SNCL (Scottish National Chess League) Sunday 23rd February 25 Round 5 & 6
SEASON 2024-25
SNCL (Scottish National Chess League)
Sunday 23rd February 25
Round 5 & 6
Dundee City teams are a joint venture by Castlehill CC & Dundee CC.
Report by Alastair Dawson
As New Year faded over the horizon, the four chess teams from Dundee City sought renewed success in this season’s SNCL. Like many things in life, it did not go to plan.
ROUND 5 – 10am
Division One
Dunfermline Knights (2108) 4 – 1 (2178) Dundee City A
In the morning, our A-team suffered a rare 4-1 defeat against leaders Dunfermline Knights – on this occasion they experienced three board defeats with only FM Rishi Vijayakumar and David Findlay securing draws.
Dundee City B (1936) 1½ – 3½ (1931) Lenzie Basilisks
The B-team, also in Division 1, similarly crashed to defeat against the young kids on the block, Lenzie Basilisks. Lenzie are full of very talented juniors with only Alastair Dawson getting a win and Josha Crofts making a draw – so a 3.5-1.5 defeat.
Division Three
Dundee City C (1644) 3½ – 1½ (1426) Forth Vally C
In Division 3, there was more success for Dundee City. The morning match saw our C-team up against Forth Valley C while our D-team faced Dunfermline Bishops. In the C-team match our players romped home with a 3.5-1.5 win. Our new young player, Vishva Kodikara, led the line with a win on Board 1. This was accompanied by wins for Jan Klingelhofer and Matthew Deighan and a draw for Ray Noble. Special thanks should be extended to Ray for stepping in at the last minute to deputise for Tom Wardlaw who was unable to play due to family circumstances.
Dundee City D (1336) 4 – 1 (1215) Dunfermline Bishops
The D-team did even better, cruising to a 4-1 over Dunfermline Bishops with wins from Steve Thomson, Colin Young, Kam Wan and Eve Kenicer.
ROUND 6 – 3pm
Division One
Dundee City A (2179) 2½ – 2½ (1967) Edinburgh West
In the afternoon, our A- and B-team again felt the heat in Division 1. The A-team were up against Edinburgh West 1 led by IM Craig Pritchett. This time Jacques Ophoff and Andrew Wright secured valuable wins while a draw for David Findlay was enough to make a 2.5-2.5 draw.
Wandering Dragons (1959) 3 – 2 (1957) Dundee City B
The B-team had a tough time of it against Wandering Dragons. This time it was Gary Weir who was only person to win a game while draws from Ed Spencer and Andre Babin were not enough to avert a 3-2 defeat.
Division Three
Dundee City C (1644) 1½ – (1753) 3½ Cathcart
In Division 3, our C-team could not have had a tougher match than against runaway leaders Cathcart, led by former Scottish Champion IM Roddy McKay. Credit to Ray Noble, however, on Board 5 who gained a thumping win over Andy McCulloch – Ray was a man in a hurry and by the end of the game had more time on his clock than when he started! Despite this success, however, and a well-deserved draw by Jan Klingelhofer against FM Phil Guilian, the team lost 3.5-1.5.
Forth Valley C (1472) 1½ – 3½ (1336) Dundee City D
Also giving us a ray of sunshine, our Dundee D-team excelled against Forth Valley C. In this match, there were wins from Katarina Tanzerova, Colin Young and Steve Thomson plus a draw for Kam Wan – giving the team a well-earned 3.5-1.5 win.
EPILOGUE
When the dust had settled on the day’s play the following situation had emerged for our valiant Dundee City teams. In Division 1, as things stand at the moment with 3 Rounds to go and 6 points to play for, Dunfermline Knights lead the pack on 11 points. Wandering Dragons are in 2nd place with 10 points while our A-team are third with 9 points. Our B-team, whose prime mission is to consolidate its position in Division 1 after promotion last season, presently sits in joint 5th place with 6 points and need one more match win to be absolutely safe from relegation.
In Division 3, in a league of 16 teams our C- and D-team presently sit comfortably in 6th = position. This is great credit, particularly, to our young players, who apart from winning valuable games throughout the 6 Rounds so far, have gained enormous experience of competitive chess at a national level. Well, done to all.
Alastair Dawson