a move earlier than I actually did, on move 14 rather than 15, his Ng4 is hanging if he ends up with a R on f5. I only half saw this at best and was worried about discovered attacks generally if my Q ended up out in the open, but the computer likes it and clearly I should have gone for this - I might well have spotted it properly had I just played 14 exf5 anyway, as I almost did - I had quite a long think before opting for 14 Be2.

I deliberately gave up the d5 pawn a couple of moves later to try and get some activity and space, but it didn't come to anything and Mark played the latter half of the game very well. I missed until it was too late that his 25 ...fxg3+ was double check, and I almost resigned after 26 ...Qxh4 thinking I was getting mated on the spot, before realising that I could keep things going, for a while at least, with Nf3. But 29 ...Qb4 (played after quite a long think on his part) is a strong move and I was really just delaying the inevitable. I was skirmishing reasonably well at the end, and without much time on the clock - probably a benefit of the decent online form - but it wasn't good enough and I was well beaten.

31-10-2022 Stirling D v Badgers Brook B

Stirling D		v		Badgers Brook B
Harry Feather Kris Dimitrov Sandy Carmichael Gordon Allcock Callum Richardson	1327 1331 1283 1260 1097	1 - 0 1 - 0 ½ - ½ 1 - 0 0 - 1	1292 1114 894	Gordon Walker Colin Matthews Peter Woollven Mark Khordi-Moodi David Mahon
		3½ - 1½

31-10-2022 Stirling B v Grangemouth A

Stirling B		v		Grangemouth A
Richard Warcup John Blake Dave Hewitt Nathanael Loch Sean Flanagan	1519 1568 1562 1533 1487	1d - 0d 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1	2124 2066 1979 1953 1833	Uby Archibong John McLay Graham Hamilton Alan Bell Dougie Will
		1 - 4

24-10-2022 Stirling C v Stirling D

Stirling C		v		Stirling D
Graham Anderson John Blake Brad Duthie Richard Warcup Bill Cook	1670 1568 1523 1519 1489	1 - 0 0 - 1 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0	1331 1327 1283 1082	Kris Dimitrov Harry Feather Sandy Carmichael Harley Lang Euan Tortolano
		4 - 1

19-10-2022 Grangemouth C v Stirling D

Grangemouth C		v		Stirling D
Alasdair Sandham David Fowler Scott Dickson Ryan Herron Harry Leishman	1459 1181 1022   655	1 - 0 0 - 1 0 - 1 ½ - ½ 0 - 1	1331 1327 1283 1260 1079	Kris Dimitrov Harry Feather Sandy Carmichael Gordon Allcock Mick Bloor
		1½ - 3½

18-10-2022 Dunfermline A v Stirling B

Dunfermline A		v		Stirling B
Ian Robertson John McBride Jamie O'Connor Gordon Grieg Calum Smith	2079 1748 1659 1560 1626	1 - 0 ½ - ½ ½ - ½ 1 - 0 ½ - ½	1670 1790 1513 1562 1418	Matthew Demmon Jim Shemilt Nathanael Loch Dave Hewitt Kenny MacPherson
		3½ - 1½

13-10-2022 - Stirling Castle vs Stirling Bruce

Stirling Castle vs Stirling Bruce

Summary from our club competition member:

A big win this evening for the Stirling Bruice team over Castle, with three of the Bruce players scoring 100% - I rather let the side down by losing both my white games. Castle came close to a few other wins however, particularly from Kris - he scored well against Minnows last week and wasn't far off winning against Shubham and Isaac tonight (the Kris-Isaac game came down to a mad time scramble with pieces flying everywhere in the time-honoured fashion).

