10th Oct Newport knights B versus Dundee D.

Dundee D travelled across the water to Newport to play their first match of the 2018/2019 season.  The players were A Laurentiu, M Whisson, H Meadows, and A Ramsey.  Jean Chalmers was non-playing captain/chauffeuse.

One of Newport’s players had been delayed as there had been a derailment at Stonehaven and he was stuck on a train in Edinburgh.   Alex,playing on board 4, won his game very quickly so we were off to a good start.  The other 3 games were neck and neck for a while.  Max was a bishop down but had 7 pawns,  and was advancing one of his pawns.  However, the bishop was too strong and he eventually succumbed.  The game was lost but he had played very well.  Next was Henri who had also had a tight game.  We were now 2-1 down.  Lauria on Board 1 eventually wore his opponent down and we finished at 2-2.  Excellent result for the team’s first outing of the season.  Many thanks to Newport who created a friendly and welcoming atmosphere plying us with tea and coffee and the customary hot pies.  Very nice touch.

9th Oct Dundee A versus Kirkcaldy A.
Dundee A started the new season defence of the Championship by hosting Kirkcaldy A. All the matches were keenly contested. First to finish was Ed Spencer on Board 2 against Stuart Blyth. Then Alastair Dawson was next on Board 3 with a win over Terry Doherty. Then Jim Anderson overcame Euan Henderson who had earlier sacrificed the exchange to improve his position. The last game to finish was on Board 1 between David Findlay and Russell Kynoch. David ended up with a passed a-pawn and a bishop but since the bishop was not of the same colour as the queening square the game was drawn. So overall the match score was a win by 3.5-0.5.

8th Oct Perth A versus Dundee B.
Dundee B travelled to Perth tonight to play their first league game of the season. It was going to be a tough night as they were out-graded on all boards. Jim Anderson lost first to Martin Gourlay. Then Raymond Flood lost to Mike Roth. Gordon Robertson then had a fine win against Gwenole Le Feuvre. This left all to play for on board three Frank Stevenson against David Hall. Frank lost in a very good endgame.

Jim Anderson is now taking entries for this years club championship. Entries must be in by the  27th October. First round starts 6th November.

There is also a new tournament that can be played throughout the season. This is an allego event 30 minutes each player.  Its split into 2 Major and Minors. Please see Cross Table in competitions and events above or click here.

Scotland’s top men and women chess players are presently representing the country in the World Chess Olympiad, Batumi, Georgia. the tournaments are excellently covered in the media. For the most rapid links, see the Chess Scotland website – you can follow all the latest results and individual performances by clicking on the ‘Chess Results’ icon. The event is also being superbly covered by various national media – one of the best to view on You Tube is via ‘Chess India’. The Olympiad started on September 23rd and continues until October 6th, 2018. Scotland’s men are represented by Andrew Greet, Alan Tate, Clement Sreeves, Murad Abdulla and Roddy McKay. The womens’ team is led by Keti Arakhamia-Grant together with Ali Roy, Rosie Giulian, Monica Espinosa Cancino and Caitlin Reid. After 7 rounds the men’s Open tournament is being led by USA and Azerbaijan followed by Armenia and Poland (Russia are currently sitting in 9th place). In the Women’s Championship the leading teams (also after Round 7) are the Ukraine and Armenia closely followed by China, Romania, USA and Italy. Keti is presently the leading points scorer in the Women’s tournament with 6.5/7. In the Men’s Open the top points scorers on 6/7 is shared by Anish Giri (Netherlands), Nils Grandelius (Sweden), Wesley So (USA), Andre Stratonowitsch (Seychelles), Dejan Marhanovic Bosnia & Herzegovina) and Eiti Bashir (Syria).

Thursday October 4th 2018: Konrad Wierszbicki Memorial Allegro, Castlehill Chess Club, Dundee

Monday October 8th: TAFCA League Division 1: Perth A – Dundee B

Tuesday October 9th TAFCA League Division 1: Dundee A – Kirkcaldy A

Wednesday October 10th TAFCA League Division 2: Newport Knights B – Dundee D

Friday October 19th – Sunday October 21st: Dundee Chess Congress, Chaplaincy Centre, University of Dundee (5 rounds)

Tuesday October 23rd TAFCA League Division 2: Dundee C – University of St Andrews

Wednesday 24th October: TAFCA Allegro Series, Event No. 1 (of 5): venue – Newport Knights Chess Club, The Newport Club, 6 Cupar Rd., Newport DD6 8AE

