2026-04-27 David Brodie Trophy

Graham provided this report on the David Brodie Trophy, the annual competition for the junior members of Stirling Chess Club

On Monday past, the juniors competed in an allegro tournament for the David Brodie Trophy. There were 14 competitors, playing five rounds with 15 minutes for each game. Some great chess was played, and the destination of the trophy wasn't decided until the last match of the last round.

Victor, having declined a draw offer which would have seen him win the competition outright, played on in a fairly closed position having just opened the h file. However, it turned out to be Elsa who managed to take advantage of this and get her Queen in behind Victor's defences to first win a piece, then chase Victor's King into the middle of the board where she delivered checkmate with less than 30 seconds remaining on her clock.

This means that the trophy is shared between Elsa, Victor, and Kai. Well done to them, and well done to all the competitors, some of whom where playing in a proper competition for the first time.

Thanks to Julie for taking the photographs, thanks to Grishma for providing the participation awards, thanks to Grishma and Jim for helping with queries, and special thanks to Marissa (David's daughter) for presenting the awards and trophy.

Thanks also to Richard for providing the crosstable.

2026-04-22 Champions with their trophy

2025/2026 Division 2 Champions, Stirling C finished their programme on a high note with a victory at Grangemouth.

           Central League Division 2
           Grangemouth C 1-4  Stirling C

1. Joe Johnstone  *1450  1-0  Nathaniel Loch   1515
2. Sean Gray      *1383  0-1  Kenny MacPherson 1506
3. Harry Leishman  847   0-1  Tom Wallace      1313
4. William Walker  u/g   0-1  Toby Geyer       1302
5. Allan Mitchell  u/g   0-1  David Fowler     1300

* Live Rating

Stirling had White on boards 1, 3 and 5

Bill Gray sent through the grapevine a brief report and photograph of the League winners with the trophy.

Top board looked to be heading for an endgame draw until a discovered check cost Nathaniel his remaining rook. Kenny checkmated Sean after the latter had erred.

I missed the finale of board 3 where Tom had been enjoying an edge. Young William missed a probable draw v Toby by allowing an exchange of Queens which left him in a disadvantageous endgame.

Allan lost a Bishop for two pawns early on and David's active pieces won the day against an uncastled King.

A bittersweet night for our visitors who had already sealed the division 2 title; an achievement tinged with sadness due to the absence of their much missed former captain (and friend of mine), the late Dave Hewitt.

2026-04-20 Three Home Matches

Stirling Chess Club has won both Divisions of the Central League, but there remain a few matches left to play before the League season is wrapped up.

We start with two matches from the second tier.

   Central League Division 2
   Stirling E          2-3  Clackmannanshire

1. Rudra Pardhi  930   1-0  Glen Wilson       1047
2. Josh Heesom   u/g   1-0  Joseph Lambert    u/g
3. Samay Banakar u/g   0-1  Aiden Cameron     u/g
4. Jamie Scanlon u/g   0-1  Roman Quinn       u/g
5. Aarika Pawar  u/g   0-1  Catherine Lambert u/g

Stirling had White on boards 3 and 4

Graham reports:

A first win of the season for Clackmannanshire - congratulations to them! It was great to see so many juniors - 8 - involved in this match.

Samay resigned early on, then Josh set a mating trap, with the lure of a Queen, for Joseph which he fell into.

Jamie missed a mate in two combination for five moves in a row before Roman swapped Queens, and the extra pawns made the difference.

Aarika got slowly strangled by Catherine before a back rank mate. Rudra - Glen will hopefully be on the club website soon.

[Event "Stirling E v Clackmannanshire"] [Site "Stirling CC"] [Date "2026.04.20"] [Round "?"] [White "Wilson, G."] [Black "Pardhi, R."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B70"] [WhiteElo "1047"] [BlackElo "930"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "80"] [GameId "2302004149751925"] [EventDate "2026.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Bc4 Bg7 7. O-O O-O 8. Be3 e5 9. Nde2 Nc6 10. f4 Ng4 11. Bf2 exf4 12. Nxf4 Be5 (12... Nxf2 13. Rxf2 Bd4) 13. Bg3 Ne3 14. Qf3 Nxc4 15. Rad1 Nxb2 16. Rd2 Nc4 17. Rdd1 Nd4 18. Qd3 Nb2 19. Qd2 Nxd1 20. Nxd1 Qg5 21. Nb2 Ne6 22. Nbd3 b6 23. Qb4 Ba6 24. c4 Rac8 25. Nxe5 dxe5 26. Nd5 Bxc4 27. Ne7+ Kh8 28. Nxc8 Rxc8 29. Rxf7 Qd8 30. Bxe5+ Kg8 31. Rxa7 Qd3 (31... Qd1+ 32. Kf2 Qe2+ 33. Kg3 Qe3+ 34. Kh4 Qg5+ 35. Kh3 Nf4+ 36. Bxf4 Be6+ 37. g4 Qxg4#) 32. h3 Qxe4 33. Bg3 Nd4 34. Qxb6 Bd5 35. Qb2 Ne2+ 36. Kf1 Rc1+ (36... Rf8+ 37. Rf7 Rxf7+ 38. Ke1 Nxg3+ 39. Kd2 Rf2+ 40. Kd1 Rxb2 41. a3 Qb1#) 37. Kf2 Qxg2+ 38. Ke3 Qxg3+ 39. Kd2 Qe1+ 40. Ke3 Rc3+ {White resigns.} 0-1

   Central League Division 2
   Stirling D        2½-2½ Badgers Brook B

1. Tom Wallace  1313  ½-½  Antonio La Gamma 1269
2. David Fowler 1300  ½-½  David Lawrence   1180
3. Mick Bloor   1084  0-1  Connor George    977
4. Victor Lui   928   ½-½  Douglas Scott    973
5. Elsa Lui     u/g   1-0  Peter Woollven   907
 
Stirling had White on boards 4 and 5

Tom reports:

Elsa secured an early point with a good win against Peter.

