17th January 2023.....Club Championship Cup
The Club Championship Cup has been engraved with winners from the last few Covid-struck years and the photo below shows Club secretary Mel Burt presenting the cup to Stuart Callison who, along with Goetz Bucher and Rob Colston was joint Club Champion for last season 2021-2022.
Stuart won the Championship grading prize in 2019 and has now achieved the main prize!
Stuart won the Championship grading prize in 2019 and has now achieved the main prize!
16th October 2022......Greet wins Dundee
Club Member IM Andrew Greet (on left) shared first prize with Keith Ruxton at the Dundee Congress, conceding only one draw.
1st October 2022..... Club Championship underway
The Club Championship has started in the usual format of a five round Swiss contest with games spread throughout the season. There are 22 entrants and the first round games should be played by 1st November or earlier.
Although League games are retaining the 75 minute +Quickplay finish timescale, for Club Championship games you have the alternative of 60 minutes plus 10 seconds increment/move if BOTH players want that.
Although League games are retaining the 75 minute +Quickplay finish timescale, for Club Championship games you have the alternative of 60 minutes plus 10 seconds increment/move if BOTH players want that.
20th September 2022...... New season starts.
The 2022-2023 season has started and we have Four teams entered in the Chess Leagues. An A and B team in Divisions 1 and 2 of the Glasgow League captained by David Watt and Chris Cotton respectively and an A and B team in the Dumbarton League Divisions 1 and 2 captained by Rob Colston and Max Cochrane .
14th September 2022.............Grand Prix Winners
Our summer Allegro Grand Prix has now concluded. The section leaders were:
Under-1800: 1 Alan Sharp (64 points); 2 Christopher Nield (53); 3 Mel Burt (45).
Under-1500: 1 Alistair Goodall (33.5); 2 Derek Rankine (Queen's Park) (31); 3 Chris Cotton (27).
Under-1200: 1 Chris Monk (32.5); 2 Jass McNeill (25.5).
Each section winner receives a £50 prize. Congratulations to all three!
Under-1800: 1 Alan Sharp (64 points); 2 Christopher Nield (53); 3 Mel Burt (45).
Under-1500: 1 Alistair Goodall (33.5); 2 Derek Rankine (Queen's Park) (31); 3 Chris Cotton (27).
Under-1200: 1 Chris Monk (32.5); 2 Jass McNeill (25.5).
Each section winner receives a £50 prize. Congratulations to all three!
31st August 2022.........Club will reopen on 20th September
The club will start the new season on 20th September at 7:30pm in our usual Cairns Church premises.
As part of the normal Club activities we are entering two teams into the Glasgow Chess League and two in the Dumbarton League.
However, we are not yet ready to restart the separate Junior section (hopefully in the new Year when we have identified some people able to train and supervise juniors.)
In the meantime Juniors are welcome to attend the "Adult" club but there will not be formal organised training, just game experience and improvement suggestions if wanted..
As part of the normal Club activities we are entering two teams into the Glasgow Chess League and two in the Dumbarton League.
However, we are not yet ready to restart the separate Junior section (hopefully in the new Year when we have identified some people able to train and supervise juniors.)
In the meantime Juniors are welcome to attend the "Adult" club but there will not be formal organised training, just game experience and improvement suggestions if wanted..
25th July 2022..........Allegro Grand Prix Final date set
The Online Allegro which runs on Chess.com every Tuesday now has a completion date of 13th September as we hope the face- to-face club meetings will recommence on Tuesdays after that. . As noted below, there are substantial £50 prizes in each three sections
1st July 2022.......Summer Allegros
All three sections our summer allegros are closely contested. The section leaders are:
Under-1800: Alan Sharp (25.5 points), Christopher Nield (25), Mel Burt (15)
Under-1500: Derek Rankine (9), Chris Cotton (7.5),
Under-1200: Jass McNeill (12), Chris Monk (10).
Under-1800: Alan Sharp (25.5 points), Christopher Nield (25), Mel Burt (15)
Under-1500: Derek Rankine (9), Chris Cotton (7.5),
Under-1200: Jass McNeill (12), Chris Monk (10).
9th June 2022.......Summer Allegros
After five of our summer allegros on Chess.com, the section leaders are:
Under-1800: Alan Sharp, Mel Burt, Christopher Nield
Under-1500: Chris Cotton, Gordon McKinnon (Govanhill)
Under-1200: Jass McNeill (Govanhill), Chris Monk
Under-1800: Alan Sharp, Mel Burt, Christopher Nield
Under-1500: Chris Cotton, Gordon McKinnon (Govanhill)
Under-1200: Jass McNeill (Govanhill), Chris Monk
5th June 2022.......Beat the Chess Champion
The Club ran a chess demonstration in Milngavie Precinct today as part of Milngavie week. Rob Colston was our "Chess Champion" successfully beating all challengers. Mel Burt and Alistair Goodall helped with the organisation and talked to various interested visitors about the Club. We hope to have a few good new Juniors joining as a result and also involved quite a good adult player from Baku in Azerbaijan. It was a pleasant, sunny enjoyable event. A picture of some of the participants is below (and in the background you can see a stunning flower display done by Milngavie in Bloom to mark the Queen's 70th jubilee.
1st June 2022.......Club Event in Milngavie Week
The Milngavie area has an annual Milngavie week of activities mainly held in the Precinct.
Bearsden Chess Club is hosting a "Beat the Champion" event from 11:00 to 13:00 on Sunday 5th June just outside the Fraser Centre.
Come and try to beat our Champion Rob Colston who will play you in a simultaneous, or just come and talk chess to the several Club members there. See the poster below.
Please note that the prize offered of a half-price subscription next year is for potential new members.
Bearsden Chess Club is hosting a "Beat the Champion" event from 11:00 to 13:00 on Sunday 5th June just outside the Fraser Centre.
Come and try to beat our Champion Rob Colston who will play you in a simultaneous, or just come and talk chess to the several Club members there. See the poster below.
Please note that the prize offered of a half-price subscription next year is for potential new members.
12th May 2022....... Weekly Allegro Grand Prix with prizes
A couple of Club members have generously donated prize money so we have converted the weekly Online tournament to an Allegro Grand Prix over the summer months with prizes of £50 in each of three categories.
Further details below and on our website www.bearsdenchessclub.weebly.com
Scores consist of your game points plus a weekly attendance point so the more weeks you take part , the better your chances of winning
Next Tournament "Bearsden Allegro #132 Grand Prix" at 7:30pm on 17 May
You need to be in Bearsden Online Chess Club on chess.com to participate.
Joining details for that are at http://bearsdenchessclub.weebly.com/joining-online.html in the "News" section
Further details below and on our website www.bearsdenchessclub.weebly.com
Scores consist of your game points plus a weekly attendance point so the more weeks you take part , the better your chances of winning
Next Tournament "Bearsden Allegro #132 Grand Prix" at 7:30pm on 17 May
You need to be in Bearsden Online Chess Club on chess.com to participate.
Joining details for that are at http://bearsdenchessclub.weebly.com/joining-online.html in the "News" section
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8th May 2022..........Weekly Allegro moves back to Tuesdays
Sign on and play!
During the Covid Lockdown Bearsden created "Online Bearsden Chess Club" on Chess.com and ran a weekly Allegro Tournament every Tuesday evening. This was very successful and and is still running over a hundred weeks later, though it had to move to Thursay evenings when our OTB club restarted on Tuesdays in 2021. Thursday evenings have been less well attended but now we are back on Tuesdays at 7:30 pm. hoping for lots of keen players. Details have still to be finalised (after the next 10 May Tournament) but it is likely that there will be a series of prizes for the best performances over the summer at various grades.
If you are not already on Chess.com or in Bearsden Online Chess Club , the joining instructions are further down this News section or at.........
During the Covid Lockdown Bearsden created "Online Bearsden Chess Club" on Chess.com and ran a weekly Allegro Tournament every Tuesday evening. This was very successful and and is still running over a hundred weeks later, though it had to move to Thursay evenings when our OTB club restarted on Tuesdays in 2021. Thursday evenings have been less well attended but now we are back on Tuesdays at 7:30 pm. hoping for lots of keen players. Details have still to be finalised (after the next 10 May Tournament) but it is likely that there will be a series of prizes for the best performances over the summer at various grades.
If you are not already on Chess.com or in Bearsden Online Chess Club , the joining instructions are further down this News section or at.........
19th April 2022...... New Club Champions
The final game of the Club Championship tonight between Peter MacDonald and Stuart Callison ended in a win for Stuart.
So. we have a three way tie on 4 points.
Goetz Bucher, Rob Colston and Stuart Callison
Domenic Quinn gets the Junior grading award.
A three way tie in the Club Championship has happened regularly but not frequently; namely every 20 years!
.All three names will go on the Club Championship cup.
So. we have a three way tie on 4 points.
Goetz Bucher, Rob Colston and Stuart Callison
Domenic Quinn gets the Junior grading award.
A three way tie in the Club Championship has happened regularly but not frequently; namely every 20 years!
.All three names will go on the Club Championship cup.
12th April 2022..........Chess Club AGM
Bearsden Chess Club's AGM is being held at 7:30pm this evening at Milngavie Community Centre, G62 8PN.
The Agenda and and directions are attached below.
Please make an effort to attend and influence our Club's direction next season.
We are recovering from a long, enforced period of restricted activity which will doubtless affect all the local Chess Clubs and Leagues but we are fortunate to have acquired a record number of new members during the shutdown so should be relatively well placed next season especially if given help from old and new members at this "planning" AGM.
The Agenda and and directions are attached below.
Please make an effort to attend and influence our Club's direction next season.
We are recovering from a long, enforced period of restricted activity which will doubtless affect all the local Chess Clubs and Leagues but we are fortunate to have acquired a record number of new members during the shutdown so should be relatively well placed next season especially if given help from old and new members at this "planning" AGM.
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1st April 2022........Possible GM Paul Motwani simul?
After their participation in Jacob's simul Derek Rankine of Govanhill Chess Club has said that they hope to have a visit from GM Paul Motwani in November and if that happens they would return the favour by inviting some of Bearsden's players.
29th March 2022.........GM Jacob Aagaard Simultaneous
Club member and ex British Chess Champion GM Jacob Aagaard gave another simultaneous display at the Club, against 20 Bearsden players and 9 guests invited from Govanhill Club and Strathclyde University. This was particularly aimed at our many new Bearsden members and as Derek Rankine of Govanhill said " many intermediate players go their whole lives without having the privilege of facing a GM and national champion over the board",
Jacob was typically generous (or confident?) allowing his opponents to choose their colour and even, within reason, their openings!
However his chess strength was apparent with 24 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses from the 29 games.
David Watt and Max Cochrane of Bearsden both achieved good positions, with David winning a Rook ending (against a GM -some feat!) and Max benefitting from probably the only tactical oversight Jacob made.
Stuart Callison (Bearsden) and Derek Rankine (Govanhill) had solid positions and accepted draws and Zizheng Liu (Strathclyde) played a strong game against Jacob's dragon variation. Jacob said Zizheng had the better position and could have played on, but it's easier for a GM to say that! Zhizeng punched the air with joy when offered a draw!
Book prizes (supplied by Jacob's Quality Chess company) were distributed afterwards.
Thanks to to Jacob for giving up his time to provide this excellent experience and also to Rob Colston for monitoring and commenting on the games,
The picture below shows the our Govanhill/Strathclyde guests at the simul with Jacob
Jacob was typically generous (or confident?) allowing his opponents to choose their colour and even, within reason, their openings!
However his chess strength was apparent with 24 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses from the 29 games.
David Watt and Max Cochrane of Bearsden both achieved good positions, with David winning a Rook ending (against a GM -some feat!) and Max benefitting from probably the only tactical oversight Jacob made.
Stuart Callison (Bearsden) and Derek Rankine (Govanhill) had solid positions and accepted draws and Zizheng Liu (Strathclyde) played a strong game against Jacob's dragon variation. Jacob said Zizheng had the better position and could have played on, but it's easier for a GM to say that! Zhizeng punched the air with joy when offered a draw!
Book prizes (supplied by Jacob's Quality Chess company) were distributed afterwards.
Thanks to to Jacob for giving up his time to provide this excellent experience and also to Rob Colston for monitoring and commenting on the games,
The picture below shows the our Govanhill/Strathclyde guests at the simul with Jacob
14th March 2022......Aagaard Simul postponed to 29 march
Jacob is recovering from Covid, so unfortunately the simul has been postponed from 15th to 29th march
9th March 2022.........Various (AGM, Season end, Junior session)
The general Club Chess season will finish as usual at the start of May 2022 and we then expect a welcome return to start the next season in September 2022 with "normal" League Chess and teams as well as our usual Tuesday meetings at Cairns. Our Online activity will continue over the summer months
There are several key dates before then........
There are several key dates before then........
- A condition of our let at Cairns Church is that they need ALL their rooms during "Holy week" (the week before Easter) so we can not have our room on Tuesday 12th April. However, instead of just not meeting then it is intended to have our AGM that night, at a nearby venue, Milngavie Community centre and Library. We have hired a room there from 7:30pm to 9:30 pm. Details to follow.
- An Agenda will be published beforehand and it is obvious that we have undergone a major change during the Covid Lockdown with some members leaving but fortunately many new members arriving. Along with receiving President, Secretary and Treasurer reports the main business will be about what we plan to do next season and who will be involved in that. Please make an effort to attend and agree our direction.
- There will be the usual club nights after Easter with the final night of the season expected to be Tuesday 3rd May.