Tuesday October 30th TAFCA League Division 2: Dundee D – Dundee C

Congratulations to Castlehill Chess Club for overcoming Dundee Chess Club at the annual Bobby Gow tournament held last night at Dundee Chess Club. In total 24 players from the respective clubs competed with the score over the 12 boards of 7.5-4.5 in favour of Castlehill.  The match was one of fierce competition with individual games swaying to and fro over 3 hours of competitive play. On the top boards David Findlay and Declan Shafi battled out a draw in a R + N + pawns ending. On board 2, Alastair Dawson could not break through the defences of Paul Shafi and this match also ended in a draw. On Board 3, Euan Dawson converted a won ending against Jim Anderson. Elsewhere there were wins for Keith Rose over Robert Burnett, Ray Noble against Alan Woodcock, Colin Young against Peter Gibson, L Archip over Norrie Carroll and A Ramsay over C Patterson. Appreciation should also go to Jim Anderson for doing much of the organization as well as to Ray Noble for his running of the event on the night. And so the new 2018-19 chess across Tayside and Fife has started and we look forward to much exciting chess in the forthcoming months.

Here is one of the games played on the night. it was a very hard fought game and a great victory for Euan.

The following is a game from the British Chess Championships seniors tournament game and report is from Alastair.

At the end of July, Euan and I travelled to Hull to take part in the British Chess Championships. While Euan was taking part in the exceptionally strong Major tournament, I had a go at the Seniors championship. On first sight one might imagine that such a tournament would not be tough, the opposite was the case. Nearly all of the players were rated over FID 1900 and most had a fine sense for strong uncompromising and positional play. The tournament lasted 7 gruelling rounds and I emerged at the end with one win, one loss and 5 draws. In the Major, Euan gained a very creditable 3/9 performing excellently against some very strong opposition.

The British Championships is a real festival of chess. The championships were held in Hull City Hall. There were over 900 competitors in a range of tournaments ranging from Under -8 to the Championship packed with GMs , IMs and FMs. A live commentary room was in the basement as well as adjoining analysis areas as well as a highly popular chess stall. If there is a difficulty with tournaments such as this it is being able to last the pace and not succumb to exhaustion with one round following another in quick succession. The following game took place in Round 1 with a fortunate stroke of good luck arriving in the late afternoon.

7-9th September: Inverness Chess Congress, http://www.scotchesstour.co.uk.

Tuesday 11th September: 3rd Allegro tournament, Dundee Chess Club.

Saturday 15th September: Isle of Arran FIDE Rapidplay, 11.15 – 16.30, See homepage of www.chessscotland.com.

Tuesday 18th September: Bobby Gow (Castlehill Chess Club vs Dundee Chess Club); venue Dundee Chess Club.

Wednesday 19th September: Chess Scotland Management Board, Connal Building, 3rd floor, 34 West George St, Glasgow G2 1DA.

Tuesday 25th September: TAFCA committee meeting, Dundee Chess Club, 19.30.

Thursday 27th September: Glasgow Polytechnic Quickplay, Wellington Church Hall, Southpark Avenue, Glasgow G12 8LE. See homepage of www.chessscotland.com

The Club is now open for business again.  We had 14 people there last night which is encouraging.  I have received a lot of enquiries from prospective new members, including from parents of juniors,  juniors should come along at 6.30 pm and adults from 7 pm onwards.  The TAFCA leagues will be starting soon and we are entering 4 teams again with the possibility of another team if we have enough players.  There will be the usual Club Championship and other internal competitions yet to be arranged.  The Dundee Chess Congress is taking place from 19th to 21st October and entry forms are available at the Club.  So, there is plenty going on.  Our senior players are on hand to do coaching and tea, coffee, soft drinks and snacks are available at modest prices.  As you can see, we are spoilt for choice!  Come and join us.  You have nothing to lose – except for maybe your game!

The club is open tomorrow night 7th August. The third Allegro tournament is on this tournament is open to players from all TAFCA clubs. Starts 7:30pm at St Peters free church, St Peters street Dundee.

Dundee chess club are running 4 Allegro chess tournaments over the summer with the first starting on Tuesday 12th June 7:30. At St Peters Free Church, St Peters street Dundee. This will be 15 minutes each player and 5 rounds. This is an open tournament and players from all the chess clubs in TAFCA are welcome.