SNCL (Scottish National Chess League) IS BACK! Round 1 & 2 report.
SNCL (Scottish National Chess League)
Sunday 29th January 23
Round 1 & 2
FORMAT
Divisions; 5 players per team; Time-Control: 90 minutes + 30 seconds increments. Home team (first named) has white on boards 1, 3 & 5.
After 3 years off due to the pandemic, it’s great news to see the SNCL back on the chess calendar! It’s one of the biggest and testing events there is, involving clubs from all over Scotland. It’s a test of your skills, endurance and stamina, not to mention the travailing involved for a lot of the clubs! It is also one of the most enjoyable and much loved chess competitions!
Once again Castlehill Chess Club, Dundee and Dundee Chess Club join forces to make up Dundee City teams, 4 in total spread across 3 divisions.
We had a few new players in the Dundee City Squad who have never experienced this competition, but were well up for it!
Round 1 – 10am
Div 1
Dundee City A (2094) 3½ – 1½ (1889) Dunfermline
Great start for the defending division one champions, Dundee City A! A comfortable win, against a side that had three top boards, but then fell away on the bottom two boards compared to the top three boards (still strong players!). Wins for Ed Spencer AGM(Bd3), Andrew Wright (Bd4) and Stephen Hogg (Bd5). There was a draw for Helge Magnussen (Bd2), along with a rare loss for David Findlay, on board one.
Now I believe its congratulations to Ed Spencer who just recently gained the title of AGM! Now he’s not an “Annual General Meeting”, but an “Arena Grandmaster”!
(Arena Grandmaster (AGM) is the highest online title. It is achieved by a series of 150 bullet games, 100 blitz games or 50 rapid games with a performance rating of over 2000.)
Fantastic achievement Ed, and well deserved!
Div 2
Dundee City B (1771) 2 – 3 (1990) Forth Valley A
Tough start for Dundee City B against a very strong Forth Valley A team! Depending on how you look at it, a bit of luck for Dundee City B as Forth Valley’s top board (2124) was missing in action, Andre Babin (1882) got a win by default. A great start for the team, but a long day for Andre without a game! Out graded on every board, it was a tough ask, but our players are nothing if not resourceful. Super junior Rishi Vijayakumar J11 (1826) on board 2 drew with black against a 2066! When you’ve got it, you have got it! Alistair Dawson (Bd3) also drew, while Keith Emery (Bd4) and Iain Sneddon (Bd5) both lost. Close but them the breaks at this level!
Div 3
Dundee City C (1579) 3 – 2 (1249) Dundee City D
Would you Adam & Eve it, all the way to Dunfermline just to play your own team mates! Yes Our “C” & “D” team faced off in round one. As we know derby matches are unpredictable at best and this was no different this time!
Dundee City’s D team players, Raymond Flood (Bd1) and Bruce Wallace (Bd2) both played brilliantly to secure draws against their much stronger opponents grading wise (Joshua Crofts & Leyton Hackney respectively). On board 3, Tom Wardlaw (1234) upset the apple cart with a great win against, Kit McEvoy Gould (1560)est, in a game that had everything in it, including the kitchen sink! That put the “D” team in a strong position, but the “C” team were not done yet as, Baillie Armstrong (Bd5) and Ray Noble (Bd4) saved the day with two nice wins to help Dundee City C team crawl over the winning line and get the bragging rights. Phew! Well played both sides!
Round 2 – 3pm
Div 1
Wandering Dragons (1925) 1½ – 3½ (2094) Dundee City A
Once again, Dundee City A wins 3½ to 1½ against a decent Wandering Dragon’s team! Wins for Helge Magnussen, Andrew Wright & Stephen Hogg, with a draw for Ed Spencer AGM and unusually another loss by David Findlay with the toughest job of board one!
Div 2
Dumfries & District (1560) 1 – 4 (1771) Dundee City B
In round two, Dundee City B were the top dogs grading wise and thankfully lived up to that billing to get their first team points on the board (no banana skins here!)! All our players won apart from board one, Andre Babin who had to wait along time for his first match! He lost but put up a valiant effort given the circumstances!
Div 3
Lenzie Dementors (1014) 2½ -2½ (1579) Dundee City C
Now Dementors are meant to be dark creatures that consume human happiness, creating an ambiance of coldness, darkness, misery and despair. So I guess we were up against kids, and very strong ones as well, sounds about right (only kidding, I think?)! If only we had brought our “Elder Wand” to cast the “Patronus Charm” spell!
Things did not go to plan for Dundee City C as in quick succession two of our “Muggle” players (Leyton Bd2 & Baillie Bd5) suffered the “Dementor`s Kiss” which sucked the life and soul out of them, 2 – 0 the Lenzie Dementors! To make matters worse for Dundee City C, on board 3, Kit McEvoy Gould, could only draw his match which meant the juniors were living up to their name “Dementors” and had at least got a draw, with two matches still playing! Oh “Hermione Granger” were are you, when we need your help!
Team Captain, Ray Noble (Bd4) was not only in shock with his team 2½ – 0 down,, he was having the fight of his life as his young opponent, who’s name was “Draco Malfoy”…sorry, Master Balaji Lochan! Luckily Ray was a secret member of the “House of Gryffindor” and also versed in the “Defence against the Dark Arts” and just managed to repel his young opponent to give Dundee City C a change to claim the draw!
On board one against a young lady graded 1071 (I, mean, really!!), Joshua Crofts (1660) was playing the match of his life! Joshua had dark square weaknesses all over the place, including his King, with his opponent having the dark squared Bishop, and for a while it was not looking good. But Joshua managed to plant a monster Knight on g4, which could not be touched and when I say monster, I mean the biggest monster piece I have ever seen on a chess board! It hemmed in the black squared Bishop, defended his King`s defences, so white could not bust in, left his opponent with no moves to make, “YES” it was a monster, worth at least two queens, it was that strong! Well played Joshua and what a win against an opponent who chess wise, felt, as strong as “Dumbledore and Voldemort” combined!
In the end, the draw felt like a win for Dundee City C! Hats off or even “Sorting Hats” off to the Lenzie Dementors for playing outstanding chess and getting the draw, but probably deserving of the win with that performance!
Dundee City D (1249) 1 – 4 (1530) Oban
Tough round 2 match for Dundee City D against a good and experienced Oban side. But every cloud has a silver lining and so it proved on board 4 with Daniel Coleman (1060) winning against the very experienced Glynis Grant (1207), who is also the main organiser of the SNCL! Well played Daniel!
Great start by Dundee City A to their defence of the division one title with two wins out of two! This puts them clear at the top of the table, but a long way to go!
Dundee City B won one and lost one, while Dundee City C, won one and luckily drew one which is a good start, with 5 rounds left! Dundee City D has some work to do after two losses, and will find it tough, thou not impossible!
Thank you to all the Dundee City players who took part this time. Thank you to the organisers and arbiters for pulling it all together and making it a wonderful day’s chess. It’s good to have the SNCL back again!
Rounds 3 & 4 are on Sunday 26th February 23, 10am start
Fixtures
Div 1
Rd3: Edinburgh West v Dundee City A
Rd4: Dundee City A v Bon Accord
Div 2
Rd3: Dundee City B v Perth
Rd4: CSBOS1 v Dundee City B
Div 3
Rd3: CSBOS2 v Dundee City C & Corstorphine v Dundee City D
Rd4: Dundee City C v Forth Valley B & Dundee City D v CSBOS2
All the results, tables and fixtures can be found by clicking the link below.