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