Round 1
Stirling Castle	Stirling Bruce	Score
Harley Lang 1585a	Shubham Lakudkar 2041a	0-1
Ruaridh Simpson (c) 1373a	Isaac Browning 1853a	0-1
Gordon Allcock 1346a	Dave Hewitt (c) 1512a	0-1
Kris Dimitrov 1309a	Kenny MacPherson 1399a	0-1

Round Score: 0-4

Round 2
Stirling Castle	Stirling Bruce	Score
Lang	Browning	0-1
Simpson	Hewitt	1-0
Allcock	MacPherson	0-1
Dimitrov	Lakudkar	0-1

Round Score: 1-3; Match Score: 1-8

Round 3
Stirling Castle	Stirling Bruce	Score
Lang	Hewitt	0-1
Simpson	MacPherson	1-0
Allcock	Lakudkar	0-1
Dimitrov	Browning	0-1

Round Score: 0-4; Match Score: 1-12

Round 4
Stirling Castle	Stirling Bruce	Score
Lang	MacPherson	0-1
Simpson	Lakudkar	1-0
Allcock	Browning	0-1
Dimitrov	Hewitt	1-0

Round Score: 1-3; Match Score: 2-16

Castle had white in rounds 1 and 3. Individual scores - Castle: Dimitrov 1, Simpson 1, Allcock 0, Lang 0 Bruce: Browning 4, Lakudkar 4, MacPherson, Hewitt 2

05-10-2022 - Grangemouth A v Stirling A

Grangemouth A		v		Stirling A
John McLay Graham Hamilton Alan Bell Dougie Will Daniel Kitaev	2066 1979 1953 1833 1633	0 - 1 0 - 1 1 - 0 1 - 0 0 - 1	2040 1934 1843 1722 1621	Shubham Lakudkar Isaac Browning Sam Coates William Spiers Steve Smith
		2 - 3

04-10-2022 Dunfermline Minnows v Stirling Castle

Dunfermline Minnows 9-7 Stirling Castle
Round 1
Gonzalo Forero	1 - 0	Ruaridh Simpson
Gordon Grieg	1 - 0	Matthew Demmon
Ian Robertson	0 -1	Kris Dimitrov
Dimitris Giannokopoulas	1 - 0	Jim Shemilt
Round 2
Gonzalo Forero	1 - 0	Jim Shemilt
Gordon Grieg	1 - 0	Ruaridh Simpson
Ian Robertson	0 - 1	Matthew Demmon
Dimitris Giannokopoulas	0 - 1	Kris Dimitrov
Round 3
Gonzalo Forero	0 - 1	Kris Dimitrov
Gordon Grieg	1 - 0	Jim Shemilt
Ian Robertson	1 - 0	Ruaridh Simpson
Dimitris Giannokopoulas	0 - 1	Matthew Demmon
Round 4
Gonzalo Forero	½ - ½	Matthew Demmon
Gordon Grieg	½ - ½	Kris Dimitrov
Ian Robertson	1 - 0	Jim Shemilt
Dimitris Giannokopoulas	0 - 1	Ruaridh Simpson

03-10-2022 Stirling B v Grangemouth B

Stirling B		v		Grangemouth B
Leyla Kim Nathanael Loch Sean Flanagan Dave Hewitt Richard Warcup	1569 1513 1487 1562 1519	1 - 0 0 - 1 1 - 0 ½ - ½ 1 - 0	1711 1626 1459 1543 1022	Alan Petrie Ian Mason Alasdair Sandham Bill Gray Scott Dickson
		3½ - 1½

28-09-2022 Grangemouth Lions v Stirling Douglas

Grangemouth Lions 7-9 Stirling Douglas
Round 1
Dougie Will	1 - 0	Brad Duthie
Daniel Kitaev	1 - 0	Sam Coates
Colin Nielson	0 - 1	Leyla Kim
Nicholas Kitaev	0 - 1	Richard Warcup
Round 2
Dougie Will	1 - 0	Sam Coates
Daniel Kitaev	0 - 1	Leyla Kim
Colin Nielson	0 - 1	Richard Warcup
Nicholas Kitaev	0 - 1	Brad Duthie
Round 3
Dougie Will	1 - 0	Leyla Kim
Daniel Kitaev	1 - 0	Richard Warcup
Colin Nielson	0 - 1	Brad Duthie
Nicholas Kitaev	0 - 1	Sam Coates
Round 4
Dougie Will	1 - 0	Richard Warcup
Daniel Kitaev	1 - 0	Brad Duthie
Colin Nielson	0 - 1	Sam Coates
Nicholas Kitaev	0 - 1	Leyla Kim

26-09-2022 - Stirling C vs Grangemouth C

Stirling E vs Grangemouth C

Summary from our club competition member:

Another hard-fought match with Grangemouth putting in good performances despite being outgraded on all boards. Ruaridh got the first point on the board against Roman, and Harry then beat Kieran. There was then quite a lengthy spell with no further results, until Kenny and Scott agreed a draw in an opposite-colours Bs ending of the type that could have seen them still playing at Christmas. Board 2 was next to finish, and was the sharpest and most complex game of the night - some sharp swings in a lengthy middlegame where David was material ahead but had his K stuck in the centre amid heavy-piece crossfire. Eventually the various pins and skewers saw Richard win after David missed a backwards-moving B - a fine game to watch. That just left the top board, where Brad was a pawn up in a R ending - but with the clocks ticking down (or whatever it is that digital clocks do), a draw was agreed. An excellent match all round and it was good to see various of the of the old Grangemouth friends - plus Roman, who is new, I think - at Stirling once again.

Stirling C	Grangemouth C	Score
Brad Duthie (c) 1523	(W) Alasdair Sandham 1459	½-½
Richard Warcup 1519	(W) David Fowler (c) 1181	1-0
(W) Kenny MacPherson 1418	Scott Dickson 1022	½-½
(W) Ruaridh Simpson 1483	Roman Kuznetsov u/g	1-0
Harry Feather 1327	(W) Kieran Marshall u/g	1-0

Match Score: 4-1

20-09-2022 - Stirling A vs Badgers Brook A

Stirling A vs Badgers Brook A

Summary from our club competition member:

Wins for Shubham (first to finish - suspect that might become a theme), Isaac and Nathanael, losses for Steve and Brad. Badgers were 2-1 up before Isaac and Nathanael won tight games with not much time left, exciting stuff.

Stirling A	Badgers Brook A	Score
Shubham Lakudkar 2040	(W) Andrew Newton 2007	1-0
Isaac Browning 1934	(W) Kenny McGeoch (c) 1998	1-0
(W) Steve Smith (c) 1621	Mark Cooke 1887	0-1
(W) Brad Duthie 1523	John Smith 1666	0-1
(W) Nathanael Loch 1513	Jonathan Rowney 1622	1-0

Match Score: 3-2

13-09-2022 - Stirling E vs Badgers Brook B

Stirling E vs Badgers Brook B

Summary from our club competition member:

Congratulations to Badgers B.

Stirling E	Badgers Brook B	Score
(W) Gordon Allcock 1260	Dave McGilvary 1513	0-1
Harley Lang (c) 1082	(W) Gordon Walker (c) 1292	0-1
Callum Richardson 1097	(W) Craig Van Den Heever 933	1-0
(W) Mick Bloor 1079	Peter Woollven 894	½-½
Stewart Cairns u/g	(W) Colin Matthews u/g	0-1

Match Score: 1½-3½

Analysis of Harley and Gordon's game for those interested: https://lichess.org/study/hBI9pFG2/2JI1Gkb9

A fine win for Callum on board 3, on his League debut.

[Event "Stirling E v Badgers Brook B"] [Site "Stirling CC"] [Date "2022.09.12"] [Round "-"] [White "van der Heever, C"] [Black "Richardson, C"] [Result "0-1"] 1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 Nc6 3. Nf3 Bf5 4. e3 a6 5. c3 e6 6. Nbd2 Nf6 7. b4 Bd6 8. Bg3 O-O 9. Bh4 Be7 10. Ne5 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Ne4 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 13. Nxe4 Bxe4 14. Qg4 c5 15. Rb1 b5 { 15 ... Bxb1! } 16. Rb2 a5 17. Bxb5 axb4 18. c4 Bf5 19. Qf3 Qb7 20. O-O Be4 21. Qg4 Bd3 22. Rd1 Bxc4 23. Bxc4 dxc4 24. Qxc4 Rfc8 25. Qd3 Qc7 26. Qd6 h6 27. Qxc7 Rxc7 28. g4 Rb8 29. f4 c4 30. a3 b3 31. Rdb1 c3 32. Rxb3 Rxb3 33. Rxb3 c2 34. Rb8+ Kh7 35. Kg2 c1=Q 36. g5 Rc2+ 37. Kf3 Qh1+ 38. Kg3 Qg2+ { 38 ... Qg1+ 39 Kf3 Qg2# or 39 Kh3 Rxh2# } 39. Kh4 Qxh2+ 40. Kg4 Rg2+ 41. Kf3 Qh3+ 42. Ke4 Qf5+ 43. Kd4 Qc2 44. e4 Rd2+ 45. Ke3 Qd3# 0-1

13-09-2022 - League chess is back! Stirling allegro update

Monday, September 12th

The club hosted the first league allegro match since March 2020.