- To maintain Junior interest and involvement Rob Colston has proposed an early Junior session on Tuesday 29th March at 6:30pm running into the Adult 7:30pm start time if needed.
- And, of course we soon have GM Jacob Aagaard's simultaneous display at the club on 15th March 2022
19th February 2022.......GM Jacob Aagaard Simultaneous
An invitation to participate has now been sent out and places are already more than half full. Reserve your place soon.
However, if we are oversubscribed there will be a "reserve bench" for people to take the place of those Jacob has already beaten !
However, if we are oversubscribed there will be a "reserve bench" for people to take the place of those Jacob has already beaten !
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16th February 2022.......GM Jacob Aagaard Simultaneous
Club member GM Jacob Aagaard has agreed to give a simultaneous display at the club on Tuesday 15th March. Details to follow.
16th February 2022.......Round four of Club Championship
Round Four has now been published. See Club Championship section
15th February 2022......Blitz and Chess Etiquette and Clock links
Rob Colston gave newer members a talk on Chess Etiquette and basic Rules. David Watt had also prepared a simple but clear guide to using and setting our standard DGT 2010 digital clocks. These guides are in the "Links" section of this website or you can click directly to them here.
The talk was followed by a Blitz tournament. We expected only 8 or 9 entrants for an all-play-all competition but there was an enthusiastic deluge of 20 entrants which necessitated running 3 sections with some doubt over how we would then get an overall winner. By the end of the evening the eventual leading players were Alan Sharp, Michael McKay, Dominik Jargielo, Chris Cotton, David Watt and Rob Colston but as Alan Sharp was the only player to have won ALL his games Alan was declared the Champion!
5th February 2022......Chess Etiquette talk followed by Blitz
On Tuesday 15th February at 19:30 there will be an approximately 20-minute talk/discussion led by Rob Colston on the Rules and Etiquette of chess, and chess matches. This is aimed at our many new members, and we hope will be good preparation for a return to league play, perhaps in the Autumn.
This will be followed by a Blitz tournament open to all.
Afterwards, the text of the talk will be put in the "Links" part of this Club website
This will be followed by a Blitz tournament open to all.
Afterwards, the text of the talk will be put in the "Links" part of this Club website
1st February 2022.......More matches arranged with Govanhill
Govanhill and Bearsden Chess Clubs have arranged to play another two graded friendly over-the-board matches over 8 boards at Bearsden on Tuesday 1st March and at Govanhill on Monday 28th March. Whilst we wait for conditions to allow the return of League Matches this will give our many new members a chance to play graded over-the-board games.
31st December 2021...... Happy New Year?! But League Chess looking unlikely
The Club is re-opening on Tuesday 11January for over-the-board and online chess.
It is looking unlikely that the Glasgow and Dumbarton Leagues will restart League chess this season. Although the Omicron variant does not seem as deadly as earlier variants the high infection rates, especially among those still unvaccinated, causes much disruption .
The final decision has not yet been made but even an optimistic projection would only give League matches in March and April. Hardly worth it.
We have some gradeable over-the-board chess in the Club Championship, some extra interclub matches and also "friendlies" at the Club.
There is also online chess with Bearsden teams in the 4NCL and SNOCL and the regular Thursday evening Tournament run by Bearsden Online Chess Club on Chess.com
It is looking unlikely that the Glasgow and Dumbarton Leagues will restart League chess this season. Although the Omicron variant does not seem as deadly as earlier variants the high infection rates, especially among those still unvaccinated, causes much disruption .
The final decision has not yet been made but even an optimistic projection would only give League matches in March and April. Hardly worth it.
We have some gradeable over-the-board chess in the Club Championship, some extra interclub matches and also "friendlies" at the Club.
There is also online chess with Bearsden teams in the 4NCL and SNOCL and the regular Thursday evening Tournament run by Bearsden Online Chess Club on Chess.com
30th December 2021.......Round three of Club Championship
Round three has now been published. See Club Championship section
21st December 2021......Variety chess night.
In pre-Covid years the club usually finished the pre-Christmas session with a "How Good is your Chess" quiz plus food and drink.
However, such parties are not the order of the day just now and fewer people than usual were expected to attend anyway since there is a wish to avoid Covid isolations during the holiday. To provide a light-hearted evening (despite the masks, sanitation and distancing!) there were chess variations attempted such as Progressive moves (White 1, Black 2, White 3 etc), Cylinder chess with the a and h files "joined", Suicide chess and Canadian Barn dance chess where the White players move clockwise after their move and the Black players move anti-clockwise.
This last variation was, frankly shambolic but the evening was enjoyable.
However, such parties are not the order of the day just now and fewer people than usual were expected to attend anyway since there is a wish to avoid Covid isolations during the holiday. To provide a light-hearted evening (despite the masks, sanitation and distancing!) there were chess variations attempted such as Progressive moves (White 1, Black 2, White 3 etc), Cylinder chess with the a and h files "joined", Suicide chess and Canadian Barn dance chess where the White players move clockwise after their move and the Black players move anti-clockwise.
This last variation was, frankly shambolic but the evening was enjoyable.
6th December 2021......Govanhill match results
We played a Home match against Govanhill on 30th November winning 4.5 to 3.5 and then Away at Govanhill on a wild, wet and windy evening again winning narrowly 4.5-3.5 The results are now graded on the Chess Scotland website
14th November 2021.....Matches against Govanhill
Govanhill and Bearsden Chess Clubs have arranged to play two graded friendly over-the-board matches over 8 boards at Bearsden on Tuesday 30th November and at Govanhill on Monday 6th December. This will be our first OTB match after the Covid shutdown.
13th November 2021..... Round two of Club Championship
All bar one of the first round games have been completed and Round two has now been published... see Club Championship section.
18th October 2021.......Club Championship restarting
To give the people who have returned to the Club the chance to play serious gradable games the normal Swiss Club Championship will restart soon. As before, 5 monthly rounds with a 75 minute time limit and a quickplay finish. Please tell Mel Burt ([email protected]) if you want to enter.
5th October 2021.... .. Club reconvened after Covid shutdown.
9 members turned up after our long break, since March 2020 ! Four of our likely returners were unable to attend as they were playing an Online 4NCL match that evening (Bearsden won 4-0) A good returning start but we hope for more.
30th September 2021.........Club will reopen on 5th October!
We're back!
After an 18 month Covid interruption when only online chess was possible, Bearsden Chess Club will restart over-the-board chess in it's usual Cairns Church premises at 7:30pm on Tuesday 5th October. As explained below, there are some restrictions and this is initially only for Adult members and older independent Juniors coming to the adult section. By the end of 2021 we hope to be stable enough to consider restarting our Junior section and also League matches. Our current Online activities will still continue
After an 18 month Covid interruption when only online chess was possible, Bearsden Chess Club will restart over-the-board chess in it's usual Cairns Church premises at 7:30pm on Tuesday 5th October. As explained below, there are some restrictions and this is initially only for Adult members and older independent Juniors coming to the adult section. By the end of 2021 we hope to be stable enough to consider restarting our Junior section and also League matches. Our current Online activities will still continue
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16th September 2021........Will you return even if masks needed?
Our normal venue Cairns Church has said that Clubs can restart activities in their halls subject to some Covid restrictions. (A contact register, sanitising, wearing masks when moving and probably also while playing.)
A letter has been sent to members asking if they want to return, subject to those conditions. So far about a dozen have agreed.
11th August 2021.......Chess in October? League matches in January?
Throughout the pandemic Bearsden have had a weekly online Rapidplay tournament on Tuesdays and this has now been moved to Thursdays to prepare for the restart of our over-the board activities on Tuesdays. With substantial easing of restrictions this is now looking more attainable. The Glasgow league MANCOM met tonight including some from Dumbarton and Lanark leagues and agreed that:
- - Clubs should restart when premises were available, perhaps still with some Covid restrictions
- -The restart (in October?? TBC) should be for non-League activities until we see what our membership is likely to be
- - League match chess is unlikely to start before January 2022 once we determine what our membership and teams will be.
11th August 2021......Scottish National Online chess League set up
After the series of matches run earlier this year Ian Brownlee has established this online League for Scottish Clubs. 10 teams entered so far.
The Bearsden Club secretary Mel Burt ([email protected]) has already sent details to Bearsden's online members and committee members.
Club members not covered by that but interested in playing in one of the teams we might be forming should contact Mel Burt for information.
The Bearsden Club secretary Mel Burt ([email protected]) has already sent details to Bearsden's online members and committee members.
Club members not covered by that but interested in playing in one of the teams we might be forming should contact Mel Burt for information.
2nd April 2021....... Rob Colston wins our online Club Championship
Rob is the clear winner of this new Online 5-round Swiss Championship tournament.
Each round Black and White games were played at 30 minutes +5 second increment.
With 8.5 out of 10 possible points only Marco D' Alessio and Stuart Callison were able to dent Rob's otherwise perfect score.
Each round Black and White games were played at 30 minutes +5 second increment.
With 8.5 out of 10 possible points only Marco D' Alessio and Stuart Callison were able to dent Rob's otherwise perfect score.
23rd March 2021........ Both online teams doing well
Both our "Bearsden Grizzlies" team in the 4NCL and our team in the SNOCL are doing well. The Grizzlies drew with one of the top teams tonight and are reasonably placed for promotion as are our team in the SNOCL.
22nd March 2021........Over the board chess next season?
Resumption of over-the board chess MIGHT be possible next season. (September 2021) with the hoped-for exit from lockdown which is forecast the return of OTB chess is looking more possible , though nothing is certain.
If / when it happens the club will have to decide how it wants to handle the return and how we provide OTB and Online facilities for our members. The Club committee and team captains intend to start discussing this next week.
If / when it happens the club will have to decide how it wants to handle the return and how we provide OTB and Online facilities for our members. The Club committee and team captains intend to start discussing this next week.
26th January 2021..... ..Bearsden Grizzlies win first match
Congratulations to our "Bearsden Grizzlies" team in the Online 4NCL.
Bearsden players were David Watt, Marco D'Alessio, Stuart Callison and Simon Kerridge
They outgraded their opponents Shropshire and won comprehensively 4-0
Bearsden players were David Watt, Marco D'Alessio, Stuart Callison and Simon Kerridge
They outgraded their opponents Shropshire and won comprehensively 4-0
19th January 2021....... A Bearsden team also in the SNOCL
Bearsden have also entered a team into the newly created Scottish National Online Chess League (SNOCL) This League has been set up by Ian Brownlee and other Chess Scotland members and will be separate from but similar to the English "National" Chess League (NCL)
It will start with 6 League Club matches , the first two rounds being on 30th January and later rounds in February and March.
The team Captain is recent member Chris Cotton with Mel Burt as the Club representative for admin.
Further information is on the Chess Scotland website. Click this link or paste it.
https://www.chessscotland.com/news-post/scottish-online-chess-league-2021-2/
It will start with 6 League Club matches , the first two rounds being on 30th January and later rounds in February and March.
The team Captain is recent member Chris Cotton with Mel Burt as the Club representative for admin.
Further information is on the Chess Scotland website. Click this link or paste it.
https://www.chessscotland.com/news-post/scottish-online-chess-league-2021-2/
12th January 2021....... A Bearsden team in Online 4NCL
Acting on a suggestion from ex-member Stuart White, Bearsden have now entered a team in the Online version of the 4NCL League.
Various club members have previously played in the original Over-the-board version of this national UK League and this gives at least a few members the chance for high-level longer-time online games, this time using the LiChess platform. The Team Captain is Rob Colston and the first of the fortnightly matches will be on Tuesday 26th January.
Various club members have previously played in the original Over-the-board version of this national UK League and this gives at least a few members the chance for high-level longer-time online games, this time using the LiChess platform. The Team Captain is Rob Colston and the first of the fortnightly matches will be on Tuesday 26th January.
9th January 2021...... An Online International match for Bearsden!
Bearsden Online chess Club were challenged to an online match by RCD Mallorca chess Club. The format was two 15 minute games each using Chess.com
We thought it was a 6 board match but unfortunately Mallorca only had 4 players so there were 8 games which Bearsden won clearly 8-0. The other Bearsden players won convincingly but my two games were typical error-filled allegro affairs where my opponent could have won or drawn but he made more blunders than I did so he lost.
We thought it was a 6 board match but unfortunately Mallorca only had 4 players so there were 8 games which Bearsden won clearly 8-0. The other Bearsden players won convincingly but my two games were typical error-filled allegro affairs where my opponent could have won or drawn but he made more blunders than I did so he lost.
31st December 2020.....Happy New Year and Club Champ
A Happy New Year to all our members. With Covid vaccinations underway we can reasonably expect a return to normal chess activities NEXT season though unlikely before that. Hope you have got something out of our online activities during the lockdown. The draw for the fourth round of our online Championship is published (Click this link or go to Club Championship section)
24th November 2020 .......Andrew Greet Simultaneous result
IM Andrew Greet played 11 Bearsden Online club members in a "clock simul " on 24th November using Chess.com, where he had 50 minutes + increments FOR ALL the games. Despite that significant handicap he played quickly to a high standard and beat 9 of us, only conceding one draw (to Budapest-lover Goetz Bucher ) and ONE loss to Stuart Callison who played a French defence very soundly.
Playing a clock simul through Chess.com was a "first" for those involved; definitely a repeatable, enjoyable success although there were some connection problems resulting in 3 of the intended participants not being able to connect in.
