SNCL round one/two

The Scottish National Chess League kicked off on Sunday October the 31st 2010. The Central League teams taking part are the Kingdom Kings and Cumbernauld in division one. Forth Valley in division two and Kingdom Knights in division three.

I can only comment on the Knights, as this was the team that I played for.

It is Halloween and the Knights were handed a nightmare round one draw in the 3rd division against Edinburgh Uni. This team is stronger than most of the 1st div teams and would beat most teams in all four leagues. The Kingdom Knights lost on boards 1-4. Charlie Stewart played well on board five and turned his game around to score a draw. This saved us from a whitewash. Stewart Blyth also turned his game around on board 3, only to blow it in time trouble.

Round two was a much more straightforward affair, against the Ayrshire Armageddon. Previously called Prestwick, it seems that this team has suffered Armageddon and come back a much weaker team. I started things off with a quick draw on board two and left early, so missed the rest of the story. However, I am told that by the time Gary blew a won position on board one, the Knights were already three points to one up. So a much needed 3-2 victory for the Knights. A scoreline which flattered our opponents, as a 4.5-0.5 Knights victory looked on the cards for quite a while.

Results for the teams are posted at the bottom of this post..

DIVISION ONE

KINGDOM KINGS

Bd	Grade	Giffnock & Clarkston A	(6)	vs	(3)	Kingdom Kings	Grade	Comments
1	2106	MacQueen, Calum	1	-	0	Burnett, Andrew B	2171	Home Win
2	1861	Thomson, Neil	0	-	1	Robertson, Ian C	2137	Away Win
3	1822	Giulian, Rosie A	½	-	½	Pyrich, George D	1907	Draw
4	1475	Rainey, Peter	0	-	1	Kynoch, Russell J F	1858	Away Win
5	1440	McCulloch, Ian T	0	-	1	Webster, Jim J	1654	Away Win
			1½	-	3½

Bd	Grade	Kingdom Kings	(3)	vs	(5)	East Kilbride	Grade	Comments
1	2171	Burnett, Andrew B	1	-	0	Jelfs, Alan	1895	Home Win
2	2137	Robertson, Ian C	1	-	0	Dunlop, Anthony	1648	Home Win
3	1907	Pyrich, George D	1	-	0	Brisbane, Tom	1541	Home Win
4	1858	Kynoch, Russell J F	1	-	0	Johnston, Jim	1416	Home Win
5	0	DEFAULT	W	-	L	DEFAULT	0	Win by Default
			5	-	0

CUMBERNAULD

Bd	Grade	Kilmarnock	(7)	vs	(8)	Cumbernauld	Grade	Comments
1	1946	Parks, Joe	½	-	½	Grant, Alan G	2185	Draw
2	1811	Malkin, Kenneth	0	-	1	Marks, Ian A	1887	Away Win
3	1797	Kleboe, James P R	½	-	½	Kelly, J Stephen	1788	Draw
4	1618	Malkin, Jamie	0	-	1	Parkes, Jack C	1700	Away Win
5	1463	McNicoll, John D	1	-	0	Thomson, George	1548	Home Win
			2	-	3

Bd	Grade	Cumbernauld	(8)	vs	(6)	Giffnock & Clarkston A	Grade	Comments
1	2185	Grant, Alan G	½	-	½	MacQueen, Calum	2106	Draw
2	1887	Marks, Ian A	0	-	1	Thomson, Neil	1861	Away Win
3	1788	Kelly, J Stephen	½	-	½	Giulian, Rosie A	1822	Draw
4	1700	Parkes, Jack C	1	-	0	Rainey, Peter	1475	Home Win
5	1548	Thomson, George	½	-	½	McCulloch, Ian T	1440	Draw
			2½	-	2½

DIVISION TWO

FORTH VALLEY

Bd	Grade	CS BOS 1	(3)	vs	(4)	Forth Valley	Grade	Comments
1	1870	MacNab, Crawford T	0	-	1	Mason, Ian C	1879	Away Win
2	1804	Mollison, Jamie	½	-	½	Will, Douglas	1850	Draw
3	1710	Murray, Findlay R	0	-	1	McGeoch, Kenny	1714	Away Win
4	1659	Stewart, David	0	-	1	Smith, Stephen H	1673	Away Win
5	1645	Bate, Simon	1	-	0	Gray, William B	1458	Home Win
			1½	-	3½

d	Grade	Forth Valley	(4)	vs	(1)	Stonehaven	Grade	Comments
1	1879	Mason, Ian C	½	-	½	Grant, David	1889	Draw
2	1850	Will, Douglas	1	-	0	Harrold, Bruce T	1817	Home Win
3	1714	McGeoch, Kenny	1	-	0	Curry, Charles	1795	Home Win
4	1673	Smith, Stephen H	½	-	½	Emery, Keith	1695	Draw
5	1458	Gray, William B	1	-	0	Bridges, David	1256	Home Win
			4	-	1