Summary from our competition chair, Dave Hewitt:

Bruce had white in r1 and r3. Allegro grades shown where people have them (Blake and McAlister only have main list grades at present). Individual scores - Bruce: Hewitt 3½, Blake 2½, Browning and MacPherson both 2 Wallace: Spiers 3½, Flanagan 2, McAlister ½, Feather 0 

A good hard-fought match to get things going again. Bruce won the first three rounds but Wallace's win in the fourth was an indication of this being a match of small margins. As ever, the clock was a big factor (eg my win vs Sean in r2 came from a good position but with only three seconds left when Sean's flag fell), and Wallace captain Harry's play merited more than his eventual score.

The results were as follows:

Round 1

Bruce	Wallace	Score
Isaac Browning 1853a	William Spiers 1692a	0-1
John Blake 1568	Sean Flanagan 1579a	1-0
Dave Hewitt (c) 1512a	David McAlister 1523	1-0
Kenny MacPherson 1399a	Harry Feather (c) 1333a	1-0

Running Score: 3-1

Round 2

Bruce	Wallace	Score
Browning	Feather	1-0
Blake	Spiers	0-1
Hewitt	Flanagan	1-0
MacPherson	McAlister	1-0

Round Score: 3-1; Running Score: 6-2

Round 3

Bruce	Wallace	Score
Browning	McAlister	1-0
Blake	Feather	1-0
Hewitt	Spiers	½-½
MacPherson	Flanagan	0-1

Round Score: 2½-1½; Running Score: 8½-3½

Round 4

Bruce	Wallace	Score
Browning	Flanagan	0-1
Blake	McAlister	½-½
Hewitt	Feather	1-0
MacPherson	Spiers	0-1

Round Score: 1½-2½ ; Final Score: 10-6

Grading List 2022/23

Name	Grade	Allegro Grade	CS Player Number
Shubham Lakudkar   Isaac Browning   Sam Coates   Jim Shemilt   William Spiers   Graham Anderson   Steve Smith   Leyla Kim   John Blake   Dave Hewitt   Brad Duthie   David McAlister   Richard Warcup   Nathanael Loch   Bill Cook   Sean Flanagan   Ruaridh Simpson   Sam Cook   Kenny MacPherson   Tony Pitson   Tom Wallace   Craig Manson   Kris Dimitrov   Harry Feather   Sandy Carmichael   Lito Tounta   Gordon Allcock   Michael Cook   Callum Richardson   Harley Lang   Mick Bloor   Glen Wilson   Martin Pringle   Craig Thomson   Jordan Leach   Ross Warcup   Nadzieja Lu-Czartoryjska   Alex Brimlow   Douglas Pringle   Stewart Cairns   Thomas Forsyth   Cameron Anderson   Euan Tortolano   Kalina Lu-Czartoryjska	2040   1934   1843   1790   1722   1670   1621   1569   1568   1562   1523   1523   1519   1513   1489   1487   1483   1450   1418   1359   1358   1345   1331   1327   1283   1268   1260   1098   1097   1082   1079   1028   1014   847   651   647   636   413   384	2041   1853   1766       1692   1655   1636   1561       1512   1581       1482   1447   1507   1579   1373   1681   1399           1358   1309   1333   1349   1349   1346       759   1585   1114   1004   999   805   697   802   203   623   463   1099   750   685   611   121

23 May 2022 - Under 1500 Cup Final

Other Stirling		v		Stirling
Sam Cook Sandy Carmichael Craig Manson Harley Lang Callum Richardson	852   1373	0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1	1497 1486 1477 1372 1330	Isaac Browning Brad Duthie Richard Warcup Kenny MacPherson Harry Feather
		0 - 5

Congratulations to Stirling, and commiserations to Other Stirling.

