Wednesday 11 October 2017

Stirling 3.5 V Dunfermline 1.5 - 09/10/17

Jim Shemilt 1/2 Ian Robertson
Steve Smith 1-0 Stuart Black
Bill Cook 1/2 Jamie O'Connor
Graham Anderson 1-0 Michael Roy
Dave Hewitt 1/2 Calum Smith

A welcome win for Stirling after our defeat at Badgers Brook.  There
were interesting games with the match not being decided until right at
the end of the playing session as Dunfermline's boards 1 and 5 tried to
get the wins they needed to half the match.  Both games were eventually
agreed drawn with the four players involved all down to around a minute
on the clock. (report by Stirling captain Steve Smith)

The boards 1 and 5 were particularly interesting in that Dunfermline did achieve the desired winning positions only to blunder away both in time scrambles which allowed Stirling to offer generous draws.  On board 1 Dunfermline was better throughout and at times much better (+3) only to make one incorrect 50/50 decision towards the end which allowed a brilliant response turning the tables entirely.  On board 5 patient play started to reap rewards when Calum’s queen got behind Dave’s defences but then Calum left a piece hanging as time drifted.   

Tuesday 3 October 2017

Minnows 12½-3½ Sharks - 02/10/2017

After last season’s close encounter between these teams this time was surprisingly one sided with no losses at all for Minnows.  This was perhaps due to the healthy first round lead after which Sharks had to take more risks.

Minnows 12½-3½ Sharks

Ian Robertson 1-0 Mike Roy
Calum Smith 1-0 Stuart Black
Jamie O’Connor ½-½ Stewart Brisbane
Andy Forbes 1-0 Peter Horne
3½-½

Robertson 1-0 Black
Smith 1-0 Brisbane
O’Connor 1-0 Horne
Forbes ½-½ Roy
3½-½  (7-1)

Robertson ½-½ Brisbane
Smith 1-0 Horne
O’Connor ½-½ Roy
Forbes ½-½ Black
2½-1½  (9½-2½)

Robertson 1-0 Horne
Smith ½-½ Roy
O’Connor 1-0 Black
Forbes ½-½ Brisbane
3-1  (12½-3½)

Tuesday 26 September 2017

Dunfermline A 1½ - 3½ Grangemouth A - 25/09/17

Dunfermline A 1½ - 3½ Grangemouth A

  1. I Robertson  ½-½ U Archibong
  2. J Webster 0-1 G Hamilton
  3. S Black 0-1 D Wallace
  4. J O’Connor ½-½ J Smith
  5. M Roy  ½-½ S Binnie

Grangemouth may have been understrength but were still too good for Dunfermline’s top 5.  Interestingly, individually each of the games could easily have had a different result.  Boards 1 and 5 were similar in that Grangemouth were pressing strongly in the middlegame only for the Dunfermline players to escape to endings which were then held.  Board 2 was a loss on time in an equal position. Board 3 seemed to be saveable before the home player fell to late pressure whilst on board 4 I’m sure both players would have been surprised when Dunfermline’s death or glory attack with numerous sacrifices reached an opposite coloured bishop ending.



Tuesday 16 May 2017

5 min KO Competition 15/05/17

The chess club caught up a bit with its KO competition when it held the 2016(!) tournament last evening.

Although open to the entire club 8 players only were available to participate on this occasion.

We started with a 7-round all play all with the top 4 going forward to double round semi-finals.

The all play all finished with the following scores: John McBride 6.5, Ian Robertson 6, Calum Smith 5, Peter Horne, 4, Fred Ossowski 3.5, Stewart Brisbane 2, Dean Osborne 1, Robin Murray 0.

In the first semi-final to finish Ian beat Calum 2-0.  The second semi-final was tighter with John recovering after losing the first game to Peter by winning the 2nd game and winning a decider.

Ian beat John 2-0 in a tight final where the first game should have been a draw and the 2nd game ending when John’s flag fell with Ian having less than a second left.

