18-12-2023 Keddie Cup

Monday night saw the latest installment of the annual handicap tournament, the Keddie Cup. Sixteen players started in four groups of four. From Group A Ross and Kenny qualified, from Group B, Cameron and Dave qualified, from Group C Kai and Nicholas (Nicholas on the drawing of lots), and from Group D Nathanael and Sam qualified.

Ross 1-0 Dave
Cameron 1-0 Kenny
Kai 1-0 Nathanael
Sam 1-0 Nicholas
The highest graded player, Sam, along with the three lowest graded players,qualified for the semi-finals.

Ross 1-0 Kai
Cameron 1-0 Sam
Thus, the final was Ross v Cameron.

There was only 33 grading points difference between the two, so Cameron started with Black and 9 minutes. Ross won a knight earlier on, calculating a big swap-off well before setting a fine discovered check attack on an undefended Rook - which also led to checkmate.

Congratulations to Ross, seen here receiving the trophy from club president Gordon Allcock. Well done Ross! Other thanks go to Dave for the organisation, Steve for the raffle, and Jim who organised a similar tournament for the youngsters downstairs. The club is closed for the next two weeks, and reconvenes on 8 January for the New Year blitz. Merry Christmas!

11-12-23 Stirling E v Stirling C

Stirling E		v		Stirling C
David Fowler Harley Lang Thomas Forsyth Cameron Anderson Kai Austin	1133 1096 947	0 - 1 0 - 1 1 - 0 0 - 1 0 - 1	1542 1513 1440 1492 1476	Richard Warcup Dave Hewitt Kenny MacPherson Bill Cook David McAlister
		1 - 4

Thanks to Thomas for the game below, where he had White against Kenny. A second fine win for Thomas this season.

[Event "Stirling E v Stirling C"] [Site "Stirling CC"] [Date "2023.12.11"] [Round ""] [White "Forsyth, T"] [Black "MacPherson, K"] [Result "1-0"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bg5 e6 4. e3 c5 5. c4 cxd4 6. exd4 Qa5+ 7. Bd2 Bb4 8. a3 Ne4 9. Bxb4 Qb6 10. Be2 a5 11. Bc3 dxc4 12. O-O Qc7 13. Nbd2 Nxc3 14. bxc3 b5 15. Rb1 Ba6 16. Re1 O-O 17. Qc2 Nc6 18. Ng5 f5 19. Nxe6 Qd6 20. Nxf8 Rxf8 21. Bf3 g5 22. Bxc6 Qxc6 23. Re5 Bb7 24. f3 g4 25. Rxf5 gxf3 26. Rxf8+ Kxf8 27. Qf5+ { Black resigns } 1-0

04-12-2023 Stirling B v Stirling A

Stirling B		v		Stirling A
Graham Anderson Brad Duthie Dave Hewitt Nathanael Loch Kenny MacPherson	1703 1520 1513 1504 1440	0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1 ½ - ½	1988 1755 1632 1542 1492	Isaac Browning William Spiers Steve Smith Richard Warcup Bill Cook
		½ - 4½

29-11-23 Grangemouth C v Stirling E

Grangemouth A		v		Stirling E
Bill Gray Alasdair Sandham Crawford Welsh Roman Kuznetsov Harry Leishmann	1526 1434 1199 1161 750	1 - 0 0 - 1 0 - 1 1 - 0 1 - 0	1133 1096 947	David Fowler Harley Lang Thomas Forsyth Stewart Cairns Cameron Anderson
		3 - 2

Thanks to Harley for providing the game below, where he had Black against Alasdair on board 2.

[Event "Grangemouth C v Stirling E"] [Site "Grangemouth CC"] [Date "2023.11.29"] [Round "-"] [White "Sandham, A"] [Black "Lang, H"] [Result "0-1"] 1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 e6 3. e3 Bd7 4. c4 c5 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Qb3 Bc6 7. Nf3 Bd6 8. Ne5 dxc4 9. Nxc6 Nxc6 10. Qxb7 O-O 11. Qxc6 Bxf4 12. exf4 Rc8 13. Qf3 cxd4 14. Ne4 Nxe4 15. Qxe4 Qa5+ 16. Kd1 Qa4+ 17. Qc2 Qa6 18. a3 d3 19. Qc3 Rfd8 20. Kd2 Qb6 21. f3 Qf2+ 22. Kd1 d2 23. Bxc4 Qxg2 24. Kc2 d1=Q# { 24 ... Rf1 keeps White in it. } 0-1

UPDATE: Thanks to Thomas for providing the game below, where he had White against Crawford.

[Event "Grangemouth C v Stirling B"] [Site "Grangemouth CC"] [Date "2023.11.29"] [Round "-"] [White "Forsyth, T"] [Black "Welsh, C"] [Result "1-0"] 1. d4 e6 2. c4 f5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 c6 5. Bf4 g6 6. e3 Bg7 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O h6 9. h3 b6 10. Re1 Bb7 11. Qa4 c5 12. dxc5 Bxf3 13. gxf3 bxc5 14. Bd6 Rf7 15. Bxc5 Nc6 16. f4 Nh7 17. Qc2 d6 18. Ba3 g5 19. Ne2 Bf6 20. Rad1 Rg7 21. b3 gxf4+ 22. Kf1 fxe3 23. fxe3 Bh4 24. Nf4 Bxe1 25. Nxe6 Qh4 26. Nxg7 Qxh3+ 27. Qg2 Qxg2+ 28. Kxg2 Kxg7 29. Rxe1 Kf6 30. Bxd6 Rd8 31. c5 Ng5 32. Rf1 Nb4 33. Rxf5+ Ke6 34. Bb1 Nxa2 35. Re5+ Kf6 36. Bxa2 Rxd6 37. cxd6 Kxe5 38. d7 Ne6 39. b4 Nd8 40. Bb3 Ke4 41. Kf2 Kd3 42. b5 h5 43. Kg3 Kxe3 44. Kh4 Kd4 45. Kxh5 Kc5 46. Bc2 Kxb5 47. Kg6 Kc6 48. Bf5 a5 49. Kf6 a4 50. Ke7 Nb7 51. Be4+ Kc7 52. Bxb7 Kxb7 53. d8=Q a3 54. Qd2 Kb6 1-0

27-11-2023 Stirling A v Dunfermline A

Stirling A		v		Dunfermline A
Shubham Lakudkar Isaac Browning William Spiers Steve Smith Nathanael Loch	2142 1988 1755 1632 1504	1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 ½ - ½ 1 - 0	2109 1636 1652 1624 1229	Ian Robertson Scott Kilgour Gordon Grieg Calum Smith Mark McLintock
		4½ - ½

UPDATE: thanks to Shubham for providing the game below, where he had Black against Ian on board 1.