Mick blew a winning position and lost a rook and eventually the game.

Victor and Douglas drew a Knight and pawn ending.

I had managed to draw with Antonio in a Knight and Bishop ending with lots of blocking pawns to force the draw.

The last game was an agreed draw with Stirling's David’s clock dropping but Badgers David only had a knight left. David F should have claimed a draw with under 2 minutes left and Kenny pointed out the King and Knight could theoretically mated with David’s rook and pawn in the corner. The 2 David’s had agreed a draw so all square in the end.

In Division 1, Stirling B's last match of the season against Badgers Brook A resulted in a 3.5 -1.5 win for the visitors:

   Central League Division 1
   Stirling B            1½-3½ Badgers Brook A

1. Richard Warcup   1637  0-1  Kenny McGeoch   2014
2. Brad Duthie      1552  0-1  Suzy Cooke      1902
3. Bill Cook        1544  ½-½  Jonathan Rowney 1543
4. Steve Smith      1549  0-1  Graham Kerr     1482
5. Kenny MacPherson 1506  1-0  Colin Matthews  1394

Stirling had White on Boards 2 and 4

Bill reports:

Kenny MacP was a piece up fairly early on and converted to bring the first point. Suzy also won a piece and was the second game to finish.

I didn't see the end of the Board one game but apparently Richard had four pawns for two pieces but with only a couple of minutes left Kenny McG still managed to win.

I won a pawn and had possibly a winning advantage but spent some time trying a failing to see a way through and with both of us having about one minute left we agreed a draw.

In the last game to finish Steve won a pawn but Graham conjured up a mating attack.

Thanks to Badgers for a good match - slightly closer than the final score indicated.

To illustrate Bill's final point, here is the Board one game - a complicated and fluctuating encounter, which eventually ended up in the notorious KBN -v- K endgame. At this point, Kenny McG's endgame technique was up to a challenge which has proved too much for many club players and even much stronger ones.

[Event "Central League Division 1"] [Site "Stirling"] [Date "2026.04.20"] [Round "?"] [White "McGeoch, Kenny"] [Black "Warcup, Richard"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A39"] [WhiteElo "2014"] [BlackElo "1637"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "189"] [GameId "2302003417079875"] [EventDate "2026.??.??"] 1. c4 c5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. O-O O-O 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 a6 9. Bg5 Qa5 10. Nxc6 dxc6 11. Qc1 Be6 12. b3 Rfe8 13. Bd2 Qh5 14. e4 Ng4 15. h3 Nf6 16. g4 Bxg4 17. hxg4 Nxg4 18. Bf4 Bd4 19. Ne2 Bxa1 20. Qxa1 e5 21. Bg3 Rad8 22. Qc3 f6 23. f3 Nh6 24. Kf2 g5 25. Rh1 Qg6 26. Qe3 Rd6 27. c5 Rdd8 28. b4 Kg7 29. Bh2 Qf7 30. Bh3 Qxa2 31. Rg1 Nf7 32. Bf5 h6 33. f4 Rd2 34. fxe5 Red8 35. exf6+ Kxf6 36. Qc3+ Ke7 37. Re1 R8d3 38. Bd6+ Ke8 39. Qg7 Rxd6 40. cxd6 Rxd6 41. e5 Rd5 42. Be6 Nxe5 43. Qxe5 Rxe5 44. Bxa2 Kd7 45. Nc3 Rxe1 46. Kxe1 Kc7 47. Na4 b6 48. Kf2 a5 49. bxa5 bxa5 50. Kf3 Kd6 51. Kg4 Ke5 52. Bf7 Kd4 53. Kh5 Ke5 54. Be8 Kf4 55. Bd7 Ke4 56. Bxc6+ Kd4 57. Kxh6 g4 58. Kh5 g3 59. Kh4 g2 60. Bxg2 Kc4 61. Bc6 Kd4 62. Kg4 Kc4 63. Kf4 Kd4 64. Bd7 Kc4 65. Ke4 Kb4 66. Kd4 Ka3 67. Kc3 Ka2 68. Kc4 Ka1 69. Kb5 Ka2 70. Kxa5 Ka1 71. Kb4 Ka2 72. Kc3 Ka1 73. Nc5 Ka2 74. Bf5 Ka1 75. Nb3+ Ka2 76. Be4 Ka3 77. Bb1 Ka4 78. Nd4 Ka5 79. Kc4 Kb6 80. Nb5 Kc6 81. Bf5 Kb6 82. Bd7 Ka5 83. Kc5 Ka4 84. Be6 Ka5 85. Bb3 Ka6 86. Nd6 Ka7 87. Kc6 Ka6 88. Nb7 Ka7 89. Bc4 Kb8 90. Kb6 Kc8 91. Be6+ Kb8 92. Nc5 Ka8 93. Bf5 Kb8 94. Na6+ Ka8 95. Be4# 1-0

2026-04-15 Events at Grangemouth

The D Team travelled to Grangemouth where the final score-line probably did not reflect a more closely contested match.

   Central League Division 2
   Grangemouth          4-1  Stirling D

1. Joe Johnstone  u/g*  1-0  Harry Feather 1461
2. Ethan Young    u/g   1-0  Tom Wallace   1313
3. Harry Leishman 939   1-0  David Fowler  1300
4. William Walker u/g   1-0  Victor Liu    928
5. Allan Mitchell u/g   1-0  Elsa Liu*     u/g

Grangemouth had White on boards 1 and 2

*  Live Ratings 
   Joe Johnstone 1410 
   Elsa Liu      766

Also taking place the same night at Grangemouth was the second semi-final in the Central League Cup between the home team and an under-strength Dunfermline. The hosts had a convincing 6-1 win.

As Stirling travelled and Grangemouth were at home in the semi-finals, the final will be held at Stirling on Monday 11 May.

2026-04-13 Cup Semi Final Match against Badgers Brook

A Stirling team travelled to Broxburn on Monday night for the first semi-final of the 7-board KO Cup.