18 May 2022 - Under 1500 Cup

Grangemouth		v		Other Stirling
Hugh Hanlon David Fowler Harry Leishman Colin Neilson Kieran Marshall	1353 1143 481	0 - 1 ½ - ½ ½ - ½ 0 - 1 0 - 1	1373     1132	Sandy Carmichael Craig Manson Callum Richardson Harley Lang Mick Bloor
		1 - 4

9 May 2022 - Central League Cup

Stirling 'A'		v		Stirling 'B'
Steve Smith William Spiers Graham Anderson Bill Cook Brad Duthie Sandy Carmichael Harley Lang	1722 1657 1657 1542 1486	0 - 1 1 - 0 ½ - ½ ½ - ½ 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1	1497 1372 1531   1477	Isaac Browning Kenny MacPherson Dave Hewitt Nathanel Loch Richard Warcup Ruaridh Simpson Sean Flanagan
		2 - 5

Congratulations to the nominal 'B' team! Although I hear FIDE are taking an interest in this match, due to one of main laws of chess being broken ie I had White against Dave...

Many thanks to Alan Bell of Grangemouth for these photos of the night.

27 April 2022 - Central League Cup

What was presumably the second semi-final in the seven-board cup was played at the neutral venue of Grangemouth and saw an experimental Stirling B team, including several new recruits, beat an experienced Dunfermline line-up in a close match. While normally players would be in grading order, allowance has been made for player improvements that are not yet reflected in their grade. Many thanks to Harry and Alan at Grangemouth for hosting.

Stirling		v		Dunfermline
Isaac Browning Sam Cook Richard Warcup Kenny MacPherson Dave Hewitt Nathanael Loch Ruaridh Simpson	1497 852 1477 1372 1531	1 - 0 ½ - ½ 0 - 1 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0	1563 1566 1555 1243 1412 1215 1315	Gordon Greig Fred Ossowski Gonzalo Ferero Mark McLintock Doug Rew Glynis Grant Peter Horne
		5½ - 1½

Thanks to Ruaridh for this game, where he had Black against Peter Horne.

[Event "Central League Cup - Stirling v Dunfermline"] [Site "https://lichess.org/CP90JoYa"] [Date "2022.04.27"] [White "Horne, P"] [Black "Simpson, R"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A01"] [Opening "Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Indian Variation"] 1. b3 Nf6 2. Bb2 d5 3. Nf3 c5 4. g3 Nc6 5. Bg2 Bf5 6. O-O Qd7 7. d3 Bh3 8. Nbd2 Bxg2 9. Kxg2 O-O-O 10. c4 d4 11. a3 e5 12. Ne4 Be7 13. Nfg5 Rdf8 14. Nh3 h6 15. Bc1 Nh7 16. f4 f5 17. Nd2 g5 18. fxe5 Nxe5 19. Nf3 Ng6 20. Nhg1 Nf6 21. e3 g4 22. exd4 gxf3+ 23. Qxf3 Rhg8 24. Qxf5 Nh4+ 0-1

Many thanks to Alan Bell of Grangemouth for these photos of the night.

25 April 2021 - Keddie Cup

Dave Hewitt writes: Monday evening saw the first OTB Keddie Cup since December 2019 (the December 2020 one was an online Chess960 tournament as people will recall), and there was a joint-record turnout: 29 people played in the 2017 Keddie and 29 played in this latest one. There were five preliminary groups - four of six and one of five - with all group winners going through to the quarter-finals plus the three best runners-up (the two unlucky people in that regard with Robbie and Harley, who both did well nonetheless). Isaac went right through the tournament with a 100% record, scoring 5/5 in his group then continuing his good form into the KOs - congratulations to him on taking home the silverware, a fine result at his first attempt. Gordon gave Isaac a proper scare in the final however, before going wrong in some late-game complications. He thus finished as tournament runner-up for the third time in eleven years, although happily he has won the Keddie during that same period too. Sam Cook and Richard both put in excellent efforts in two very hard-fought semis, and with all four semi-finalists being quite close in grade the latter stages of the tournament felt suspiciously like normal chess. Special mention should be made of Nadzieja and Callum qualifying for the KO phase - an excellent effort by both. Congratulations too to Kalina, whose tenth birthday coincided with the Keddie - she kindly brought along some snacks and Happy Birthday was duly sung. Thanks to Dave for organising the ties, and to Jim for the raffle prizes.

Some early action.

Isaac (left) and Sam in the semi-final.