[Event "Stirling A v Dunfermline A"] [Site "Stirling CC"] [Date "2023.11.27"] [Round "-"] [White "Robertson, I"] [Black "Lakudkar, S"] [Result "0-1"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. Qd2 c6 6. Bh6 Bxh6 7. Qxh6 Bf5 8. O-O-O Nbd7 9. h3 Qa5 10. Ng5 Nb6 11. g4 Be6 12. Nxe6 fxe6 13. e3 Kd7 14. Bd3 Rag8 15. Qg5 Qb4 16. a3 Qd6 17. e4 dxe4 18. Nxe4 Nxe4 19. Bxe4 Rf8 20. f3 Nd5 21. Qd2 Qf4 22. Rde1 Nc7 23. Re3 g5 24. h4 h5 25. hxg5 hxg4 26. Rxh8 Rxh8 27. Re1 Qg3 28. fxg4 Qxg4 29. g6 Ne8 30. Kb1 Nd6 31. Qe3 Nxe4 32. Qxe4 Qxe4 33. Rxe4 Rh1+ 34. Ka2 Rg1 35. Kb3 Rxg6 36. Kc3 Kd6 37. a4 Rg5 38. Rh4 e5 39. dxe5+ Rxe5 40. Rh8 a5 41. Rd8+ Kc5 42. Rd7 b6 43. b3 Re3+ 44. Kd2 Re6 45. Kc3 Re5 46. Rd8 Rd5 47. Re8 e5 48. Re7 b5 49. axb5 cxb5 50. Rc7+ Kd6 51. Rh7 e4 52. Rh4 e3 53. Rh6+ Kc5 54. Re6 b4+ { White runs out of time here. I believe Ian played the 20 or so moves with about 3 minutes on the clock. } 0-1

20-11-2023 Stirling D v Dunfermline B

Stirling D		v		Dunfermline B
Harry Feather Tom Wallace Sandy Carmichael Mick Bloor Tom Nimmo	1342 1335 1242 1117	0 - 1 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0	1403   1229	Gregor McCluskey Douglas Rew Euan Bell Mark McLintock Harris Dowie
		4 - 1

Thanks to Tom for the game below from board 2, where Tom had Black against Douglas Rew.

[Event "Stirling D v Dunfermline C"] [Site "Stirling CC"] [Date "2023.11.20"] [Round "-"] [White "Rew, D"] [Black "Wallace, T"] [Result "0-1"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. O-O O-O 5. c4 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. Nc3 e6 8. Qb3 c6 9. d3 Nd7 10. Nxd5 exd5 11. Be3 Re8 12. Rfe1 Qc7 13. Bd4 Bxd4 14. Nxd4 Nc5 15. Qc3 Ne6 16. Nxe6 Bxe6 17. d4 Qd7 18. Rac1 Bg4 19. Bf3 Bf5 20. b4 Bg4 21. a4 Rac8 22. Bxg4 Qxg4 23. e3 h5 24. Qc5 h4 25. Qd6 Re4 26. Qf6 hxg3 27. hxg3 Qh3 28. Re2 Rce8 29. b5 R4e6 30. Qh4 Qxh4 31. gxh4 cxb5 32. axb5 Re4 33. Ra2 Rxh4 34. Rxa7 Ree4 35. Rc8+ Kg7 36. Rxb7 Rhg4+ 37. Kf1 Rg5 38. Rd7 Rf5 39. Rc5 { 39 b6! } 39... Rxe3 40. Rdxd5 Rf6 41. Rc6 Rf4 42. b6 Rb3 43. Rd7 Rb2 44. b7 Rfxf2+ 45. Ke1 { 45 Kg1 saves this for White - allowing time for the rook to come back to c1. } 45... Rh2 46. Rc2 Rb1+ { White resigns 47 Rc1 Rxc1# } 0-1

Central League Game

Here is a game from the recent Central League match between Stirling C and Badger's Brook B. My thanks to Stockfish 14 for its help with the annotations.

[Event "Central League Div 2"] [Site "?"] [Date "2023.11.13"] [Round "?"] [White "Scott, Douglas"] [Black "McAlister, David"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A05"] [Annotator "McAlister"] [PlyCount "62"] [EventDate "2023.09.??"] [EventType "team"] [EventCountry "SCO"] [SourceVersionDate "2009.11.12"] [WhiteTeam "Badgers Brook"] [BlackTeam "Stirling"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d6 3. Bg2 e5 4. O-O g6 5. d3 Bg7 6. e4 O-O 7. Nc3 c6 8. d4 Qc7 9. d5 Nbd7 10. b4 cxd5 11. Nxd5 Nxd5 12. exd5 f5 ({I tried (and failed) to find a way to exploit the long diagonal after it was weakened by White's 10th move and here the best way to do that was} 12... Nb6 {threatening ... Bg4 followed by ... e4. Best now is probably} 13. Rb1 ({Both} 13. h3 e4 14. Nd4 Nxd5) ({and} 13. Nh4 e4 14. Rb1 Qc4 15. Re1 f5 {seem to give Black a clear advantage.})) 13. Rb1 Nf6 14. Ng5 e4 15. f3 {There now develops a battle to maintain a Black pawn on e4. White only seems to be prepared to capture on e4 if exchanges on that square lead him to going a pawn up.} Re8 16. Re1 h6 17. Nh3 Qf7 18. c4 b6 19. Bb2 Bd7 20. Bxf6 Qxf6 21. Re3 $2 Qd4 $1 22. Qe2 $2 ({ White had to play} 22. Kf2 {but after} exf3 23. Qxf3 Rxe3 24. Qxe3 Qxc4 { (threatening Bd4)} 25. Rd1 Re8 26. Qd3 ({If} 26. Qb3 {then} Bd4+ 27. Rxd4 Qxd4+ {and it is mate in four)}) 26... Qxb4 {Black is winning.}) 22... exf3 23. Bxf3 Qxe3+ ({I thought} 23... Rxe3 {was probably even better but erred on the side of caution by going a Rook up plus ensuring the Queens were off the board.}) 24. Qxe3 Rxe3 25. Bg2 Rae8 26. Nf4 Kf7 27. Bf1 Rc3 28. b5 Rc2 29. a4 Ra2 30. Rb4 {White's efforts to retain his Queenside pawns allow me to end the game quickly.} Bd4+ 31. Kh1 Re1 {and it is at most mate in three. Black resigned.} 0-1

20-11-23 Badgers Brook A v Stirling B

Badgers Brook A		v		Stirling B
Kenny McGeoch Mark Cooke Andrew McHarg Douglas Scott Peter Woollven	2039 1864 1838 988 962	1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 0 - 1 ½ - ½	1557 1520 1504 1492 1476	Sean Flanagan Brad Duthie Nathanael Loch Bill Cook David McAlister
		3½ - 1½

13-11-23 Stirling C v Badgers Brook B

Missed this one from last week.