          Central League Cup Semi-Final
          Badgers Brook  2½-4½ Stirling

1. Kenny McGeoch    2014  1-0  Isaac Browning   2054
2. Suzy Cooke       1902  0-1  John  Iwuozor    2020
3. Jonathan Rowney  1543  0-1  Richard Warcup   1637
4. David James      1517  1-0  Brad Duthie      1552
5. Colin Matthews   1394  ½-½  Steve Smith      1549
6. Antonio La Gamma 1269  0-1  Kenny MacPherson 1503
7. David Lawrence   1180  0-1  Toby Geyer       1302

The second semi-final is Grangemouth v Dunfermline, due to be played on Wednesday, with the Final scheduled for the week beginning 11 May.

2026-03-31 The A Team wins away at Dunfermline

   Central League Division 1 
   Dunfermline A              1-4  Stirling A

1. Volodymyr Tushynskyi 2176  0-1  Isaac Browning 2054
2. Ian Robertson        2059  0-1  John Iwuozor   2020
3. Gordon Greig         1560  0-1  William Spiers 1758
4. Gonzalo Forero       1556  1-0  Jim Shemilt    1707
5. Conall McGregor      u/g   0-1  Richard Warcup 1637	

Stirling had white on boards 1,2 and 5

Subject to confirmation, this victory for Stirling A has secured the Central League Division 1 title for the 2025-2026 season.

2026-03-30 Stirling C -v- Stirling E

   Central League Division 2
   Stirling C            4-1  Stirling E

1. Nathanael Loch  1515  1-0  Michael Murphy  1087
2. David McAlister 1445  1-0  Stewart Cairns  719
3. Toby Geyer      1302  0-1  Rudra Pardhi    930
4. Kai Austin      946   1-0  Chris Woodhouse u/g
5. Josh Heesom     u/g*  1-0  Jamie Scanlon   u/g

Stirling C had white on boards 2 and 4
* Live rating: Josh Heesom 879 

Nathanael, captain of the C's provided this report on the match:

Stirling C didn't have Kenny or Kelechi for this match, so many thanks to David, Kai and Josh for standing in.

We still have one more to play against Grangemouth C, but I believe this win cements Stirling C as winners of Division 2.

Board 1: My game against Mick was a tricky one. He played a stonewall against me, which I don't really understand how to play against, and so my opening position was truly awful. However, despite Isaac and I thinking after the game that I was probably close to losing from the opening alone, Stockfish actually only has it as +0.6 in the resulting structure. Mick pushed the pawns too early, which allowed me to win immediately with a skewer on the Rook and Queen sat on the main light-diagonal. But if not for a winning tactic, he was the favourite to win from an objective evaluation!

Board 2: I didn't see much of this game, but I believe David told me this was his first serious game for a long time, so many thanks to him for coming out of hibernation last minute.

Board 3: I believe Toby was doing well out of the opening here, but something must have gone wrong later. This was the last game to finish on the night, but I didn't see how it ended. At a few moments, I saw that Toby had chances to win the exchange, but his king was unsafe, so there was possibly some sort of danger that I wasn't aware of. Rudra did well to win this pairing.

Board 4: I didn't see any of this game, but this was the second to last to finish.

Board 5: A bit of a wild back and forth in this game. Queens were en prise from both sides throughout, and I spotted wins for both players. Ultimately, Jamie would lose his pieces allowing Josh to make two queens, and ladder mate to finish.

Thanks to Graham for providing the game-score of the E's win on Board 3.

[Event "Stirling C v Stirling E"] [Site "Stirling CC"] [Date "2026.03.30"] [Round "?"] [White "Pardhi, Rudra"] [Black "Geyer, Toby"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C70"] [WhiteElo "930"] [BlackElo "1302"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "75"] [GameId "2294029309730888"] [EventDate "2026.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 b5 5. Bb3 Nf6 6. Nc3 Bc5 7. d3 h6 8. O-O d6 9. h3 Na5 10. Bd2 Nxb3 11. axb3 Bb7 12. Re1 O-O 13. Ne2 Re8 14. b4 Bb6 15. Bc3 Rc8 16. Ng3 c6 17. Nf5 Bc7 18. Bd2 d5 19. Qc1 Nh7 20. N3h4 Qf6 21. Re3 Ng5 22. Nf3 Nxe4 23. dxe4 dxe4 24. N3h4 Bd8 25. f3 g5 26. Rxe4 gxh4 27. Nxh6+ Kh8 28. Ng4 Qd6 29. Nh6 Rc7 30. f4 Qxh6 31. fxe5 Qh5 32. Be1 Rxe5 33. Bc3 f6 34. Bxe5 fxe5 35. Qd2 Bf6 36. Rf1 Bg7 37. Qd8+ Kh7 38. Rxh4 {Black resigns.} 1-0

2026-03-25 Double-header at Grangemouth

   Central League Division 2
   Stirling C             3-2  Grangemouth C

1. Douglas Heatlie  1563  1-0  Jim Stallard   1330
2. Nathanael Loch   1515  1-0  Crawford Welsh 1243
3. Kenny MacPherson 1506  1-0  Joe Johnstone  u/g  
4. Toby Geyer       1302  0-1  William Walker u/g
5. Kai Austin       946   0-1  Harry Leishman 847

Stirling had white on boards 2 and 5
Live rating: Joe Johnstone 1334

Stirling C, despite being the home team, travelled to Grangemouth on Wednesday to assist with scheduling the internal club tournaments.

Nathanael, the C Team captain had released Douglas to Stirling B who were playing that same night, but when one of the other C's players couldn't make it, he asked for Douglas back.

It was a close match and it was Douglas who decided it at the end.

Giving back Douglas left the B Team with only four players, but despite this, the outcome was a remarkable victory against the Grangemouth A Team.

