Thursday 4 December 2014

Dunfermline A 2.5-2.5 Grangemouth A 03/12/14

Three drawn matches from four for Dunfermline.  Proof that we have an evenly contested league.

The match with Grangemouth had two victories - both fairly trouble free for the victors with Ian winning an early pawn for Dunfermline on top board and winning when a second pawn fell on move 27.  Bill for Grangemouth on board 4 took full advantage of Bryan’s slow development to build up an impressive attack and then smashed through convincingly.

On board 2 Alan seemed to have the better structure throughout against Michael and it looked like this would lead to a victory for Grangemouth but Michael accurately judged his counterplay to pick off Alan’s neat pawns for his own wobbly ones to hold the balance.  In the other games Ian for Grangemouth was a pawn up as was Glynis for Dunfermline but neither could see their way to make headway with both games ending by repetition.  Later pub analysis - the best way to analyse games - convinced Fred that he should have lost and Glynis that she should have won so the match result would have been the same!

Dunfermline A 2.5-2.5 Grangemouth A


  1. Ian Robertson (2115) 1-0 Dougie Will (1954)
  2. Michael Roy (1648) 1/2-1/2 Alan Bell (1920)
  3. Fred Ossowski (1631) 1/2-1/2 Ian Mason (1694)
  4. Bryan O’Rourke (1487) 0-1 Bill Gray (1511)
  5. Glynis Grant (1267) 1/2-1/2 Hugh Hanlon (1473)   

Thursday 27 November 2014

Grangemouth v Minnows-26/11/14

Wow - another close encounter which finished in favour of Minnows by 8.5-7.5

Dunfermline were missing a couple of regulars with Jim in San Francisco and Ben at Scouts.  Glynis was going to play but caught a bug going around school so Andy stepped in for another rare outing.  Until this week Kelechi had only played one evening of 5-minute chess in the past 5 years but after some practice games on Monday he offered to take part as a replacement for Jim. 

The first sign of Kelechi’s inexperience came in round 1 when he was winning but thought he only had 6 seconds left instead of the 6 minutes he actually had!  Panic set in with a disastrous outcome.

Round 2 was a second successive 2-2 after Andy let Bill off the hook while Ian M did likewise with George.

Round 3 saw Grangemouth take the lead in the match and it could have been even better but this time it was Bill that let Ian escape.

Round 4 was a complete contrast with Minnows dominating and would have been even more emphatic if Andy had played mate in one instead of going for mate in 2 whereby he lost on time!  

Grangemouth 7.5 - 8.5 Dunfermline Minnows

Round 1
Alan Bell 0-1 Ian Robertson
Ian Mason 1-0 Kelechi Ohiaeri
Bill Gray 1-0 George Webb
Hugh Hanlon 0-1 Andy Forbes

Round 2
Alan Bell 1/2-1/2 Kelechi Ohiaeri
Ian Mason 1/2-1/2 George Webb
Bill Gray 1-0 Andy Forbes
Hugh Hanlon 0-1 Ian Robertson

Round 3
Alan Bell 1-0 George Webb
Ian Mason 1-0 Andy Forbes
Bill Gray 1/2-1/2 Ian Robertson
Hugh Hanlon 0-1 Kelechi Ohiaeri

Round 4
Alan Bell 1-0 Andy Forbes
Ian Mason 0-1 Ian Robertson
Bill Gray 0-1 Kelechi Ohiaeri

Hugh Hanlon 0-1 George Webb

Tuesday 11 November 2014

Stirling A v Dunfermline A 10/11/14

The match ended as a draw but Dunfermline probably should have got both points if they had been a bit braver towards the end.  Gavin lost in a tactical melee before Stuart won a controlled positional game to level the match.  Dunfermline were better on the other boards and when boards 3 and 4 gained material Ian offered a draw in a fairly balanced ending though perhaps he still had a slightly better position.  Alas neither Jim nor Fred could convert their superior positions opting instead not to throw away the match by blundering late in the games and accepting draws for a tied match.

Stirling A 2.5 - 2.5 Dunfermline A 


  1. Shivan Murdochy 1/2-1/2 Ian Robertson
  2. Jim Shemilt 1-0 Gavin Saxton
  3. Steve Smith 1/2-1/2 Fred Ossowski
  4. Graham Anderson 1/2-1/2 Jim Webster
  5. Bill Cook 0-1 Stuart Black

Thursday 30 October 2014

Minnows v Wallace 29/10/14

Some of the ‘highlights’ of rounds 1-3 were Ian accepting a draw offer when he could have taken a free queen.  Jim W allowing Robin a mate in one instead of simply taking back a rook with the better position and David failing to win a knight and protected pawn v lone king ending! 