Gordon and Richard in the other semi-final.

Gordon (left) and Isaac in the final.

Gordon, as club president, presents the trophy to Isaac. Congratulations Isaac!

20 April 2022 - Central League Cup

The first action in the Central League Cup - a seven board knock-out - in three years. It's still unclear exactly what form this competition will take, and even who else will enter it, but this was the first match played in it. While normally players would be in grading order, allowance has been made for player improvements that are not yet reflected in their grade.

Grangemouth		v		Stirling
Alan Bell John McLay Dougie Will Ian Mason Daniel Kitaev David Fowler Harry Leishman	1926   1823 1625 879 1153 622	1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1	1580 1795 1722 1657 1657 1542 1486	Sam Coates Jim Shemilt Steve Smith William Spiers Graham Anderson Bill Cook Brad Duthie
		3 - 4

Thanks to William for this game, where he had White against Ian Mason.

[Event "7 board KO Grangemouth v Stirling"] [Site "Grangemouth CC"] [Date "2022.04.20"] [Round "-"] [White "Spiers, W"] [Black "Mason, I"] [Result "1-0"] 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 d6 3. g3 f5 4. Bg2 Nf6 5. e3 Be7 6. d4 e4 7. Nge2 c6 8. d5 O-O 9. O-O Na6 10. f3 exf3 11. Bxf3 c5 12. Nf4 Nc7 13. a4 Rb8 14. Qc2 a6 15. e4 fxe4 16. Nxe4 Ng4 17. h3 Ne5 18. Bg2 Bd7 19. b3 Bf5 20. Bb2 Nd7 21. g4 Bxe4 22. Bxe4 Nf6 23. Bf5 Re8 24. g5 Nd7 25. Bxh7+ Kh8 26. Ng6+ Kxh7 27. Nf8+ { Black resigns. 27 ... Kh8 28 Qh7# } 1-0

4 April 2022 - Under 1500 Cup

Stirling		v		Grangemouth
Isaac Browning Brad Duthie Kenny MacPherson Harry Feather Gordon Allcock	1497 1486 1372 1330 1256	1 - 0 1 - 0 0 - 1 1 - 0 1 - 0	1303 1143	Crawford Welsh Davd Fowler Colin Neilson Thomas Hamilton Kieran Marshall
		4 - 1

28 March 2022 - David Brodie Trophy

The David Brodie Trophy is a juniors/beginners allegro. This is only the second time this trophy has been played for: Alex won it back in 2019, and it was not awarded in 2020 or 2021 due to the pandemic.

Time control: 15 minutes each for all moves

	Name		Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5
1	Robbie		1 B 6	1½ W 2	1½ B 4	1½ W 3	1½ B 10
2	Cameron A		1 W 7	1½ B 1	2½ W 9	3 B 10	4 W 5
3	Thomas		1B 8	2W 7	3 W 10	4 B 1	4 W 4
4	Alex		1 W 9	1 B 10	2 W 1	3 B 5	4 B 3
5	Nadzieja		0 B 10	1 W 7	2 W 8	2 B 4	2 B 2
6	Yashvi		0 W 1	0 B 3	1 W 7	1 B 9	1½ W 8
7	Kalina		0 B 2	0 W 5	0 B 6	1 B 8	2 bye
8	Samay		0 W 3	0 B 9	0 B 5	0 W 7	½ B 6
9	Cameron McG		0 B 4	1 W 8	1 B 2	2 W 6	2 *
10	Callum		1 W 5	2 W 4	2 B 3	2½ W 2	3½ W 1

Congratulations to Alex, Cameron A and Thomas! Thanks to Nadine, David's daughter, for coming along to present the trophy.

My thanks as well to Nadine and Brooke for coming along to present the trophy (and hopefully we'll see Brooke again in the near future), Jim for the extra prizes, and Craig for his help on the night.

But most of all my thanks go to the participants; thanks for a great night of chess, and thanks for coming along each week and trying your best! The club is very proud of all of you!