   Central League Division 1
   Grangemouth A         2-3  Stirling B

1. Alan Bell       1948  0-1  Brad Duthie    1552
2. Graham Hamilton 1905  1/2  Richard Warcup 1637
3. Alan Petrie     1722  0-1  Bill Cook      1544
4. Bill Gray       1496  1/2  Steve Smith    1549
5. Sean Gray             1-0  Default 

Stirling had white on boards 3 and 4

All our players made an important contribution, but Brad's turnaround win on Board 1 was pivotal in securing at least a drawn match, and then Richard played accurately with little time left for an endgame draw in the final game to finish for the team victory.

Here is Brad's game. Alan was better for most of the game. Brad was left with a difficult endgame, but decided to muddy the waters with his 39.g5 and then Alan's 44...Kh4 was the fateful mistake.

[Event "Grangemouth A v Stirling B"] [Site "?"] [Date "2026.03.25"] [Round "?"] [White "Duthie, Brad"] [Black "Bell, Alan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E11"] [WhiteElo "1552"] [BlackElo "1948"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "107"] [GameId "2292626377019418"] [EventDate "2025.11.28"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Qe7 5. a3 Bxd2+ 6. Nbxd2 d6 7. e3 O-O 8. Bd3 e5 9. dxe5 dxe5 10. Qc2 Re8 11. Ne4 Nbd7 12. O-O h6 13. b4 a5 14. Qc3 Nxe4 15. Bxe4 Nf6 16. Nd2 Rd8 17. f3 Qd6 18. Nb3 Nxe4 19. fxe4 a4 20. Nc1 Bg4 21. c5 Qd2 22. Qxd2 Rxd2 23. Ra2 Rad8 24. Rxd2 Rxd2 25. h3 Bh5 26. Kh2 Bg6 27. Kg3 Bxe4 28. Rf2 Rxf2 29. Kxf2 Kf8 30. Ne2 Ke8 31. Nc3 Bc2 32. g4 Kd7 33. e4 c6 34. Ke2 g6 35. Kd2 Bb3 36. h4 f6 37. Ke3 Ke6 38. Kf3 Bc2 39. g5 hxg5 40. hxg5 f5 41. Ke3 fxe4 42. Nxe4 Kf5 43. Nd6+ Kxg5 44. Nxb7 Kh4 45. Nd8 g5 46. Nxc6 g4 47. Nxe5 g3 48. Ke2 Be4 49. Kf1 Kg5 50. c6 Kf5 51. c7 Bb7 52. Nc4 Kg4 53. Nb6 Kh3 54. Kg1 1-0

2026-03-23 Stirling host Badgers Brook and Clackmannanshire

   Central League Division 2
   Stirling E            1-4  Badgers Brook B

1. Mick Murphy     1087  0-1  Derek Raffan   1384
2. Rudra Pardhi    930   0-1  David Lawrence 1180
3. William Feather 875   0-1  Connor George  977
4. Stewart Cairns  719   0-1  Peter Woollven 907
5. Elsa Liu              1-0  default

Stirling had white on boards 2 and 3

   Central League Division 2
   Stirling C             5-0  Clackmannanshire

1. Nathanael Loch   1515  1-0  Glen Wilson      1047
2. Kenny MacPherson 1506  1-0  Luke Evans       u/g
3. Harry Feather    1461  1-0  Joseph Lambert   u/g*
4. Tom Wallace      1313  1-0  Vytautas Jakstys u/g
5. Mick Bloor       1084  1-0  Roman Quinn      u/g

Stirling C had white on boards 2 and 4
* Live rating: Joseph Lambert 1007

2026-03-16 Stirling A secure important victory

   Central League Division 1
   Stirling A           4-1  Grangemouth A 

1. Isaac Browning 2054  ½-½  Alan Bell        1948
2. John Iwuozor   2020  1-0  Graham Hamilton  1905
3. Leo Gardner    1889  1-0  Pranav Hariharan 1747
4. William Spiers 1758  ½-½  Duncan Glassey   1722
5. Sean Flanagan  1698  1-0  Alan Petrie      1683

Stirling had white on boards 3 and 5

Alan and Isaac just about to start play on board 1 

Comments from Stirling A captain Isaac:

In a key match at the top of the table, Stirling A ultimately walked away with a convincing win. However, at least four of the five games were in the balance for long periods.

Sean's game was perhaps the clearest, after he played the strong move Nd1 and caught Alan P in multiple pins.

Alan B and I played out a sharp middlegame where I tried to sacrifice a pawn to make his pieces awkward but missed it was possible to give it back favourably straight away, resulting in a position where neither side felt they could make progress and a threefold repetition ensued.

John had arrived a few minutes late but in typical fashion swiftly turned this time disadvantage around against Graham, eventually managing to win an exchange which proved decisive.

Duncan was up a pawn against William but his bishop was badly restricted by his own pawns, which made further progress improbable and a draw was agreed.

Leo and Pranav were both low on the clock when Pranav made an illegal move in an otherwise roughly balanced endgame. The resulting two minute deficit was too difficult to overcome.

2026-03-02 Togneri Trophy

The Spring edition of the bi-annual Robert Togneri Trophy had a good turnout with 24 participants, including 8 juniors. 

The fire alarm went off after the first round but everyone evacuated successfully. Fortunately there was no sign of fire or smoke and it transpired that two of the outside doors had opened, causing the intruder alarm to be triggered. Although it was then possible go back inside and recommence the tournament, the delay caused meant that there were some defaults in round 2 and there was only time for four rounds.

Congratulations to Isaac (see below receiving the trophy from Bill) who won with four points.

2026-02-25 Stirling D Team win in Alloa

   Central League Division 2
   Clackmannanshire     0-5  Stirling D

1. Glen Wilson    1047  0-1  Harry Feather 1461
2. Joseph Lambert u/g*  0-1  Tom Wallace   1313
3. Evan Laing     u/g   0-1  David Fowler  1300
4. Roman Quinn    u/g   0-1  Kai Austin    946
5. Lewis Wyper    u/g   0-1  Elsa Liu      u/g*

Clackmannanshire had White on boards 3 and 4
* Live ratings: Joseph Lambert 1006
                Elsa Liu       802

2026-02-23 U1500 Team lose at home while the A's win away

The Stirling Under 1500 Team, which has enjoyed a very successful time in the Cup in recent years, had a disappointing loss in the Preliminary Round to Grangemouth.