Anyway all this generosity led to an exciting 6-6 situation and with Wallace top 3 players playing Minnows bottom 3 the prospects were looking good for the away side.  Alas Minnows played their best round of the season with almost no hiccups, the one exception being Andy forgetting to push his clock, but once he did then Robin resigned his hopeless position.  A tough fight.

Minnows 9.5 v 6.5 Wallace

Round 1
Ian Robertson 1/2-1/2 Jim Shemilt
Jim Webster 1-0 Tony Pitson
George Webb 0-1 Robin Hayles
Andy Forbes 1-0 David Brodie

Round 2
Ian Robertson 1-0 Tony Pitson
Jim Webster 0-1 Robin Hayles
George Webb 1/2-1/2 David Brodie
Andy Forbes 0-1 Jim Shemilt

Round 3
Ian Robertson 1-0 Robin Hayles
Jim Webster 0-1 David Brodie
George Webb 1/2-1/2 Jim Shemilt
Andy Forbes 1/2-1/2 Tony Pitson

Round 4
Ian Robertson 1-0 David Brodie
Jim Webster 1-0 Jim Shemilt
George Webb 1/2-1/2 Tony Pitson
Andy Forbes 1-0 Robin Hayles

Wednesday 29 October 2014

Minnows 12 - 4 Sharks 27/10/14

The match finished as Minnows 12 - 4 Sharks

Sharks should have won in round one but Fred blew it against Ian.  Sharks had a shocker in round 2 when they were clearly winning on boards 3 & 4 but mucked up both.  In round 3 it was again generosity from Fred gifting his queen to George and again letting Minnows off the hook.  George also got lucky in round 4 but by this time the match was over.   Minnows will need to find some form before tomorrows match against Wallace.  On another day Sharks would have won this match comfortably.

Round 1
Ian Robertson 1-0 Fred Ossowski
Jim Webster 1/2-1/2 Michael Roy
George Webb 0-1 Stuart Black
Ben Volland 1-0 Peter Horne

Round 2
Ian Robertson 1-0 Peter Horne
Jim Webster 1-0 Fred Ossowski
George Webb 1-0 Michael Roy
Ben Volland 1-0 Stuart Black

Round 3
Ian Robertson 1-0 Stuart Black
Jim Webster 1/2-1/2 Peter Horne
George Webb 1-0 Fred Ossowski
Ben Volland 0-1 Michael Roy

Round 4
Ian Robertson 1-0 Michael Roy
Jim Webster 1-0 Stuart Black
George Webb 1/2-1/2 Peter Horne

Ben Volland 1/2-1/2 Fred Ossowski 

Thursday 23 October 2014

Dunfermline A 3 -2 Badgers Brook 22/10/14

Badgers were unlucky to lose their top board to other commitments just the day before the match.  As a result Dunfermline were given a strong opportunity to defeat the current champions.

The win for Dunfermline rarely looked in doubt after Glynis set the ball rolling with a fine win but they gave themselves some late scares after boards 1 and 4 failed to convert strong positions and board 2 allowed a crazy situation to develop whereby Gavin had to allow his opponent a discovered check. Fortunately everything miraculously held together and he emerge with an easily won ending.




  1.  Ian Robertson 1/2-1/2 Kenny McGeoch
  2. Gavin Saxton 1-0 Martin Clancy
  3. Fred Ossowski 0-1 Graham Kerr
  4. Jim Webster 1/2-1/2 Kenny Aiston
  5. Glynis Grant 1-0 Robert Liddle

Friday 12 September 2014

Cumbernauld v Dunfermline A - Central Div 1 1st match of the 2014-15 season

The match was a draw. Pretty good for Dunfermline who were out-graded on 4 boards. The result could even have been better as both Fred and Bryan were pressing for wins. 

(B) S. Kelly (1906) 0-1 I. Robertson (2115)
(W) M. Monaghan (1782) draw F. Ossowski (1631)
(B) R. Stirrat (1737) draw S. Black (1570)
(B) G. Thomson (1593) draw B. O'Rourke (1487)

(W) J. Pearston (1568 1-0 G. Grant (1267)

Tuesday 20 May 2014

Surprise! Cumbernauld A 2 ½ - 2 ½ Dunfermline A 19/05/2014

Cumbernauld A 2 ½ - 2 ½ Dunfermline A

S Kelly ½ - ½  I Robertson
R Stirrat ½ - ½ A W Forbes
D Johnstone 1-0 P Horne
G Thomson ½ - ½ G Webb
S Monaghan 0-1 T Russell

The “surprise” was that Cumbernauld had said they would be fielding mainly second team players.  However no-one informed the 4 Cumbernauld first team players who turned up to play!   I might not have got anyone stronger from Dunfermline in any event for a match with nothing at stake but it was most odd for Cumbernauld to say one thing and do another.   I should say there was also surprise from the Cumbernauld players that I had been told this and Steven did apologise on their behalf.