Wednesday 29 March 2017

Stirling Wallace 7 Dunfermline Sharks 9 - 27/03/17

The wooden spoon contest went narrowly in favour of the visitors. 
Wallace took an early lead, but round 3 turned the match when Wallace
failed to use the advantage with white and Sharks consolidated in round
4.

Round 1
Tom Wallace 1/2 Michael Roy
Jim Shemilt 1/2 Stuart Black
Craig Manson 1/2 Stewart Brisbane
Steve Smith 1-0 Peter Horne

Round 2
S Smith 1/2 M Roy
T Wallace 0-1 S Black
J Shemilt 1-0 S Brisbane
C Manson 1/2 P Horne

Round 3
C Manson 0-1 M Roy
S Smith 0-1 S Black
T Wallace 0-1 S Brisbane
J Shemilt 1-0 P Horne

Round 4
J Shemilt 0-1 M Roy
C Manson 0-1 S Black
S Smith 1-0 S Brisbane
T Wallace 1/2 P Horne

Good for Sharks particularly as they did not realise they were due to play this match on Monday but fortunately Steve mentioned it to Peter at SNCL and everybody was contacted in time.

Tuesday 21 March 2017

Badgers Brook 4-1 Dunfermline - 20/03/17

Dunfermline had 3 whites and lost the lot.  However a strong and determined Badgers outfit fully deserved their victory particularly as 2 of the wins (boards 1 and 4) came after the Badgers players declined taking a draw in level positions but where shortage of time for the Dunfermline players proved crucial.     

Result is as follows. Dunfermline had white on boards 1, 2 & 4.
Badgers Brook
Grangemouth
Grade
Surname
Forename
Pnum
Result
Grade
Surname
Forename
Pnum
2060
McGeoch
Kenny
14326
1-0
2024
Robertson
Ian
5811
1949
Cooke
Mark
20648
1-0
1788
McBride
John
16813
1879
Biancalana
Fabio
24346
0.5-0.5
1756
Webster
Jim
6428
1812
MacConnell
David
4756
1-0
1662
Roy
Michael
7867
1742
Ward
Stuart
23079
0.5-0.5
1647
Black
Stuart
14823
Total
4-1


Thursday 16 March 2017

Grangemouth B v Dunfermline B - 15/03/17

Ian Mason 0 - 1 Jamie O'Connor
Bill Gray 0 - 1 Calum Smith
Crawford Welsh 1 - 0 Stewart Brisbane
David Fowler 1/2 - 1/2 Glynis Grant
Scott Dickson 0 - 1 Matt Harris

Grangemouth B 1.5 - Dunfermline B 3.5

Grangemouth had white on boards 3 and 5

The home team were discombobulated by being locked out of the chess equipment cupboard for the first time in 24 years. Bill Gray's role as Acting Janitor unfortunately didn't extend to keeper of the keys so there was an anxious time before a Council employee could be found. Meanwhile the visiting team had a mix-up in transport arrangements which saw Ian Robertson kindly take our Board 1 to the venue.

Once we got underway, there was vigorous play by Ian Mason who deployed a 1...e5 2...f5 line against Jamie's English Opening. Jamie held on and a blunder by Ian eventually decided the game.

On board 2, Calum v Bill, it would be quicker to show the moves than describe the game:
1.b4 e5
2.Bb2 Bxb4
3.Bxe5 Nc6
4.Bxg7 d5
5.Bxh8 Nf6
6.e3 Bf5
7.Qf3 resigns

I've resigned a game in six moves before. What you lose on the swings, you gain on the roundabouts.

Stewart sacrificed a rook to stave off defeat but an unstoppable mate threat by Crawford decided things anyway. A good win by Crawford.

Glynis played a Vienna Gambit against David, and at one point could chase Black's bishop with pawns, disconnect it from the queen and win it, but unfortunately Glynis didn't see this. Glynis offered a draw which was declined; later on David reciprocated the offer and a draw was agreed.