   Central League Under 1500 Cup
   Stirling               ½-4½ Grangemouth

1. Harry Feather    1450  ½-½  Bill Gray      1486
2. Sandy Carmichael 1394  0-1  Jim Stallard   1330
3. Tom Wallace      1313  0-1  Crawford Welsh 1243
4. David Fowler     1250  0-1  Sean Gray      u/g
5. Mick Bloor       1100  0-1  Joe Johnstone  u/g

Stirling had White on boards 2 and 4

Tom Wallace provided this overview of the match:

On board 4 Sean from Grangemouth won quickly followed by another win on board 2 where Jim’s 3 connected pawns where too much for Sandy's Knight. That meant Stirling were 2 down with 3 boards left.

My game should have been an easy win with a Rook up and Crawford's King in a precarious position. If Mick had got a draw on board 5 we could have won with a board count draw with a win on board 1 and 3. However Joe finished his endgame well and won, so match over.

Bill and Harry agreed a draw on board 1 and I let Crawford's King slip away to safety and eventually Crawford went on to win.

Meanwhile, on their travels to Broxburn, the A Team had a very good win over their hosts.

   Central League Division 1
   Badgers Brook A       1-4  Stirling A

1. Kenny McGeoch   2014  0-1  Isaac Browning 2054
2. Mark Cooke      1876  0-1  Leo Gardner    1889
3. Stuart Ward     1868  1-0  William Spiers 1758
4. Jonathan Rowney 1543  0-1  Steve Smith    1549
5. Mark Brown      1456  0-1  Nathanael Loch 1515

Badgers Brook had White on boards 1 and 5

2026-02-16&18 Two Further Away Matches

We have already reported on the Stirling E Team's match at Dunfermline on Tuesday. One day earlier, the C team had travelled to Broxburn to play Badgers Brook B and lost 3-2 with two players missing.

   Central League Division 2
   Badgers Brook B        3-2  Stirling C
   
1. Colin Matthews   1394  1-0  Nathanael Loch   1515
2. Antonio La Gamma 1269  0-1  Kenny MacPherson 1506
3. David Lawrence   1180  1-0  default
4. Peter Woolven    907   0-1  Toby Geyer       1302
5. Matthew McEwan   u/g   1-0  default

Badgers Brook had White on boards 1 and 2

On Wednesday the B team lost at Grangemouth, but the match was a lot closer than the final score suggests.

   Central League Division 1
   Grangemouth B        4½-½  Stirling B

1. Alan Bell       1948  1-0  Brad Duthie     1552
2. Daniel Kitaev   1927  1-0  Richard Warcup  1637
3. Dougie Will     1839  ½-½  Bill Cook       1544
4. Nicholas Kitaev 1121  1-0  Steve Smith     1549
5. Harry Leishman  847   1-0  Douglas Heatlie 1563

Grangemouth had White on boards 1 and 2

2026-02-17 Stirling E win at Dunfermline

   Central League Division 2  
   Dunfermline B         2-3  Stirling E

1. Calum Newton    1508  0-1  Sandy Carmichael 1357
2. Douglas Rew     1369  1-0  Mick Murphy      1087
3. George Webb     1316  0-1  Mick Bloor       1084
4. Gordon Handy    u/g   0-1  Stewart Cairns   719
5. Michael Spriggs u/g   1-0  Elsa Liu         u/g

Stirling had White on boards 1,2 and 3

Graham has provided the commentary and games from this tremendous win.

Thanks to Dunfermline for hosting, and a very entertaining match.

I feared the worst when Stirling E went 2-0 quite quickly. Elsa lost after missing a Queen and Rook skewer, and then missing the opportunity to get it back a couple of moves later.

Mick M resigned after a 'remove the defender' tactic gave Douglas three connected passed pawns in the endgame.

Mick B pulled a point back with an unstoppable mating attack (which, in a first for him, did not involve any wild sacrifice).

[Event "Dunfermline B v Stirling E"] [Site "Dunfermline CC"] [Date "2026.02.17"] [Round "?"] [White "Bloor, M.."] [Black "Webb, G.."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B01"] [WhiteElo "1084"] [BlackElo "1316"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "69"] [GameId "2279692142084218"] [EventDate "2026.??.??"] 1. e4 d5 2. e5 Bf5 3. d4 e6 4. Bd3 Bg6 5. Nf3 Nd7 6. Nc3 a6 7. a3 Ne7 8. Be3 c6 9. Bxg6 hxg6 10. Qd2 Nb6 11. O-O-O Nc4 12. Qe2 Qb6 13. Na4 Qa5 14. b3 Nxa3 15. Bd2 Qc7 16. Kb2 Nb5 17. Bb4 a5 18. Bc5 Nc8 19. Bxf8 Rxf8 20. c4 Nba7 21. cxd5 cxd5 22. Rc1 Qd7 23. Rc3 Nb5 24. Rc2 Nca7 25. Rhc1 Qe7 26. Rc5 Qd7 27. Nb6 Qd8 28. Nxa8 Qxa8 29. Rxb5 Nc6 30. Qc2 Kd7 31. Qc5 Rd8 32. Ng5 Ke8 33. Nh7 Ne7 34. Qc7 Nc6 35. Rxb7 {Black resigns.} 1-0

Stewart was two backward pawns up when a catastrophic error from Gordon gave away a rook and the game.

