28 September 2015 - Central League Division 2

Stirling B v Stirling C
John Blake Tony Pitson Dave Hewitt Gordon Allcock David Little	1583 1562 1486 1460 963	0 - 1 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 ½ - ½	1306 1301 1219 798 612	Craig Manson David Brodie Robert Togneri Tom McKay James Warwick
		3½ - 1½

A fascinating game on board 5, where James went a rook up against David into the endgame. David found a tremendous perpetual check with his rook right beside James' King - had James taken the rook, it was stalemate. Craig had a fine win against John Blake on board 1 - the game is below.

Blake - Manson

24 September 2015 - Central League Division 1

Cumbernauld A v Stirling A
Mark Monaghan   Ralph Stirrat   George Thomson   John Pearston   Steven Monaghan	1738   1630   1543   1524   1181	0 - 1   1 - 0   ½ - ½   0 - 1   0 - 1	1910   1778   1702   1671   1486	Shivan Murdochy   Jim Shemilt   Steve Smith   Graham Anderson   Dave Hewitt
		1½ - 3½

The first game here is the board 1 clash between Mark Monaghan (White) and Shivan Murdochy.

Monaghan - Murdochy

 

 

 

The game below is from board 5, where Dave had Black against Steven Monaghan.

Monaghan - Hewitt

21 September 2015 - Central Allegro League

Stirling Wallace 4½ - 11½ Stirling Bruce
Round 1
David Brodie	0 - 1	Paul Prescott
David Little	0 - 1	Bill Cook
Jim Shemilt	½ - ½	John Blake
Steve Smith	1 - 0	Dave Hewitt
Round 2
David Brodie	0 - 1	Bill Cook
David Little	0 - 1	John Blake
Jim Shemilt	0 - 1	Dave Hewitt
Steve Smith	0 - 1	Paul Prescott
Round 3
David Brodie	0 - 1	John Blake
David Little	0 - 1	Dave Hewitt
Jim Shemilt	0 - 1	Paul Prescott
Steve Smith	1 - 0	Bill Cook
Round 4
David Brodie	½ - ½	Dave Hewitt
David Little	0 - 1	Paul Prescott
Jim Shemilt	1 - 0	Bill Cook
Steve Smith	½ - ½	John Blake

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!.