Bearsden are very fortunate to have a very strong international player like Andrew who regularly gives his time to the club
Playing a clock simul through Chess.com was a "first" for those involved; definitely a repeatable, enjoyable success although there were some connection problems resulting in 3 of the intended participants not being able to connect in.
Bearsden are very fortunate to have a very strong international player like Andrew who regularly gives his time to the club
6th November 2020.......Andrew Greet Simul is on 24th November
Andrew's "Clock simultaneous" against about a dozen Bearsden players is now fixed for Tuesday 24th November , as that date suited more people than the 17th did.The game duration has still to be confirmed by Andrew but will be at least 30 minutes with 10 second increments
3rd November 2020......Andrew Greet Simultaneous proposed
Club member IM Andrew Greet has again offered to play a simultaneous against some members of Bearsden Chess Club.
As this will be online it will be an interesting version of the "Clock Simuls" Andrew has previously given for us.
I expect he will still be very successful despite the tough time condition playing all of us at once.
Entrants are still being collected and the numbers will determine the clock time.
The target date is Tuesday 17 November but 10th and 24th are also possible alternatives
As this will be online it will be an interesting version of the "Clock Simuls" Andrew has previously given for us.
I expect he will still be very successful despite the tough time condition playing all of us at once.
Entrants are still being collected and the numbers will determine the clock time.
The target date is Tuesday 17 November but 10th and 24th are also possible alternatives
27th October 2020......Bearsden- Stepps match result
The result was a comprehensive overall victory for Stepps in this match using Chess.com.
Bearsden won the "Titled challenges" 2.5 to 1.5 on the top two boards but the rest of the team lost 4-16. (All 12 players played two games, with White and Black.)
We have some excuses; for various reasons several of our stronger players were unable to play and our two welcome replacement Juniors, Jimmy Lin and Kitty Jadhav were facing far stronger players. Stepps played well
Revenge would be good so I hope we can arrange a rematch whether or not a Scottish and/or Glasgow Online Chess League gets started this season.
Bearsden won the "Titled challenges" 2.5 to 1.5 on the top two boards but the rest of the team lost 4-16. (All 12 players played two games, with White and Black.)
We have some excuses; for various reasons several of our stronger players were unable to play and our two welcome replacement Juniors, Jimmy Lin and Kitty Jadhav were facing far stronger players. Stepps played well
Revenge would be good so I hope we can arrange a rematch whether or not a Scottish and/or Glasgow Online Chess League gets started this season.
26th October 2020......Bearsden v. Stepps online match on 27th Oct
On Tuesday 27th October at 7:15pm Bearsden and Stepps have arranged a "Club Match" with a dozen players from each club.
It will be online using Chess.com and consist of two Allegro (10min+5sec) games for each player.
The Bearsden team will include our resident GM and IM and Stepps also have a group of strong players, though at such short times some surprise results are likely.
If you are not playing you can still watch the moves of the match as they happen..
Either paste https://www.chess.com/live#tm=269977 into your web browser and pick the "Stepps-Bearsden challenge" or log into Chess.com and select "Play" then "Live Chess" then "Tournaments" to select the "Stepps-Bearsden challenge"
The normal Bearsden weekly Allegro is still expected to take place but a bit later ( 8:15pm ) after this interclub match.
It will be online using Chess.com and consist of two Allegro (10min+5sec) games for each player.
The Bearsden team will include our resident GM and IM and Stepps also have a group of strong players, though at such short times some surprise results are likely.
If you are not playing you can still watch the moves of the match as they happen..
Either paste https://www.chess.com/live#tm=269977 into your web browser and pick the "Stepps-Bearsden challenge" or log into Chess.com and select "Play" then "Live Chess" then "Tournaments" to select the "Stepps-Bearsden challenge"
The normal Bearsden weekly Allegro is still expected to take place but a bit later ( 8:15pm ) after this interclub match.
3rd October 2020....Online Allegro and Championship
Bearsden are going to continue with the current Tuesday Allegro and also run a "Club Championship Swiss" throughout the season giving the opportunity for longer timed games. These events are explained in this attachment and this link explains about joining online
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1st September 2020......Online Chess next season
Bearsden Chess Club plans on-line events for members throughout next season.
Please respond saying whether you expect to take part in the activities below.
Normal over the board chess activities are not possible for chess clubs with the current Covid 19 pandemic and restrictions.
For now, uncertainty over distancing requirements and venue availability mean that we can not plan a physical return until regulations change and there is a wider acceptance that close-contact activities are safe.
The overall situation will be constantly reviewed by this Club and the Leagues but it seems unlikely that over-the-board games could restart before January 2021 or April 2021 which would in effect mean missing a season until September 2021.
However, to continue some form of chess activity for our members we have planned a series of on-line activities from October 2020 throughout this season.
Bearsden Online Chess Club was formed on 27th March 2020 using Chess.com and our member Rob Colston has been running Allegro tournaments for us every Tuesday.
Expanding that activity, with more help, we now plan to have on-line events such as:-
- The current Tuesday Allegro tournaments (or blitz sometimes?)
- A weekly Grand Prix Allegro for Juniors (three 10 minute games) from 6:30 – 7:30 pm with points for the top 3 each week and a 2020 and 2021 prize.
- Multiple-board matches for teams of balanced strength, to longer times.
- Possibly online simultaneous matches against Andrew or Jacob as special events but we have NOT yet confirmed this.
- Possibly also an on-line version of the club Championship & a Ladder league.
The current Allegro would be the default with the other events substituting in some weeks.
All of the above would be on Chess.com which is free and easy to use. (Instructions are in the “News” section of our website www.bearsdenchessclub.weebly.com)
Tuesday is our normal club night and most of these events (except Club Championship) would be scheduled for Tuesdays. The extra activities are likely to start from
Tues 6th October.
For these online games we also trust you not to use Chess computers or Opening books.
Fees The Club will not have to pay the major costs of Room hire and affiliation fees though there are still a few small costs such as website payment and possibly some paid versions of Chess.com However, WE DO NOT INTEND TO CHARGE MEMBERS at least until the Leagues restart and Cairns Church premises are again available to us.
Bearsden CC Committee 31 August 2020
5th August 2020....... Chess next season
The Bearsden Online Chess Club is continuing to hold blitz tournaments (#35 was last night) but by this time in the year the Clubs and Leagues would normally be confirming team entries for next season and soon sending out "welcome to the new season" documents to prospective members.
However, with the continuing Covid restrictions it is unlikely that any Club/League chess will be starting at the usual mid-September time.
Some preparation discussion has taken place among the Club and League committees but until the situation on, for example 2-metre / 1-metre distancing and on venue availability is clearer, no restart date can be set.
There will be discussion on these issues at the Glasgow League Management Committee (Zoom) meeting on 12 August which MIGHT give some advice on start-back options but the main things influencing our start-back will be governmental/medical regulations and, of course, our members' wishes.
However, with the continuing Covid restrictions it is unlikely that any Club/League chess will be starting at the usual mid-September time.
Some preparation discussion has taken place among the Club and League committees but until the situation on, for example 2-metre / 1-metre distancing and on venue availability is clearer, no restart date can be set.
There will be discussion on these issues at the Glasgow League Management Committee (Zoom) meeting on 12 August which MIGHT give some advice on start-back options but the main things influencing our start-back will be governmental/medical regulations and, of course, our members' wishes.
16th June 2020........Regular Online tournaments. International and Local
Although local club chess is in "suspended animation" while the Covid 19 Lockdown is still in force, international internet chess has greatly expanded with the top players regularly playing in tournaments broadcast on Chessbase.com and other platforms.
At a slightly lower level, Bearsden Online Chess Club is also playing regularly with 21 Blitz tournaments to date, every Tuesday 7:45pm and some Fridays.
As would be expected the stronger across-the-board Bearsden players such as Andrew Greet and Rob Colston also dominate these blitz sessions but the faster time controls increase the blunders and chances of upsets..
Any members or keen observers can sign in to this club for the regular tournaments...just go to Chess.com and follow the instructions listed below (27 March News entry) or look at the " Joining Online" instructions in the drop-down menu at News in this site
At a slightly lower level, Bearsden Online Chess Club is also playing regularly with 21 Blitz tournaments to date, every Tuesday 7:45pm and some Fridays.
As would be expected the stronger across-the-board Bearsden players such as Andrew Greet and Rob Colston also dominate these blitz sessions but the faster time controls increase the blunders and chances of upsets..
Any members or keen observers can sign in to this club for the regular tournaments...just go to Chess.com and follow the instructions listed below (27 March News entry) or look at the " Joining Online" instructions in the drop-down menu at News in this site
28th April 2020.........Virtual AGM circulated
The consolidated documents for this season's "virtual" AGM were slightly amended by the Bearsden Committee and Team Captains and have now been sent to all our members. Coincidentally, the 28th of April is actually the date on which the original AGM would have taken place!
17th April 2020..........Virtual AGM underway
The normal reports have been received from Committee members and Team Captains and these documents have been initially circulated around that group for comments. After any changes have been included these documents will be consolidated and circulated to our wider membership for their comments and approval.
1st April 2020...........First three Online tournaments completed
The online club is up and running, with three Allegro/Blitz tournaments held so far
A Trial 10 minute-5 second increment 6-player Allegro on 24 March won by Rob Colston with 3/3
A Blitz tournament 4 players on 27 March won by IM Andrew Greer with 3/3
An allegro on 31 March with 8 players won by Rob with 2.5/3
Several players had difficulty signing into this last tournament. An updated joining instruction PDF can now be seen at the end of these news pages or by clicking on "Joining Online"
A Trial 10 minute-5 second increment 6-player Allegro on 24 March won by Rob Colston with 3/3
A Blitz tournament 4 players on 27 March won by IM Andrew Greer with 3/3
An allegro on 31 March with 8 players won by Rob with 2.5/3
Several players had difficulty signing into this last tournament. An updated joining instruction PDF can now be seen at the end of these news pages or by clicking on "Joining Online"
27th March 2020...........Online Bearsden Chess Club started
We sincerely hope that you are safe and well.
Bearsden Chess Club has decided to launch a closed online chess club, within chess.com.
It is hoped that this will be a way for club members to keep in touch while we are not able to play over-the-board, and provide some activity for people stuck at home whether social distancing, or in self isolation.
There is also some added security in keeping this to people we know.
We plan to have a rapid-play (Allegro) tournament every Tuesday at 19:45 for the foreseeable future. We had a trial one this week, and it went very well. We would now like to open this out to all adult members, and older juniors. If popular, we will add other events, at other regular times.
Instructions for getting involved were prepared by Rob Colston and are shown at the end of the News pages or by clicking here Joining Online
To get things started, there will be a rapid-play tournament tonight (Friday 27th March) at 19:45. (Time limit is 10 minutes with 5-second increments per move)
We will email out to let people know about various online events, so please let the Secretary Mel Burt know if you would prefer not to be included in those announcements.
Bearsden Chess Club has decided to launch a closed online chess club, within chess.com.
It is hoped that this will be a way for club members to keep in touch while we are not able to play over-the-board, and provide some activity for people stuck at home whether social distancing, or in self isolation.
There is also some added security in keeping this to people we know.
We plan to have a rapid-play (Allegro) tournament every Tuesday at 19:45 for the foreseeable future. We had a trial one this week, and it went very well. We would now like to open this out to all adult members, and older juniors. If popular, we will add other events, at other regular times.
Instructions for getting involved were prepared by Rob Colston and are shown at the end of the News pages or by clicking here Joining Online
To get things started, there will be a rapid-play tournament tonight (Friday 27th March) at 19:45. (Time limit is 10 minutes with 5-second increments per move)
We will email out to let people know about various online events, so please let the Secretary Mel Burt know if you would prefer not to be included in those announcements.
22nd March 2020.............Virtual AGM Proposed
As we will not be able to have a normal attended AGM at end-April when our season was due to finish we propose to have a "Virtual" one where the contributors submit reports and business items. These will be summarised and circulated for comments and approval. Obviously this is not as ideal as an attended AGM but the information provided will be fresher now rather than waiting half a year till the new season in September. Details of this process will be circulated soon by the President and Secretary. .
16th March 2020..........Club CLOSED as Coronavirus precaution
In common with several other Chess Clubs and the Glasgow and Dunbarton Chess Leagues, the Committee of Bearsden Chess Club decided today to to close the club for the remainder of the season, which would have run through April..
Chess is a close-proximity sport with players aged from 9 to 90 and it seems prudent to minimise the risk of infection.
We are sorry to curtail your Chess activities. The Club will restart next season in September (we hope!) and updates will continue to be posted on our website in the time till then. .
Chess is a close-proximity sport with players aged from 9 to 90 and it seems prudent to minimise the risk of infection.
We are sorry to curtail your Chess activities. The Club will restart next season in September (we hope!) and updates will continue to be posted on our website in the time till then. .
11th March 2020 .............Club Championship Final Round
In the Final (5th) round of this year's Club Championship the two leaders Rob Colston and Goetz Bucher are playing each other.
However three others could still catch them - Sambhav Chadha, Stuart Callison and Alistair Goodall.
However three others could still catch them - Sambhav Chadha, Stuart Callison and Alistair Goodall.
15th February 2020...............Club involvement in Dragon League
)Way back in 1966 when Bearsden Chess Club was restarted our Constitution said that we would "promote the enjoyment of the game of Chess in this district". One of the ways we still do this is helping to organise the Dragon League competitions for Primary and Secondary schools in this area.