[Event "Dunfermline B v Stirling E"] [Site "Dunfermline CC"] [Date "2026.02.17"] [Round "?"] [White "Handy, G.."] [Black "Cairns, S.."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D02"] [BlackElo "719"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "81"] [GameId "2279692600692872"] [EventDate "2026.??.??"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. e3 e6 4. Bd3 Nf6 5. O-O Bd6 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. c4 b6 8. a3 Bd7 9. Re1 Re8 10. e4 dxe4 11. Nxe4 Nxe4 12. Bxe4 Rb8 13. Qc2 g6 14. Bg5 Be7 15. h4 Bxg5 16. hxg5 e5 17. d5 Nd4 18. Qd3 Nxf3+ 19. Qxf3 Qxg5 20. d6 cxd6 21. Bd5 Be6 22. Bxe6 Rxe6 23. Qd5 a5 24. Re2 Rc8 25. b3 Rc5 26. Qa8+ Kg7 27. Rb1 Qf5 28. Rd1 h5 29. Qa6 Rc6 30. b4 axb4 31. axb4 e4 32. f3 exf3 33. Rxe6 Qxe6 34. gxf3 h4 35. Rd4 Qe3+ 36. Kg2 Qxd4 37. Kh3 g5 38. Qa2 Rxc4 39. Qg2 Qf4 40. b5 Rc3 41. Qb2 {White resigns. 41 ... Qg3#} 0-1

This left the game on board 1, the longest game of the match. Calum elected to prevent Sandy from castling at the expense of Queen side development, and with the match score at 2-1 for Dunfermline, Sandy passed up an opportunity to take a draw by perpetual to go for the win. This eventually came with a checkmate.

[Event "Dunfermline B vs. Stirling E"] [Site "?"] [Date "2026.02.17"] [Round "?"] [White "Carmichael, S.."] [Black "Newton, C.."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D20"] [WhiteElo "1357"] [BlackElo "1508"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "73"] [GameId "2279688274182234"] [EventDate "2026.??.??"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 e5 4. d5 c6 5. Bxc4 Bb4+ 6. Nc3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 cxd5 8. Bxd5 Qc7 9. c4 Nf6 10. Nf3 Nxd5 11. cxd5 Qc4 12. Nd2 Qd4 13. Rb1 f5 14. Bb2 Qd3 15. Bxe5 O-O 16. Rb3 Qa6 17. Rg3 g6 18. Qh5 Nd7 19. Bc3 Nf6 20. Qh6 Rf7 21. Bxf6 Qxf6 22. O-O fxe4 23. Nxe4 Qe5 24. Re3 Bf5 25. Ng5 Qxd5 26. Nxf7 Qxf7 27. a3 Rc8 28. h3 Rc6 29. Rd1 Rc8 30. Qg5 Qf8 31. Re7 h6 32. Qe3 Bc2 33. Qe6+ Kh8 34. Rdd7 g5 35. Qe5+ Kg8 36. Rg7+ Qxg7 37. Qxg7# 1-0

2026-02-16 Lindsay Cup game

There were no Central League matches at home on Monday night, but there was action in the club tournaments. Graham sent in a game from from the Lindsay Cup where young Victor Liu beat Douglas Heatlie, despite a grading difference of over 600 points.

[Event "Lindsay Cup"] [Site "Stirling CC"] [Date "2026.02.16"] [Round "?"] [White "Liu, V.."] [Black "Heatlie, D.."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C46"] [WhiteElo "928"] [BlackElo "1563"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "71"] [GameId "2279677609537610"] [EventDate "2026.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Bc5 4. Bb5 Nge7 5. O-O O-O 6. d3 a6 7. Ba4 b5 8. Bb3 Bb7 9. Bg5 Kh8 10. Bd5 f6 11. Bh4 g5 12. Bg3 Nxd5 13. Nxd5 d6 14. a3 Ne7 15. Nxe7 Qxe7 16. b4 Ba7 17. c3 Rf7 18. Re1 Raf8 19. d4 h5 20. h3 h4 21. Bh2 Qd8 22. d5 f5 23. Nxe5 dxe5 24. Qh5+ Kg7 25. Bxe5+ Rf6 26. Qxg5+ Kf7 27. exf5 Rg8 28. Qh5+ Kf8 29. Bxf6 Rxg2+ 30. Kxg2 Qxd5+ 31. Kf1 Qg2+ 32. Ke2 Qxf2+ 33. Kd3 Qg3+ 34. Kc2 Qg2+ 35. Re2 Be4+ 36. Kd2 {Black resigns.} 1-0

2026-02-09 A double-header against Dunfermline

   Central League Division 1
   Stirling B           3-2  Dunfermline A 

1. Richard Warcup 1637  0-1  Ian Robertson    2059 
2. Brad Duthie    1552  1-0  Gregor McCluskey 1571
3. Ross Warcup    1494  1-0  Calum Smith      1599
4. Bill Cook      1544  0-1  Euan Bell        1429
5. Steve Smith    1549  1-0  Gonzalo Ferero   1556

Stirling were white on Boards 2 and 5

Bill provided these comments on the match.

Dunfermline were missing their strongest player, Volodymyr. Dunfermline had two promising young players and Stirling a fast improving one.

Ross won quickly in only about 20 moves. I didn't see much of the top board and that finished fairly quickly to make it 1-1.

Brad established a pawn wedge and eventually won Gregor's queen and his pawn was going to promote when Black resigned.

Steve and Gonzalo had what looked like a fairly level game but after Steve won a pawn he went on to win.

Euan sacrificed a piece against me and I had to give it back to prevent mate, but still two pawns down. I did get back to equality but started to get short of time and Euan took advantage well.

A closely fought match played in a good spirit.

   Central League Division 2
   Stirling C             4-1  Dunfermline B 

1. Douglas Heatlie  1563  0-1  Calum Newton            1508
2. Nathanael Loch   1515  1-0  Dimitris Giannakopoulos 1400
3. Kenny MacPherson 1506  1-0  Daniel Lynch (default)  1239
4. Toby Geyer       1302  1-0  Glynis Grant            1180
5. Kelechi Nwosu    u/g   1-0  Brian Easton            999

Stirling were white on Boards 1 and 3

Nathanael provided these comments on the match.

