17 December 2018 - Keddie Cup

A bumper 27 members took part in this years Keddie Cup, and for the fourth season in a row, it was won by a junior. Congratulations to Idris Benwell! Idris's performance in the final against newcomer Harry meant that the winner was never really in doubt - especially when he picked up his Knight on g5 and confidently placed it on e7, delivering check and going on win the Rook on c8. Yes, the Keddie was its normal mixture of time trouble, illegal moves and chaos.

The quarter-finals get underway - in the foreground it's Harry v Robert, while in the background Jordan takes on last year's winner Alex.

The other quarter-finals - in the foreground Kenny plays Nikolai, and in the background Idris plays Jim.

The semi-finals:- in the foreground, Jordan plays Idris, while in the background Harry plays camera-shy Kenny (in the first of three games to decide this tie).

The final is ready to start - Idris (left) v Harry.

Idris receives the trophy from club president Tony Pitson.

12 December 2018 - Central Allegro League

Grangemouth Tigers 13-3 Stirling Wallace

I don't have the round by round scores for this yet, but will update this post if I get them.

10 December 2018 - Central Allegro League

Stirling Bruce 6½-9½ Dunfermline Minnows
Round 1
Bill Cook	0 - 1	Ian Robertson
Dave Hewitt	0 - 1	Gonzalo Forero
Brad Duthie	0 - 1	Gordon Grieg
Richard Warcup	1 - 0	Glynis Grant
Round 2
Bill Cook	1 - 0	Glynis Grant
Dave Hewitt	0 - 1	Ian Robertson
Brad Duthie	0 - 1	Gonzalo Forero
Richard Warcup	0 - 1	Gordon Grieg
Round 3
Bill Cook	1 - 0	Gordon Grieg
Dave Hewitt	1 - 0	Glynis Grant
Brad Duthie	0 - 1	Ian Robertson
Richard Warcup	½ - ½	Gonzalo Forero
Round 4
Bill Cook	0 - 1	Gonzalo Forero
Dave Hewitt	1 - 0	Gordon Grieg
Brad Duthie	1 - 0	Glynis Grant
Richard Warcup	0 - 1	Ian Robertson

3 December 2018 - Central League Division 1

Stirling A		v		Cumbernauld A
Jim Shemilt Steve Smith Graham Anderson David McAlister Tony Pitson	1771 1712 1667 1634 1456	1 - 0 ½ - ½ 1 - 0 1 - 0 1d - 0d	1788 1534 1429 998	Ralph Stirrat George Thomson Derek McAteer Alan MacAuley
		4½ - ½

29 November 2018 - Central League Division 2

Cumbernauld B		v		Stirling C
Liam Heron Ulugbek Abdurahmanov Mark Heron Brian Kerr Sean McCann	1189 1139 1000 1086 694	0 - 1 0 - 1 1 - 0 ½ - ½ 0 - 1	1385 1226 1243 1163	Tom Wallace Gordon Allcock Robert Togneri Mick Bloor Nikolai Hermann
		1½ - 3½