Stirling C		v		Badgers Brook B
Richard Warcup Dave Hewitt Kenny MacPherson David McAlister Harry Feather	1542 1513 1440 1476 1342	½ - ½ ½ - ½ 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0	1298 1263   988 962	Colin Matthews Gordon Walker Antonio La Gamma Douglas Scott Peter Woollven
		4 - 1

15-11-23 Grangemouth A v Stirling A

Grangemouth A		v		Stirling A
Alan Bell John McLay Graham Hamilton David Wallace Alan Petrie	1949 1948 1936 1776 1572	½ - ½ 1 - 0 ½ - ½ ½ - ½ 1 - 0	1755 1771 1703 1632 1520	William Spiers Jim Shemilt Graham Anderson Steve Smith Brad Duthie
		3½ - 1½

Below is my game from board 3, where I had Black against Graham H. It got very complicated in parts, and for the benefit of the juniors (who think this term is hilarious), it includes a majestic Bishop.

[Event "Grangemouth A v Stirling A"] [Site "Grangemouth CC"] [Date "2023.11.15"] [Round ""] [White "Hamilton, G"] [Black "Anderson, G"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 e6 3. e4 Be7 4. e5 Nd5 5. Bd2 d6 6. c4 Nb6 7. Qg4 dxe5 8. dxe5 g6 { Stockfish prefers g5. } 9. Nf3 N8d7 10. Nc3 Nc5 { Heading for d3. } 11. O-O-O Nd3+ 12. Bxd3 Qxd3 { Now that I'm here, I'm not so convinced it's good. The pawn on c4 is hanging - 13 b3 falls to 13 ... Ba3#. } 13. Nb5 { All of the black holes around f6/g7/h6 make this tricky for Black. The next move is an attempt to block White's black squared bishop from getting to them. } 13... h5 14. Qf4 Bd8 { 14 ... 0-0 falls to 15 Bb4 Qxc4+ 16 Qxc4 Nxc4 17 Bxe7 } 15. Ba5 { Analysis after the game found 15 Bc3 - which prevents 15 ... Qxc4 being check. } 15... Qxc4+ 16. Qxc4 Nxc4 17. Bxc7 Bd7 18. Nd6+ Nxd6 19. Bxd6 Be7 { 19 ... Bc6 looks good, but my first priority was to get rid of the strong-looking Bishop on d6. } 20. Kb1 Bxd6 21. Rxd6 Bc6 22. Rhd1 Bd5 { The rook on d6 is now trapped. } 23. Ne1 Ke7 24. f3 { This just seemed like a wasted move. My reply isn't much better... } 24... f6 25. f4 fxe5 26. fxe5 Rhf8 { Stockfish recommends Rad8 instead, but I still think I can win this rook. } 27. Nd3 Rf5 28. Nc5 Rxe5 { 28 ... b6 puts the Knight back in its box } 29. Rd7+ Kf6 30. Nxb7 Rb8 31. Nd6 Re2 32. b3 a5 33. Rf1+ Kg5 34. Nf7+ Kg4 35. Ra7 Rxg2 36. Rxa5 Rxh2 37. Ra4+ Kg3 { Draw agreed, although Stockfish has Black as at least +2 here. } 1/2-1/2

Game

Thanks to Dave for providing this game from a couple of weeks ago, where he had Black against Brad in the qualifying rounds for the Richardson Cup.

08-11-23 Grangemouth B v Stirling B

Granegmouth B		v		Stirling B
Dougie Will John Smith Ian Mason Bill Gray Harry Leishman	1870 1652 1603 1526 750	1 - 0 1 - 0 0 - 1 1 - 0 0 - 1	1696 1557 1542 1520 1440	Matthew Demmon Sean Flanagan Richard Warcup Brad Duthie Kenny MacPherson
		3 - 2

Game

Thanks to Bill Cook for providing the game below. This was played a couple of weeks ago, in the B team match against Grangemouth A. Apologies to Bill for taking so long to post it.

[Event "Stirling B v Grangemouth A"] [Site "Stirling CC"] [Date "2023.10.09"] [Round "?"] [White "Kuznetzov, R"] [Black "Cook, B"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E70"] [WhiteElo "1161"] [BlackElo "1492"] [PlyCount "118"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Bd3 O-O 6. Nge2 Nbd7 7. O-O e5 8. dxe5 dxe5 9. f4 exf4 10. Bxf4 Nc5 (10... Nh5) 11. Bc2 c6 12. Bd6 Qb6 (12... Ne6 13. Bxf8 Qxf8 14. h3 Qc5+ 15. Kh1 Nd7) 13. Bxf8 Ncxe4+ (13... Bxf8 14. Qd4 Ng4 15. h3 Bg7 16. Qd6 Nxe4+ 17. c5 Nxc5 18. Kh1 Ne3) 14. c5 Nxc5 15. Bxc5 Qxc5+ 16. Qd4 Qe7 17. Rad1 Be6 18. Qd6 Qxd6 19. Rxd6 Nd5 20. Nxd5 cxd5 21. Bb3 Be5 22. Rxd5 Bxd5 23. Bxd5 Rf8 24. Bxb7 Bxb2 25. Nf4 Bd4+ 26. Kh1 Kg7 27. g3 Rb8 28. Rd1 Rxb7 29. Rxd4 Rb1+ 30. Kg2 Rb2+ 31. Kh3 Rxa2 32. Nd5 a5 33. Nc3 Ra3 34. Na4 h5 35. Kg2 g5 36. h4 f6 37. Nc5 Ra2+ 38. Kf3 Ra3+ 39. Nd3 a4 40. hxg5 fxg5 41. Rd6 Rb3 42. Ke4 a3 43. Ra6 h4 44. gxh4 gxh4 45. Nf2 h3 46. Ng4 Rb4+ 47. Kf3 Rxg4 48. Kxg4 h2 49. Ra7+ Kf6 50. Rh7 a2 51. Rxh2 a1=Q 52. Rf2+ Ke5 53. Re2+ Kd5 54. Rd2+ Kc4 55. Kf3 Qc3+ 56. Ke2 Qh3 57. Rc2+ Kb3 58. Kd2 Qh2+ 59. Kd3 Qxc2+ 0-1

Bill writes: I was a whole rook down after 15 moves with no compensation, but gradually clawed my way back, first by just being only a piece down, (22...Bxd5) and then after 31...Rxa2, had a passed pawn to play with. The rook sacrifice 47....Rxg4 ensured the a pawn finally queened.