Dunfermline B had some player troubles as their A-team needed some B-team players to play that same evening. Daniel Lynch sadly couldn't make it, hence Kenny -v- Daniel was a defaulted result.

I was quite engrossed in my game until the end, so I missed other people's matches in full. On board 1, I believe Calum won with a cheeky knight fork picking up a full queen.

On board 2, I thought I was doing quite well the whole game, but the engine showed that I won by the only winning line for me, all others completely losing! But a difficult positional game for both sides, so details are expected to be missed.

On board 4, it looked like an equal endgame to me, two bishops and a queen, equal pawns on both sides. Unfortunately I didn't see how this ended.

On board 5, Kelechi did well out the opening having a full rook by the time I was observing. But Brian did well to actually win material back with some knight tricks. Sadly Kelechi had about 4 pawns extra on top of the piece advantage. But a good try from Brian; without the pawns, it certainly would have been a clutch!

2026-02-02 A busy Monday night, home and away

At the first club meeting of the month, our A team were in action against the Grangemouth B team.

Here are Isaacs's comments on the match:

A well-fought match ultimately went the way of the visitors despite Stirling being able to put out our strongest team so far this season.

Boards 3,4, and 5 all came to a conclusion in quick succession. Dougie broke through with a queenside attack against Leo, William steered things and wore down Nicolas. The battle of the two Seans saw an interesting piece sacrifice that didn't immediately break through but the resulting pressure proved too much for Stirling's Sean.

John and Daniel also played out a very interesting game with significant complications. Eventually Daniel's passed d-pawn and kingside initiative outshone John's two queenside passers.

This result clinched the match and, despite my best efforts I was unable to overcome Alan's resistance and had to settle for a draw.

Congratulations to Grangemouth B, a fine win against the grading deficit!

   Central League Division 1
   Stirling A          1½-3½ Grangemouth B

1. Isaac Browning 2054  ½-½  Alan Bell      1948
2. John Iwuozor   2020  0-1  Daniel Kitaev  1927
3. Leo Gardner    1889  0-1  Dougie Will    1839
4. William Spiers 1758  1-0  Nicolas Kitaev 1121
5. Sean Flanagan  1698  0-1  Sean Gray      u/g

Stirling A had white on boards 1 and 4.

There were also games in the internal Lindsay Club. Graham sent in the moves from two games, both wins by our ever-improving juniors.

[Event "Lindsay Cup"] [Site "Stirling CC"] [Date "2026.02.02"] [Round "?"] [White "Woodhouse, Chris"] [Black "Pardhi, Rudra"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B23"] [BlackElo "930"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "30"] [GameId "2273968022925344"] [EventDate "2026.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bc4 d6 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. O-O Nf6 6. h3 Bh5 7. d3 a6 8. Nd5 Nd4 9. c3 Nxf3+ 10. gxf3 Qc8 11. Nb6 Qxh3 12. Qa4+ Kd8 13. Re1 Bxf3 14. Qd7+ Nxd7 15. Nxa8 Qg2# 0-1

[Event "Lindsay Cup"] [Site "Stirling CC"] [Date "2026.02.02"] [Round "?"] [White "Liu, Elsa"] [Black "MacPherson, Kenny"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B30"] [BlackElo "1506"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "33"] [GameId "2273968221392932"] [EventDate "2026.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Bc4 Bg7 5. O-O e6 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nb5 e5 8. Ng5 Nh6 9. Nd6+ Ke7 10. Ngxf7 Qg8 11. Nxh8 Qf8 12. Nhf7 Nxf7 13. Nxf7 h6 14. c3 d6 15. b3 Be6 16. Nxd6 Kxd6 17. Ba3+ {Black resigns.} 1-0

Meanwhile, in Broxburn, two Stirling teams had travelled there to face two from the Badgers Brook club. The out-graded Stirling B team came through some late drama to clinch a win in their match so that the night ended with a match honours even between the clubs.

   Central League Division 1
   Badgers Brook A     2-3  Stirling B

1. Kenny McGeoch 2014  1-0  Brad Duthie	   1552	
2. Stuart Ward   1868  ½-½  Richard Warcup 1637		
3. David James   1517  ½-½  Ross Warcup	   1494	
4. Mark	Brown    1456  0-1  Bill Cook      1544
5. Corey Dolan	 1198* 0-1  Steve Smith	   1549	

* Live Rating		 
Badgers Brook A had white on boards 1 and 4

   Central League Division 2
   Badgers Brook B       4-1  Stirling D 

1. Graham Kerr     1482  1-0  Harry Feather   1461
2. Collin Matthews 1394  ½-½  Tom Wallace     1313
3. Kevin Brown     1318  ½-½  Kai Austin      978
4. David Lawrence  1180  1-0  Victor Liu      951
5. Peter Woollven  907   1-0  William Feather 905

2025-01-26 Match between the Stirling D and E teams

   Central League Division 2
   Stirling D       3-2  Stirling E

1. Harry Feather  1461  1-0  Mick Murphy     1087
2. David Fowler   1300  0-1  Mick Bloor      1084
3. Tom Wallace    1313  1-0  Rudra Pardhi    930
4. Kai Austin     946   1-0  William Feather 875
5. Andreas Hoelin u/g   0-1  Chris Woodhouse u/g  

Tom Wallace's comments on course of the match:

Kai finished 1st quite quickly and I managed to get the better of Rudra after his Kingside attack.

Chris beat Andreas on board 5 and Harry beat Mick M in a tight game on board 1.

Mick B sacked a knight on g5 to set up a Kingside onslaught which eventually paid off.