Today, three Bearsden members (Eugene Duffy, Jeff Webb and Mel Burt) ran the Secondary school part of this competition at Bishopbriggs Memorial Hall. In a 5-round competition among Douglas Academy, Bearsden Academy and St Maurice's, Cumbernauld the clear winners with 5/5 were St Maurice's with Douglas 'B' team second and Douglas 'D' third.
The three players shown below in the St Maurice team are all from the same family (!) Emma, Mark and Liam Heron. A very talented family.
Today, three Bearsden members (Eugene Duffy, Jeff Webb and Mel Burt) ran the Secondary school part of this competition at Bishopbriggs Memorial Hall. In a 5-round competition among Douglas Academy, Bearsden Academy and St Maurice's, Cumbernauld the clear winners with 5/5 were St Maurice's with Douglas 'B' team second and Douglas 'D' third.
The three players shown below in the St Maurice team are all from the same family (!) Emma, Mark and Liam Heron. A very talented family.
23rd December 2019........Club team and member update.
During the Christmas/New Year holiday break here are some comments on how our teams and various members have done this season.
In the Glasgow League the A team is in contention in Division One along with Stepps, Cathcart and Hamilton. clubs. The Bearsden-Stepps match on 7 January could be crucial. The newly-promoted B team in Division 2 and the C team in Division 3a are comfortably mid-table. The position in the Dunbarton League is more obscure as the League website has technical problems and is not up-to-date. However the A team is doing OK.
Regarding individual member achievements, apart from IM Andrew Greet's steady run of tournament successes a quick scan through Chess Scotland news items shows other members doing well e.g Rob Colston and Ishan Kumar in the Malawi rapid and Christopher Nield, Laila Almansoori and Ishan Kumar in the GrandPrix Leaderboard. In fact Ishan is romping away in the "age 11" section with 76 points currently, as much as the next three entrants combined! Ishan's live grade increase has actually activated the "200-up" rule to increase his start-of-season grade.
Apologies if these examples have missed some other member successes and all the best for Next Year
In the Glasgow League the A team is in contention in Division One along with Stepps, Cathcart and Hamilton. clubs. The Bearsden-Stepps match on 7 January could be crucial. The newly-promoted B team in Division 2 and the C team in Division 3a are comfortably mid-table. The position in the Dunbarton League is more obscure as the League website has technical problems and is not up-to-date. However the A team is doing OK.
Regarding individual member achievements, apart from IM Andrew Greet's steady run of tournament successes a quick scan through Chess Scotland news items shows other members doing well e.g Rob Colston and Ishan Kumar in the Malawi rapid and Christopher Nield, Laila Almansoori and Ishan Kumar in the GrandPrix Leaderboard. In fact Ishan is romping away in the "age 11" section with 76 points currently, as much as the next three entrants combined! Ishan's live grade increase has actually activated the "200-up" rule to increase his start-of-season grade.
Apologies if these examples have missed some other member successes and all the best for Next Year
17th December 2019........Junior Championship won by Jimmy Lin
Two rounds of the Junior Championship took place on 3 Dec and the final two rounds on 17 December.
New junior member Jimmy Lin came first with a full score of 4/4. Peter Hall and Sandy Prentice were in joint second place with 3/4
Pictures below of the first group of contestants, the Junior Trophy and Club President Niels Billcliff presenting the trophy to Jimmy.
New junior member Jimmy Lin came first with a full score of 4/4. Peter Hall and Sandy Prentice were in joint second place with 3/4
Pictures below of the first group of contestants, the Junior Trophy and Club President Niels Billcliff presenting the trophy to Jimmy.
4th December 2019........Malawi Rapid wins
The Malawi rapid Charity chess event was held at the end of November and resulted in a three-way tie for first prize.
Bearsden's regular A team player IM Andrew Greet and our occasional player Jonathan McKay shared the top spot with Tommy Barrett of Troon, all on 4/5
Bearsden's regular A team player IM Andrew Greet and our occasional player Jonathan McKay shared the top spot with Tommy Barrett of Troon, all on 4/5
29th September 2019...... Another Quickplay win for Andrew.
The Glasgow Polytechnic Centenary Quickplay was held on the 100th anniversary of the first meeting of the Polytechnic club and Bearsden's IM Andrew Greet swept to first prize with a 5/5 score and a 2554 performance. Andrew is very good at Quickplay!
It was also notable that one of Bearsden's new Junior players 11-year-old Ishan Kumar scored a good 2.5/5 with a 1425 performance. Ishan is not as strong as Andrew (yet) but is already playing and winning in one of Bearsden's League teams against players graded 300 higher.
It was also notable that one of Bearsden's new Junior players 11-year-old Ishan Kumar scored a good 2.5/5 with a 1425 performance. Ishan is not as strong as Andrew (yet) but is already playing and winning in one of Bearsden's League teams against players graded 300 higher.
14th September 2019......Andrew wins Arran Quickplay
Club member IM Andrew Greet came first in the Arran Quickplay. Playing chess on an island such as Arran can introduce unusual problems. After the first round of this competition the cotroller announced that some of the ferries had been cancelled so lunch would be cancelled and rounds 3 to 5 accelerated from 15mins + 10 secs/move to 6 mins + 10secs.
Fortunately the Bearsden players still triumphed; Andrew came first with 4.5/5, Steve Mannion ( not Bearsden) 2nd on 4/5 and Rob Colston 3rd with 3.5/5 .Rob and Andrew took equal 3.5/4 scores into the last round but Andrew ground Rob down in the endgame. Still, a fantastic result for Rob with a rating performance of 2263.
Fortunately the Bearsden players still triumphed; Andrew came first with 4.5/5, Steve Mannion ( not Bearsden) 2nd on 4/5 and Rob Colston 3rd with 3.5/5 .Rob and Andrew took equal 3.5/4 scores into the last round but Andrew ground Rob down in the endgame. Still, a fantastic result for Rob with a rating performance of 2263.
7th September 2019...........White to move !
No, not a chess puzzle. One of Bearsden's leading players Stuart White is moving to take up a Mathematics post at Oxford University.
As well as being one of our strongest players and captaining our A team, Stuart has contributed greatly to the club as a driving force behind coaching and organising our "stronger juniors" who have terrorised our opponents in the Leagues.
Stuart will be greatly missed and his clubmates wish him well in future.
Knowing Stuart's other interest in climbing the club presented him with two books and the picture shows Club president Niels Billcliff giving Stuart one of the books at a blitz/pizza evening Stuart arranged..
As well as being one of our strongest players and captaining our A team, Stuart has contributed greatly to the club as a driving force behind coaching and organising our "stronger juniors" who have terrorised our opponents in the Leagues.
Stuart will be greatly missed and his clubmates wish him well in future.
Knowing Stuart's other interest in climbing the club presented him with two books and the picture shows Club president Niels Billcliff giving Stuart one of the books at a blitz/pizza evening Stuart arranged..
10th June 2019.......upcoming chess dates for the club
Wed 04/09/2019 Glasgow League Fixtures meeting
Wed 11/09/2019 Dumbarton League Fixtures meeting
Tue 17/09/2019 Senior Club Starts
Tue 24/09/2019 Junior section also starts
1st June 2019......Andrew Greet wins Ayr Congress
Club member IM Andrew Greet shared first place with FM Hamish Olson 4/5 in the Ayr Congress, which had a strong field with 4 IMs and 2 FMs
19th May 2019........Donation to Govanhill Chess
Govanhill is not the most affluent area of Glasgow but it has Scotland's most ethnically diverse neighbourhood and has a very strong sense of community as shown by the efforts made to maintain and upgrade the impressive Community Baths and community Centre.
One of the uses of the Centre is to support and run a new Chess Club and recently one of the Club organisers, Julien Papillon asked local Chess clubs for help to expand what the Govanhill Club already does.
Bearsden are fortunate to have more equipment than we reasonably need so were able to donate some sets, boards, clocks and books.
Two of the analogue clocks were actually broken but Govanhill have already shown their skill by fixing them ! The bulk of the books donated were foreign-language versions of beginners chess books written by one of Bearsden's founder members Ronald Mongredien but these were eagerly accepted as being ideal for the diverse range of ethnic minorities in Govanhill.
Govanhill Chess Club hope to enter a team next year in one of the Chess Leagues, thus helping chess in this area.
There is more information on Govanhill at https://www.govanhillbaths.com/
The picture below shows Club secretary Mel Burt giving the items to Govanhill representative Julien Papillon
One of the uses of the Centre is to support and run a new Chess Club and recently one of the Club organisers, Julien Papillon asked local Chess clubs for help to expand what the Govanhill Club already does.
Bearsden are fortunate to have more equipment than we reasonably need so were able to donate some sets, boards, clocks and books.
Two of the analogue clocks were actually broken but Govanhill have already shown their skill by fixing them ! The bulk of the books donated were foreign-language versions of beginners chess books written by one of Bearsden's founder members Ronald Mongredien but these were eagerly accepted as being ideal for the diverse range of ethnic minorities in Govanhill.
Govanhill Chess Club hope to enter a team next year in one of the Chess Leagues, thus helping chess in this area.
There is more information on Govanhill at https://www.govanhillbaths.com/
The picture below shows Club secretary Mel Burt giving the items to Govanhill representative Julien Papillon
3rd May 2019.......Club Indian meal
To mark the end of the season 8 Club members had a meal in the Ashoka, Bearsden. The picture below shows the participants after we polished off the food.
30th April 2019.......AGM and presentation of prizes
At the AGM President Niels Billcliff said that it had been a very successful year with the Club thriving and growing, especially with the Junior coaching sessions. The Club Championship was shared between Stuart White and David Watt and the Grading prize went to Stuart Callison.
The photos below show Niels presenting the prizes to David and Stuart C
The photos below show Niels presenting the prizes to David and Stuart C
18th April 2019.......Stuart White and "Tiger" Watt tie Championship
Stuart White and David Watt have shared the Club Championship with scores of 4.5/5
This is certainly not the first time David put his name on this Trophy as he dominated the competition way back in the 80s and 90s, winning or sharing it 6 times before. Just like Tiger Woods, senior competitors can sometimes return to win.
This is certainly not the first time David put his name on this Trophy as he dominated the competition way back in the 80s and 90s, winning or sharing it 6 times before. Just like Tiger Woods, senior competitors can sometimes return to win.
10th April 2019........David Watt wins or shares Championship
Last night at the club David Watt ensured that he would win or share the Club Championship by beating Marco D'Alessio in a tense Gruenfeld Defence where both player threatened mate with their respective pairs of Rooks. David's connected Rooks on the seventh rank proved stronger. The only player who can match David's score is Stuart White if he manages to beat Pete McEwen in this final round.
3rd April 2019...........A hit and a near miss
Our Glasgow B team ensured promotion to Division 2 last night by beating Cathcart C 4-0. The six-person team in Division 2 will give more of our members the chance of playing in matches . Warning: Division 2 is much tougher!
Unfortunately our Glasgow A team did not win Division 1 and the League as they were beaten 3-5 by arch-rivals Stepps in the final decisive match and finished second..
Unfortunately our Glasgow A team did not win Division 1 and the League as they were beaten 3-5 by arch-rivals Stepps in the final decisive match and finished second..
20th March 2019........Glasgow League promotion likely
,One of the Club's aims this season was to get our Glasgow B team promoted from Division 3 to 2 where the six-player teams would give match practice to more of our increased membership. After last night's defeat of our main rivals, Glasgow Montrose, the B team captained by Simon Kerridge is now 4 match points ahead of them with only two matches to play.
For Glasgow Montrose to catch us they will have to clearly win both their matches and we would have to badly lose both of ours.
Arithmetically possible but very unlikely.
The Glasgow A team will also win the top Division if they win their last two matches against Poly and Stepps, or draw Poly and beat Stepps.
Since Stepps recently whitewashed Bellshill they have a superior board count so a draw against Stepps will not suffice.
For Glasgow Montrose to catch us they will have to clearly win both their matches and we would have to badly lose both of ours.
Arithmetically possible but very unlikely.
The Glasgow A team will also win the top Division if they win their last two matches against Poly and Stepps, or draw Poly and beat Stepps.
Since Stepps recently whitewashed Bellshill they have a superior board count so a draw against Stepps will not suffice.
5th February 2019...... Stuart leads Chess Scotland Grand Prix
Club member Stuart White is currently leading the top section of the ChessScotland GrandPrix, an annual league which takes players performances across a selection of eligible tournaments in Scotland to find the best overall performance that year.
Unfortunately Stuart is unlikely to be able to play in enough of the "eligible" tournaments this season so his good performance will likely be overtaken by other entrants. Still, well done right now!
Unfortunately Stuart is unlikely to be able to play in enough of the "eligible" tournaments this season so his good performance will likely be overtaken by other entrants. Still, well done right now!
4th February 2019.....League positions at mid-season
Overall our teams are doing well at the mid-point of the season. The Glasgow League A team is (narrowly) leading the top division and the Glasgow B team and Dumbarton A and B teams are well-placed in their divisions. Our two C teams are achieving their aims of winning some games and providing League chess experience to club members.
8th January 2019......US Chess Champion visits Club
The current US Chess Champion GM Sam Shankland is visiting one of our members (GM Jacob Aagaard who has been coaching him for 5 years) before playing in the top Wijk aan See tournament against Carlsen, Anand, Kramnik and others. Sam agreed to come along to demonstrate and explain one of his Championship games to our "advanced Juniors" section and other club members.
As Sam is rated 2725 and recently one of the world top dozen players, this was a bit like getting Rafael Nadal to come to your tennis club or Lionel Messi to attend your local football club. Sam showed us his US Championship game against Awonder Liang, invited suggestion for moves and explained the thinking behind the moves he actually chose.