25-10-23 Allegro League Grangemouth Tigers v Stirling Bruce

Grangemouth Tigers 5½-10½ Stirling Bruce
Round 1
Alan Petrie	0 - 1	Isaac Browning
John McLay	1 - 0	Bill Cook
Harry Leishman	0 - 1	Kenny MacPherson
Zya Dolan	0 - 1	Dave Hewitt
Round 2
Alan Petrie	1 - 0	Bill Cook
John McLay	1 - 0	Kenny MacPherson
Harry Leishman	0 - 1	Dave Hewitt
Zya Dolan	0 - 1	Isaac Browning
Round 3
Alan Petrie	0 - 1	Kenny MacPherson
John McLay	1 - 0	Dave Hewitt
Harry Leishman	0 - 1	Isaac Browning
Euan Binnie	0 - 1	Bill Cook
Round 4
Alan Petrie	1 - 0	Dave Hewitt
John McLay	½ - ½	Isaac Browning
Harry Leishman	0 - 1	Bill Cook
Euan Binnie	0 - 1	Kenny MacPherson

25-10-23 Allegro League Grangemouth Lions v Stirling Wallace

Grangemouth Lions 7-9 Stirling Wallace
Round 1
Ian Mason	1 - 0	Graham Anderson
Bill Gray	0 - 1	Tom Wallace
Thomas Frew	0 - 1	William Feather
John Smith	0 - 1	Harry Feather
Round 2
Ian Mason	0 - 1	Harry Feather
Bill Gray	½ - ½	Graham Anderson
Thomas Frew	0 - 1	Tom Wallace
John Smith	1 - 0	Cameron Anderson
Round 3
Ian Mason	1 - 0	William Feather
Bill Gray	½ - ½	Harry Feather
Thomas Frew	0 - 1	Cameron Anderson
John Smith	1 - 0	Tom Wallace
Round 4
Ian Mason	0 - 1	Tom Wallace
Bill Gray	1 - 0	Cameron Anderson
Thomas Frew	0 - 1	Harry Feather
John Smith	1 - 0	Graham Anderson

23-10-23 Stirling C v Stirling D

Stirling C		v		Stirling D
Dave Hewitt Kenny MacPherson Bill Cook Sandy Carmichael Cameron Anderson	1513 1440 1492 1242	½ - ½ 1 - 0 1 - 0 0 - 1 0 - 1	1342 1335   1133 1071	Harry Feather Tom Wallace Tom Nimmo David Fowler Callum Richardson
		2½ - 2½

22-10-23 Scottish National Chess League

The Forth Valley A team had their first match postponed (due to their opponent's difficulties travelling from the North East after the recent storm), and lost the afternoon match 4½-½ to Dundee City A. Full scorecard here.

Forth Valley B drew 2½-2½ with Oban in the morning (scorecard here), and lost 3-2 to Dundee City B in the afternoon (scorecard here).

Forth Valley C beat Troon 4-1 in the morning (scorecard here), and drew 2½-2½ with Phones in the afternoon (scorecard here).

Thanks to Tom for the game below, where he had White against Aditya Srivastava.

[Event "SNCL"] [Site "Dunfermline"] [Date "2023.10.23"] [Round ""] [White "Wallace, T"] [Black "Srivastava, A"] [Result "1-0"] 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Bg5 Bg7 5. h3 O-O 6. Nf3 c6 7. Qd2 b5 8. a3 Nbd7 9. Bh6 a5 10. Bxg7 Kxg7 11. Bd3 Rb8 12. O-O Bb7 13. Rae1 b4 14. axb4 axb4 15. Nd1 Qa5 16. b3 e5 17. Nb2 exd4 18. Nc4 Qc5 19. Qf4 d5 20. Nd6 dxe4 21. Nxe4 Qd5 22. Bc4 Qh5 23. Nxd4 Nxe4 24. Rxe4 c5 25. Re7 Kh8 26. Rxd7 cxd4 27. Qf6+ Kg8 28. Bxf7+ { Black resigns } 1-0

16-10-23 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	1638	0 W 8	1 B 12	2 W 2	2½ B 4	2½ W 6	=7
2	Graham Anderson	1594	1 B 9	1½ W 5	1½ B 1	2½ W 13	3½ B 3	=3
3	Kenny MacPherson	1546	1 W 10	2 B 4	3 W 8	4 B 6	4 W 2	=1
4	Bill Cook	1546	1 B 11	1 W 3	2 B 5	2½ W 1	2½ B 7	=7
5	Dave Hewitt	1544	1 W 12	1½ B 2	1½ W 4	2½ B 10	2½ W 8	=7
6	David McAlister	1484	½ B 13	1½ W 7	2½ B 9	2½ W 3	3½ W 1	=3
7	Sandy Carmichael	1410	1 W 14	1 B 6	2 W 10	2 B 8	3 W 4	=5
8	Gordon Allcock	1362	1 B 1	2 W 13	2 B 3	3 W 7	4 B 5	=1
9	Harry Feather	1260	0 W 2	1 B 14	1 W 6	2 B 11	3 B 13	=5
10	Mick Bloor	1103	0 B 3	1 W 11	1 B 7	1 W 5	2 B 14	=10
11	Stewart Cairns	1058	0 W 4	0 B 10	1 W 14	1 W 9	1 B 12	13
12	Thomas Forsyth	858	0 B 5	0 W 1	0 B 13	1 W 14	2 W 11	=10
13	Cameron Anderson	680	½ W 6	½ B 8	1½ W 12	1½ B 2	1½ W 9	12
14	Jonathan Pont		0 B 7	0 W 9	0 B 11	0 B 12	0 W 10	14

Club Secretary Bill presents the trophy to Gordon (l) and Kenny (r). This is Kenny's first win in this tournament, and Gordon's first since 2006. Well done both!

10-10-23 Dunfermline B v Stirling C

Dunfermline B		v		Stirling C
Douglas Rew Anthony Milligan Dimitris Giannakopoulos Calum Newton Mark McLintock	1403 1345 1330   1229	1 - 0 ½ - ½ 0 - 1 1 - 0 1 - 0	1513 1440 1492 1476 1335	Dave Hewitt Kenny MacPherson Bill Cook David McAlister Tom Wallace
		3½ - 1½

09-10-2023 Stirling D v Badgers Brook B

Stirling D		v		Badgers Brook B
Harry Feather Tom Wallace Tom Nimmo Sandy Carmichael Mick Bloor	1342 1335   1242 1117	1 - 0 1 - 0 0 - 1 1 - 0 1 - 0	1263 988   962 963	Gordon Walker Douglas Scott David Lawrence Peter Woollven David Mabon
		4 - 1

Thanks to Tom for the game below, where he had White against Douglas Scott.

