Dunfermline 4-1 Cumbernauld - 20.01.2020

Gary Weir 1 - 0 Ralph Stirrat 

Calum Smith 1 - 0 George Thomson 

Gonzalo Forero 1 - 0 Default

Stewart Brisbane 0.5-0.5 John Pearston

Gordon Greig 0.5-0.5 Derek McAteer

Back to back wins for Dunfermline as the team started 2020 as it finished 2019, with a home win.

Dunfermline was white on Boards 1 and 2. Cumbernauld defaulted on Board 3, as David Johnstone understood the match was due on the Wednesday. First game to finish was Board 2, where Calum got a cheap tactic to win a pawn, which also caused black's position to collapse. Post-match pub analysis showed that Calum misplayed the follow-up and George could have harassed the queen with his a-pawn and win a piece back. Board 1 was the next one to finish, where Gary got to the end game up in material, and following accurate play secured the win for the team - Not easy, near the end of the game, a stale mate via a queen sacrifice seemed a possibility as black was running out of moves. Just a threat though, and black resigned as the check mate was inevitable. 

Draws on Boards 4 and 5. Special mention to the very unusual Nh8 played by Stewart. The move ,to everyone's surprise, did the work containing white's attack. There was no advantage for any of the players in the end game and a draw was agreed. On Board 5 both players exchanged "sacrifices" and with the match already decided, the game was settled with a draw. 

Well done team. 

Next Central League match will be on Monday, 2nd March, away to Badgers Brooks. 

Dunfermline 3 - Stirling 2, Monday, 9th December

Monday, 9th December

Dunfermline 3 - Stirling 2

I Robertson 1 - 0 K Pandit 0

B Volland 0.5 - 0.5 J Shemilt

C Smith 0.5 - 0.5 S Smith

G Forero 0 - 1 G Anderson

G Greig 1 - 0 W Cook

Dunfermline was white on boards 2 and 5. 

Busy week for Dunfermline with a second match in only 5 days. A good result for the home team. A last minute game saw Gordon Greig joining the team replacing Gary Weir, who had to miss the match due to work commitments. 

First match to finish was a draw on Board three, where Calum had gone up a pawn, but settled for a draw and secured half a point for the team. Second game to finish was Board 5, where Gordon continued with his strong form and displayed another very good performance, he managed to win the exchange and a pawn to secure the win in the end game. Board one was a repeat of last Wednesday, when Ian had material advantage but was running out of time, although this time he managed to get the point. A very close game on Board 2, none of the payers could find a winning way and agreed the  draw. Last game to finish was Board 4, where the visitors got their only win of the day: a enjoyable game where white went a pawn up and had the initiative but black kept finding a way to get out of it until it couldn't any more.  Thank you Stilring for the visit. 

Dunfermline finish the first half of the season with 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. Well done team. Time now for the Christmas break. 

Dunfermline Sharks v Grangemouth Tigers - 20/05/19

This Allegro match was our last match of the season. A Tigers win would confirm them as Allegro champions with the Sharks considered underdogs. Although Dunfermline put up a good fight, the Grangemouth team proved too strong in this friendly encounter.

It was too much to expect a Dunfermline victory even without Grangemouth fielding their star man. We congratulate Grangemouth Tigers on their Allegro league victory and look forward to meeting them again next year.

Dunfermline Sharks.                  Grangemouth Tigers
Fred Ossowski        (B)    0         Alan Bell              1
Stewart Brisbane     (B)    0         Dougie Will         1
Mark McLintock     (B)    1         Ian Mason            0
Derek Rodger          (B)    0         Hugh Hanson      1
     Round 1                       1                                     3

Fred Ossowski        (W)    1        Hugh Hanson      0
Stewart Brisbane    (W)     0       Alan Bell             1
Mark McLintock    (W)     0       Dougie Will        1
Derek Rodger         (W)     0       Ian Mason           1
        Round 2                     1                                   3

Fred Ossowski        (B)     0        Ian Mason             1
Stewart Brisbane    (B)     1          Hugh Hanson      0
Mark McLintock      (B)   0         Alan Bell              1
Derek Rodger          (B)    0         Dougie Will          1
      Round 3                      1                                       3

