After much negotiation over the summer, we managed to complete our first Portuguese signing, from CC Porto, of Paolo Ferreira. Unfortunately he arrived injured, and was unable to make his competitive debut until last Monday night. He faced, as White, Craig Manson in the Thornton Cup.
Ferreira - Manson
| Cumbernauld v Stirling A | ||||
|
Steven Kelly Mark Monaghan Ralph Stirrat George Thomson J Pearson |
1906 1782 1737 1593 1568 |
½ - ½ ½ - ½ ½ - ½ ½ - ½ 0 - 1 |
1907 1787 1782 1727 1416 |
Shivan Murdochy Jim Shemilt Steve Smith Graham Anderson Gordon Allcock |
| 2 - 3 | ||||
Gordon finished first, in just less than an hour, when a passed pawn in the endgame proved unstoppable. I didn't see much of the other games, but I finished last, agreeing a draw to win the match. I thought I was winning, but the computer disagrees, and rudely pointed out that if my 30th move in the position below had been Qf7+ instead of Qg4+, I would have won.
Anderson - Thomson
| Stirling C v Stirling B | ||||
| Gordon Allcock Robert Leckie Craig Manson David Brodie Mick Bloor |
1416 1362 1262 1236 1199 |
0 - 1 ½ - ½ 0 - 1 1 - 0 0 - 1 |
1573 1566 1536 1442 1245 |
John Blake Bill Cook Tony Pitson Dave Hewitt Robert Togneri |
| 1½ - 3½ | ||||
The game below is from board 1, where Gordon Allcock had White against John Blake.
Allcock - Blake
As well as the allegro match between the two Stirling teams, there was the battle of the Roberts - Mr Leckie v Mr Togneri - in the Thornton Cup. The game played as below, with analysis from Mr Leckie.
Leckie - Togneri
| Stirling Bruce 8½ - 7½ Stirling Wallace | ||
| Round 1 | ||
| Paul Prescott | ½ - ½ | Steve Smith |
| John Blake | 0 - 1 | Tony Pitson |
| Bill Cook | ½ - ½ | Robin Hayles |
| Graham Anderson | 1 - 0 | Martyn Roe |
| Round 2 | ||
| Paul Prescott | 1 - 0 | Martyn Roe |
| John Blake | 0 - 1 | Steve Smith |
| Bill Cook | 1 - 0 | Tony Pitson |
| Graham Anderson | 1 - 0 | Robin Hayles |
| Round 3 | ||
| Paul Prescott | 1 - 0 | Robin Hayles |
| John Blake | 0 - 1 | Martyn Roe |
| Bill Cook | 0 - 1 | Steve Smith |
| Graham Anderson | ½ - ½ | Tony Pitson |
| Round 4 | ||
| Paul Prescott | 1 - 0 | Tony Pitson |
| John Blake | ½ - ½ | Robin Hayles |
| Bill Cook | ½ - ½ | Martyn Roe |
| Graham Anderson | 0 - 1 | Steve Smith |
Starting their defence of the Central Allegro League title, Bruce managed to grind out a victory over Wallace in a match that went down to the very last game. My lucky underpants were over-worked in rounds 1 and 2 - I recovered from a piece for a pawn down to a roughly equal endgame. I then survived Martyn missing a fork to win my rook. In my second game, Robin allowed me to queen a pawn, as he forgot that it could promote.
The last round saw Bill and John agreeing draws, before I miscalculated against Steve to lose a rook while already behind. This left the match tied at 7½ - 7½, before Paul triumphed against Tony.
The first competitive game of the season was played at the club last Monday, a prelimnary round match of the Thornton Cup. Dave Hewitt had White against 10 year old James Warwick. The game is notable as James' first ever competitive game (when James is a GM in 15 years time, Dave will happily claim "Ach, beaten him."), and a discovered checkmate from a pawn promotion.
Hewitt - Warwick
|
Name
|
Grade
|
Allegro Grade
|
|
Paul Prescott Jim Shemilt Steve Smith Graham Anderson Neil Irving Robin Hayles John Blake Bill Cook Tony Pitson Dave Hewitt Martyn Roe Gordon Allcock Robert Leckie Jonathan Blake Craig Manson Robert Togneri David Brodie Nicholas Blake Mick Bloor Tom McKay George Clarke |
1960 1787 1782 1727 1644 1584 1573 1556 1536 1442 1440 1416 1362 1301 1262 1245 1236 1227 1199 818 812 |
1775 1705 1583 1610 1603 1522 1691 1666 1425 1532 1420 1376 1268 1197 1134 1197 1332 1398 1189 905 812 |