[Event "Stirling D v Badgers Brook B"] [Site "Stirling CC"] [Date "2023.10.09"] [Round ""] [White "Wallace, T"] [Black "Scott, D"] [Result "1-0"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 h6 5. Bd3 Bxd3 6. Qxd3 e6 7. O-O a6 8. a3 c5 9. c4 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Bc5 11. Be3 Ne7 12. Nxe6 fxe6 13. Bxc5 Nbc6 14. Re1 O-O 15. Nc3 b6 16. Bxe7 Qxe7 17. cxd5 Rfd8 18. d6 Qf7 19. Re2 Ne7 20. Rae1 Ng6 21. g3 Rd7 22. Qe4 Rf8 23. Qc6 Rb8 24. Na4 b5 25. Nc5 Ra7 26. d7 Ne7 27. Qd6 Rd8 28. Rd1 { 28 Nxe6 } 28... Nd5 29. Qxe6 Raxd7 30. Qxf7+ Rxf7 31. Red2 Rdf8 32. Rxd5 Rxf2 33. Rd8 Rxd8 34. Rxd8+ Rf8 35. Rxf8+ Kxf8 36. Nxa6 Kf7 37. Nc7 Ke7 38. Nxb5 Ke6 39. Kf2 Kxe5 40. Ke3 Kd5 41. Kd3 Kc5 42. Nc3 g5 43. Ne4+ Kb5 44. h4 Ka4 45. Kc2 g4 46. Nf6 h5 47. Nxh5 { Black resigns } 1-0

09-10-23 Stirling B v Grangemouth A

Stirling B		v		Grangemouth A
Matthew Demmon Sean Flanagan Brad Duthie Nathanael Loch Bill Cook	1696 1557 1520 1504 1492	0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1 1 - 0	1949 1948 1776 1572 1161	Alan Bell John McLay David Wallace Alan Petrie Roman Kuznetsov
		1 - 4

02-10-23 Badgers Brook A v Stirling A

Badgers Brook A		v		Stirling A
Kenny McGeoch Stuart Ward Jonathan Rowney David Lawrence Douglas Scott	2039 1774 1591   988	0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1	2142 1988 1755 1632 1513	Shubham Lakudkar Isaac Browning William Spiers Steve Smith Dave Hewitt
		0 - 5

02-10-23 Stirling E v Stirling D

Stirling E		v		Stirling D
Gordon Allcock Harley Lang Thomas Forsyth Euan Tortolano Stewart Cairns	1240 1096 947 792	1 - 0 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1	1342 1335 1117 1071	Tom Nimmo Harry Feather Tom Wallace Mick Bloor Callum Richardson
		1 - 4

25-09-23 Stirling C v Grangemouth C

Stirling C		v		Grangemouth C
Dave Hewitt Bill Cook Kenny MacPherson Harry Feather Tom Wallace	1513 1492 1440 1342 1335	1 - 0 0 - 1 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0	1434 1199 1161	Alasdair Sandham Crawford Welsh Roman Kuznetsov Keith Morley Thomas Frew
		4 - 1

Thanks to Dave for the game below. I'm trying something new here - embedding from lichess...

19-09-23 Dunfermline A v Stirling B

Dunfermline A		v		Stirling B
Volodymyr Tushynskyi Ian Robertson Gordon Greig Scott Kilgour Calum Smith	2268 2109 1652 1636 1624	1 - 0 1 - 0 ½ - ½ 1 - 0 0 - 1	1771 1703 1696 1513 1440	Jim Shemilt Graham Anderson Matthew Demmon Dave Hewitt Kenny MacPherson
		3½ - 1½

19-09-23 Dunfermline B v Stirling E

Dunfermline B		v		Stirling E
George McCluskey Euan Bell Brian Easton Harris Dowie Melinda Kindeur	1046	1 - 0 ½ - ½ ½ - ½ 0 - 1 1 - 0	1096 947   792	Harley Lang Thomas Forsyth Stewart Cairns Euan Tortolano Cameron Anderson
		3 - 2

04-09-2023 AGM Blitz

A slightly belated report on the traditional post-AGM blitz - played over five rounds at a time rate of 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment. Sean won with 4/5 and there was a four-way tie for second place between Richard (who beat Sean in the last round), Nathanael, Tom and Dave. Nine people played the full tournament and Stewart and Shubham each played one round.

Previous winners:

September 2006: John Blake 5/5 (12 players)
September 2007: Steve Smith 5½/6
September 2008: John Blake, Harvey Kelly, Alex Scott all 5/6 (17 players)
September 2009: Kenny McGeoch 5½/6 (14 players)
September 2010: Kenny McGeoch 6½/7
September 2011: Paul Prescott, Kenny McGeoch both 4½/5 (10 players)
September 2012: Paul Prescott 4½/5 (10 players)
September 2013: Paul Prescott 6/6 (14 players)
September 2014: John Blake, Bill Cook both 4/5 (9 players)
September 2015: Dave Hewitt 6½/8 (10 players)
September 2016: Robert Leckie 4/5 (9 players)
September 2017: John Blake, Brad Duthie, Richard Warcup all 4/5 (11 players)
September 2018: Graham Anderson 3½/4 (8 players)
September 2019: Kabir Pandit 4/4 (10 players)
September 2021: Kenny MacPherson, Richard Warcup 6/7 (11 players)
September 2022: Brad Duthie 5/5 (14 players)

18-09-2023 Stirling A v Grangemouth B

A full strength Stirling A team started the defence of their Central League Division 1 title at home against a strong Grangemouth B team.

Stirling A             3.0-2.0  Grangemouth B

Shubham Lakudkar 2142    0-1    Dougie Will     1870
Isaac Browning   1988    0-1    Daniel Kitaev   1669 
Sam Coates       1852    1-0    John Smith      1652  
William Spiers   1755    1-0    Ian Mason       1603
Steve Smith      1632    1-0    Nicholas Kitaev 1037

Richardson Cup

Congratulations to Shubham, winner of this seasons Richardson Cup (club championship), with a perfect 5/5. Well done Shubham!

07-06-2023 Lindsay Cup Final

On Wednesday night, Kenny MacPherson played Dave Hewitt in the final of the Lindsay Cup. This was hosted by Grangemouth CC - thanks to them for facilitating this.

This was the game.

[Event "Lindsay Cup Final"] [Site "https://lichess.org/smTsVfin"] [Date "2023.06.07"] [White "Kenny MacPherson"] [Black "Dave Hewitt"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1418"] [BlackElo "1562"] [ECO "A15"] [Opening "English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 e6 3. Bg2 c6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. d4 d5 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Nf3 O-O 8. O-O Bf5 9. Nh4 Be6 10. Qd3 Qc8 11. e4 dxe4 12. Nxe4 Nxe4 13. Bxe4 f5 14. Bf3 Bxh4 15. gxh4 f4 16. d5 Qd7 17. d6 Na6 18. b3 Nb4 19. Qd2 Nd5 20. Ba3 Rad8 21. Rfe1 Rf6 22. Re5 Qf7 23. Rae1 Qg6+ 24. Kh1 Qf7 25. R1e2 Kh8 26. Qe1 Bd7 27. Bg4 h6 28. Bxd7 Rxd7 29. Re8+ Kh7 30. R2e6 Rxe6 31. Rxe6 f3 32. Qe4+ g6 33. h5 Qf5 34. hxg6+ Kg7 35. Qxf5 1-0