26 November 2018 - Robert Togneri Trophy

Time control: 15 minutes each for all moves

	Name	Grade	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Place
1	Jim Shemilt	1696	1 B 12	1 W 10	2 B 18	2 W 8	2½ B 5	=11
2	Graham Anderson	1695	1 W 13	2 B 7	3 W 11	4 B 6	4½ W 9	1
3	David McAlister	1634	1B 14	2W 19	2½ B 10	2½ W 4	3½ W 11	=3
4	Steve Smith	1582	1 W 15	1 B 9	2 W 13	3 B 3	3½ W 7	=3
5	Dave Hewitt	1530	1 Bye	1 B 11	2 W 22	2 B 9	2½ W 1	=11
6	Richard Warcup	1493	1 W 17	2 B 23	3 W 9	3 W 2	4 B 8	2
7	Brad Duthie	1494	1 B 18	1 W 2	2 B 19	3 W 10	3½ B 4	=3
8	Martyn Roe	1423	0 W 19	1 B 17	2 W 23	3 B 1	3 W 6	=8
9	Tony Pitson	1386	1 B 20	2 W 4	2 B 6	3 W 5	3½ B 2	=3
10	Tom Wallace	1357	1 W 21	2 B 1	2½ W 3	2½ B 7	3½ B 14	=3
11	Gordon Allcock	1342	1 B 22	2 W 5	2 B 2	3 W 12	3 B 3	=8
12	Martin Pringle	1251	0 W 1	1 B 20	2 W 21	2 B 11	2 -	=14
13	Mick Bloor	1194	0 B 2	1 W 16	1 B 4	1 W 14	2 W 21	=14
14	Robert Togneri	1164	0 W 3	½ B 21	1½ W 15	2½ B 13	2½ W 10	=11
15	Craig Thomson	725	0 B 4	0 W 18	0 B 14	1 W 17	2 W 23	=14
16	Alex Brimlow	436	0 W 23	0 B 13	1 W 17	1 B 19	2 W 20	=14
17	Douglas Pringle	400	0 B 6	0 W 8	0 B 16	0 B 15	0 -	23
18	Idris Benwell	376	0 W 7	1 B 15	1 W 1	2 B 23	2 W 19	=14
19	Kenny McPherson		1 B 8	1 B 3	1 W 7	2 W 16	3 B 18	=8
20	Garth Armitage		0 W 9	0 W 12	1 Bye	1 B 21	1 B 16	=20
21	Nikolai Herrmann		0 B 10	½ W 14	½ B 12	1½ W 20	1½ B 13	19
22	Gordon Bowie		0 W 11	1 Bye	1 B 5	1 -	1 -	=20
23	Ross Coupland		1 B 16	1 W 6	1 B 8	1 W 18	1 B 15	=20

Here's another photo of yours truly being presented with the trophy.

And here's a game which offers an insight into a common trap in the French Advance.

[Event "Robert Togneri Trophy"] [Date "2018.11.26"] [White "?"] [Black "?"] [Result "1-0"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Bd3 cxd4 7. cxd4 Nxd4 8. Nxd4 Qxd4 9. Bb5+ {Black resigns with the Queen en prise. } 1-0

25 November 2018 - Scottish National Chess League

Division 2 - Forth Valley A v Wandering Dragons B
Uby Archibong   Neil Irving   Jim Shemilt   Steve Smith   David McAlister	2194   1904   1771   1712   1634	1 - 0   ½ - ½   0 - 1   1 - 0   ½ - ½	1814   1791   1766   1571   1518	Ewan Taylor   Richard Carter   Jim O'Neil   Jim Turner   Gwilym Morrison
		3 - 2

Division 2 - Forth Valley A v Dunfermline Knights
Uby Archibong   Neil Irving   Jim Shemilt   Steve Smith   David McAlister	2194   1904   1771   1712   1634	1 - 0   ½ - ½   0 - 1   1 - 0   ½ - ½	2045   1848   1745   1640   1548	Ian Robertson   Nicolas Skettos   John McBride   Stuart Black   Fred Ossowski
		2½ - 2½

Division 4 - Forth Valley B v Dundee City C
Ian Mason   Bill Cook   Dave Hewitt   Gordon Allcock   David Fowler	1620   1576   1550   1226   1087	½ - ½   0 - 1   1 - 0   0 - 1   1 - 0	1569   1512   1495   1482   1242	Paul Shafi   Raymond Flood   Keith Rose   Ray Noble   Edward Walton
		2½ - 2½

Division 4 - Forth Valley B v Dunfermline B
Ian Mason   Bill Cook   Dave Hewitt   Gordon Allcock   David Fowler	1620   1576   1550   1226   1104	½ - ½   ½ - ½   ½ - ½   0 - 1   0 - 1	1434   1396   1391   1338   1087	Gonzalo Forero   Gordon Grieg   Terry Doherty   Glynis Grant   Aaron Owens
		1½ - 3½