Fred Ossowski        (W)    0        Dougie Will           1
Stewart Brisbane    (W)    0        Ian Mason              1
Mark McLintock     (W)   1        Hugh Hanson         0
Derek Rodger          (W)   0        Alan Bell                1
       Round 4                     1                                       3

Grangemouth 8 - 8 Minnows - 01/05/19

 Grangemouth 8 - 8 Minnows

U. Archibong              1 - 0              I. Robertson

A. Bell                        0 - 1              C. Smith

I. Mason                     1 - 0             G. Forero

D. Kitaev (29122)       0 - 1             G. Greig

                          

Uby                             1 - 0             Calum

Alan                            0 -1               Gonzalo

Ian M                           0.5               Gordon

Daniel                         0 - 1              Ian R

Uby                             1 - 0              Gonzalo

Alan                            1 - 0              Gordon

Ian M                          0 - 1              Ian R

Daniel                         0 - 1              Calum

Uby                             1 - 0              Gordon

Alan                            1 - 0              Ian R

Ian M                            0.5              Calum

Daniel                         0 - 1              Gonzalo

Well done to Uby 4 wins.

Thanks to young Daniel for volunteering to play.

 A Grangemouth Tigers victory over Dunfermline Sharks later this month will see them defend the title.

Under 1500 KO Final - 29/04/19

Dunfermline. Badgers Brook
Gonzalo Forero (B). 0. Mark Brown. 1
Stewart Brisbane. (W). 1. Kenny Alston. 0
Douglas Rew. (W). 1/2. Derek Raffan. 1/2
Gordon Greig. (B). 1. Dylan Gillies. 0
Mark McLintock. (B). 0. Gordon Walker. 1

This Final was played on Monday night at Dunfermline.
During the match there was some faulty moves but this is what you get with our grading level. This also made the match exciting and unpredictable.

After losing a pawn in the opening, Gonzalo gained two bishops for a rook, likely winning, but blundered a bishop. A deserved win for Mark as Gonzalo made too many errors.
Stewart dropped a pawn in the opening but got the pieces out quickly, recovering the pawn. Kenny could not get his rooks in the game, and lost two knights for a rook. The material told in the end.
Derek, up two pieces for a rook, sac'ed his remaining rook for a bishop and a mating attack but misplaced his knight giving Douglas a flight square. Last to finish Douglas held his nerve and reached a drawn endgame.
Dylan pushed too many pawns on the queenside in the opening allowing Greg to win one and prevent Dylan castling. Greg was able to build up a mating net on the open queenside.
On 5. Gordon's pressure on the kings side caused Mark to misplace a knight which was trapped, this proved decisive.

With the match drawn, we went to board count 6 each.
So we remove the bottom board and Dunfermline win.

Dunfermline players congratulated Douglas as he managed to obtain the draw under intense pressure from Derek and as last finished he also had the excited club audience to deal with.

Add by Stewart

It was tense watching particularly the top 3 boards which all found themselves with unbalanced rook plus pawn v 2 minor 
pieces positions. The 2 pieces aught to have won all 3 games but the 
rook and pawns had their say and honours were shared. 

Two Dunfermline SNCL Teams promoted - 24/03/19

Well shock and surprises.   Did any of us have ever imagine that from hauling together 2 makeweight Dunfermline teams that they would both get promoted!  Top billing goes to the Knaves in winning Division 4 which wasn’t a bad showing for a team cobbled together at the last minute to make up the numbers.  Gonzalo was top player with a super 4/5.  The team itself got 5 wins and a draw from the 7 rounds.

The Knights aimed to consolidate Division 2 status after winning Division 3 the previous season.  However a bit of good fortune found us playing against one of the main challengers in round 1 but who were slightly weakened on the day.  That win got Dunfermline off to a flier and although drawing 2 and losing one (to the eventual champions) of their next matches, three successive victories secured second place (ahead of our unfortunate round 1 rivals) and promotion to the top division for next season.  

