Newport Knights B  4-0  Dundee E 

D Cairns 1391  1-0  H Meadows 870

S Finnie 1340  1-0  P Gibson 817

A Sneddon 1335 1-0  S Mckenzie 556

A Wallace 1074 1-0  M Wang 460

Doubt our lads could have expected much out of this encounter. They fought the good fight but were outplayed by their much more experienced opponents. Scott made Angus work harder for his win than he’d have anticipated, but the game and ending were always lost.

But the purpose of the E team is to blood new players, young and not-so, and for everyone to enjoy some competitive chess. Hopefully that’s the case, and the team will face easier opposition in the season.

Games will appear here later  http://tafca.co.uk/winter-league/

A Woodcock  1343  ½-½  P Anderson 1325

T Rosazza 1220  0-1  E Henderson 1282

A Kennan 1200(e)  1-0  P Selbie  1263

M Whisson 1038  ½-½  B Geddes 1189

As close and tense as the gradings pointed to. Thibault’s ambitious sacrificial attack wasn’t quite sound, but as both players mishandled the complications, it could have been OK. But further pressing was too much and Euan took the point. Max defended well from a two pawn deficit, and a few slips by Bruce secured the half. Alan was his usual solid self to split the point with Paul, but Andy had every reason to be pleased with his enterprising play that led the experienced Peter astray and rescued the match draw.

Well done to the D team in getting on the scores board against a good side. All games will be on the TAFCA website soon    http://tafca.co.uk/winter-league/

It’s been a long and very difficult period for everyone, some much more than others of course. Hopefully everyone is well and keeping safe.

Chess may seem a bit trivial by comparison to what’s happening in the world now, but everyone needs a break from the new routine, and chess is what we love, so some great people are doing all they can to ensure we can continue with our hobby/career/way of life/addiction in as near normal a fashion as possible!

The recently ended TAFCA Summer trial league proved a big success with huge thanks to the organisers. And so we move into the full-blown regular TAFCA season, online for the first time. It’s chess life – not as we know it perhaps, but still fun and will keep us going till we meet again. We appreciate it’s not to everyone’s taste, but it’s all we have for the forseeable future, and we hope to have as close to a regular club season as we can.

Most of the events will be played on Lichess (lichess.org) which is an excellent platform for hosting everything. You will need an account on Lichess, but it’s completely free. You will need to join a couple of ‘teams’ – Dundee Chess Club and TAFCA League Online. All pretty straightforward, but email Jim – chessmad501@gmail.com or text 07703735350 if you have any problems. A couple of links below will tell you all you need to know.

http://tafca.co.uk/team-events/

Dundee teams and captains etc for new season.

player             pnum     grade      lichess handle            email

A Team – captain Alan Borwell

Jacques Ophoff  29574   2257   realpioneer     jacques.ophoff@gmail.com

David Findlay  3919        2150   finlidor          davidjfindlay@doctors.org.uk

Ed Spencer       6072        2127   hedgehog110    ed.spencer38@yahoo.co.uk

Stephen Hogg  4365        2027   doash                 stephenhogg64@hotmail.com

Gary Weir         6434       1881                             Gary.weir@rocketmail.com

B Team – captain John Robertson

Alan Borwell      3239     1842     alibor                alanborwell@btinternet.com

Alastair Dawson 13697    1800    Terrydactil        alastairdawson@icloud.com

Frank Stevenson  6107       1624      Paco1960            fstevenson60@yahoo.co.uk

John Robertson   6807          1562      LocheeShuffle          johnrb2112@aol.com

C Team – captain Ray Flood

James Anderson     3051   1540   chessmad501         chessmad@sky.com

Ray Flood              3951      1475   AlfyDoor              alfydoor@blueyonder.co.uk

Bruce Wallace         7607      1430    Bruciebaby         brucewallace162@btinternet.com

George G Burton       7491    1350   WeeGeorgie          ggburton53@gmail.com

D Team – captain Thibault Rosazza

Alan R Woodcock    6533    1343                                         woodcock16@btinternet.com

Thibault Rosazza   29391    1220    Pirneote                      thibault.rosazza@gmail.com

Andy Kennan          29412  1200     AndyK22

Max Whisson           27745 1038      Maximilian_Whisson     steve.whisson@hutton.ac.uk

E Team – captain Jim Anderson

Jean Chalmers           3475  1005      TheDuchess1              jeanchalmers48@gmail.com

