SNCL 2014/15 - Rounds 1 and 2

Crawford Macnab
19 November 2014

Round One - first team drew with Forth Valley B

In the morning we drew 2½-2½ with Forth Valley B.

Nigel appeared to have some initiative but blundered later and lost.
Jamie had balanced game but his opponent went badly astray and allowed a quick king side attack with Jamie winning.
I had edge from opening and cashed in to win two pawns and navigated some tricks in endgame to win.
David is usually rock solid in SNCL but had a bad weekend losing this one when he would have expected to win.
Rudolph found himself a pawn down in double rook ending which opponent decided to offer draw.

On paper this is a match we needed to be winning.

Forth Valley BForth Valley BCSBOS 1CSBOS 1
1
Neil Irving
16441 - 0
Nigel Chapman
1853
2
William B Gray
15110 - 1
Jamie Mollison
1803
3
Hugh Hanlon
14730 - 1
Crawford T Macnab
1802
4
Robert Leckie
1362½ - ½
Rudolph J Austin
1668
5
David Brodie
12361 - 0
David Stewart
1641
2½ - 2½

Round Two - first team lost to Stepps Warriors

Afternoon was against one of the big guns, Stepps Warriors, so much tougher.
Jamie had quite a symmetrical position out of opening and accepted a quick draw offer from 1981 rated opponent.
I had reasonable position out of opening against Sandinavian defence and accepted draw offer.
Rudolph lost material early on against strong opponent and lost quickly.
David’s poor form continued and an early sortie with queen was repelled and uncastled king was difficult to defend against and a forced mate led to loss.
Nigel battled well on top board against Nolan and looked to be holding his own. Nolan reached time control and took time to construct a strong plan. Nigel perhaps played too quickly at this stage in a game that might have been able to hold.

We lost 4 - 1.

So overall not a disaster but failing to win morning game may bite us.

CSBOS 1CSBOS 1Stepps WarriorsStepps Warriors
1
Nigel Chapman
18530 - 1
Graeme A Nolan
2082
2
Jamie Mollison
1803½ - ½
Paul D Scullion
1981
3
Crawford T Macnab
1802½ - ½
Alex Gillies
1922
4
Rudolph J Austin
16680 - 1
William Hulme
1877
5
David Stewart
16410 - 1
Graeme Forbes
1253
1 - 4

Round One - second team beat Dundee City C

Morning game was a good 3 - 2 win against Dundee City C which looked to be made up of quite a few juniors.

Dundee City CDundee City CCSBOS 2CSBOS 2
1
Declan Shafi
16211 - 0
Douglas S Heatlie
1599
2
Euan Dawson
12780 - 1
Alistair Forbes
1520
3
Subhayu Banerjee
12010 - 1
James Turner
1385
4
Tom Constance
11180 - 1
Nicholas C West
1356
5
Agnijo Banerjee
11021 - 0
George C Anderson
1228
2 - 3

Round Two - second team drew with Musselburgh

Afternoon game was a 2½-2½ draw against Musselburgh.
A good win for George.
Some steady draws and don’t know how Douglas managed to lose his ending. Can only imagine he pushed too hard to win it.

CSBOS 2CSBOS 2MusselburghMusselburgh
1
Douglas S Heatlie
15990 - 1
Keith McDonald
1410
2
Alistair Forbes
1520½ - ½
Iain D Hope
1325
3
James Turner
1385½ - ½
Vince Barron
1293
4
Nicholas C West
1356½ - ½
James Crawford
1189
5
George C Anderson
12281 - 0
Rudolfo Munoz
0
2½ - 2½

The great escape must go to James Turner who salvaged a draw from a lost position.
His opponent in position below played Qa7 threatening Qa1 mate and so cxb3 was forced to give king room when Qa1+ wins rook on back rank.
Note that there were other pieces on the right hand side of the board. (don’t recall details)

Instead of Qa7 there was a forced mate starting with Ra1+.
Check all the available checks!

Missed forced mate

Missed forced mate

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