7 March 2022 - Robert Togneri Trophy

Time control: 15 minutes each for all moves

	Name	Grade	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Place
1	Steve Smith	1722	½ W 11	1½ B 22	1½ W 4	2½ B 14	3 *	=6
2	Isaac Browning	1703	1 B 12	2 W 7	3 B 6	4 W 8	4½ B 4	1
3	Leyla Kim	1562	1W 13	1B 8	1½ W 11	2½ B 17	3½ W 6	5
4	Graham Anderson	1657	½ B 14	1½ W 12	2½ B 1	3½ W 5	4 W 2	=2
5	Dave Hewitt	1531	1 W 15	2 B 10	2 W 8	2 B 4	3 W 9	=6
6	Craig Manson	1373	1 B 16	2 W 9	2 W 2	2 B 13	2 B 3	=13
7	Kenny MacPherson	1372	1 W 17	1 B 2	1 W 15	2 B 10	3 W 16	=6
8	Harry Feather	1330	1 B 18	2 W 3	3 B 5	3 B 2	3 W 13	=6
9	Gordon Allcock	1256	1 W 19	1 B 6	2 W 17	2 B 15	2 B 5	=13
10	Mick Bloor	1132	1 B 20	1 W 5	1 B 16	1 W 7	2 W 21	=13
11	Sam Cook	1080	½ B 1	1½ W 14	2 B 3	3 W 16	4 B 15	=2
12	Douglas Pringle	440	0 W 2	0 B 4	0 W 14	1 B 21	1 -	=19
13	Sean Flanagan	u/g	0 B 3	1 W 18	2 B 22	3 W 6	4 B 8	=2
14	Kris Dimitrov	u/g	½ W 4	½ B 11	1½ B 12	1½ W 1	1½ W 20	18
15	Sandy Carmichael	u/g	0 B 5	1 W 20	2 B 7	3 W 9	3 W 11	=6
16	Stewart Cairns	u/g	0 W 6	1 W 20	2 B 7	3 W 9	3 W 11	=6
17	Cameron Anderson	237	0 B 7	1 W 21	1 B 9	1 W 3	1 B 18	=19
18	Callum Richardson	u/g	0 W 8	0 B 13	½ W 20	1½ B 19	2½ W 17	=11
19	Euan Tortolano	u/g	0 B 9	0 W 16	1 B 21	1 W 18	2 B 22	=13
20	Thomas Forsyth	u/g	0 W 10	0 B 15	½ B 18	1½ W 22	2½ B 14	=11
21	Cameron McGloin	u/g	0 W 22	0 B 17	0 W 19	0 W 12	0 B 10	22
22	Abdullah Shassad	u/g	1 B 21	1 W 1	1 W 13	1 B 20	1 W 19	=19

Gordon Allcock (left) presents Isaac with the Robert Togneri Trophy

My final round game against Isaac - given how bad I'd been earlier on, I hadn't expected to be in a play-off for first place, but here I was. It's a bit of an error-strewn game, starting with my 'novelty' on move 7.

[Event "Robert Togneri Trophy"] [Site "Stirling CC"] [Date "2022.03.07"] [Round "5"] [White "Anderson, G"] [Black "Browning, I"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Be2 g6 6. Nc3 Nf6 7. Bf4 { Isaac said afterward he thought this was deliberate because I'd spent a wee bit of time thinking about it, but it wasn't - it's just a daft move. } 7... Nxd4 8. Qxd4 e5 9. Bxe5 dxe5 10. Qxe5+ Be7 11. Rd1 Qb6 12. Nd5 { A few moves ago, I didn't expect quite so much pressure after 'sacrificing' the Bishop. As well as the mate threat on e7, the Knight on f6 is pinned. } 12... Nxd5 13. Qxh8+ Bf8 14. Rxd5 Be6 15. Rb5 { I didn't think this was such a terrible move at the time, but Stockfish does. 15 Rd2 was recommended. } 15... Qc6 16. O-O O-O-O { This came as a surprise, because I'd assumed Isaac had moved his King, but of course he hadn't. } 17. Ra5 { I'm sure everyone else has seen what's coming, but I didn't. } 17... Bb4 18. Rxa7 { Another mistake...18 Qe5 only loses the exchange. } 18... Rxh8 19. Ra8+ Kc7 20. Rxh8 h5 21. c3 Bd6 22. Bf3 Bg4 23. e5 Bxf3 24. exd6+ Kxd6 25. gxf3 Qxf3 26. Rd8+ Ke7 27. Rd4 { Draw agreed - before I lose something else... } 1/2-1/2