Dunfermline vs Grangemouth A, 29/10/18

Dunfermline vs Grangemouth A, 29/10/18

Ian Robertson 2045 ½-½ Uby Archibong 2194

Jamie O'Connor 1664 0-1 Alan Bell 1991

Calum Smith (c) 1612 ½-½ Graham Hamilton 1976

Gonzalo Ferero 1434 1-0 David Wallace (c) 1756

Gordon Greig 1396  ½-½ Duncan Glassey 1720

Dunfermline 2½ - 2½ Grangemouth A

Dunfermline had white on boards 2 and 4.

The late Alan Clark MP's family had an expression for the unpredictability of life: "ACHAB" - anything can happen at backgammon.

ACHAC too, as we have another unexpected draw for Dunfermline against stronger opposition.

On Board 1 Uby as white had pressure on Ian's kingside and e6 pawn in particular. The momentum of his attack then reduced but Uby kept going when consolidation was probably called for. Ian achieved a draw by perpetual check (delivered by Uby) to avoid the loss of the first player's queen. 

Jamie as white unfortunately allowed Alan to equalise fairly quickly. He was then outplayed, losing an exchange. A brave attempt.

In my game against Graham - a sort of Evans Gambit Declined - I felt I had good central activity and was going to go one or maybe two pawns up while maintaining that activity. I offered a draw on the 21st move which Graham accepted. A bird in the hand, after all.

Board 4 provided the first win of the night. A classic d4, c4 start for Gonzalo with white. In a very close game black was one pawn up but white managed to recover and thanks to the strong white bishop on c3, and a rook on the 7th rank, took victory as mate was on the way.

Post-match analysis in the pub revealed that Dunfermline's Gordon Greig rode his luck. Against Duncan's Sicilian Defence Gordon became short on time for the first control at 30 moves. An inspired b4 push tried to lure a bishop away which would allow perpetual check using one mobile and one static rook. It didn't work at first, but eventually the bishop was drawn and so was the game.

Calum

Badgers Brook vs Dunfermline, 15/10/18

Badgers Brook vs Dunfermline, 15/10/18

Suzy Cooke 1997  1-0  Ian Robertson 2045

Kenny McGeoch (c) 1966  0-1  Calum Smith (c) 1612

Mark Cooke 1964  ½-½ Fred Ossowski 1548

Fabio Biancalana 1705  0-1 Stewart Brisbane 1465  

Kenny Aiston 1462 1-0 Peter Horne 1295

Badgers Brook 2½ - 2½ Dunfermline

Badgers Brook had white on boards 3 and 5.

An unexpected draw considering the grading differences, though a sare yin for Ian Robertson as he lost a game that was there to win (or at least not lose). 

After an Exchange French with c4, he had good pressure on the kingside with some sacrifice possibilities (e.g. Nxg7). Three of his pieces were still to be developed, however, which discouraged anything speculative. With 18 seconds to the time control Ian had to rush a calculation and an error was duly turned to advantage by Suzy. The computer tells us that with the right move Ian would have  retained a 1.50 plus lead, but the move he played put him at minus 2.30. A second error later with bank-rank threats sealed the game.

On Board 2 Kenny McGeoch pressed for initiative but probably over-extended. I had a series of attacks going that put me a rook up in the end. I should have played to simplify the whole thing but, sticking to the plan, strung it out for a few more moves.

In Mark and Fred's Queen's Gambit Declined both parties soon had everything centralised though Fred missed an attack on f2 which would have ended with rook and 4 pawns v rook and 6 to his advantage. A draw was agreed later. 

To Board 4, and Stewart Brisbane had a nice bishop sacrifice on h7 which provided a queen for two pieces, and a final combination that left Q vs N.

A brave effort on Board 5 by Peter Horne but he succumbed; a win for Kenny Aiston.

Minnows 10-6 Sharks - 01/10/18

Minnows 10-6 Sharks

Round 1
Gonzalo Forero 0-1 Jamie O’Connor
Calum Smith 1-0 Stewart Brisbane
Gordon Greig 1-0 Peter Horne
Ian Robertson 1-0 Mark McLintock
3-1

Round 2
Forero 1-0  McLintock
Smith  1-0 O’Connor
Greig  0-1  Brisbane
Robertson 1-0 Horne
3-1/ 6-2

Round 3
Forero 0-1 Horne
Smith 1-0 McLintock
Greig 0-1 O’Connor
Robertson 1-0 Brisbane
2-2/ 8-4

Round 4
Forero 0-1 Brisbane
Smith 1-0 Horne
Greig 0-1 McLintock
Robertson 1-0 O’Connor
2-2/ 10-6

Individual scores:
Minnows: Robertson 4, Smith 4, Forero 1, Greig 1
Sharks: O’Connor 2, Brisbane 2, Horne 1, McLintock 1

Everybody got a point.  Mark’s came in last round when he delivered mate as his flag fell.  Both players were prepared to accept the loss!  Great spirit.   With most of the results going as expected and the B-players all getting 1 point each, the result really came down to how Calum would get on against Sharks top boards.  Had Calum lost both then the match would have been tied but Dunfermline’s new club captain delivered to get Minnows off to a winning start.