Sam's progress in this elite tournament can be followed on https://www.tatasteelchess.com/ and two photos of his visit are shown below
As Sam is rated 2725 and recently one of the world top dozen players, this was a bit like getting Rafael Nadal to come to your tennis club or Lionel Messi to attend your local football club. Sam showed us his US Championship game against Awonder Liang, invited suggestion for moves and explained the thinking behind the moves he actually chose.
Sam's progress in this elite tournament can be followed on https://www.tatasteelchess.com/ and two photos of his visit are shown below
28th November....... Special events in the two weeks before holiday break
Bearsden chess club will be running two special events in December.
Tuesday 11 December: Handicap Blitz Tournament - a swiss tournament, with players assigned various time handicaps based on ratings, so players of all strengths are very much encouraged to participate. Now in the second year of operation, the 'traditional' prizes of the Chocolate Orange Trophy for best junior, and bottle of wine for `best Andrew' (or best adult if someone finally beats him) will be up for grabs. Registration from 7:45, when the handicap groups will be worked out, with the first round at 8. We should finish around 10.
Tuesday 18 December: How good is your chess. Our traditional end of year quiz / guess the move. This will most likely be led by Jeff Webb, starting between 7:45 and 8.
Tuesday 11 December: Handicap Blitz Tournament - a swiss tournament, with players assigned various time handicaps based on ratings, so players of all strengths are very much encouraged to participate. Now in the second year of operation, the 'traditional' prizes of the Chocolate Orange Trophy for best junior, and bottle of wine for `best Andrew' (or best adult if someone finally beats him) will be up for grabs. Registration from 7:45, when the handicap groups will be worked out, with the first round at 8. We should finish around 10.
Tuesday 18 December: How good is your chess. Our traditional end of year quiz / guess the move. This will most likely be led by Jeff Webb, starting between 7:45 and 8.
18th November 2018........Strong performances in Oban
There was a great turnout for Bearsden at the Oban Congress this year, with 9 club members competing. Andrew Greet sealed first place in the Open with 4.5/5 and Simon Kerridge also won the Major section with a superb 4.5/5. Well done to all who took part.
23rd October 2018.........Bearsden B and C results in the Dumbarton league
Bearsden B continued their strong start to the season with a win over Cumbernauld in their second match. Impressive displays from Marco and Johnny were promising. Marco may have learnt a thing or two from Stuart's advanced coaching session on "being careful" and successfully avoided all the traps in an open game! For Bearsden C, Brian secured a draw on board 1 and it was great to see Alex and Mateo getting some match experience - they were both unlucky to lose out this time.
9th October 2018......Andrew Greet Simultaneous
Right after leading the Scottish team in the Batumi, China Chess Olympiad, Andrew gave another simultaneous display against the Juniors and then Seniors at the Club.
He maintained his "clean-sweep" record against the Juniors, with best-game prizes going to Sanjith Madhavan (visiting from East Kilbride club) and ....TBA... None of the Seniors managed to get a full point though three managed a draw (Rob Colston., Mel Burt and Sambhav Chadha) Pictures of some of the Junior and Senior sessions below.
He maintained his "clean-sweep" record against the Juniors, with best-game prizes going to Sanjith Madhavan (visiting from East Kilbride club) and ....TBA... None of the Seniors managed to get a full point though three managed a draw (Rob Colston., Mel Burt and Sambhav Chadha) Pictures of some of the Junior and Senior sessions below.
4th October 2018........Stranraer Congress winners.
Getting the new season off to a flying start. Bearsden 's Stuart White was equal first in the top section with 3.5/4 and new member Junior Mateo Rodriguez Rosales was also equal first in the <1400 section with 3/4 . Mateo's brother Alvaro was just behind on 2.5/4
2nd October2018...... Bearsden A v Bearsden B - Dumbarton League
Bearsden B shocked Bearsden A with an impressive opening win in the Dumbarton league. In the same fixture last year Bearsden A won comfortably, which shows how far the youngsters have come!
Most of the young B -team are just 14 or 15-year-olds whereas the far higher-graded "Old Masters" in the A-team were at least four times their age!
The Club Secretary rubbed salt into their wounds by saying "Isn't it great for the Club that we have such strong Juniors?"
To their credit the "Old-Masters" agreed, though perhaps through gritted teeth!
Most of the young B -team are just 14 or 15-year-olds whereas the far higher-graded "Old Masters" in the A-team were at least four times their age!
The Club Secretary rubbed salt into their wounds by saying "Isn't it great for the Club that we have such strong Juniors?"
To their credit the "Old-Masters" agreed, though perhaps through gritted teeth!
25th September.......Chess Scotland Grand Prix Winners
Three Bearsden Juniors: Sambhav Chadha, Liam Tang, Ritvik Maheshwari have won substantial prizes in the 2018 Grand Prix series.
Pictured below being presented by Eugene Duffy and Niels Billcliff
Pictured below being presented by Eugene Duffy and Niels Billcliff
18th September 2018..........New season starts
The senior section starts on 18th September (Juniors following week) and the Club Blitz Championship is being run by Stuart White on 25th September followed by IM Andrew Greet's simultaneous display on 9th October .......see below
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16th August 2018......upcoming chess dates for the club
Wed 05/09/2018 Glasgow League Fixtures meeting
Wed 12/09/2018 Dumbarton League Fixtures meeting
Tue 18/09/2018 Senior Club Starts
Tue 25/09/2018 Junior section also starts
Wed 12/09/2018 Dumbarton League Fixtures meeting
Tue 18/09/2018 Senior Club Starts
Tue 25/09/2018 Junior section also starts
14th June 2018........Dumbarton League also changes rate of play
At the Dunbarton League AGM last night it was unanimously agreed to change the rate of play from the previous "30 moves in 60 minutes followed by 15 minutes each Quickplay finish" to
"The rate of play shall be all moves in 75 minutes".
thus making it the same as the Glasgow League (below).
The Bearsden Club Championship will also use this new timing and the Lanarkshire League is also expected to adopt this timing at their AGM next week. This general conformity means that the digital clock settings will be the same in all our competitions.
Note that the "draw claim in last two minutes" rules still apply near the end of the 75 minutes.
"The rate of play shall be all moves in 75 minutes".
thus making it the same as the Glasgow League (below).
The Bearsden Club Championship will also use this new timing and the Lanarkshire League is also expected to adopt this timing at their AGM next week. This general conformity means that the digital clock settings will be the same in all our competitions.
Note that the "draw claim in last two minutes" rules still apply near the end of the 75 minutes.
31st May 2018.........Glasgow League change rate of play
At the Glasgow League AGM last night it was decided to change the rate of play from the previous "30 moves in 60 minutes followed by 15 minutes each Quickplay finish" to
"The rate of play shall be all moves in 75 minutes".
Note that the Quickplay finish rules still apply at the end of the 75 minutes. This new rate of play was introduced to avoid problems where players were unsure whether they were in the first or second time period and also to reduce problems arising from the slightly different types of digital clocks in use, where some counted the moves and some did not.
This change applies to all Divisions of the Glasgow League but currently not to other Leagues such as the Dunbarton.
Of course this means that Clubs will need to check that the appropriate rate of play has been set up on the clock, as the "previous default" setting might not be the one required.
(Although the Bearsden Club AGM discussed this change and mandated our representative to vote against the change a large majority of Clubs voted for it)
"The rate of play shall be all moves in 75 minutes".
Note that the Quickplay finish rules still apply at the end of the 75 minutes. This new rate of play was introduced to avoid problems where players were unsure whether they were in the first or second time period and also to reduce problems arising from the slightly different types of digital clocks in use, where some counted the moves and some did not.
This change applies to all Divisions of the Glasgow League but currently not to other Leagues such as the Dunbarton.
Of course this means that Clubs will need to check that the appropriate rate of play has been set up on the clock, as the "previous default" setting might not be the one required.
(Although the Bearsden Club AGM discussed this change and mandated our representative to vote against the change a large majority of Clubs voted for it)
8th May 2018 ..........Andrew Greet Clock Simultaneous display
On 8th May at Bearsden Club IM Andrew Greet will be giving a simultaneous display against a group of Bearsden A team players and "top juniors" starting at 7:30pm. Any club members or interested chess players from other clubs are welcome to spectate.
A clock simul at League time controls is really tough as Andrew will have to share his single time allocation amongst all his opponents.!
He still has a great record at previous such simuls, losing almost no games.
A clock simul at League time controls is really tough as Andrew will have to share his single time allocation amongst all his opponents.!
He still has a great record at previous such simuls, losing almost no games.
1st May 2018.........AGM and successful season
- All the reports at our end-of-season AGM showed that the Club had been successful, profitable and lively this year.There were no League trophies but if Silver medals had been given we would have won four!
- Our Glasgow A team was second in Division 1 and our B and C teams were also second in Divisions 3a and 3b. In the Dumbarton League our A team was second in Division 1, our B team stayed in that top division and our C team finished mid-table in Division 2.
- The Club Champion is relatively new recruit Rob Colston and Pete McEwen won the Grading Prize.
- Possibly the most important club success though was the dramatic improvement in our "Advanced Juniors" with several upping their national grading by 200, 300 or more. For example, the Club Championship grading Prize winner Pete McEwen had a 400 higher performance grading
- These massive leaps are due to the improving skill and dedication of our Juniors and also the fortnightly "masterclasses" run by our top players and titled members
21st March 2018.........The state of play
The 2017 - 2018 chess season is nearly finished and we can now see how well most of our six teams are going to do. Certainly successfully !
- In the Glasgow League it is still arithmetically possible for our A team to win the League if we win our last two matches and our nearest rivals lose all of theirs. Of course that is rather like the Scottish football team's prospects in the early stages of several World Cups. Realistically, second place in a tough division is more likely.
- Both the B team and the C team have pushed for promotion in the two sections of Division 3 but both are expected to finish in second place, just missing out.
- In the Dumbarton League our A team has played all its matches and is actually topping the table but since Stepps and Poly Rooks have games in hand they are very likely to overtake us.
- As noted below our "Junior-filled" B team have achieved their tough goal of staying in the top flight. Amazingly, that B team is also in the Final of the Dumbarton Knockout. No B team has ever won that KO competition so it would be like Leicester City winning the English football Premiership to do that!
- Bearsden C have now played all their matches and will finish in the top half of division 2.
- Lastly, one of our Juniors Cathy Madsen pointed out that she had come fifth in the top section of the Scottish Girls championship last week. No medals yet but since her dad is the ex-British Chess Champion we can expect more success from her in future!
13th March 2018.... Bearsden B stay in Division One
No, we haven't won win the Dumbarton League Division One but our B team has stayed up!
After promotion from Division two last season the plan was to give several of our "top Juniors" the chance to play against the far stronger teams in Division one. This has been very successful. Apart from the team captain, the results have been excellent with for example, Peter McEwen having a performance 500 points above his grading! Well done guys!
After promotion from Division two last season the plan was to give several of our "top Juniors" the chance to play against the far stronger teams in Division one. This has been very successful. Apart from the team captain, the results have been excellent with for example, Peter McEwen having a performance 500 points above his grading! Well done guys!
5th March 2018...... Snow blizzard disruption, again
At the start of March severe blizzard conditions forced the delay of at least 3 matches. Glasgow A team against Cathcart and Phones and Glasgow C team against Giffnock. Matches are starting again on 6 March but there is now a large backlog pushing into April.
24th January 2018.....Important but narrow win over Stepps
Bearsden A beat a strong Stepps A team by the narrowest of margins in the Glasgow league. Early in the game a quick draw was agreed in a level position on board 2 as the Stepps player was waiting for the AA to come and fix his car(!), but Jeff was in trouble out of the opening on board 3 and ended in an unsalvageable position. Hard-fought struggles on boards 4,5,6, all ended in draws, whilst on boards 7 and 8 Marco and Liam put their opponents to the sword in impressive style. Needing to draw to win the match, Jacob calmly hoovered off most of the remaining pawns in a rook and pawn ending on board 1 to progress in a few moves from what looked like a complicated position to one with absolutely no play whatsoever, giving us a well deserved 4.5 - 3.5 victory. This win keeps Bearsden in the running for the Championship though there are still hard matches to come.
16th January 2018.....Snow stops play.
Unusually heavy snow on Tuesday 16th January and for several days later forced the postponement of THREE matches.
Our Glasgow B team home against Glasgow University Camels, Dumbarton C team against Phones at home and our Glasgow C team Away against Giffnock.
All being rescheduled
Our Glasgow B team home against Glasgow University Camels, Dumbarton C team against Phones at home and our Glasgow C team Away against Giffnock.
All being rescheduled
19th December 2017......."How good is your Chess?" session
For the last club night before the Club closed for Christmas/New Year ( Junior and adult sections re-start 9th january) Stuart White organised a "How good is your chess" quiz, using a Short v. Andersen game. The participants guessed the next moves and Stuart commented on their choices and assigned points . The Chocolate Orange prize was fiercely contested by the better players (i.e. our good Juniors) with Sambhav Chadha triumphing.
Ian English provided some mince pies and soft drinks to help the proceedings.
Some of us limbered up during the Junior session which ran before the Quiz. The author of this piece carefully explained to his opponent that he was taking a pawn "en passant" and even explained why the en passant rule came about in the 16th Century. However, what I overlooked was that my opponent's move exposed an attack on my queen , which was lost after the en passant capture!