Having gone the exchange up in a sequence of swaps against Scott's London System-type set up, Matt faced a mobile queenside pawn majority. By way of counterplay he advanced his kingside pawns. The threats of check from pawns on the kingside, backed up by Matt's rooks and queen then scored the point for Dunfermline.

Calum

Tuesday 7 March 2017

Dunfermline 2½-4½ Grangemouth 6/3/17

A gallant effort by a heavily out-graded Dunfermline who were down on nearly every board by between 100 and 250 grading points.  Congratulations to Grangemough who made their extra strength count by playing pretty solidly throughout.

On board 1 an utter blunder in a level position gave Uby a fortunate win after I had been better for much of the game.  Sadly he is quite good at setting sneaky little problems but in this case I just assumed I would take a pawn (and I was already the exchange ahead) but only after he moved did I realise my queen was on the wrong diagonal!   

On board 2 John looked at least level for much of the time against an isolated queen pawn structure but a few aimless moves invited Alan to attack and then John’s pawns started to fall.  

Board 3 was first finished with Michael quite adventurous but once the ambitious attack was refuted his game collapsed.  

Stuart played very well to hold a minor piece ending a pawn down.  Having the 2 bishops gave him just enough control over the dark squares to prevent Doug making meaningful progress.  

Jamie looked a little cramped but with a sound position.  However Dave had the initiative and was able to swop down to the better ending after which the odd pawn or 2 became indefensible.  

Calum had a lucky escape.  Ian saw a ghost and failed to simply take Calum’s kingside apart.  After that good fortune Calum reacted strongly by coordinating his pieces very well and won with a convincing counterattack.  

Stewart was given a bit of a gift after Bill played some iffy and unnecessary defensive moves. One silly move gave away a pawn and when his next move lost 2 more it was time to resign.

  1. Ian Robertson (w) 0-1 Uby Archibong
  2. John McBride (w) 0-1 Alan Bell
  3. Michael Roy (B) 0-1 Graeme Hamilton
  4. Stuart Black (w) ½ - ½ Dougie Will
  5. Jamie O’Connor (B) 0-1 David Wallace
  6. Calum Smith (B) 1-0 Ian Mason
  7. Stewart Brisbane (B) 1-0 Bill Gray

Tuesday 28 February 2017

Dunfermline Sharks 7-9 Stirling Bruce, 27/2/17

An excellent contest between two well-matched teams. For all that the
crucial round looks like it was r2, which Bruce won 3½-½, matters
really hinged on r3, where for a while it looked like Sharks were on
course to win all four games and snatch a dramatic lead. But as so
often in these allegro matches there were unexpected twists, with Tony
mating Peter with four seconds left on his clock, and Robert and I
both managing to draw. So the round was halved, the match stood at
7½-4½ and a couple of draws in the last round saw the Stirling team
home for their seventh straight win in this fixture - the last time
Sharks won was by the same 9-7 score in November 2009.

Dunfermline Sharks vs Stirling Bruce, 27/2/17

r1
Michael Roy 1624  0-1  Bill Cook 1567
Stuart Black 1596  1-0  Tony Pitson 1524
Stewart Brisbane 1484  0-1  Dave Hewitt (c) 1516
Peter Horne (c) 1449  1-0  Robert Leckie 1250
2-2

r2
Roy 0-1 Pitson
Black ½-½ Hewitt
Brisbane 0-1 Leckie
Horne 0-1 Cook
½-3½ / 2½-5½

r3
Roy ½-½ Hewitt
Black ½-½ Leckie
Brisbane 1-0 Cook
Horne 0-1 Pitson
2-2 / 4½-7½

r4
Roy 1-0 Leckie
Black ½-½ Cook
Brisbane ½-½ Pitson
Horne ½-½ Hewitt
2½-1½ / 7-9

Sharks won the toss and had white in rounds 1 and 3.