Dunfermline v Cumbernauld A played at Dunfermline, 18 Mar 19

Calum Smith (c) 1612   1-0       Ralph Stirrat 1788

Douglas Rew 1452       1-0       Derek McAteer (c) 1429

Gonzalo Forero 1434    1-0       John Pearson 1495

Gordon Grieg 1396       1-0       George Ford 697

Mark McLintock 1201    1-0        - default -

Dunfermline 5-0 Cumbernauld A

Cumbernauld had white on boards 1, 4 and 5

The days start to feel a little longer as we go through March. One gets a sense that there is more time to accomplish things. Certainly, we found ourselves with the luxury of spare time yesterday as every match was finished by half eight.

First to finish was the top board. Ralph had seen my combination ending in me getting two pawns for a piece but overlooked that I was attacking his Ra1 as well as the c4 knight. We had a look at the game afterwards and found that Ralph need not follow the combination all the way through, he could pin/ win my bishop instead. We both agreed that I would have resigned. I had a look on the computer just now and I can wriggle... it goes back to two pawns for a piece. Not great, but salvageable. Hindsight, eh?

Board 2 was the last to finish. Derek dropped a knight/ rook exchange, put up a good defence, but ultimately succumbed.

To board 3, and a Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch Defence. Black soon got tied up a bit, white having a lot of centralised activity. The tactics came from this strong position, as they often do.

On board 4, Cumbernauld's George embarked on a series of exchanges only to see the "Bxh2+ leaving the queen en prise" motif when he was a knight down. Gordon then had significant pressure down the c-file, now two pieces to the good.

Thank you to Cumbernauld for coming through, some interesting, pacey games.

Grangemouth A 3-2 Dunfermline A - 20/02/19

1. Uby Archibong draw Ian Robertson
2. Alan Bell (default 0-1) Calum Smith
3. Graham Hamilton 1-0 Stewart Brisbane
4. Dave Wallace draw Gordon Greig
5. Duncan Glassey 1-0 Glynis Grant

It was unfortunate that Alan didn’t make it but also that had Dougie realised earlier he could have asked to step in.  He thought about asking me if that would be ok but I was engrossed in my game.  He had forgotten that it was actually Calum that was captain and could have discussed it direct!

Games themselves were good particularly Gordon’s excellent draw where he generated strong counter attacking position forcing David to opt for perpetual.  Glynis was pleased with her effort but a pawn conceded early was her eventual downfall.  Stewart may have missed a nice mid game tactic but seemed to be still doing rather well – 2 bishops for a rook before falling for a cheap shot dropping 2 pieces. Uby was still analysing where he might have done better – looked like he was going to spend several hours on it.  His slightly better position netted a pawn leaving each player with 2 rooks and a bishop but with Uby having 3 kingside pawns to Ian’s 2 pawns.  Ian sacked rook for bishop and pawn leaving almost zero winning chances and although Uby declined a draw there were really no practical chances left and after a further dozen moves or so the draw was agreed.   

NB. It appears that Dougie did become aware of the problems in time, but felt uncomfortable about changing the team so late on.

Cumbernauld A 3-2 Dunfermline A - 21/11/18

1. Steven Kelly draw Ian Robertson
2. Ralph Stirrat 1-0 Calum Smith
3. Mark Monaghan 1-0 Douglas Rew
4. David Johnstone 0-1 Gonzalo Forero
5. George Thomson draw Glynis Grant

Top board was a complex affair which includes the clock which neither player could fathom. White (Ian) could have won a pawn instead of losing one – often a good ploy. Steven would likely have eventually converted his plunder but a combination of the iffy clock settings and with match won a draw was offered.  Ralph played a tricky opening line catching Calum out and when the storm came not enough hatches were battened down.  Likewise with board 3 when Douglas set a wee trap but once it was negotiated his position took a serious turn for the worse.  Gonzalo was rightly concerned about his position “way too open for my liking” but David overlooked something – which happened to be a mate in 2.  Glynis also tried for checkmate by offering a second pawn and although George hadn’t seen the trap he settled for an exchange of rooks and one pawn but the opposite coloured bishop ending was a draw.      

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.   

Inaugural Fife Champions match - 26/09/18

Congratulations to all who took part in the inaugural Fife Champions match. Dunfermline took the championship with 10 points; Kirkcaldy on 6.5 and Newport on 1.5. Thank you to organiser and host Stuart Blyth of Kirkcaldy. The three clubs enjoyed the occasion which had plenty of entertaining games. Looking forward to seeing this become an annual event!