28th November 2017...... Handicap Blitz.....Greet and Billcliffe/Tang triumphant
Around 18 players took part, with weaker players getting time advantages against stronger players. The ‘battle for the bottle of wine’ (best adult) wasn’t particularly close; IM Andrew Greet won all 7 of his games with only 1 minute + 1 sec a move (compared to either 3, 5 or 10 mins for his opponents). Sambhav ran Andrew the closest with a long and difficult endgame being played on increments. A tactical flurry ended with a knight fork by Andrew to regain his material, leading to a Knight + 2 Pawns v Rook endgame.
We all thought Andrew had seen this tactic coming a way off, but he admitted afterwards that he was a bit lucky to have it! Eventually Sambhav lost with an illegal move, but it was a really impressive effort.
The ‘fight for the chocolate orange’ for the best junior was a much closer competition: going into the last round Matthew was leading with 4/6 with Marco, Sambhav on 3/6 and Liam joining on 3/6 (6 half point byes!) following his club championship game. Matthew lost and Liam won, so the chocolate orange was shared (immediately after the last game).
It was very successful and enjoyable and the organiser, Stuart White, says that there will probably be another similar event in the new year.
We all thought Andrew had seen this tactic coming a way off, but he admitted afterwards that he was a bit lucky to have it! Eventually Sambhav lost with an illegal move, but it was a really impressive effort.
The ‘fight for the chocolate orange’ for the best junior was a much closer competition: going into the last round Matthew was leading with 4/6 with Marco, Sambhav on 3/6 and Liam joining on 3/6 (6 half point byes!) following his club championship game. Matthew lost and Liam won, so the chocolate orange was shared (immediately after the last game).
It was very successful and enjoyable and the organiser, Stuart White, says that there will probably be another similar event in the new year.
26th November 2017.....Dragon League event.
The Dragon League is an event which takes place 3 times a year for Primary and Secondary schools in the East Dunbartonshire and Glasgow areas. Bearsden Chess Club help with the Primary Schools event, organise the Secondary event and also administer the Dragon League bank account. .
At the event on 26th November in Milngavie Town Hall there were well over a hundred Primary pupils involved and two dozen Secondary ones. Eugene Duffy and Mel Burt from Bearsden Club ran the five-round Secondary event.
It started in, unfortunately typical, last minute chaos with several teams turning up short and several unexpected School entrants, however the Rounds then ran smoothly with 5 schools and 8 teams involved. - 3 Douglas Academy, 2 Bishopbriggs , 2 Cumbernauld and one combined Bearsden Academy and Glasgow High School team.
Cumbernauld Academy A team came first with a clean sweep of 5 points, Bishopbriggs Academy A second with 4 points and Cumbernauld Academy B team third, also with 4. The winning teams are shown below, in 1st, 2nd, 3rd sequence.
At the event on 26th November in Milngavie Town Hall there were well over a hundred Primary pupils involved and two dozen Secondary ones. Eugene Duffy and Mel Burt from Bearsden Club ran the five-round Secondary event.
It started in, unfortunately typical, last minute chaos with several teams turning up short and several unexpected School entrants, however the Rounds then ran smoothly with 5 schools and 8 teams involved. - 3 Douglas Academy, 2 Bishopbriggs , 2 Cumbernauld and one combined Bearsden Academy and Glasgow High School team.
Cumbernauld Academy A team came first with a clean sweep of 5 points, Bishopbriggs Academy A second with 4 points and Cumbernauld Academy B team third, also with 4. The winning teams are shown below, in 1st, 2nd, 3rd sequence.
18th November 2017.... Bearsden Juniors in Liverpool Quadrangular.
The Northern Quadrangular has Junior chess teams representing Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland in Under 16, U14, and U12 sections.
Last year 4 Bearsden Juniors were in the teams who topped the U14 and U12 sections.
This year for the event on 2-3 December 2017 in Liverpool we have SIX Bearsden Juniors going.
Marco D'Alessio, Liam Tang, Sambhav Chadha and Matthew Billcliffe in the U16 category (That's most of the team!), Sahib Kohli in the U14 and Ritvik Maheshwari in the U12.
Good luck guys!
Last year 4 Bearsden Juniors were in the teams who topped the U14 and U12 sections.
This year for the event on 2-3 December 2017 in Liverpool we have SIX Bearsden Juniors going.
Marco D'Alessio, Liam Tang, Sambhav Chadha and Matthew Billcliffe in the U16 category (That's most of the team!), Sahib Kohli in the U14 and Ritvik Maheshwari in the U12.
Good luck guys!
30th October 2017......A tough start in Glasgow League
Bearsden A lost their first Glasgow league div 1 match 5-3 against last year's defending champions Paisley in a hard fought encounter. Despite being out-rated by an average of 110 points per board, the match was very tight coming down to the last 40 seconds of the last game! Peter had a nice win against Alex McFarlane. Marco and Goetz made good draws against stronger opposition (in Goetz's case from a very wild position). Rob managed a truly outrageous save, and Andrew held a difficult finish against Stephen Mannion. Alan Sharp played well but eventually lost in what was apparently his first league game since 1990(!); my game against Andy Muir went on a long time before I cracked under time pressure and all my pieces started to drop off. The night ended with a frantic blitz finish, with Liam trying hard for the team to win a probably level position to save the match and ending up losing. A good effort all round.
3rd October 2017...... IM Andrew Greet simultaneous display
IM Andrew Greet gave a well attended simultaneous display. In the junior section he won all his games (for a score of 14/14); several juniors gave good performances with the prize for the best game awarded to Peter Hall.
16 participants took part in the senior session. Jeff Webb won a stunning attacking game, crashing home with a Bxh7 sacrifice and a lawnmower mate on the g and h-files. Rob Colston was awarded the best game prize for a nice attack leading to an advantageous Queen vs 2-Rooks ending, where his passed pawns combined with Andrew’s weak king to give him a large advantage which he converted smoothly.
Andrew eventually won all the other games for a score of 14/16, though he met quite a lot of resistance, particularly from some of our stronger juniors with Liam Tang being awarded the prize for the best junior performance. The evening ended quite late when Stuart White was ground down in a technical position losing in 92 moves. ...pictures below of Liam and Rob with their prizes and Peter with his.
16 participants took part in the senior session. Jeff Webb won a stunning attacking game, crashing home with a Bxh7 sacrifice and a lawnmower mate on the g and h-files. Rob Colston was awarded the best game prize for a nice attack leading to an advantageous Queen vs 2-Rooks ending, where his passed pawns combined with Andrew’s weak king to give him a large advantage which he converted smoothly.
Andrew eventually won all the other games for a score of 14/16, though he met quite a lot of resistance, particularly from some of our stronger juniors with Liam Tang being awarded the prize for the best junior performance. The evening ended quite late when Stuart White was ground down in a technical position losing in 92 moves. ...pictures below of Liam and Rob with their prizes and Peter with his.
26th September 2017...... Blitz Championship winner
Our first Club Blitz Championship was organised by Stuart White and held over 7 rounds.
Despite the use of time handicaps to even out the different playing strengths, Stuart White won with a clean 7 points.
However he admitted that he had inferior positions against three of our Juniors (Marco, Liam and Matthew ) so was lucky to escape!
The event also demonstrated the advantage of the Club now having TWO rooms where the older "blitz-escapees" were able to play chess at a less frenetic rate.
Despite the use of time handicaps to even out the different playing strengths, Stuart White won with a clean 7 points.
However he admitted that he had inferior positions against three of our Juniors (Marco, Liam and Matthew ) so was lucky to escape!
The event also demonstrated the advantage of the Club now having TWO rooms where the older "blitz-escapees" were able to play chess at a less frenetic rate.
24th September 2017 Kirkcaldy Congress gains for Bearsden juniors
Over the weekend of 22-24 September the inaugural Kirkcaldy Chess Congress took place with entrants under 2000, 1700 and 1400.
Our juniors Sambhav Chadha, Ritvik Maheshwari and Sahib Kohli entered each of those categories and although they did not win any of the prizes they all had grading performances 200 or 300 points higher.
Our juniors Sambhav Chadha, Ritvik Maheshwari and Sahib Kohli entered each of those categories and although they did not win any of the prizes they all had grading performances 200 or 300 points higher.
19th September 2017...... New Season starts
The senior section starts on 19th September (Juniors following week) and the Club Blitz Championship is being run by Stuart White on 26th September followed by IM Andrew Greet's simultaneous display on 3rd October .......see below
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27th August 2017......Marymass success for Bearsden juniors
A contingent of 4 Bearsden juniors played in the Marymass congress at the end of August, with excellent results.
Marco came joint second in the open tournament. He was unbeaten with 3.5/5 (including a draw with FM Phillip Guillian) with a fantastic rating performance of 2135 (well over 400 points higher than his published rating).
Sambhav was unbeaten in the major, winning the grading prize and also with a rating performance over 400 points higher than his published rating. Liam and Matthew also had good tournaments in the major, both gaining significant amounts of rating.
Marco came joint second in the open tournament. He was unbeaten with 3.5/5 (including a draw with FM Phillip Guillian) with a fantastic rating performance of 2135 (well over 400 points higher than his published rating).
Sambhav was unbeaten in the major, winning the grading prize and also with a rating performance over 400 points higher than his published rating. Liam and Matthew also had good tournaments in the major, both gaining significant amounts of rating.
22nd August 2017.........New grades out
Chess Scotland have published their 2017-18 grading list, and it's been a good year for Bearsden with many members achieving big increases.
Rob Colston in his first year back playing chess for quite some time, achieved an excellent 1919 performance. Stuart White gained 196 points, sneaking in over 2100 at 2101. Peter McEwan also saw a big gain of 145 points and Goetz and Jeff both gained over 50 points moving back up towards 2000.
Our younger players made some huge gains. We all knew John McEwan was underrated at 861, and he gained 628 (!) points to come in 1489. Marco gained 305 points to reach 1658, and has already gained another 91 points so far this season. Sambhav and Matthew both gained over 350 points coming in at 1398 and 1363 respectively, while Liam, Ritvik and Sahib all saw gains of 150 points or more.
Rob Colston in his first year back playing chess for quite some time, achieved an excellent 1919 performance. Stuart White gained 196 points, sneaking in over 2100 at 2101. Peter McEwan also saw a big gain of 145 points and Goetz and Jeff both gained over 50 points moving back up towards 2000.
Our younger players made some huge gains. We all knew John McEwan was underrated at 861, and he gained 628 (!) points to come in 1489. Marco gained 305 points to reach 1658, and has already gained another 91 points so far this season. Sambhav and Matthew both gained over 350 points coming in at 1398 and 1363 respectively, while Liam, Ritvik and Sahib all saw gains of 150 points or more.
16th August 2017......upcoming chess dates for the club
Wed 13/09/2017 Glasgow League Fixtures meeting
Tue 19/09/2017 Senior Club Starts
Wed 20/09/2017 Dumbarton League Fixtures meeting
Tue 26/09/2017 Junior section also starts
Tue 03/10/2017 Andrew Greet simultaneous at club
Tue 19/09/2017 Senior Club Starts
Wed 20/09/2017 Dumbarton League Fixtures meeting
Tue 26/09/2017 Junior section also starts
Tue 03/10/2017 Andrew Greet simultaneous at club
23rd July 2017......Andrew Greet wins Dundee 150.
IM Andrew Greet was the outright winner of the "Dundee 150th" Tournament.
In an elite invited field he won ahead of 8 GrandMasters and one IM, with a score of 6/9
The Dundee Tournament celebrated the 150th anniversary of the historic Dundee 1867 Tournament , a similar 10 player "all-play-all" competition including world champion Wilhelm Steinitz and notable for being the first international tournament to use half a point for draws.
Andrew played some stunning, tense games not least his final round game against the top seed GM Rozentalis where he fought to a 135 move draw and first prize.
Pictures show Andrew being presented with the cup by paddy Burns of 4J and playing GM Simon Williams
In an elite invited field he won ahead of 8 GrandMasters and one IM, with a score of 6/9
The Dundee Tournament celebrated the 150th anniversary of the historic Dundee 1867 Tournament , a similar 10 player "all-play-all" competition including world champion Wilhelm Steinitz and notable for being the first international tournament to use half a point for draws.
Andrew played some stunning, tense games not least his final round game against the top seed GM Rozentalis where he fought to a 135 move draw and first prize.
Pictures show Andrew being presented with the cup by paddy Burns of 4J and playing GM Simon Williams
28th June 2017..... Largs Viking Congress successes
A large group of Bearsden Juniors ( Marco d'Alessio, Liam Tang, Sambhav Chadha, Peter McEwan, Matthew Billcliff and Sahib Kohli) played in the Open and Challengers tournaments each performing well above their grades and most winning grading or tournament entry prizes. e.g Liam Tang won the <1600 grading Prize.
31st May 2017............Glasgow League AGM feedback
The Glasgow League AGM on 31 May decided to retain the same divisional structure and an 8-board Division 1 team size.
In addition to the existing club bond fee lost for a single defaulted match, any club team defaulting MORE than one match (WITHOUT satisfactory explanation) will be ineligible to take part in any GCL activities the following season and will then have to reapply to rejoin in the lowest division. This came about because one particular club team (not us!!) has defaulted two or more matches (without explanation) for several years and this season defaulted 4 out of 5 away matches without any explanation. (See rule 6.4 in the Glasgow League website for new version)
There was was also a minor tie-breaking addition to rule 6.2 for teams in split divisions such as 3a/3b. It is a bit difficult to spell out but will be explained to our 3 glasgow team captains. .