Congratulations to Kenny, seen here with the trophy

22-05-2023 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	Shubham Lakudkar	2041	1 W 14	2 B 8	3 W 6	4 B 5	5 W 3	1
2	Graham Anderson	1655	½ B 15	1½ W 17	2 B 7	3 W 9	3 B 27	=7
3	Steve Smith	1636	1 W 16	1½ B 11	2½ W 4	3½ B 7	3½ B 11	=4
4	Harley Lang	1585	½ B 17	1½ W 15	1½ B 3	2½ W 20	3½ B 12	=4
5	Brad Duthie	1581	1 W 18	2 B 12	3 W 27	3 W 1	3 B 10	=7
6	Sean Flanagan	1579	1 B 19	2 W 9	2 B 1	2 W 10	3 B 15	=7
7	Bill Cook	1507	1 W 20	2 B 13	2½ W 2	2½ W 3	3½ B 11	=4
8	Nathanael Loch	1447	1 B 21	1 W 1	2 B 18	2 W 12	3 B 19	=7
9	Kenny MacPherson	1399	1 W 22	1 B 6	2 W 11	2 B 2	3 W 17	=7
10	Ruaridh Simpson	1373	1 W 23	1 B 27	2 W 16	3 B 6	4 W 5	=2
11	Sandy Carmichael	1349	1 B 24	1½ W 3	1½ B 9	2½ W 15	2½ W 7	=15
12	Gordon Allcock	1346	1 W 25	1 W 5	2 B 19	3 B 8	3 W 4	=7
13	Harry Feather	1333	1 B 26	1 W 7	1½ B 20	2½ W 18	2½ B 14	=15
14	Kris Dimitrov	1309	0 B 1	1 W 21	2 B 25	2 W 27	3 W 13	=7
15	Mick Bloor	1114	½ W 2	½ B 4	1½ W 17	1½ B 11	1½ W 6	=20
16	Stewart Cairns	1099	0 B 3	1 W 23	1 B 10	2 W 21	3 B 18	=7
17	Thomas Forsyth	750	½ W 4	½ B 2	½ B 15	1½ W 24	1½ B 9	=20
18	Cameron Anderson	685	0 B 5	1 W 26	1 W 8	1 B 13	1 W 16	=23
19	William Feather		0 W 6	1 B 22	1 W 12	2 B 25	2 W 8	=17
20	Calum Tortolano		0 B 7	1 W 24	1½ W 13	1½ B 4	1½ -	=20
21	Josh Rodger		0 W 8	0 B 14	1 W 23	1 B 16	2 W 25	=17
22	Victor Liu		0 B 9	0 W 19	0 B 24	0 -	0 -	=26
23	Elsa Liu		0 B 10	0 B 16	0 B 21	0 -	0 -	=26
24	Kai Austin		0 W 11	0 B 20	1 W 22	1 B 17	2 Bye	=17
25	Graham Tuck		0 B 12	1 Bye	1 W 14	1 W 19	1 B 21	=23
26	Oleks Vynnytskyi		0 W 13	0 B 18	1 Bye	1 -	1 -	=23
27	Dave Hewitt	1512	1 Bye	2 W 10	2 B 5	3 B 14	4 W 2	=2

Shubham (left) receives the trophy from club president Gordon Allcock. Well done Shubham!

15-05-2023 Central League Cup Stirling v Grangemouth

Stirling		v		Grangemouth
Shubham Lakudkar Isaac Browning William Spiers Graham Anderson Steve Smith Brad Duthie Sean Flanagan	2040 1934 1722 1670 1621 1523 1487	1 - 0 ½ - ½ 0 - 1 ½ - ½ 0 - 1 0 - 1 ½ - ½	2066 1979 1953 1833 1727 1711 1626	John McLay Graham Hamilton Alan Bell Dougie Will David Wallace Alan Petrie Ian Mason
		2½ - 4½

Congratulations to Grangemouth!

Thanks to Shubham and Sean for providing the games below.

[Event "CL Cup Stirling v Grangemouth"] [Site "Stirling CC"] [Date "2023.05.15"] [Round "F"] [White "McLay, J"] [Black "Lakudkar, S"] [Result "0-1"] 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd6 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 a6 6. Bc4 Nc6 7. h3 e6 8. Bg5 b5 9. Bd3 Bb7 10. O-O Be7 11. a4 b4 12. Ne4 Qd7 13. Re1 h6 14. Nxf6+ gxf6 15. Bf4 O-O-O 16. c3 Kb8 17. Qe2 e5 18. Be3 exd4 19. cxd4 Rhg8 20. Bxa6 Rxg2+ 21. Kxg2 Rg8+ 22. Kh2 Bd6+ 23. Ne5 fxe5 24. Qb5 e4+ { White resigns } 0-1

[Event "CL Cup Stirling v Grangemouth"] [Site "Stirling CC"] [Date "2023.05.15"] [Round "F"] [White "Anderson, G"] [Black "Will, D"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 h6 5. Be3 d6 6. c3 g6 7. Nbd2 Ng4 8. h3 Nxe3 9. fxe3 Bg7 10. Qe2 O-O 11. Qf2 Na5 12. Bb5 Bd7 13. Bxd7 Qxd7 14. d4 c5 15. O-O Qb5 16. Rab1 Rac8 17. d5 Nc4 18. Qe2 Na3 19. c4 Nxc4 20. Qxc4 Qa5 21. Qc3 Qd8 22. a4 f5 23. Qc2 a6 24. exf5 gxf5 25. Nh2 e4 26. Nxe4 fxe4 27. Qxe4 Re8 28. Qg6 Qg5 29. Qxg5 hxg5 30. Ng4 c4 31. Nf6+ Bxf6 32. Rxf6 Rxe3 33. Rg6+ Kh7 34. Rxg5 Rb3 35. Re1 { Draw agreed. I am very short of time, and have no ideas on how to win this. All I can think is Re6 which gives perpetual check. } 1/2-1/2