Christine Sim            18987 998                                             cms391@outlook.com

Norrie Carroll            28213  917      Tiggy11                        norrie.carroll@btinternet.com

Henri Meadows         27916   870     HJMeadows                  henrijamesmeadows@gmail.com

Peter Gibson             28212    817       PeterGib                         petergibson1@sky.com

Scott McKenzie         26931   556    macoinneach                  macoinneach@yahoo.co.uk

Max Wang                 28556   460    fairtugboat                       tracymozzer@yahoo.com

There will of course be club championships and hopefully other activities to keep us all active as a club. Everything will be reported and everyone will be kept in the loop. Stay tuned to the site and Facebook. Take Care everyone.

Due to the current COVID situation we cannot play over the board chess at St Peters as the church is closed for now. However we have been playing online league chess and intend to have an online winter tournament. If anyone is interested please contact Jean Chalmers on 07944221925 or Jim Anderson on 07703735350 for more information.

Dear members and friends.

In light of the current climate, we have decided to close down the club for the present, effective immediately.

As you will be aware, things are changing day by day, and as such we will review the situation at the end of April, and monthly thereafter.

In the meantime, stay safe and healthy, and we will see each other again soon.

Take Care

A quieter night at the club, aside from our ever enthusiastic juniors! Unfortunately our E Team’s match with St Andrews was cancelled at 45 minutes notice due to exams(?)

Club Championship

E Spencer (2025)  1-0  S Mackenzie (530)

With the draw just made, only one 4th Round game was played, but it was the Board 1 encounter (honestly) between Ed and Scott, which Ed finished with a pretty mate.

Otherwise we were visited by another very strong player who will hopefully become a regular member to join our other 2000+ rated players. Along with Jacques, our recruitment policy is proving almost as good as United’s.

Perth A   1-3  Dundee A

M Gourlay (1904)  0-1  D Findlay (2109)

G Le Feuvre (1714)  0-1  E Spencer (2025)

D Hall (1682)  ½–½  A Dawson (1806)

A Sutherland (1572)  ½–½  F Stevenson (1647)

Dundee A faced league leaders Perth A in a match that would go some way to decide the TAFCA league title for 2019-20 season. As expected it was a tense affair but with some unusual twists of fortune. David Findlay was white versus Martin Gourlay, Ed Spencer black against Gwenole Le Feuvre, Alastair was up against David Hall and Frank on Board 4 facing Andrew Sutherland,

First to finish was Ed. There was some ringing sound in the room. People were trying to figure out what it was but then it transpired it was the clock of Gwenole who had run out of time trying to unlock the secrets of Ed’s favorite Sicilian Kan. Next to finish was Frank who agreed a completely equal middle game position against Andrew Sutherland. The other two matches went the full distance. In the end David converted an extra pawn in a R and P endgame to a win. Shortly afterwards, Alastair who had quite a poor position throughout the game, managed to extricate a draw from the resulting R and P ending.

So in the end it was a convincing 3-1 win and a small step closer to the league title.

• – A Dawson

Dundee City prepared for play in Rounds 5 and 6 knowing that the outcomes of the various matches would go a long way to determine promotions, relegations and, of course, the national championship itself. The A team faced Stepps in the morning. It proved to be successful with a hard-fought drawn match. Jacques Ophoff drew with IM Doug Bryson on top board. There followed draws for Andrew Wright and Andre Babin and a win for Ed Spencer. In Division 2 a big setback took place an hour prior to the match with the late call-off by Gary Weir as a result of sickness. With the adjustment of board order Euan Dawson assumed the role of being top board. It worked – with him gaining a nice win over John Smith, On Board 2 Alastair secured a second game point but losses on Boards 3 and 4 resulted in a 2-2 draw but a 2-3 match loss owing to a default on Board 5. In the 3^rd division, our C team was up against it. With losses on the top three boards, two wins from Ed Walton and Cameron Wilson were insufficient overall, the team losing 2-3. In Division 5, Dundee City D team gained the result of the morning. On Board 1, Max Whisson notched up a nice win and Rishabh Akula did likewise on Board 3. Krish Akula gained a comfortable draw – and this time, it was their opponents who were a player short and had to default on Board 5. The net effect was a 3.5 – 1.5 win.