Individual scores:
Sharks: Black 2½, Brisbane, Horne and Roy all 1½
Bruce: Cook, Hewitt and Pitson all 2½, Leckie 1½

This was the last Bruce fixture of what has been a fairly experimental
campaign, with two of the regulars (Paul and John) being out for the
season and another (Graham) unavailable since the turn of the year.
Two matches have been lost heavily, and two won, which feels like a
reasonable return in what was never likely to be a title-challenging
season. Sharks still have matches against Grangemouth Tigers and
Stirling Wallace to come.

Thanks to the Dunfermline club for hosting what was another
good-natured and competitive evening of chess.

Thursday 23 February 2017

Dunfermline A 3-2 Cumbernauld A 20/02/17

  1. Ian Robertson ½ - ½ Steven Kelly
  2. Michael Roy 0-1 Mark Monaghan
  3. Jamie O’Connor ½ - ½ George Thomson
  4. Calum Smith 1-0 Steven Monaghan
  5. Stewart Brisbane 1-0 Steven Gentleman

An actual streak for Dunfermline as we win successive league games for the first time in two years.  Both teams were without a host of first team nominees which resulted in quite a level match. On top board Steven was better for a long time though in the latter stages could have lost.  This was the last game to finish and the draw gave Dunfermline the match.  On board 2 Mark’s Kings Indian Attack was really well played with Michael seemingly having little chance of any counterplay.  Jamie v George was a difficult game to predict with pawn structure issues for Jamie to resolve but with active pieces. Both players seemed happy with the outcome.  Calum had extra space and won convincingly at the end though Steven was quite solid for a long time.  Board 5 finished early. Stewart offered an exchange sacrifice which a more experienced opponent would probably have declined as it left Steven’s kingside too exposed and led to an unstoppable mate.      

Wednesday 22 February 2017

Cumbernauld B vs Dunfermline B, 20 Jan 17

Calum SMITH (c)  ½-½  Derek MCATEER  (c)
Fred OSSOWSKI  1-0  Ulugbak ABDURAHMANOV
Stewart BRISBANE  1-0  Steven 
GENTLEMAN
Glynis GRANT  1-0 George FORD
Iain BEDFORD  1-0  Luke JOYCE

Cumbernauld B ½ - Dunfermline B  4 ½

Cumbernauld had white on the first and last two boards.
At 19 moves it was relatively short on paper, but a lot of thinking time was expended at the top board: I struggled to find a plan after around move three and was pleased to get a more or less equal position at last. The night’s results had gone Dunfermline’s way by then and a draw was agreed.
Fred went a bishop up in his game against Ulugbak and it proved to be too much for the second player's game. On board 3 Steven defended a Ruy Lopez but needed to castle before essaying the kingside pawns. Stewart was able to get ahead in piece development and quickly set about Black’s uncastled king.
Glynis was on fine attacking form playing the Sicilian Defence against George. On board 5 both sides were keen to attack but Iain managed to pin Luke’s queen on the same file as his king and shortly afterwards took the game.
Calum

Badgers Brook B vs Dunfermline B, 30/1/17

Graham Kerr (c) 0-1  Jamie O'Connor
David McGilvary 1-0  Calum Smith (c)
Mark Brown  1-0  Fred Ossowski
Dylan Gillies  0-1 Stewart Brisbane
Derek Raffan  ½-½  Peter Horne

Badgers Brook B  2½-2½ Dunfermline B
Badgers Brook had white on boards 3 and 5.

Jamie won material quite early at the top board and eventually overcame the problems Graham was nonetheless setting him. On board 2, although I felt I came out of the opening strongly and had a very promising middlegame with the advantages of space, a passed pawn and bishops v knights I didn't convert it and David found a way through to a winning endgame.

In time trouble Fred reversed his material advantage by losing his queen and Mark shortly afterwards took the game.

On board 4 Stewart prevailed against Dylan's Ruy Lopez, and on board 5 Derek and Peter drew. Derek probably had better chances, but less time.