Dunfermline 1 Stirling 4 - 24/09/18

Dunfermline 1 Stirling 4

Ben Volland 1/2 Jim Shemilt

Jamie O'Connor 0-1 Steve Smith

Calum Smith 0-1 Graham Anderson

Stewart Brisbane 0-1 David McAlister

Gordon Greig 1/2 Brad Duthie

There was a debut league win for David McAlister who's a welcome 

newcomer having moved here following a long and distinguished chess 

career in Northern Ireland.

Last match of the season - Cumbernauld 3-2 Dunfermline

No surprises though we possibly could have done better against Cumbernauld with Jamie in a strong position early on before shortage of time led to a draw being accepted.  Glynis was a pawn down but seemed to have enough play to hold but ran out of ideas and fatally started moving pawns in front of her king.   The Badgers match was a fair reflection of the play except that I accepted an early draw offer when clearly better but we were being slaughtered on all the other boards at the time and likewise Fabio accepted a draw when winning but the match was over anyway.  We finish bottom of the league with 2 wins and 6 losses

Cumbernauld 3-2 Dunfermline

1. S Kelly 0-1 I Robertson
2. R Stirrat draw J O’Connor
3. G Thomson draw C Smith
4. D McAteer 1-0 S Brisbane
5. S Monaghan 1-0 G Grant

Badgers Brook					Dunfermline
Grade	Surname	Forename	Pnum	Result	Grade	Surname	Forename	Pnum
2054	McGeoch	Kenny	14326	0.5-0.5	1919	Robertson	Ian
2012	Cooke	Mark	20648	1-0	1581	Smith	Calum
1954	Cooke	Suzy	28393	1-0	1553	Ossowski	Fred
1782	Biancalana	Fabio	24356	0.5-0.5	1465	Brisbane	Stewart
1763	Ward	Stuart	14635	1-0	U/G	Forero	Gonzalo
			Total	4-1

Minnows 8-8 Tigers - 26/03/18

Dave thought the narrow win for Dunfermline in the Bruce v Sharks match was tight but we trumped it!  

As always there were the usual shoogly positions and mighty blunders including me reversing 2 moves and thereby setting up a mate in one for Graham – which he then missed!  The strangest position I noticed out the corner of my eye was in the Jamie v Bill game with Jamie’s King getting mated on e5 with what looked like nearly every piece still on the board.  I must remind Jamie that the days of the King leading his troops into battle are gone.  That position however is in itself worthy of 2 exclamation marks!!

It was a really enjoyable match with everyone in jovial mood with Grangemouth turning up relaxed and happy after what seems the first time in ages getting to travel on a nice bright sunny evening and Dunfermline also full of good cheer after winning the SNCL Division 3 title the previous day.

I believe the result means that Tigers can win the Allegro league if they beat Stirling Wallace by any margin in their final match.  All the best to both sides.

Round 1

Gonzalo Forero 0-1 Graham Hamilton

Jamie O’Connor 0-1 Dougie Will

Ian Robertson 1-0 Ian Mason

Calum Smith 1-0 Bill Gray

2-2

Round 2

Gonzalo 0-1 Dougie

Jamie ½-½ Ian M

Ian R 1-0 Bill

Calum 0-1 Graham

1½-2½/3½-4½

Round 3

Gonzalo ½-½ Ian M

Jamie 0-1 Bill

Ian R 1-0 Graham

Calum 1-0 Dougie

2½-1½/6-6

Round 4

Gonzalo 1-0 Bill

Jamie 0-1 Graham

Ian R 1-0 Dougie

Calum 0-1 Ian M

2-2/8-8

Individual Scores

Minnows: Ian R 4, Calum 2, Gonzalo 1½, Jamie ½

Tigers: Graham 3, Dougie 2, Ian M 2, Bill 1

	Played	Won	Draw	Lost	Game Points	Match Points
Grangemouth Tigers	4	3	1	0	44.5	7
Dunfermline Minnows	5	4	1	0	49	9
Stirling Bruce	5	2	0	3	4.5	4
Dunfermline Sharks	4	2	0	2	25.5	4
Cumbernauld	3	0	0	3	16	0
Stirling Wallace	3	0	0	2	16.5	0

Stirling Bruce 7½-8½ Dunfermline Sharks - 26/03/18

A very tight match in which three of the four rounds were drawn, the

difference ultimately being round 3 in which three games were drawn

but Michael beat Brad. Lots of close games throughout as might be

imagined, and there was very little in it - an exciting match where

Sharks held on to win in a final round that saw four long games. For

the Bruce team, Bill and I were like synchronised swimmers, scoring

exactly the same in each round: loss-win-draw-draw.