[Event "CL Cup Stirling v Grangemouth"] [Site "Stirling CC"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Date "2023.05.15"] [White "Mason, I"] [Black "Flanagan, S"] [ECO "D16"] [Opening "Slav Defense: Soultanbeieff Variation"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 e6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. e3 Bb4 9. Bxc4 c5 10. O-O Bxc3 11. bxc3 O-O 12. Qe2?! { Inaccuracy. Ne5 was best. } (12. Ne5 Nd7 13. f4 Nxe5 14. fxe5 Qg5 15. Rf3 Bd7 16. Rg3 Qh4 17. Qd3 Bc6 18. Rf1 Be4) 12... cxd4 13. cxd4 b6 14. Ne5?! { Inaccuracy. Rfc1 was best. } (14. Rfc1 Nd7 15. Bb5 Qd8 16. Bc6 Rb8 17. Rc2 Bb7 18. Rac1 Bxc6 19. Rxc6 Nf6 20. Ne5 Nd5) 14... Nd7 15. Nxd7 Bxd7 16. Bb5 Qe7 17. h3 Bc8 18. Ba6 Bb7 19. Bxb7 Qxb7 20. Rfb1 Rab8 21. Rb2 Rfc8 22. Rab1 Rc6 23. a5 Qc7 24. g3 Rc1+ 25. Rxc1 Qxc1+ 26. Kh2 Qc3 27. axb6 axb6 28. Qb5 Qc7 29. Qe2 Qd7 30. Qb5 Qxb5 31. Rxb5 Kf8 32. Kg2 Ke7 33. Kf3 Kd6 34. Ke4 Kc6 35. Rb2 b5 36. Kd3 f5 37. Rc2+ Kd6 38. Rb2 Kc6 39. Rc2+ Kb6 40. Rc5 Rb7? { Mistake. Ra8 was best. } 41. Kc3? { Mistake. Re5 was best. } 41... Ka5 42. Kb3 h5?! { Inaccuracy. g5 was best. } 43. h4 g6 44. Rc6 Rb6?? { Blunder. Re7 was best. } (44... Re7 45. Rc5) 45. Rc8?? { Blunder. Rxb6 was best. } (45. Rxb6 Kxb6 46. Kb4 Ka6 47. f3 Kb6 48. e4 Kc6 49. Ka5 Kd6 50. Kxb5 e5 51. Kc4 f4) 45... Rb7? { Mistake. Rd6 was best. } (45... Rd6 46. Rg8 e5 47. dxe5 Re6 48. Rg7 Rxe5 49. Rxg6 Re4 50. Rg5 Rb4+ 51. Kc3 Rc4+ 52. Kd3) 46. Ra8+ 46... Kb6 47. Rd8?? { Blunder. Re8 was best. } 47... Rc7?! (47... Kc6 48. Rg8 Kd5 49. Rxg6 Re7 50. Rh6 Ke4 51. Rf6 Kd5 52. Rf8 Rh7 53. Kb4 Ra7 54. Rd8+) 48. Rd6+ Ka5 49. Rxe6 b4?? { Blunder. Rc1 was best. } (49... Rc1 50. Rxg6 Rf1 51. f4 b4 52. Rg5 Rb1+ 53. Kc2 Rg1 54. Rxf5+ Ka4 55. Rf8 b3+ 56. Kb2) 50. Kb2? { Mistake. Re5+ was best. } (50. Re5+ Kb6 51. Kxb4 Rc6 52. Rc5 Rd6 53. Kc4 Kb7 54. d5 Ra6 55. Kd4 Ra2 56. Rc6 Rxf2) 50... Rc3 51. Rxg6 Rd3 52. Rg5? { Mistake. Rg8 was best. } (52. Rg8 Kb5 53. Rb8+ Ka4 54. Ra8+ Kb5 55. Kc2 Rc3+ 56. Kd2 Rc6 57. Rb8+ Kc4 58. Kc2 Rc7) 52... Ka4? { Mistake. Rd2+ was best. } (52... Rd2+ 53. Kb3) 53. Kc2 Rc3+ 54. Kb2 Rb3+ 55. Kc2 Rc3+ 56. Kb2 Rb3+ 57. Kc2?? { Blunder. Kc1 was best. } 57... Rc3+ 1/2-1/2

08-05-2023 Stirling v Dunfermline (Under 1500 Cup Final)

Stirling		v		Dunfermline
Bill Cook Sean Flanagan Ruaridh Simpson Kenny MacPherson Tom Wallace	1489 1487 1483 1418 1358	1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0	1234   1207 1080	Mark McLintock Jim Wallace Glynis Grant Brian Easton Mike Skicko
		5 - 0

Well done all!

(l-r) Sean, Kenny, Ruaridh, captain Bill with the trophy, Tom

Thanks to Ruaridh, Kenny, and Tom for the games below. I don't have the board 1 and 2 games, because these went on much longer than the players recorded for.

[Event "U1500 Cup Stirling v Dunfermline"] [Site "Stirling CC"] [Date "2023.05.08"] [Round "Final"] [White "Grant, G"] [Black "Simpson, R"] [Result "0-1"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 d6 4. Nf3 g6 5. Bb5 Bd7 6. Bxc6 Bxc6 7. d3 Bg7 8. O-O Nf6 9. Kh1 c4 10. Rb1 O-O 11. e5 dxe5 12. fxe5 Nd7 13. d4 Nb6 14. Be3 Nd5 15. Nxd5 Qxd5 16. c3 h6 17. Qd2 Kh7 18. Rf2 Qe6 19. Rbf1 Be4 20. Ne1 Rad8 21. Qc1 f6 22. Rf4 fxe5 23. Rxf8 Rxf8 24. Rxf8 Bxf8 25. dxe5 Qxe5 26. Bd4 Qf5 27. Kg1 b6 28. Qe3 e5 29. Bxb6 axb6 30. Qxb6 Qg4 31. Qc7+ Bg7 32. Qf7 Bf5 33. Qa7 Qd1 34. Qf2 h5 35. h3 Bh6 36. Kh2 Bf4+ 37. g3 Qd2 38. Qxd2 Bxd2 39. Nf3 Bc1 40. Nxe5 Bxb2 41. Nxc4 Bxc3 42. a4 Bd3 43. Nb6 Bc2 44. Nd5 Ba5 45. h4 Bxa4 46. Nf6+ Kg7 47. Ne4 Bc6 48. Ng5 Kf6 49. Kg1 Kf5 50. Kh2 Bc7 51. Kh3 Bd8 52. Nf7 Bc7 53. Nh6+ Ke4 54. Nf7 Kf3 55. Ng5+ Kf2 56. g4 Bg2# 0-1

[Event "U1500 Cup Stirling v Dunfermline"] [Site "Stirling CC"] [Date "2023.05.08"] [Round "Final"] [White "MacPherson, K"] [Black "Easton, B"] [Result "1-0"] 1. d4 c5 2. d5 b6 3. c4 Nf6 4. Nc3 d6 5. e4 Nbd7 6. f4 g6 7. Nf3 Bg7 8. Bd3 Nb8 9. Bd2 a6 10. Qe2 Qc7 11. O-O Ng4 12. h3 Bd4+ 13. Nxd4 cxd4 14. hxg4 dxc3 15. Bxc3 Rf8 16. f5 Nd7 17. Qe3 Bb7 18. Qh6 O-O-O 19. Qxh7 Qc5+ 20. Rf2 Qe3 21. Qh3 Qc5 22. b4 Qc7 23. Qe3 gxf5 24. gxf5 f6 25. Bd4 Rh8 26. Rc1 Rdg8 27. Be2 Rg7 28. Bf3 Rgh7 29. Kf1 Rh1+ 30. Ke2 Rxc1 31. Qxc1 Kd8 32. Ke3 Ke8 33. Rc2 Qd8 34. c5 Kf7 35. c6 Ne5 36. cxb7 Qg8 37. Bxe5 fxe5 38. Kd3 Qe8 39. Rc8 Qb5+ 40. Qc4 Rh1 41. Qxb5 axb5 42. b8=Q Rd1+ 43. Bxd1 { Black resigns. } 1-0