Calum

Tuesday 14 February 2017

Dunfermline 2 Stirling 0 - 13/02/17

Dunfermline A vs Stirling A, 13/2/17

Ian Robertson (c) 2024  1-0  Jim Shemilt 1756
John McBride 1788  ½-½  Steve Smith (c) 1676
Michael Roy 1662  1-0  Bill Cook 1657
Stuart Black 1647  ½-½  Dave Hewitt 1474
Peter Horne 1386  ½-½  Robert Leckie 1469

Dunfermline A  3½-1½  Stirling A

Stirling had white on boards 2, 4 and 5.

+++++++++++

Dunfermline B vs Stirling C, 13/2/17

Jamie O'Connor 1642  1-0  Brad Duthie 1449
Fred Ossowski 1536  1-0  Craig Manson 1387
Stewart Brisbane 1512  0-1  Kyle Kirkpatrick 1360
Douglas Rew 1490  0-1  Tom Wallace (c) 1243
Matt Harris u/g  1-0  Robert Togneri 1267

Dunfermline B  3-2  Stirling C

Stirling had white on boards 1, 4 and 5.

(I'm not sure who was captain of Dunfermline B.)

+++++++++++

Two good wins for Dunfermline. Curiously, all five of the A team games
finished before any of the games in the other match. Game of the night
was probably the Brisbane-Kirkpatrick clash which was a very sharp and
interesting affair. Other watchable games included Leckie-Horne (where
Peter did well to survive some sustained pressure) and Ossowski-Manson
(last game to finish, with Fred finding a very nice mating attack). By
contrast, the Hewitt-Black encounter was 17 moves of very drawish
stuff, with the handshake coming before 8pm. Special mention should be
made of Matt Harris's win in what I believe was his first competitive
game.

Thursday 9 February 2017

Minnows 11½-4½ Wallace 6/2/17

Grading-wise this was a pretty much expected scoreline but lack of playing time showed for the rusty Minnows duo of John and George resulting in a tight start which included an unusual flurry of draws in round 1.  However the round 3 whitewash put paid to Stirling’s hopes of an upset.  Stirling’s temporary guest from America (Brad) seemed to enjoy his debut and was a bit unlucky not to have scored more.

Round 1
Ian Robertson 1-0 Gordon Allcock
Calum Smith  ½ -½ Brad Duthie
John McBride ½ -½ Steve Smith
George Webb  ½ -½ Tom Wallace
2½ -1½

Round 2
Ian Robertson 1-0 Brad Duthie
Calum Smith 1-0 Steve Smith
John McBride 0-1 Tom Wallace
George Webb 0-1 Gordon Allcock
2-2

Round 3
Ian Robertson 1-0 Steve Smith
Calum Smith 1-0 Tom Wallace
John McBride 1-0 Gordon Allcock
George Webb 1-0 Brad Duthie
4-0

Round 4
Ian Robertson 1-0 Tom Wallace
Calum Smith 1-0 Gordon Allcock
John McBride 1-0 Brad Duthie
George Webb 0-1 Steve Smith
3-1

Sunday 29 January 2017

Grangemouth A v Dunfermline A. 4 - 1, 25/01/17

An expected result even without Grangemouth playing their top 2 rated players.  Board 1 game was complex with both players losing the thread several times (I was better for most of the game) but I rather let too much time go resulting in the most decisive bad move.  On 2 Michael was just too static in his counterplay and his opponent crashed through.  Jamie was better throughout but time was again a factor making it problematic to convert his extra pawn.  Calum seemed fine after gambiting a pawn then was worse then fine again before eventually blundering.  Stewart probably should have lost but kept setting enough problems to save after being 2 pawns downs for much of the game

Grangemouth A v Dunfermline A. 4 - 1

1 Graham Hamilton v Ian Robertson   Home win
2 Dougie Will v Mike Roy                     Home win
3 Ian Mason v Jamie O'Connor.          Draw
4 Scott Binnie v Calum Smith.             Home win
5 Bill Gray v Stewart Brisbane             Draw

The home team had White on boards 2 & 4.