In the afternoon Dundee City A faced a strong Hamilton team led by IM Andrew Muir. Once again, Jacque Ophoff excelled and gained a draw through a perpetual check sequence. There were draws also from Stephen Hogg and Andrew Wright. But the match was won on Boards 4 and 5 through victories from both Ed Spencer and Andre Babin. There was drama for our B team who faced a very strong Giffnock team led by FM Phil Giulian. Having lost in the morning, it was going to be a very tough task to get anything from this match. But then on Board 1, Euan’s game was first to finish with a remarkable win, his first against a Fide Master. Alastair drew with Neil Thomson on Board 2 and there were losses on Boards 3 and 4. On Board 5, Ray Noble arrived to replace Gary Weir for the afternoon match. Not only did he win well, but his win brought the match to a draw. So one point gained against such a strong team – an amazing result! The same was not true for our C team in Division 3 – they crashed horribly to a much stronger Wandering Dragons team – enough said! And the same was the case for Dundee City D team who also had an afternoon nightmare – a whitewash loss 0-5.

So at the end of Round 6 and with just the final round left, Dundee City A team is tied in 3^rd place with 4 game pts and 17 match pts and 8 match pts. Above them are Bon Accord A on 17.5 pts also on 8 match points and Stepps in 1^st place with the same 8 match points and 18.5 game pts. In the last round they face Edinburgh 1 – the final round will be a very tense affair! In Division 2, our B team sit in 4^th place on 4 match pts and 14 game pts. Beneath them lie Giffnock also on 4 match pts but with 12 game pts, Further below are Edinburgh 2 also on 4 match points and 12 game pts. Dumfries and District A then sit 2^nd bottom on 3 match points and 10 game pts. At the bottom Forth Valley A prop up the division with 2 match pts and 10.5 game points. Any permutation is possible from Round 7 – when the team faces Thistles led by IM Roddy Mackay – hopefully safety and steering clear of relagation can be managed – we shall see. For Dundee C there is certain relegation to Division 4 – not good but I am sure the players will live to fight another day. Lastly, in Division 5, our D team are safe on 6 match points – all our young players have performed well and have gained a lot of valuable playing experience over the course of the season – well done to you all.

For performances of the day there are two. One would be that of Ed Spencer on 2/2 who was in overdrive in Division 1 crushing opponents with apparent ease. The second was from Euan Dawson who not only scored 2/2 on top Board in Division 2 but beat an Fide Master in the process – well done Euan!

• – Alastair Dawson

Club Championship Round 3

J Anderson (1611)  1-0  N Carroll (948)

Z Swaczyna (1241) 0-1  D Findlay (2109)

M Wang (462)  0-1  T Harley (1439)

H Meadows (840)  0-1  F Stevenson (1647)

A Dawson (1806)  1-0  T Rosazza

This round featured no surprises, but plenty of hard work for some of the more established players. Jim had to fight back from a piece down to overcome Norrie, and David, though nominally two pawns up, found it very tough to break down the fortress of the fast-moving Z. In the ensuing endgame, David was down to a couple of minutes, about an hour behind on the clock!

Kirkcaldy B  0-4  Dundee B  (4/3/20)  

S Subramanian  0-1  F Stevenson (1647)

P Selbie (1241)  0-1  J Anderson (1611)

P Anderson  0-1  G Robertson (1554)

A Owens (1149)  0-1  R Flood (1509)

A very good and very important win for the B Team, but the scoreline was very hard on Kirkcaldy. Gordon won handily with a strong attack, but for the others it was a case of a tough struggle right into difficult and unclear endings. Things could have been very different, but an excellent board score for the B Team which gives them a chance of avoiding the drop.

Next crunch is on Monday night when the A Team travel to Perth to face Perth A  who are level on points at the top. Arabest guys.

TAFCA Division 1

Dundee B  1-3  Perth A

J Anderson (1611)  0-1  M Gourlay (1904)

G Robertson (1554)  0-1  D Hall (1682)

J Robertson (1546)  1-0  M Roth (1504)

T Rosazza                 0-1  J Williamson (1338)

Disappointing night for the B Team leaving them a lot to do in the league.

Division 2

Dundee C  2.5-1.5  Newport Knights B

R Flood (1509)  0-1  A Sneddon (1332)

T Harley (1439)  1-0  R McLaren (1122)

R Burnett (1374)  1-0  F Rossiter (777)

Z Swaczyna (1241)  0.5  A Wallace

Good win for the C Team in their last match. Keeps them in with a promotion chance.