Stirling Bruce vs Dunfermline Sharks, 26/3/18

round 1

Bill Cook 1601  0-1  Stuart Black 1614

Graham Anderson 1595  1-0  Michael Roy 1604

Dave Hewitt (c) 1558  0-1  Stewart Brisbane (c) 1441

Brad Duthie 1316  1-0  Peter Horne 1373

2-2

round 2

Cook  1-0  Horne

Anderson  0-1  Black

Hewitt  1-0  Roy

Duthie  0-1  Brisbane

2-2 / 4-4

round 3

Cook  ½-½  Brisbane

Anderson  ½-½  Horne

Hewitt  ½-½  Black

Duthie  0-1  Roy

1½-2½ / 5½-6½

round 4

Cook  ½-½  Roy

Anderson  1-0  Brisbane

Hewitt  ½-½  Horne

Duthie  0-1  Black

2-2 / 7½-8½

Sharks had white in rounds 2 and 4.

Individual scores:

Bruce: Anderson 2½, Cook and Hewitt both 2, Duthie 1

Sharks: Black 3½, Brisbane 2½, Roy 1½, Horne 1

Dunfermline A 3-2 Badgers Brook A 19/03/18

Ian Robertson (1919) 1-0 Kenny McGeoch (2054)

Stuart Black (1675)  ½-½  Fabio Biancalana (1746)

Jamie O’Connor (1661)  ½-½ Graham Kerr (1562)

Michael Roy (1660) 0-1 Dave McGilvary (1430)

Gonzalo Forero (u/g) 1-0 Dylan Gillies (1361)

Dunfermline were white on boards 2 and 5

On top board black’s accidental drop of an exchange surprisingly led to me getting a very active and slightly better of the position.  Some frantic time trouble antics eventually led to Kenny getting 3 pieces for queen but with his knight stuck in the corner and a repetition on offer he probably should have settled for the draw.  He went for mate instead and got to within one move but alas it was not his turn and it was Ian who downed the white king first.  The Stuart and Fabio game was pretty uneventful with any early initiative Stuart had quickly petering out. Although Fabio later declined a draw progress was not possible.  Jamie probably should have won having accumulated several extra pawns but all credit to Graham for creating the one chance that led to Jamie’s time dwindling (again!) and a draw was agreed.  Dave did well matching Michael’s solid middle game play and eventually gaining an outside passed pawn.  After avoiding late cheap tricks Dave was going to convert when Mike’s flag fell saving him the trouble.  Gonzalo played a lovely attack getting all his pieces aiming at his opponents semi-exposed king and sacrificing a rook to crash through.

Badgers were unlucky with the scheduling of this match as both Cooke’s were missing from the line-up due to other commitments.  The result makes it more likely that Grangemouth with retain the league title.

Ian

Dunfermline B 4-1 Stirling B 19/03/18

Dunfermline B vs Stirling B, 19/3/18

Calum Smith 1581  ½-½  Dave Hewitt (c) 1584

Andy Forbes 1541  ½-½  Richard Warcup e1500

Fred Ossowski 1553  1-0  Tony Pitson 1469

Peter Horne (c) 1370  1-0  Craig Manson 1455

Douglas Rew 1452  1-0  Brad Duthie 1428

Dunfermline B 4-1 Stirling B

Stirling had white on boards 1, 4 and 5.

Congratulations to Dunfermline B, who clinched division 2 for the

third season in a row and for the eighth season in the last ten with a

convincing 4-1 win over their nearest rivals. Dunfermline take the

title with a match to spare, being three points ahead of Stirling

after a very solid season which has seen them win eight of their nine

matches and lose just one.