In the match there were 3 quick draws though Ian was a bit better placed on board 1.  On board 2 Andy played his first competitive game for more than a decade but kept it simple for an early draw.  The Georges’ repeated position after Cumbernauld’s George did not notice he had a choice of squares. Dunfermline won on 5 after Steven dropped a rook in what till then had been a tight game.  Peter lost a drawn endgame after getting bored repeating the drawing pattern and played a more adventurous rook move ‘just for something different’ which unfortunately gave David the one tempo he needed to get out of the bind.

Div 2 result-Grangemouth B 3 v Stirling C 2 14/05/2014

Grangemouth B 3 v Stirling C 2

Details:
1. B Gray 1/2  G Allcock 1/2
2. H Hanlon 1  C Manson  0
3. C Welsh  1 M Bloor 0
4. R Heenan 1/2  R Togneri 1/2
5. D Fowler 0 D Brodie 1

Tuesday 13 May 2014

Dunfermline won the U1500 KO final V Cumbernauld on board count 12/05/2014

Although the team visited Cumbernauld with only 4 players an inspired board order of Bryan, Tom, Peter, George put 2 of Dunfermline’s more active players on 3 and 4.  With only 20 grading points separating boards 2-4 it made sense to ‘sacrifice’ Tom against one of their stronger players. Nice bit of captaincy!

Regarding the title of this message, Dunfermline lost on board 2 and defaulted 5 but had won on boards 1 and 4 when surprisingly the Cumbernauld board 3 offered a draw.  Peter checked with George to make sure he had his sums right then accepted for a board count victory. When Peter was still considering the draw offer, the Cumbernauld player realised his error and politely asked if he could withdraw the offer!  Nice try but no.


Amazingly, even though the match started later at 7.30 the Dunfermline team were back in the pub in Dunfermline by just after 10.00pm to celebrate.  The match itself must have taken less than two hours

Thursday 8 May 2014

Dunfermline V Badgers Brook KO Final 07/05-2014


A strong Badgers Brook team were taken the distance before winning on board count.  Dunfermline went 2-0 up early following an unwise pawn snatch by Martin on board 2 and Kenny A putting several pieces in the firing line of George’s bishop on board 7.  Badgers fought back by outplaying their opponents on boards 3 and 4.  On board 5 Kenny M felt his team were under pressure and went all out for the win only for Michael to out-calculate him in the ending.  It looked good for Dunfermline at that point but alas on board 6 Bryan blundered a piece. On top board Ian missed a win in a time scramble but Fabio did well to set up a perpetual check for the match win.
Dunfermline
Team
Badgers Brook




Board
Name
Grade
Result
Name
Grade
Colour
1
Ian Robertson
2149
½-½
Fabio Biancalana
1927
B
2
John McBride
1785
1-0
Martin Clancy
1904
B
3
Gavin Saxton
1738
0-1
Mark Cooke
1942
B
4
Fred Ossowski
1662
0-1
Andrew McHarg
1792
W
5
Michael Roy
1630
1-0
Kenny McGeoch
1776
W
6
Bryan O'Rourke
1474
0-1
Graham Kerr
1629
W
7
George Webb
1321
1-0
Kenny Aiston
1448
W


TOTAL
3½-3½




Match was settled on the first tie-breaker (board count) Dunfermline 14 - 13 Badgers Brook

A night that was Dunfermline's slipped away in the space of seconds near the end of the match. Board one below before the things went wrong.


Thursday 27 March 2014

Stirling Wallace V Dunfermline Minnows 26/03/14

Minnows won after a strong start and finish while Wallace put in a good show in rounds 2 and 3.  Minnows finish the league in the runner-up position

Wallace
6 - 10
Minnows
J Shemilt
½ - ½
I Robertson
S Smith
0-1
J Webster
R Hayles
0-1
G Webb
D Brodie
0-1
B Volland

½ - 3½

J Shemilt
1-0
B Volland
S Smith
0-1
I Robertson
R Hayles
½ - ½
J Webster
D Brodie
½ - ½
G Webb

2 - 2

J Shemilt
1-0
G Webb
S Smith
1-0
B Volland
R Hayles
0-1
I Robertson
D Brodie
½ - ½
J Webster

2½ - 1½

J Shemilt
0-1
J Webster
S Smith
0-1
G Webb
R Hayles
1-0
B Volland
D Brodie
0-1
I Robertson

1 - 3



Tuesday 18 March 2014

Badgers Brook vs Dunfermline 17/03/2014

A bit of a shock result and with a bit more fortune it could have been better as George was holding in a R+B+ 4 pawns each ending and Ian and Matthew both might have made more of their early opportunities.  Stuart’s opponent made the 1st time control with one second left in a very complex position.  However Peter was the star man allowing his higher rated opponent a second Q while Peter’s knights and queen closed in on the enemy king for a winning combination    











Badgers Brook
Team
Dunfermline




Board
Name
Grade
Result
Name
Grade
Colour
1
Mark Cooke
1942
½-½
Ian Robertson
2149

2
Fabio Biancalana
1927
½-½
Stuart Black
1607

3
Martin Clancy
1904
0-1
Peter Horne
1342

4
Kenny McGeoch
1776
1-0
George Webb
1321

5
Steven McHarg
1414
½-½
Matthew Stewart
1300



TOTAL
2½-2½





An excellent result for Dunfermline who were massively outgraded, and in particular Peter's win against an opponent graded some 562 points higher.