In addition to the existing club bond fee lost for a single defaulted match, any club team defaulting MORE than one match (WITHOUT satisfactory explanation) will be ineligible to take part in any GCL activities the following season and will then have to reapply to rejoin in the lowest division. This came about because one particular club team (not us!!) has defaulted two or more matches (without explanation) for several years and this season defaulted 4 out of 5 away matches without any explanation. (See rule 6.4 in the Glasgow League website for new version)
There was was also a minor tie-breaking addition to rule 6.2 for teams in split divisions such as 3a/3b. It is a bit difficult to spell out but will be explained to our 3 glasgow team captains. .
28th May 2017...... Ayr Congress - Bearsden winners
A contingent of eleven (!) Bearsden players entered the Open, Major and Minor sections of this weekend tournament and won most of the prizes!
In the Open Stuart White came 1st with 4.5/5
In the Major, Junior Liam Tang won the grading prize with 3/5
In the Minor John McEwan came 1st with 4.5/5 and Brian Stokes won the grading prize with 3.5/5.
Nearly all the players improved their grades.
Even those who did not win prizes had some notable wins. e.g in the open, John's brother Peter beat two far higher graded players in the first two rounds and was then up against a series of players >2000. Further details on the link below to the Chess Scotland website
Hopefully pictures to follow.
In the Open Stuart White came 1st with 4.5/5
In the Major, Junior Liam Tang won the grading prize with 3/5
In the Minor John McEwan came 1st with 4.5/5 and Brian Stokes won the grading prize with 3.5/5.
Nearly all the players improved their grades.
Even those who did not win prizes had some notable wins. e.g in the open, John's brother Peter beat two far higher graded players in the first two rounds and was then up against a series of players >2000. Further details on the link below to the Chess Scotland website
Hopefully pictures to follow.
2nd May 2017....... Goetz triumphs again!
For the third successive year Goetz Bucher has won the Club Championship, with a perfect 5/5.
Several of his opponents pushed him hard but he deservedly won.. see picture below.
The Grading prize was won by younger member John McEwan who is off to University soon.
Several of his opponents pushed him hard but he deservedly won.. see picture below.
The Grading prize was won by younger member John McEwan who is off to University soon.
2nd May 2017.......Expansion agreed at AGM
At the end-of-season AGM the membership agreed to enter another team in the Glasgow League next season. With our increase in membership (from 30 to over 40) this will give more people a chance of playing in matches. This (sixth) team comes only two years after we introduced a new (fifth) team. As these extra fixtures will make our existing premises more crowded we have arranged with Cairns church to officially also use and pay for the smaller room across the hall.
26th April 2017........the Magnificent McEwans
Club members and brothers Peter and John McEwan have been very successful recently. Peter came equal second in our recently-completed Club championship and his younger brother John ( who is also a member of 1st Bearsden BB) was a member of the BB team which won the National BB Quiz tournament and their national chess tournament and has won the grading prize in the Bearsden Club Championship, for the largest grading performance jump ...nearly 50%
18th April 2017......Andrew Greet Clock Simultaneous
Bearsden member and ex-Scottish Champion IM Andrew Greet kindly agreed to give a "clock-simultaneous display" at the Club against nine of our best players.
Unlike a "normal" simultaneous where clocks are not used and those taking part have to wait for the Master giving the simultaneous to arrive at their board before making their move, in a clock-simul each player has a clock and can press it after making their move.
At the quite quick league timing used (30 moves in 60 mins and then finish in a further 15 mins) this puts a tremendous strain on the Master not to devote too much time to a particular game while the clocks on all his other games are running down.
Having said all that, Andrew showed his tremendous chess skill by winning nearly all the games, only conceding one draw and one loss (on time) to Mel Burt. Mel would like to thank his other 8 club mates for making their games sufficiently complex to delay Andrew enough for his clock to run out in that game since by then the position on the board hardly justified it! Andrew was quoted afterwards as saying "I could see what process I would need to take to win that game, so I rather switched off and concentrated on the others, forgetting about the time control."
Unlike a "normal" simultaneous where clocks are not used and those taking part have to wait for the Master giving the simultaneous to arrive at their board before making their move, in a clock-simul each player has a clock and can press it after making their move.
At the quite quick league timing used (30 moves in 60 mins and then finish in a further 15 mins) this puts a tremendous strain on the Master not to devote too much time to a particular game while the clocks on all his other games are running down.
Having said all that, Andrew showed his tremendous chess skill by winning nearly all the games, only conceding one draw and one loss (on time) to Mel Burt. Mel would like to thank his other 8 club mates for making their games sufficiently complex to delay Andrew enough for his clock to run out in that game since by then the position on the board hardly justified it! Andrew was quoted afterwards as saying "I could see what process I would need to take to win that game, so I rather switched off and concentrated on the others, forgetting about the time control."
21st March 2017...... Dumbarton league winners.
Confirmed that Bearsden's A team have won Dunbarton League Division One with 15/16 & Bearsden's B team have won Division two with 12/14 !
Well done guys!
Should be interesting next year when we have both A and B teams in the top division.
Well done guys!
Should be interesting next year when we have both A and B teams in the top division.
17th March 2017.....League Successes.
The League chess season is nearly finished and several Bearsden teams have topped their Division or are very well placed.
- In the Dunbarton League division 2 the B team led by Simon Kerridge ensured promotion to Division 1 by beating their closest rivals Stepps
- In the Dunbarton League division 1 the A team led by Jeff Webb are ahead of second-place Stepps A by 1 point with one match to play.
- In the Glasgow League division 3A the B team led by Niels Billcliff have a guaranteed second place.
- In the Glasgow League division 1 the A team led by Stuart White will likely finish in the upper half.
- In the Dunbarton League division 2 the C team led by John Lee has achieved their aim of providing match experience (and is in no danger of demotion!)
12th March 2017........Bearsden Juniors first in Scottish Schools Competition
The 2017 Scottish Schools Team Chess Championships took place on Sunday the 12th of March, in Broughton High School Assembly Hall, Edinburgh. The event attracted 45 teams across the sections.
The 2017 Schools team champions were:
Secondary – Bishopbriggs 1 – Marco D’Alessio, Liam Tang and Chris Wan.
Marco and Liam are shown below
The 2017 Schools team champions were:
Secondary – Bishopbriggs 1 – Marco D’Alessio, Liam Tang and Chris Wan.
Marco and Liam are shown below
19th January 2017......Perth prizes
Several Bearsden Juniors had considerable success at the Perth weekend congress.
In the Major, Marco d'Alessio, Liam Tang and Peter McEwan all played well above their grades and Marco and Peter won Grading prizes.
In the Minor, Ritvik Maheshwari and Sahib Kohli played several hundred points above their grades and Sahib's younger sister Gia scored a very creditable amount in her first ever tournament.
The outstanding Junior in this section was Matthew Billcliff who scored 4/5 with a grading performance over 500 points higher than his "start-of-season" grade and a share of the First Prize!
In the Major, Marco d'Alessio, Liam Tang and Peter McEwan all played well above their grades and Marco and Peter won Grading prizes.
In the Minor, Ritvik Maheshwari and Sahib Kohli played several hundred points above their grades and Sahib's younger sister Gia scored a very creditable amount in her first ever tournament.
The outstanding Junior in this section was Matthew Billcliff who scored 4/5 with a grading performance over 500 points higher than his "start-of-season" grade and a share of the First Prize!
8th January 2017.......Chess for Kicks
Michael Hanley of Hamilton Chess Club is a very active organiser of Junior Chess Events such as Chess for Kicks, an Allegro event which was held in Clarkston on 8th January.
Two Bearsden Juniors did extremely well: Sahib Kohli scored 4.5/5 in the "over 600" event and his sister Gia scored 4.0/6 in the "under 300" event.
Such success is not unusual for Sahib, he scored 5.0/5 in the Hamilton Junior congress "over 600" event in December!
Two Bearsden Juniors did extremely well: Sahib Kohli scored 4.5/5 in the "over 600" event and his sister Gia scored 4.0/6 in the "under 300" event.
Such success is not unusual for Sahib, he scored 5.0/5 in the Hamilton Junior congress "over 600" event in December!
5th January 2017....... Battle of Hastings - Rating Raid
Member Stuart White played in the top (Masters) Tournament at Hastings over Christmas/New Year.
In a very strong field with several Grandmasters he scored an excellent 50% (4.5/9.0) and a performance rating increase of 65 which will push his FIDE and Scottish rating back over 2000 (where it belongs!)
In a very strong field with several Grandmasters he scored an excellent 50% (4.5/9.0) and a performance rating increase of 65 which will push his FIDE and Scottish rating back over 2000 (where it belongs!)
26th December 2016 ......Bearsden teams top the Dumbarton League !?
2016 is ending on a high for Bearsden's A and B teams in the Dumbarton League.
Our A team tops Division 1 and the B team tops Division 2.
Those are excellent achievements at this stage but it should also be pointed out that teams further down the divisions could still catch up or surpass them as they have played fewer games with fewer losses or draws.
Our A team tops Division 1 and the B team tops Division 2.
Those are excellent achievements at this stage but it should also be pointed out that teams further down the divisions could still catch up or surpass them as they have played fewer games with fewer losses or draws.
20th December 2016..... Jeff Webb's "How Good is your chess?"
For the last session before the Christmas/New Year break Treasurer Ian English provided some soft refreshments and Jeff Webb again ran a "How Good is your Chess?" presentation showing a Grandmaster game where he invited suggestions for the next move and awarded points for the better tries. He picked Korchnoi- Najdorf from Wijk am Zee 1971 which started slowly but built to a dramatic middlegame with plenty of possible moves and some surprising variations. Out of a possible 60 points only a few of the members gained over 40 and a "best result " book prize ("Rampant Chess") was shared by two of our top juniors Matthew Billcliff and Marco D'Alessio. Photo of Matthew below.
13th December 2016..... Andrew Greet Simultaneous
Bearsden member and ex-Scottish Champion IM Andrew Greet kindly gave a simultaneous display at the Club for a dozen Junior and 16 Adult or "advanced-Junior" members, with book prizes for several categories of best game.
Andrew has now done this excellent event for the last three years and had a 100% win record until this year. However this year the members managed to get some points from him.
Junior Sambhav Chadha was an exchange up and drew his game and very Senior (veteran?) player Mel Burt actually won his game. Another veteran Tom Borland was given a best-game book prize from Andrew.
This Simultaneous display is in the 50th year since Bearsden CC was founded and there is a strange echo of the 40th anniversary Simultaneous display given by Andrew's colleague GM Jacob Aagaard in 2006 when the only winners in that display were... Mel and Tom!
The pictures below show Andrew in action with the Juniors, and one of the advanced-Juniors Liam Tang with his best-game book prize.
Andrew has now done this excellent event for the last three years and had a 100% win record until this year. However this year the members managed to get some points from him.
Junior Sambhav Chadha was an exchange up and drew his game and very Senior (veteran?) player Mel Burt actually won his game. Another veteran Tom Borland was given a best-game book prize from Andrew.
This Simultaneous display is in the 50th year since Bearsden CC was founded and there is a strange echo of the 40th anniversary Simultaneous display given by Andrew's colleague GM Jacob Aagaard in 2006 when the only winners in that display were... Mel and Tom!
The pictures below show Andrew in action with the Juniors, and one of the advanced-Juniors Liam Tang with his best-game book prize.
6th December 2016.....Scotland teams in Liverpool
This year’s Liverpool Quadrangular was a resounding success for the young Scotland squads as they topped the under 14 and the under 12 tables. The third placed finish of the under 16’s, who were one player short, ensured that the squad finished ahead of their English North, English Midlands and Welsh rivals in the combined standings. Four of Bearsden's Juniors... Matthew Billcliff, Marco D'Alessio, Liam Tang and Ritvik Maheshwari made a strong contribution to that success, winning or drawing most of their games. Here is a link to a news report on the Chess Scotland Website and a Group Photo below
22nd November 2016......Oban Congress prizes
Several club members competed very successfully in the Oban weekend Congress.
Stuart White came equal second in the Open with a 2173 performance and Junior members Liam Tang and Ritvik Maheshwari won grading prizes in the Major and Minor sections. Also, although he did not get a prize, junior Matthew Billcliff had a grading performance in the Major nearly 400 higher than his current grade!
Stuart White came equal second in the Open with a 2173 performance and Junior members Liam Tang and Ritvik Maheshwari won grading prizes in the Major and Minor sections. Also, although he did not get a prize, junior Matthew Billcliff had a grading performance in the Major nearly 400 higher than his current grade!
4th November 2016.....Club's half-century dinner
Bearsden Chess Club was one of the founding members of the Glasgow Chess League in 1908 but the Club disbanded during the Second World War. The current Club was re-founded in 1966 and has now been active for 50 years.
To mark that milestone several club members had a celebration dinner at the Ashoka restaurant in Bearsden. See photos below
There was an embargo on too much talk about chess but it was an entertaining, enjoyable evening. For instance, the Club Secretary gave a demonstration on what to do when one jumps out of a plane and the parachute does not open properly! At the end of the evening, the President appointed himself as Entertainment Convenor with the aim of promoting occasional sociable activities.
To mark that milestone several club members had a celebration dinner at the Ashoka restaurant in Bearsden. See photos below
There was an embargo on too much talk about chess but it was an entertaining, enjoyable evening. For instance, the Club Secretary gave a demonstration on what to do when one jumps out of a plane and the parachute does not open properly! At the end of the evening, the President appointed himself as Entertainment Convenor with the aim of promoting occasional sociable activities.