There was a bit of rejigging at the start tonight as Stewart Brisbane

didn't appear for Dunfermline and after a few minutes Ian Robertson

checked his phone and found a text from Stewart saying he was in

hospital. Calum and I paused our clock and I joined Ian, Peter and

Craig outside in the corridor to work out what to do, and of course

given the circumstances it was no problem to slot in a replacement. So

Peter (who had intended being the non-playing captain) took over on

board 4 with a ten-minute deficit which didn't seem to hinder him as

he won an interesting game in due course.

Things had looked quite good for Stirling for a while (a win on the

night would have seen them travel to Badgers in April needing a draw

for the title), with Brad in particular having launched a huge early

attack which flushed out Doug's K and made for a very strange and

exciting-looking position. Brad was probably winning but then had a

calamity: he played a Q check where the Q was under threat from a

pinned N, and once Doug moved his K out of the pin Brad forgot that

his Q wasn't now immune and left it there, allowing Doug to lop it off

with the N for free. Craig went a piece down versus Peter soon after

that, with Peter's pieces swarming all around his K, so that was

another win for Dunfermline. I'd already declined a draw offer from

Calum but with our position fairly blocked and the match effectively

gone (neither of the other two boards looked like turning into wins

for Stirling), I offered a draw back which Calum accepted. The other

games went on for quite a while but Tony eventually lost a pawn-down

ending against Fred, after which Richard and Andy shook hands on a

draw with Andy having a promising-looking K-side attack with heavy

pieces and an advanced pawn.

Well played Dunfermline - an excellent performance throughout the

season from a good group of players well captained by Peter. Here's to

next season's campaign - and here's hoping that Stewart is out of

hospital and playing again soon.

(I believe it was not too serious and that Stewart is now out of hospital)

Dunfermline A 3- 2 Stirling A 12/02/18

Dunfermline A 3- 2 Stirling A

Ian Robertson 1919 1-0 Neil Irving 1879

Stuart Black 1675 0-1 Jim Shemilt 1767

Jamie O'Connor 1661 1-0 Steve Smith 1704

Mike Roy 1660 1-0 Bill Cook 1663

Gordon Greig U/G 0-1 Graham Anderson 1622

As a last minute replacement Gordon gave it a good go for the A-team on board 5 but as it was his first competitive game in 13 years it was no surprise when he lost.  He brought us luck however as the A-team got its first win of the season.  There were particularly complex games with Jamie giving up the exchange for loads of initiative.  Steve panicked in time pressure as Jamie’s forces gathered and he blundered back the exchange then next move dropped a piece.  Michael’s position was really hard to work out but his opponent had back rank mate issues which allowed Michael to set all sorts of problems  which firstly won an exchange and shortly after turned into a whole rook.  Once Michael played a final consolidating move it was over.  Boards 1 and 2 finished quickly with Neil getting his King caught in the centre after he tried to rescue his leaky queenside position.  Stuart unwisely allowed Jim’s bishop to pin knight against queen against king. Something had to fall so brought about a 1-1 score for boards 1 and 2 in under an hour.

Dunfermline B 4½-½ Grangemouth B 12/02/18

Dunfermline B 4½-½ Grangemouth B

Calum Smith 1581 ½ v ½ Ian Mason 1601

Stewart Brisbane 1465  1 v 0 Bill Gray 1499 

Douglas Rew 1452 1 v 0 Crawford Welsh 1335

Peter Horne 1370 1 v 0 David Fowler 1095

Gonzalo Forero U/G 1 v Scott Dickson 1014

The B-team result is hard to believe.  At one point I would have said that Calum was the only one likely to come away with a win.  Clearly I have no idea about the game.  Peter as usual came back from a rubbish position.  Gonzalo’s opponent resigned when Gonzalo put a rook to the back rank with mate unless his opponent took it with his knight but Scott (and of course Gonzalo) thought he could not move his knight as that would allow mate on the long diagonal so resigned.  The thing is that had he played knight takes rook the knight would then have guarded the g2 mating square!  Stewart won on time having just regained the initiative after being a bit worse.  Doug ground out a 70 move ending.  Calum pushed a fraction too early in the centre allowing Ian to get in with a perpetual

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.   

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)

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.

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 2^nd 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 2^nd game ending when John’s flag fell with Ian having less than a second left.

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.

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