Thursday 20 February 2014

Dunfermline A 2½ - 2½ Grangemouth A 19/02/2014


Dunfermline A
2 ½ - 2 ½
Grangemouth A
I Robertson (2149)
½ - ½
D Will (1913)
I Sneddon (1740)
½ - ½
J Smith (1739)
G Webb (1321)
½ - ½
I Mason (1733)
G Grant (1280)
0 – 1
W Gray (1496)
D Rodger (1239)
1 – 0
H Hanlon (1442)

Grangemouth had a hefty grading advantage on the bottom 3 boards and initially games developed in accord with grade.  

Board 4 was first finished when Bill’s steady pressure forced Glynis to an early collapse.  

Next finished was board 2 when Iain could not find a way to convert his earlier well won extra pawn and accepted a perpetual.  

Next to end was the strange board 3 game.  Neither player seemed to want open play. George lined up his 8 pawns on black squares and Ian set his 8 pawns on white squares.  The blocked position gave George the luxury to capture back a piece with his King on d2 at about move 10 and then walk his King back and forth along his own second rank while awaiting developments.  So much for the fallacy of Kings leading their armies into battle being a thing of the past! Credit is due to both players for plugging away for around 50 moves.  An excellent result for George against a player 400 points higher rated. 

Next finished was board 5.  Derek had kept his position solid but Hugh manoeuvred well to win a pawn and with more aggression with his rooks could have made it extremely difficult for Derek.  As it was Hugh got a bit negative and then a horror move cost him a whole rook which Derek converted with confidence.  

Final game to end was the see-saw battle on board 1.  Dougie’s early aggression should have cost him the game.  Ian had the option of capturing a sacrificed piece with King or Queen.  Taking with the King would not have won the piece outright but would have ended the game in Ian’s favour within a few moves.  Instead Ian chose to capture with the Queen after seeing a nice way to keep the piece but there was a flaw neither player had spotted which led to Dougie regaining the piece with advantage.  That advantage netted Dougie 2 pawns but active play gave Ian enough to set up a repetition.  The computer says initially that the final position was equal but after thinking a bit longer it suggests that even 2 pawns down in an ending Ian was a bit better.  However with only a few minutes left on the clock to play on would have been very risky and a draw was a fair reflection of both players’ efforts.            

Tuesday 18 February 2014

Badgers v Minnows 17/02/2014

This was a close one!

After being demolished in round 1 Badgers nearly got back for the win. As usual with this format there were plenty of errors.  Mention should be made of 2 in particular both involving Badgers board 4.  In round 3 Iain S was ahead in a RvP ending.  Instead of pushing his potential passed pawn for a likely win Iain opted to walk into a help-mate in 2 moves.  Lucky David, unlucky Iain

In round 4 it was top v bottom when Ian R played David.  All was going as predicted with Ian well ahead on material till suddenly David produced a Knight move which forced mate – or at least it should have.  Ian had only one check which was played giving David a choice (always good to give opponents a choice!).  The options were either play to a square allowing at least another check or go to a ‘safe’ square with no more checks and apparently no saving moves.  The former was a win but David chose the latter allowing Ian to put a piece where it could be taken any of 3 ways but each capture allowed a fatal repercussion.  Lucky Ian, lucky Minnows.    

Badgers
7 ½ - 8 ½
Minnows
F Biancalana
0-1
I Robertson
K McGeoch
½ - ½
I Sneddon
D McGilvary
0-1
G Webb
D Marshall
0-1
T Doherty

½ - 3 ½

F Biancalana
1-0
T Doherty
K McGeoch
1-0
I Robertson
D McGilvary
0-1
I Sneddon
D Marshall
0-1
G Webb

2 - 2

F Biancalana
1-0
G Webb
K McGeoch
1-0
T Doherty
D McGilvary
0-1
I Robertson
D Marshall
1-0
I Sneddon

3 - 1

F Biancalana
0-1
I Sneddon
K McGeoch
1-0
G Webb
D McGilvary
1-0
T Doherty
D Marshall
0-1
I Robertson

2 - 2





Update for the game above. Below is a pic from near the end, the rook on a1 is actually on e1.

My next move was Rf7+ Kg6 and then I played Rxb7.  David then came up with the winning Ng3!  I played Bf7+ and David went wrong.