Sunday 30 May 2010

East of Scotland @ Grangemouth 29/05/10

A couple of pics and a short vid. By pure chance my wife managed to catch Bryan in the first pic and Peter in the second.





Saturday 22 May 2010

Dunfermline player on winning side as Guernsey beat Jersey

Dunfermline 'A' team player, Garry Forbes recently enjoyed representing Guernsey in their recent Chess Inter-Insular match in Jersey. The match is contested over 16 boards and the Guernsey team won 9.5-6.5 (with full board scores below). Garry had the black pieces and his match ended in very quick fashion when his opponent forced an early draw by perpetual.

Guernsey also retained the reserve shield and Fred Hamperl (also the Guernsey team captain) won the coveted title of Channel Island Champion outright for the 2nd time by defeating the Jersey Champion Belzo on board 1. The Guernsey champion plays Jersey champion on board 1 for this title. http://www.guernseychessclub.org.gg for further info under Press Reports.

It was a fantastically enjoyable weekend as the match was played in a hotel in the Jersey countryside. Several Guernsey players enjoyed a game of tennis on the Friday afternoon in the sunshine and there is always a meal and drinks after the match. The cameraderie between both teams is excellent and this has been further strengthened by the islands entering a team in the 4NCL.

Although Guernsey were fielding a very strong side due to several strong Jersey players being unable to play, Guernsey players still had to be at their best to win on Jersey soil for the first time since 1994, with several Guernsey players punching well above their weight (especially Colin Goman on board 9, who was originally first reserve and stepped in heroically at the last minute).

The match alternates every year between the islands (even years in Jersey, odd years in Guernsey) and Guernsey's 9.5-6.5 victory was the biggest over Jersey since 1997. The victory takes the match totals since the first Inter-Insular in 1931 to Jersey 40, Guernsey 27, Draw 6. This was Garry's 6th match for Guernsey against Jersey and this was his 2nd team victory (the first one being the 9-7 victory at home in 2005).

Guernsey will be hoping to get their good home record in recent years back on track in 2011. After defeating Jersey in two tight matches in 2005 and 2007, they unfortunately lost heavily in 2009. This is the biggest chess fixture of the season for both islands and Garry is already looking forward to the chess Inter-Insular in 2011.

2010 73RD INTER-INSULAR BOARD ORDER, SAT 24th April, JERSEY

GUERNSEY 9.5 JERSEY 6.5

1 W F FM Hamperl (2075)  V  B K Belzo (2118) 1-0.
2 B A Hale (1868)  V  W A Rosenbeiger (2153) 0-1.
3 W P Rowe (2042)  V  B PWojciechowski (2105) 1/2.
4 B P CM Kirby (2065)  V  W M Mazurkiewicz (1847) 1/2.
5 W P Carpenter (1826)*  V  B J Rodriguez (1944)* 1-0.
6 B T CM Brookfield (1796)  V  W T Khan (2181) 1/2.
7 W J Cummins (1898)  V  B G Mooney (2001) 0-1.
8 B T Knight (1663)*  V  W P Le Feuvre (1716)* 0-1.
9 W C Goman (1871)  V  B L Jouault (1984) 1-0.
10 B G Forbes (1925)  V  W G Girard (1806)* 1/2.
11 W J Bridel (1742)  V  B W Philpot (1651)* 1/2.
12 B M Kirk (1541)*  V  W S Richford (1651)* 1-0.
13 W R Finch (1485)*  V  B D Potigny (1552)* 1-0.
14 B J Spicer (1526)*  V  W A Green (1656)* 1-0.
15 W D Smith (1532)*  V  B S Ruff (1495)* 1/2.
16 B S Naftel (1485)*  V  W N Murray (1446)* 1/2.

Board 1 is playing for the title of Channel Island Championship.
FIDE ratings have been used where possible.
If no FIDE ratings then national used. * denotes national rating used.

Sunday 16 May 2010

The game, no fireworks, but how else do you draw with an IM.



Thursday 13 May 2010

LEAGUE AND DUNFERMLINE CLUB TITLES: 4 out of 5 for Dunfermline, Grangemouth B 0.5 V Dunfermline B 4.5 - 12/05/10 Club championship and League tables 2009-2010

Last night Dunfermline achieved the 4th of their 4 season targets, quite an achievement. (Update: This only left the U1500 Cup. Stirling only just retained this by one game point, when Cumbernauld failed to draw or better against the Dunfermline team) 
Jim Watson           0-1      Fred Ossowski  (W)
Bill Gray               0-1      Jim Webster       (W)
Donald Wilson       1/2     Stewart Brisbane (B)
Hugh Hanlon        0-1      Calum Smith        (W)
default                  0-1      Peter Horne
Grangemouth B 1/2  Dunfermline B 4 1/2


Links to the grading data at Chess Scotland.
http://www.chessscotland.com/event2010/Central_Allegro_League.html
http://www.chessscotland.com/event2010/Central_Cup_and_Under_1500.html

League results, club championships and tables taken from the Dunfermline website
Division One League results and tables for 2009/10
Division Two League results and tables for 2009/10
Allegro League results and tables for 2009/10
Central League Cup results and tables for 2009/10
Dunfermline Club Champs 2009-2010
Dunfermline U1500 2009-2010
Dunfermline Allegro Champs 2009-2010
Dunfermline 5 min KO 2009-2010


Monday 10 May 2010

Thursday 6 May 2010

Dunfermline V Grangemouth Cup Final Match 05/05/2010

Dunfermline are looking to win 4 out 5 possible competitions this season. This match represented the 3rd of these ambitions. With the 4th being contested next week with the B team going for the 2nd division title against Grangemouth B.

This match took place at Dunfermline's home venue, the Del Farquarson Centre. On paper this final looked like the best and most exciting match up of the season. There is little doubt that these two teams are the strongest in the league over seven boards. Both teams were really up for this match and none of the games were dull. Even the draw on board one was a ding dong battle, ending with black forcing a draw to secure the match. Although it turns out black could have won it instead, something pointed out by Peter Wynn in the pub. But why risk the match trying to win a queen and pawn endgame? Forcing the draw was the right thing to do for Ian Robertson.

All the other games were decisive with three good wins each. Each of the winners played really well and the final result of 3.5-3.5 was a very fair result. However, Dunfermline's wins on boards two and six, as compared to Grangemouth wins on boards three and seven, was the decisive factor in the board count for Dunfermline. In comparison Grangemouth only bettered Dunfermline with a win on board four to Dunfermline's win on board five. A little tough on Grangemouth, but the tie-break is the only way to decide a cup final.

It was a real privilege to take part in such a hard fought, exciting and well played match.

Bd   Grade      Dunfermline            vs         Grangemouth      Grade
1     2078        Ian Robertson    0.5-0.5      Alan Bell             1961
2     1849        Gavin Saxton        1-0         Ian Mason           1864
3     1769        John McBride        0-1         Douglas Will        1858
4     1731        Michael Roy          0-1         Mark Monaghan  1649
5     1689       Garry Forbes         1-0         John Smith           1640
6     1659       Fred Ossowski       1-0         Jim Watson          1555
7     1630       Jim Webster          0-1        William Gray        1506
                                               3.5-3.5
Dunfermline win on board count.

Tuesday 4 May 2010

Ian Robertson's killer games against titled players!!