DIVISION THREE

KINGDOM KNIGHTS 

d	Grade	Kingdom Knights	(7)	vs	(8)	Edinburgh University	Grade	Comments
1	1768	Forbes, Garry	0	-	1	Bozinakis, Pavlos	2199	Away Win
2	1766	McBride, John	0	-	1	Mitrovic, Boris	2145	Away Win
3	1664	Blyth, Stuart	0	-	1	Bremner, Adam	1912	Away Win
4	1618	Black, Stuart	0	-	1	Ho, Weiyang	0	Away Win
5	1152	Stewart, Charlie	½	-	½	Ye, Jian	0	Draw
			½	-	4½

Bd	Grade	Ayrshire Armageddon	(2)	vs	(7)	Kingdom Knights	Grade	Comments
1	1797	Calder, John	1	-	0	Forbes, Garry	1768	Home Win
2	1793	Hamilton, Stephen C	½	-	½	McBride, John	1766	Draw
3	1670	McPheator, Gary	0	-	1	Blyth, Stuart	1664	Away Win
4	1154	Alomenu, Gilbert	½	-	½	Black, Stuart	1618	Draw
5	1140	King, Chris	0	-	1	Horne, Peter	1407	Away Win
			2	-	3

First Allegro Match Result of the season Dunfermline Minnows V Dunfermline Sharks

The result and scores of the Allegro match between Dunfermline Sharks and Dunferline Minnows played 4 October 2010.

Result: Dunfermline Sharks 2 - Dunfermline Minnows 14

Scores:  Round 1 Fred Ossowski   0 v 1 Ian Robertson 

                           Stuart Black        0 v 1 Gavin Saxton 

                           Stewart Brisbane 0 v 1 Jim Webster

                           Peter Horne     1/2 v 1/2 Douglas Rew

             Round 2 Peter Horne        0 v 1 Ian Robertson 

                           Fred Ossowski   0 v 1 Gavin Saxton 

                           Stuart Black        0 v 1 Jim Webster

                           Stewart Brisbane 0 v 1 Douglas Rew

            Round 3 Stewart Brisbane 0 v 1 Ian Robertson 

                           Peter Horne        0 v 1 Gavin Saxton 

                           Fred Ossowski   1 v 0 Jim Webster

                           Stuart Black        0 v 1 Douglas Rew

            Round 4 Stuart Black          0 v 1 Ian Robertson 

                           Stewart Brisbane  0 v 1 Gavin Saxton 

                           Peter Horne          0 v 1 Jim Webster

                           Fred Ossowski  1/2 v 1/2 Douglas Rew

The title holders Dunfermline Minnows begin their allegro season in emphatic style.

Elsewhere on the the same night Stirling Bruce narrowly beat Stirling Wallace 8.5-7.5.

Dunfermline's first match of the new season Cumbernauld A v Dunfermline A

Dunfermline nominated A-Team for 2010/2011 is Ian Robertson, Garry Forbes, John McBride, Gavin Saxton and Michael Roy.

I was unavailable for this match and Fred ably stepped in to score a full point.
Match report courtesy of the captain Ian.

The match was closer than result suggests. Fred was convincing winner but Ronnie provided considerable assistance. Michael was worse till George threw a piece. Gavin’s dodgy opening gambit only succeeded courtesy of a horror move from David. Garry missed a couple of open goals before the position turned into a blocked midfield stalemate. I was much better out the opening but gave Ian one opportunity to play a counter tactic which may have got him an unusual draw by perpetual but he opted out of it for what seemed were reasonable reasons but an exchange sac by me next move and his game was gone.


Cumbernauld A v Dunfermline A match result

1887 Ian Marks           0-1   Ian Robertson 2137

1700 Jack Parkes       ½-½  Garry Forbes  1768

1611 David Johnstone  0-1   Gavin Saxton  1723

1548 George Thomson 0-1  Michael Roy    1705

1431 Ronnie Wallace    0-1 Fred Ossowski 1703

                                  ½-4½

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.

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.

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

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_League_Division_1.html

http://www.chessscotland.com/event2010/Central_League_Division_2.html

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

e2e4 Warrington Chess Congress : 7th - 9th May 2010

A couple of pics and a short vid of my trip to e2e4 Warrington Chess Congress : 7th - 9th May 2010. The start of round five.

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.

Ian Robertson's killer games against titled players!!