[Event "U1500 Cup Stirling v Dunfermline"] [Site "Stirling CC"] [Date "2023.08.05"] [Round "Final"] [White "Skicko, M"] [Black "Wallace, T"] [Result "0-1"] 1. e4 c5 2. Bc4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Bd3 c4 5. Be2 Bc5 6. d4 cxd3 7. Bxd3 dxe4 8. Bxe4 Qxd1+ 9. Kxd1 Bxf2 10. Nbd2 Nf6 11. Bd3 O-O 12. b3 Nc6 13. c3 Rd8 14. Ke2 Bb6 15. Nc4 Bc7 16. Be3 h6 17. h4 e5 18. Nfd2 Bg4+ 19. Nf3 e4 20. Bc2 exf3+ 21. gxf3 Bh5 22. Rhg1 Kf8 23. b4 Nd5 24. Bc5+ Kg8 25. b5 Nxc3+ 26. Kf2 Nxb5 27. Rg2 Nbd4 28. Be4 f5 29. Bd3 Bxf3 30. Rgg1 b6 31. Ba3 Be4 32. Bxe4 fxe4 33. Nd2 e3+ 34. Kxe3 Nc2+ 35. Ke2 Nxa3 36. Raf1 Re8+ 37. Kd1 Rf8 38. Rg6 Rxf1+ 39. Nxf1 Rd8+ 40. Nd2 Ne5 41. Rg3 Nb1 42. Kc1 Nxd2 { White resigns. } 0-1

08-05-2023 Stirling Douglas v Stirling Wallace

Stirling Douglas 6-10 Stirling Wallace
Round 1
Brad Duthie	1 - 0	David McAlister
Stewart Cairns	0 - 1	Nathanael Loch
Dave Hewitt	1 - 0	Gordon Allcock
Kai Austin	0 - 1	William Feather
Round 2
Brad Duthie	1 - 0	William Feather
Stewart Cairns	0 - 1	David McAlister
Dave Hewitt	0 - 1	Nathanael Loch
Kai Austin	0 - 1	Gordon Allcock
Round 3
Brad Duthie	1 - 0	Gordon Allcock
Stewart Cairns	0 - 1	William Feather
Dave Hewitt	0 - 1	David McAlister
Kai Austin	0 - 1	Nathanael Loch
Round 4
Brad Duthie	1 - 0	Nathanael Loch
Stewart Cairns	0 - 1	Gordon Allcock
Dave Hewitt	1 - 0	William Feather
Kai Austin	0 - 1	David McAlister

Well done to Brad for a fine 4/4, and good to see juniors Kai and William making their allegro league debuts.

08-05-2023 Thornton Cup Final

The final of the Thornton Cup was played last night, where Kris Dimitrov had White against Harry Feather.

This is the game.

[Event "Thornton Cup"] [Site "Stirling CC"] [Date "2023.05.08"] [Round "Final"] [White "Dimitrov, K"] [Black "Feather, H"] [Result "1-0"] 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4 Nb6 4. d4 d6 5. exd6 cxd6 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. h3 Bh5 8. Be2 Qc7 9. b3 N8d7 10. O-O e5 11. d5 Be7 12. Nc3 a6 13. Ba3 Nc5 14. Nd2 Bg6 15. Bh5 O-O-O 16. Bxg6 hxg6 17. b4 Ncd7 18. c5 dxc5 19. Nde4 Nc4 20. bxc5 Nxc5 21. Bxc5 Bxc5 22. Na4 Bd4 23. Rc1 b5 24. Nac3 Qb6 25. Rc2 Kb7 26. Qf3 f5 27. Ng5 e4 28. Qg3 Rd7 { 28 ... Be5 traps the White Queen. } 29. Ne6 Bxc3 30. Qxc3 Rc8 31. Rd1 Nd6 32. Qb2 { 32 Qxc8+ Nxc8 33 Nc5+ } 32... Rxc2 33. Qxc2 e3 34. fxe3 Qxe3+ 35. Kh1 Nc4 36. a4 Qb6 37. Qc3 Qe3 38. Qb4 Rxd5 39. Qe7+ Kc6 40. Qc7# 1-0

Congratulations to Kris, seen here receiving the trophy from club president Gordon Allcock. Well done Kris!

01-05-2023 Stirling Douglas v Grangemouth Tigers

Stirling Douglas 5-11 Grangemouth Tigers
Round 1
Richard Warcup	0 - 1	John McLay
Sandy Carmichael	0 - 1	Alan Bell
Adam Fenwick	0 - 1	Daniel Kitaev
Kenny MacPherson	1 - 0	Ryan Herron
Round 2
Richard Warcup	1 - 0	Ryan Herron
Sandy Carmichael	0 - 1	John McLay
Adam Fenwick	0 - 1	Alan Bell
Kenny MacPherson	½ - ½	Daniel Kitaev
Round 3
Richard Warcup	½ - ½	Daniel Kitaev
Sandy Carmichael	0 - 1	Ryan Herron
Adam Fenwick	0 - 1	John McLay
Kenny MacPherson	0 - 1	Alan Bell
Round 4
Richard Warcup	0 - 1	Alan Bell
Sandy Carmichael	1 - 0	Daniel Kitaev
Adam Fenwick	0 - 1	Ryan Herron
Kenny MacPherson	1 - 0	John McLay

01-05-2023 Stirling Wallace v Grangemouth Lions

Stirling Wallace 6-10 Grangemouth Lions
Round 1
Gordon Allcock	0 - 1	Dougie Will
Nathanael Loch	1 - 0	Alan Petrie
Tom Wallace	1 - 0	Ian Mason
Tom Nimmo	0 - 1	Nicholas Kitaev
Round 2
Gordon Allcock	1 - 0	Alan Petrie
Nathanael Loch	1 - 0	Ian Mason
Tom Wallace	0 - 1	Nicholas Kitaev
Tom Nimmo	0 - 1	Dougie Will
Round 3
Gordon Allcock	0 - 1	Ian Mason
Nathanael Loch	½ - ½	Nicholas Kitaev
Tom Wallace	0 - 1	Dougie Will
Tom Nimmo	0 - 1	Alan Petrie
Round 4
Gordon Allcock	1 - 0	Nicholas Kitaev
Nathanael Loch	½ - ½	Dougie Will
Tom Wallace	0 - 1	Alan Petrie
Tom Nimmo	0 - 1	Ian Mason

26-04-2023 Grangemouth C v Stirling E

Grangemouth C		v		Stirling E
David Fowler Scott Dickson Roman Kuznetsov Ryan Herron Michael Campbell	1181 1022	0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1 1 - 0 1 - 0	1097 1082 1079	Callum Richardson Harley Lang Mick Bloor Stewart Cairns Cameron Anderson
		2 - 3