Allegro League - First team retake the lead!
Crawford Macnab
11 January 2024
The 4th round of the Allegro League took place on Thursday 11th January with the first team winning both their matches to move back to top of the league.
The first team had two strong wins with an impressive 3½ - ½ win over Corstorphine.
With the second team losing to Bank of Scotland 2 this meant the first team moved back in to 1st place in the league!
The Bank of Scotland first team scored heavily and have now moved up to joint 2nd place with our second team.
Chess Edinburgh website has the latest table with both teams still challenging the top.
Against Corstorphine, William’s opponent allowed a major piece fork and gracefully resigned to save energy for his 2nd game! Euan played a controlled game to increase the pressure and defeat Chris Sykes. In one of the last games to finish, Richard’s game had both players with doubled rooks on their opponents seventh rank. With time pressure Richard’s opponent failed to play a bishop check that would have led to checkmate which instead allowed Richard a perpetual check.
| Corstorphine | Corstorphine | Civil Service 1 | Civil Service 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Simon McGuinness | 1796 | ½ - ½ | Richard Scott | 1692 | ||
| 2 | Chris Sykes | 1684 | 0 - 1 | Euan McDiarmid | 1548 | ||
| 3 | Graham Wilson | 1392 | 0 - 1 | William Lindved | 1273 | ||
| 4 | David Watson | 1029 | 0 - 1 | Derek McCann | 1194 | ||
| ½ - 3½ | |||||||
| Civil Service 1 | Civil Service 1 | Pentland Hills | Pentland Hills | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richard Scott | 1692 | ½ - ½ | Chris Donkin | 1676 | ||
| 2 | Euan McDiarmid | 1548 | 1 - 0 | Andrew Clark | 1194 | ||
| 3 | William Lindved | 1273 | 1 - 0 | David Devoy | 1996 | ||
| 4 | Derek McCann | 1194 | 0 - 1 | Pablo Suarez | 800(e) | ||
| 2½ - 1½ | |||||||
The second team struggled against Bank of Scotland 2 with only Emma managing to get a win for the team on bottom board.
In the match against Sandy Bells my opponent chose a quiet response to my 2.b3 side line that allowed me to patiently develop all my pieces. With more space eventually my black squared bishop won the pawn on g7 with black’s position crumbling.
Richard’s game looked exciting with his opponent sacrificing on g6 for a king attack. In the end Richard won on time.
| Bank of Scotland 2 | Bank of Scotland 2 | Civil Service 2 | Civil Service 2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | William Bennett | 2037 | 1 - 0 | Crawford Macnab | 1717 | ||
| 2 | Graeme Russell | 1405 | 1 - 0 | Richard Josey | 1375 | ||
| 3 | Krishan Paterson | 1349 | 1 - 0 | João Reis | 1105 | ||
| 4 | Magnus Frame | 900(e) | 0 - 1 | Emma Scott | 1000(e) | ||
| 3 - 1 | |||||||
| Civil Service 2 | Civil Service 2 | Sandy Bells | Sandy Bells | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crawford Macnab | 1717 | 1 - 0 | Chris Linksaill | 1760 | ||
| 2 | Richard Josey | 1375 | 1 - 0 | Billy Moon | |||
| 3 | João Reis | 1105 | 0 - 1 | Mike Wallace | 1152 | ||
| 4 | Emma Scott | 1000(e) | 1 - 0 | Bill Kerray | 1002 | ||
| 3 - 1 | |||||||