SNCL - Rounds 3 and 4

Crawford Macnab
28 January 2024

After the break in November and December it was back to Dunfermline for rounds 3 and 4 of the SNCL.

CSBOS 1 - Stepps

CSBOS 1 CSBOS 1 Stepps Stepps
1
Jorge Blanco
2141 0 - 1
Douglas Byrson (IM)
2307
2
Mike Chisholm
1919 0 - 1
Graeme Nolan
2151
3
Chris James
1876 ½ - ½
Ian Marks
1851
4
Jamie Mollison
1857 ½ - ½
Jim Smalls
1662
5
Crawford Macnab
1792 1 - 0
Craig Gillies
1635
2 - 3

Stepps were stronger on the higher boards with our best chances perhaps being on the lower boards.

I adopted a quiet but steady development plan against my opponents 3..Bg4 in the Scandinavian. Curiously he swapped his white squared bishop for my undeveloped knight on b1 which allowed all my queenside pawns to easily roll forward. His over ambitious g5 pawn push led to a forced checkmate a few moves later.

Jorge had a tough time against IM Douglas Bryson on top board.

Mike had a good position out of the opening but relaxed allowing his opponent to have a rook for bishop advantage. After that his opponent cleverly finished off the game.

Chris reached an opposite bishop and pawn ending where it looked like slightly better located pieces may be enough but this proved not to be the case and a draw was agreed.

Jamie was last to finish and his opponent played very well despite being down to only a few minutes left. Eventually a queen and pawn ending was reached and although Jamie was a pawn up it was too risky to push for a win with both players down to only a few minutes each.

CSBOS 1 - Hamilton A

Hamilton A Hamilton A CSBOS 1 CSBOS 1
1
Tom Donohue
1934 0 - 1
Jorge Blanco
2141
2
James R Montgomery
1885 0 - 1
Mike Chisholm
1919
3
Derek Mccormack
1895 0 - 1
Chris James
1876
4
Robert S Montgomery
1831 0 - 1
Jamie Mollison
1857
5
Andrew Mccusker
1806 1 - 0
Crawford Macnab
1792
1 - 4

Both teams were reasonably matched on FIDE grading.

Jamie’s opponent misplayed a line against his Nimzovitch Larsen Attack which lost a piece and despite battling on Jamie converted with ease to finish early.

I allowed my opponent to build up a large pawn push against my castled kingside and never managed to create any counterplay in the centre.

Did not see the other games but three further wins secured a 4 - 1 victory.

CSBOS 2 - Dumfries and District

CSBOS 2 CSBOS 2 Dumfries and District Dumfries and District
1
Richard Scott
1692 0 - 1
Michael L Green
2020
2
Stuart Ballantyne
1635 0 - 1
Stavros Karampatos
1802
3
João Reis
1410 ½ - ½
Stuart Marchbank
1641
4
William Lindved
1 - 0
Karsten Saunders
1587
5
Nick West
1327 0 - 1
Jonathan Bell
1388
1½ - 3½

The second team faced a stronger on grading Dumfries and District team that was full of well established SNCL players.

João had a tactical skirmish that eventually led to having a rook and advanced pawn for two minor pieces. There were other pieces but in the end João repeated moves and accepted a draw.

Richard had a good position against Michael Green and was unfortunate to lose this one.

William was the last game to finish in this round and he played an excellent ending pushing through his advanced pawn. Apparently his opponent gave up his rook for this pawn in the hope that William would need to sacrifice his own rook to stop his passed pawn. William managed to get his knight across towards the pawn and secure the win.

CSBOS 2 - Perth

Perth Perth CSBOS 2 CSBOS 2
1
Martin Gourlay
1888 ½ - ½
Richard Scott
1692
2
Andrew Sutherland
1664 0 - 1
Stuart Ballantyne
1635
3
David G Hall
1590 1 - 0
João Reis
1410
4
Michael J Roth
1459 0 - 1
William Lindved
5
James Graham
1379 1 - 0
Nick West
1327
2½ - 2½

Did not see much of the afternoon match but another win for William in an great SNCL debut!

Richard was apparently two pawns down in an endgame so was an excellent outcome to get a draw and half the match.

Click here for a list of news stories about this competition.