AGM and first night of the new season

The new season starts on Monday 7 September. As a couple of the committee members are sloping off to the Scotland v Germany game, it's been decided to postpone the AGM from 7 September to 14 September. The first night, 7 September, will host the annual blitz (5 minute) tournament for anyone who wants to play. All welcome!

Grading List 2015/16

Name	Grade	Allegro Grade
Paul Prescott   Shivan Murdochy   Jim Shemilt   Neil Irving   Steve Smith   Graham Anderson   Bill Cook   John Blake   Tony Pitson   Robin Hayles   Dave Hewitt   Robert Leckie   Gordon Allcock   Martyn Roe   Alex Scott   Craig Manson   David Brodie   Jonathan Blake   Nicholas Blake   Robert Togneri   Mick Bloor   David Little   Tom McKay   James Warwick   Carrick Simpson   Drystan Simpson	1970   1912   1778   1748   1702   1671   1666   1583   1562   1502   1486   1469   1460   1458   1388   1306   1301   1301   1227   1219   1183   963   798   612   676   462	1789   1910   1705   1681   1600   1630   1642   1596   1473   1506   1448   1250   1371   1441   1459   1165   1389   1197   1398   1238   1215   1365   818   1075

Scottish Championships - Steve Smith and Neil Irving

Dave Hewitt writes:- Steve and Neil played in the 122nd Scottish championships which ended last weekend. The event was held at Stewart's Melville school in Edinburgh - very swish, and a pleasant venue from what I could see during my visit one afternoon. It was a nine-day open, with around 100 players.

Both Stirling players did pretty well in what was a strong competition. Steve scored 50% with a tournament performance of 1769, and finished with a win (game below) which is always nice. Neil managed 4/9 although one of his points came via a default against an opponent who didn't appear due to illness. Neil's tournament performance was 1725, and although he tailed off a bit at the end he did have one great result, drawing with the Edinburgh-based Irish IM Mark Orr in round 4, despite a grading gap of over 450 points. It could have been even better - Neil had the IM completely on the run with a tremendous attack, and missed a mate-in-three.

Irving - Orr

Thanks also to Steve for providing his last round game, where he had White against Vipin Zamvar of Edinburgh.

Smith - Zamvar

Black resigned after 22 Qxh7+ with 22 ... Kg5 23 Qh5#.

Richardson Cup - Congratulations to Paul Prescott!

The first of many belated updates...Congratulations to Paul Prescott, winner of the Richardson Cup for the ninth season in a row. The last game of the competition saw Paul play Shivan needing just a draw to retain the trophy, and an 18 move (but 2 hours long) sharp affair resulted in the draw he needed. Well done Paul!.

Robert Togneri Trophy

Mr Robert Togneri with the new club trophy, named in his honour for 50+ years service to the club.

The Stirling club has a fine collection of trophies presented in memory of notable members who are sadly no longer with us – the Richardson, Lindsay, Keddie and Thornton cups – but it is nice to also have something named after a club stalwart who is happily still around and actively playing chess.

Hence the Robert Togneri Trophy, pictured here being held by the man himself. The trophy marks Robert’s half-century of continuous membership of Stirling chess club – a membership that has now stretched beyond the 51-year mark, as he joined the club in the autumn of 1963 and played his first league match on 1 April 1964 (a board-four draw against J Allan of Dunfermline in a match which Stirling won 4½-½, the four wins coming courtesy of a strong line-up of Maxwell Thornton, J Rodger, James Keddie and D S Buchanan).

Robert has been with us ever since, and while his playing strength is less than once was (he made two appearances in the Scottish championship – at Ayr in 1968 and Glasgow in 1969 – when it was by qualification only), he is still a very handy player more than capable of chalking up wins in league matches and club tournaments. His heyday was in the time of adjournment sessions and home analysis, and woe betide anyone who takes Robert lightly in terms of endgame subtleties: these remain a strong and notable feature of his play.

The Robert Togneri Trophy itself will go to the winner of the twice-yearly club Swiss allegro tournament, the twentieth edition of which (and the first with an actual prize) was played in May. This saw the title shared by Bill Cook and Jim Shemilt, each of whom scored 4/5. They will be presented with the trophy – and can then debate who gets to keep it first – during the annual club curry night at the end of this month or in early July. With luck Robert will be there to make the presentation himself.

Although the trophy isn’t the kind that can be engraved with winners’ names – that would be tricky anyway, given the long history of the Swiss allegros (the first was held in January 2005) – by happy circumstance Robert once won the tournament that now bears his name. He was one of four joint-winners of the fifth edition, held in November 2007 – and who knows if he might not win it again in what everyone at the club hopes will be a long and happy chess-playing future for one of Stirling’s most notable, liked and well-respected players.

3 June 2015 - Gordon Allcock wins the Lindsay Cup!

The Lindsay Cup Final was played on 3 June, when John Blake had White against Gordon Allcock.

John and Gordon before the game

Blake - Allcock

Congratulations to Gordon on winning the trophy!

21 May 2015 - Lindsay Cup

Thanks to John Blake for providing this Lindsay Cup semi-final game, where he had Black against Dave Hewitt. This victory puts John in the Final, where he plays the winner of Robert Leckie - Gordon Allcock tie.

Hewitt - Blake