17 December 2012 - Keddie Cup

Thanks to all who took part in the Keddie Cup - good to see everyone, hope it was enjoyable. Particular thanks to those who donated raffle prizes and foodstuffs - much appreciated.

As for the chess, there were 18 entrants, the same as in 2011. Nick Blake's defence of the title ended at the quarter-final stage, where he lost to his brother - who in turn lost to Graham Anderson in the semis. In the other half of the draw Dave Marshall - a very welcome visitor from Badgers Brook - made steady and impressive progress, beating Martyn Roe and John Blake en route to the final.

The final proved to be an exciting affair, with Dave starting a N and two minutes ahead courtesy of the handicap and for quite a while looking well placed to be the first non-Stirling member (at least that I can remember) to win the cup. Graham then uncorked a candidate for the move of the night, playing a7 when his own Q was attacked and thus threatening mate on the move. The momentum of the game seemed to shift at that point, although Dave continued to create chances which Graham carefully parried. Not sure when there was last a game of any kind played at Stirling which saw three Qs on the board in a middlegame situation for somewhere close to 20 moves. Eventually the situation simplified, and faced with a Q against pawns Dave resigned - meaning that Graham won the cup for the first time, having previously lost a couple of semis.

So congratulations to Graham - a fine achievement, all the more so because he had to play ten games (quite possibly an unprecedented number): the four actual group games, two playoff games, then the quarter-final and replay followed by the semi and the final.

10 December 2012 - Central Allegro League

Badgers Brook 5½ - 10½ Stirling Bruce
Round 1
Kenny McGeoch	0 - 1	John Blake
Stuart Ward	½ - ½	Bill Cook
David Marshall	0 - 1	Graham Anderson
Dave McGilvray	0 - 1	Dave Hewitt
Round 2
Steve Monaghan	0 - 1	John Blake
Kenny McGeoch	1 - 0	Bill Cook
Stuart Ward	1 - 0	Graham Anderson
Dave Marshall	0 - 1	Dave Hewitt
Round 3
Dave Marshall	0 - 1	John Blake
Steve Monaghan	0 - 1	Bill Cook
Kenny McGeoch	1 - 0	Graham Anderson
Stuart Ward	1 - 0	Dave Hewitt
Round 4
Stuart Ward	0 - 1	John Blake
Dave Marshall	0 - 1	Bill Cook
Steve Monaghan	0 - 1	Graham Anderson
Kenny McGeoch	1 - 0	Dave Hewitt

A fine 4/4 from John Blake. Well done, John!

3 December 2012 - Central League Division 1

A difficult match turned into a convincing win for Badgers Brook. I nearly managed to swindle a draw against Kenny, but once he found the correct combination, he went on to win convincingly.

Stirling A v Badgers Brook
Steve Smith   Graham Anderson   Dave Hewitt   Bill Cook   Tony Pitson	1708   1574   1589   1575   1564	0 - 1   0 - 1   1 - 0   0 - 1   0 - 1	1927   1839   1821   1723   1546	Mark Cooke   Kenny McGeoch   Jonathan Rowney   Andrew McHarg   Graham Kerr
		1 - 4

26 November 2012 - Central League Divison 2

Stirling B v Dunfermline B
Dave Hewitt   Bill Cook   Tony Pitson   John Blake   Martyn Roe	1589   1575   1564   1543   1465	0 - 1   1 - 0   ½ - ½   1 - 0   0 - 1	1618   1561   1565   1268   1247	Fred Ossowski   Douglas Rew   Stewart Brisbane   Matthew Stewart   Peter Horne
		2½ - 2½

A hard-fought match. Bill won first, followed by the draw on board 3 (both players had just seconds to make at least 3 moves before the 30 move time control), and John winning on board 4. This left Stirling B needing a half point to claim the match, but it just wouldn't come. Peter mated Martyn on board 5, and Fred eventually beat Dave, leaving the match tied.

This is Bill's game from board 2 - Bill was Black.

 

 

 

 

 

This is John's game from board 4 - John was also Black.

25 November 2012 - National League

Mixed fortunes again for the two Forth Valley teams, but this time the other way round. Forth Valley A had a good win in the morning against Cumbernauld, and were unlucky to lose 3-2 in the afternoon to a very strong Dundee team. Forth Valley B lost both of their matches heavily, the only bright spot being Bill Cook's two good draws.

Forth Valley A v Cumbernauld
Dougie Will   Kenny McGeoch   Ian Mason   Steve Smith   John Smith	1858   1839   1762   1708   1697	1 - 0   ½ - ½   1 - 0   0 - 1   1 - 0	2114   1922   1803   1836   1519	Alan Grant   Ian Marks   Stephen Kelly   Kevin Mayo   George Thomson
		3½ - 1½

Dundee City A v Forth Valley A
David Findlay   Elaine Bamber   Daniel Rocks   Edwin Spencer   Dimitry Payada	2175   2095   2084   2038   2014	½ - ½   ½ - ½   ½ - ½   ½ - ½   1 - 0	1858   1839   1762   1708   1697	Dougie Will   Kenny McGeoch   Ian Mason   Steve Smith   John Smith
		3 - 2

Forth Valley B v Lanark
Dave Hewitt   Bill Cook   Bill Gray   Hugh Hanlon   David Brodie	1589   1575   1527   1459   1281	0 - 1   ½ - ½   0 - 1   0 - 1   0 - 1	1749   1707   1627   1371   1267	Ian Brownlee   Jim Smalls   Tom Brown   John Nicol   Anthony Burns
		½ - 4½

Dunfermline Knights v Forth Valley B
Ian Robertson   Garry Forbes   Paul Carpenter   John McBride   Iain Sneddon	2102   1837   1833   1858   1835	1 - 0   ½ - ½   1 - 0   ½ - ½   1 - 0	1574   1575   1524   1459   1281	Graham Anderson   Bill Cook   Bill Gray   Hugh Hanlon   David Brodie
		4 - 1

19 November 2012 - Central League Division 2

Stirling C v Dunfermline C
Mick Bloor   Jonathan Blake   David Brodie   Craig Manson   Robert Togneri	1309   1309   1283       1267	1 - 0   ½ - ½   0 - 1   0 - 1   1 - 0	1412   1268   1263   1261   1219	Bryan O'Rourke   Matthew Stewart   Terry Doherty   Peter Horne   Derek Rodger
		2½ - 2½

Well done to Robert Togneri for his first competitive victory since returning to chess action, after a year out due to illness and the sad passing of his wife. Robert's game is below - Robert was black.

Oban Chess Congress

Congratulations to Steve Smith, who came joint first in the Challengers group at Oban Chess Congress with 4/5. His third round victory over Michael Ridge can be seen here, his fourth round victory over Michael Roth is here, and his final round 7 move draw is here.

Well done to Robert Leckie, who scored a good 3/5 in the Minor.