[Event "Stirling D v Stirling E"] [Site "Stirling CC"] [Date "2026.01.26"] [Round "?"] [White "Bloor, M."] [Black "Fowler, D."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B06"] [WhiteElo "1084"] [BlackElo "1300"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "63"] [GameId "2271377084424222"] [EventDate "2026.??.??"] 1. e4 g6 2. d4 d6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 Nd7 5. Bc4 e6 6. Be3 Ne7 7. Qd2 h6 8. h4 b6 9. O-O-O Bb7 10. Ng5 hxg5 11. hxg5 Nc6 12. Rxh8+ Bxh8 13. Rh1 Bg7 14. Rh7 Kf8 15. f4 Kg8 16. Rh3 Na5 17. Bd3 c5 18. d5 e5 19. f5 Bc8 20. Qf2 c4 21. Be2 Nc5 22. Qh4 gxf5 23. Qh7+ Kf8 24. exf5 f6 25. Rg3 b5 26. gxf6 Qxf6 27. Rg6 Qf7 28. Bh6 Bxh6+ 29. Qxh6+ Ke8 30. Qh8+ Qf8 31. Rg8 Nd7 32. Bh5+ {Black resigns.} 1-0

2026-01-19 Three Teams, Two Matches

The third Monday of the New Year brought forward a double-header. The Stirling A and B Teams faced each other, while the E team hosted Grangemouth C.

   Central League Division 1
   Stirling B            1-4  Stirling A 

1. Richard Warcup  1637  0-1  Isaac Browning  2054
2. Brad Duthie     1552  1-0  John Iwuozor    2020 (Default)
3. Bill Cook       1544  0-1  Leo Gardner     1896
4. Douglas Heatlie 1563  0-1  Sean Flanagan   1698
5. Kelechi Nwosu    u/g  0-1  Nathanael Loch  1515

Stirling B were the 'home' team.
The Bs had White on Boards 1 and 2.

Bill provided this report:

Both teams were missing 2 players and the Bs were heavily out-graded but there were no quick games.

Sean won a pawn fairly early on and he converted smoothly in an endgame with rook and bishop each.

Kelechi lost the exchange and wasn't able to recover.

Leo had a strong attack but after I had sacrificed a pawn managed to get a bit of counterplay and then blundered with just a few minutes left.

Board 1 was very close for a long time and Isaac only won when Richard had to sacrifice a bishop to prevent a pawn queening but couldn't prevent a second pawn.

An enjoyable match.

   Central League Division 2
   Stirling E           1-4  Grangemouth C

1. Mick Bloor     1084  ½-½  Bill Gray      1486
2. Mick Murphy    1087  ½-½  Jim Stallard   1330
3. Rudra Pardhi   930   0-1  Crawford Welsh 1243
4. Stewart Cairns 719   0-1  Joe Johnstone  u/g
5. Josh Heesom    u/g   0-1  Sean Gray      u/g

Grangemouth had White on 1,3 and 5.

Graham provided this report

On board 3, both sides started a pawn push that saw Crawford win a rook. While Rudra had some play left, analysis showed that it would have been very difficult to get his a2 pawn promoted.

On board 5, Josh also dropped during Queen exchanges.

I only saw the very end of board 4 when Stewart, already a piece had a defender of g2 distracted then resigned.

I didn't see any of boards 1 and 2, although I'm told Mick M did well to get a draw, and with the match well and truly decided Mick B and Bill agreed a draw rather than grind out a long end-game.

2026-01-12 The return match between the C and D teams

  Central League Division 2 Match
  Stirling C             4-1  Stirling D 

1 Nathanael Loch   1515  1-0  Douglas Heatlie  1563
2 Kenny MacPherson 1506  1-0  Harry Feather    1461
3 Toby Geyer       1302  1-0  Sandy Carmichael 1357
4 Mick Bloor       1084  1-0  David Fowler     1300  
5 Josh Heesom      u/g   0-1  Victor Liu       928

The Sirling D team had White on Boards 2, 4 and 5

C Team captain Nathanael provided this report:

All five games were quite aggressive all around. The only pairing I did not witness was Josh vs Victor, but Victor came out with a quick win (less 30 minutes if I recall correctly), so I presume some sort of opening trap led to Victor-y (pun intended).

Board 4 featured a level game for a long time, until eventually David pressed for a mating attack which ultimately failed to manifest. In doing so, about 2 pawns fell and the endgame was ultimately lost in R vs R.

Board 3 is one I didn't see the beginning of, but during the middlegame, Toby somehow ended up with 2 extra pieces, but things were not so cut and dry. Sandy held the game until the very end as losing at that point would have meant a guaranteed win for Stirling C. The two rooks kept chances in the air, but the material proved too strong even after Toby sacced a bishop back, winning RRN vs RR.

Board 2 seemed very level to me until at one point a sequence led to Kenny having two bishops for a rook (with pawn interest), and due to both bishops looking at the castled king protected by only an f-pawn remaining, the bishops proved stronger than the rooks, leading to a situation where Harry would have to lose a piece by force after trading queens; hence the endgame was too dire to play out to the end.

Board 1 was tense the whole way. Douglas traded his knight for my bishop (g3) which opened my h-file on move 11. The result was a constant attack on the castled king (kingside) until eventually I was able to sacrifice a knight to break through with the pieces. Not quite a true sacrifice as taking would lead to Qh7# supported by the rook on h1. The engine showed White was for choice the whole attack, but Douglas did have one move to get a -0.2 evaluation from Stockfish. Unfortunately, this was not found in the game.

2025-12-15 Keddie Cup

It is a well-established tradition that the club runs the Keddie Cup on the final meeting before Christmas. It's a fun tournament with a complicated handicapping formula (see below) to give everyone, whatever their grading, a chance of winning the Cup.

A very helpful number of 24 players took part, allowing for four groups of six players in each, with the top two in each group going through to the knock-out stages.

Group 1 games

Group 3 games

The 2024 Champion, Rudra Pardhi and the 2023 winner, Ross Warcup were among the eight players going through to the quarter-finals.

Quarter-finals

The fourth quarter-final was an all-junior game

Semi-finals

The final was a contest between experience and youth, and the two protagonists are pictured with the trophy immediately before the deciding game.

Finalists

Club Treasurer Steve Smith presents the trophy