16th October 2016... Andrew Greet Simultaneous announced
Club member and ex Scottish Champion IM Andrew Greet has agreed to give another simultaneous display at the Club for Junior and Adult members. More information can be seen on the section "Andrew Greet Simul 2016" under this News heading
9th October 2016......Massive success at Dundee Congress
A large group of Bearsden players went to the Dundee & Angus Congress; all did well and FIVE gained Prizes.
Overall a fantastically good performance by the Bearsden contingent.
- IM Andrew Greet won the Open Tournament, with a clean sweep 5/5
- Goetz Bucher won a grading prize in the Open
- Junior Marco D'Alessio won a grading prize in the Major
- Junior Sambhav Chadha came second in the Minor
- Junior Mathew Billcliff won a grading prize in the Minor
Overall a fantastically good performance by the Bearsden contingent.
Andrew Greet, Marco D'Alessio, Sambhav Chadha, Goetz Bucher at Dundee & Angus Congress 2016
29th September 2016.......membership increase
The new season has started and the Club has been extremely well-attended in the first few weeks.
Although a couple of our adult players have said they are having a year's break from Chess for work or personal reasons we have already had at least nine new members; either "Adult returners" or Juniors, including two very strong Juniors Marco D'Alessio and Liam Tang who have been regularly winning top prizes in local Congresses and are keen to play League chess in our five teams.
Although a couple of our adult players have said they are having a year's break from Chess for work or personal reasons we have already had at least nine new members; either "Adult returners" or Juniors, including two very strong Juniors Marco D'Alessio and Liam Tang who have been regularly winning top prizes in local Congresses and are keen to play League chess in our five teams.
15th September 2016.... Baku Chess Olympiad finishes.
The 42nd Chess Olympiad finished in Baku with the Scottish team, led by Bearsden member Andrew Greet, finishing close to their forecast ranking (69th out of 150) . Andrew's individual performance on top board with 6/10 gave him a rating performance over 2500 but was just short of winning him another Grandmaster Norm. A full report on the Scottish team can be seen on the Chess Scotland website, or via this link
13th September 2016....new season starts
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6th June 2016..... Viktor the Terrible RIP
Viktor Korchnoi, one of the greats of Chess died on 6th June aged 85. As a child he survived the WW II Siege of Leningrad (now St Petersburg) , where over half a million Soviet citizens died, and such experiences shaped his formidable fighting spirit. He won the Soviet Junior and senior Championships and was a World Championship candidate on many occasions, fighting not just Anatoly Karpov but much of the Soviet state who bitterly opposed his political asylum in the West.
Along with such as Paul Keres and David Bronstein he was considered one of the strongest players never to become World Champion.
His Chess longevity was incredible; still in the World's top 100 at age 75 and thus a shining example to older chessplayers!
You can read more about him in various newspaper obituaries or in David Henderson's excellent Blog (click this then close X to return)
or in the Quality Chess Blog where "our" Andrew Greet shares some memories of playing Viktor.
Along with such as Paul Keres and David Bronstein he was considered one of the strongest players never to become World Champion.
His Chess longevity was incredible; still in the World's top 100 at age 75 and thus a shining example to older chessplayers!
You can read more about him in various newspaper obituaries or in David Henderson's excellent Blog (click this then close X to return)
or in the Quality Chess Blog where "our" Andrew Greet shares some memories of playing Viktor.
19th April 2016 ....Goetz Bucher is Club Champion, again
Goetz beat Mike Dyer in to win the Championship in the same convincing way as last season with a clean 5/5 score.
With Black, Goetz bravely played the wild Albin counter-gambit for his first time. In a tense game it was difficult to see who had the better chances but eventually Goetz out-combined Mike to a won ending.
Incidentally, if the result had gone the other way, with Mike winning there would have been an unprecedented 4-player tie for first Prize.
Inscribing all those names (Goetz Bucher, Mike Dyer, Antony Smith and Simon Kerridge) would have stretched the Club's finances and also the space on the Prize cup.
There is also a Grading Prize in this Championship. Two ungraded players; Callum McCue and Stuart Anderson had nearly-identical grading performances but Callum narrowly wins it.
With Black, Goetz bravely played the wild Albin counter-gambit for his first time. In a tense game it was difficult to see who had the better chances but eventually Goetz out-combined Mike to a won ending.
Incidentally, if the result had gone the other way, with Mike winning there would have been an unprecedented 4-player tie for first Prize.
Inscribing all those names (Goetz Bucher, Mike Dyer, Antony Smith and Simon Kerridge) would have stretched the Club's finances and also the space on the Prize cup.
There is also a Grading Prize in this Championship. Two ungraded players; Callum McCue and Stuart Anderson had nearly-identical grading performances but Callum narrowly wins it.
13th April 2016... Edinburgh Congress Premier
.Recently-joined Bearsden player FM Jesper Lauridsen came equal second in the Premier section of this tough Congress.There is a full listing of this event on the Chess Scotland website.
(You can click on the button below to see that, and then close "X" the ChessScotland web page to return to the Bearsden site.)
(You can click on the button below to see that, and then close "X" the ChessScotland web page to return to the Bearsden site.)
22nd March 2016..... success in Irvine Spring Congress
Bearsden player Simon Kerridge came second in the Minor section of this Congress. Simon has had a very sucessful season and a sizable jump in his grade. However, every silver lining has a cloud so he might now have to play in higher tournament sections next season!
11th March 2016......Good and Bad news in Glasgow League
In a crucial week for the League Championship, Bearsden's Glasgow A team played Paisley on 7 March and won 6-2 putting them at the top of the Division One table shown below. However, for the key match against Hamilton last night, two of our strongest players were unfortunately not available and we lost 2-6 against a generally higher-graded team. The match was still hard-fought and several of the Bearsden players did get better positions but could not follow through with wins. Congratulations to Hamilton who are now near-certain Champions this season.
Putting a positive view on it, this has certainly been a far better A team performance than last year when we courted relegation!.
Putting a positive view on it, this has certainly been a far better A team performance than last year when we courted relegation!.
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1st March 2016........A "Clock simultaneous" by Andrew Greet
Club member Stuart White arranged a "Clock Simultaneous" where member and International Master Andrew Greet (ELO grade 2496) played 8 of the Club's best players. Each of the 8 players had the normal "League time" of 60 Minutes for 30 moves plus a 15 minute Quickplay finish whereas Andrew had to play all 8 simultaneously... effectively giving him only 9 or 10 minutes per opponent! A significant handicap.
All the games were hard-fought but even where some of his opponents used the time disparity to get a temporary advantage the quality of Andrew's play was so good that he won 6 of the 8 games.
Only
FIDE Master Jesper Lauridsen (ELO 2320)
and Goetz Bucher won their games (Goetz on time)
Stuart White, Jeff Webb, Vaibhav Gadre, Mel Burt, Alex Moody and Tom Borland all lost sooner or later, with Jeff hanging on the longest.
It was an exciting experience and a good demonstration of why Andrew is of near-GM standard.
All the games were hard-fought but even where some of his opponents used the time disparity to get a temporary advantage the quality of Andrew's play was so good that he won 6 of the 8 games.
Only
FIDE Master Jesper Lauridsen (ELO 2320)
and Goetz Bucher won their games (Goetz on time)
Stuart White, Jeff Webb, Vaibhav Gadre, Mel Burt, Alex Moody and Tom Borland all lost sooner or later, with Jeff hanging on the longest.
It was an exciting experience and a good demonstration of why Andrew is of near-GM standard.
29th February 2016....... Dragon League Event in Milngavie Town Hall
The Dragon League is Chess contest for local Primary and Secondary School pupils, held three times per year. There are usually several hundred Primary pupils and about a score of Secondary pupils with Douglas Academy often leading the field.
The Primary part is organised by Tom Dibble, assisted by regular Chess supporters such as Mick Hanley, Frank Banahan and Trevor Davies and the Secondary part is run by Bearsden members Mel Burt, Eugene Duffy and John Lee. Tom organises the publicity, entrance fees and sponsor money and Bearsden Chess Club keep all Dragon league monies in a separate account.
This year several expected Secondary teams did not show up so the Secondary part of the contest was run as a 5-round individual tournament.
Advaith Sastry (a Bearsden Club member) and his Douglas Academy colleague, Jack Chateau-Loney tied for first place.
The Primary part is organised by Tom Dibble, assisted by regular Chess supporters such as Mick Hanley, Frank Banahan and Trevor Davies and the Secondary part is run by Bearsden members Mel Burt, Eugene Duffy and John Lee. Tom organises the publicity, entrance fees and sponsor money and Bearsden Chess Club keep all Dragon league monies in a separate account.
This year several expected Secondary teams did not show up so the Secondary part of the contest was run as a 5-round individual tournament.
Advaith Sastry (a Bearsden Club member) and his Douglas Academy colleague, Jack Chateau-Loney tied for first place.
24th February 2016 .......Leading Glasgow First Division
After beating Cathcart 5.5 - 2.5 last night, Bearsden now lead the Glasgow League First division with 12 match points (see table below)
However we have still to play Hamilton who have also not lost any matches
However we have still to play Hamilton who have also not lost any matches
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22nd February 2016 ....... Perth Congress sucesses
In the Perth Congress which finished yesterday, two club members, Jesper Lauridsen and Simon Kerridge both finished equal third in their respective sections of the Open and the Minor competitions
1st February 2016......Livingston Congress success for Andrew Greet
Club member IM Andrew Greet swept the board this weekend at the Livingston Congress Open with a perfect score of 5/5.
In the final round he met fellow Bearsden player Jesper Lauridsen and eventually triumphed with his steadily advancing pawns.
In the final round he met fellow Bearsden player Jesper Lauridsen and eventually triumphed with his steadily advancing pawns.
28th January 2016 .....Good and bad results in Dumbarton League
This week Bearsden's Division one Dumbarton team played their two main rivals (EK and Stepps) in matches which would probably determine the League and KO winners. Bearsden fielded an exceptionally strong team: A GM, IM and Fide Master in the first match against EK which we only won narrowly 2.5 - 1.5 and an IM and FM in the second match against Stepps, which counted for the League AND the KO competition.
Unfortunately we lost that narrowly 1.5 - 2.5 so are very unlikely to top the Dumbarton League this season.
The current Dumbarton Division One standings are shown below.
Unfortunately we lost that narrowly 1.5 - 2.5 so are very unlikely to top the Dumbarton League this season.
The current Dumbarton Division One standings are shown below.
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15th January 2016 ....Leading Division 1
After beating Cumbernauld 5.5 - 2.5 last night Bearsden are clear leaders of Glasgow League Division 1.
Our two main rivals Hamilton and Paisley can still catch us as they have also not lost any matches.
Our two main rivals Hamilton and Paisley can still catch us as they have also not lost any matches.
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8th January 2016 ...."Still going OK......"
After visiting Giffnock on 5th January and beating them 5-3 our Glasgow League A team is still leading Division 1, along with Hamilton and potentially, Paisley. However our toughest matches have still to come.........
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21st December 2015. "How good is your chess?"
To round off the pre-Christmas part of the Club's season, Jeff Webb gave another of his "How good is your chess?" demonstrations. He put a game up on the large display board and invited the audience (Adults and Juniors) to write down their choice of the next move, with points assigned for the best or reasonable moves. Some of the club members did well; others not so well, such as this writer who started badly by saying "Why can't White just develop with Bf1 - c4. ? ANSWER: Black just takes the Bishop with Qc7 x c4. Oh dear! There was a good supply of mince pies, chocolate and drinks for the participants. A good finish to the first part of the season.
25th November 2015 "So far, so good !?....."
The season has started well for most of our FIVE of our teams in the Glasgow and Dumbarton Leagues.
Our Glasgow A Team in Division One has won all three matches and are currently Joint leaders with Hamilton ...see table below from the Chess Scotland website.
Our Glasgow A Team in Division One has won all three matches and are currently Joint leaders with Hamilton ...see table below from the Chess Scotland website.
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....However, we have still to play several other strong teams such as Hamilton and Paisley who have also not lost any matches so it is FAR too early to be too optimistic about our chances of winning the League again!
The Glasgow B team is currently in third place in Division three.
Our Dumbarton A team are joint leaders of Division one and our Dumbarton B team are mid-table in Division two.
Our new Dumbarton C team was created to give more players match experience and has achieved that aim although they have not yet won their matches. Again, plenty of time left this season.
The Glasgow B team is currently in third place in Division three.
Our Dumbarton A team are joint leaders of Division one and our Dumbarton B team are mid-table in Division two.
Our new Dumbarton C team was created to give more players match experience and has achieved that aim although they have not yet won their matches. Again, plenty of time left this season.
22nd November 2015 Oban Congress successes
There were several outstanding successes for Bearsden club members at the recent Oban Congress.
In the Open section IM Andrew Greet led throughout and sealed victory in the final round with a draw against FM Neil Berry to finish with 4.5 out of a possible 5 points.
In the Major section Simon Kerridge similarly led with a clean score throughout the first four rounds. He needed only a draw against his nearest rival Graeme Russell in the final round to win that section but unfortunately lost and had to share second place on 4 points out of 5
You can see details of this Congress by taking this link to the Chess Scotland website and selecting the Congress / Oban Congress results. http://www.chessscotland.com/event2016/events2016.htm
In the Open section IM Andrew Greet led throughout and sealed victory in the final round with a draw against FM Neil Berry to finish with 4.5 out of a possible 5 points.
In the Major section Simon Kerridge similarly led with a clean score throughout the first four rounds. He needed only a draw against his nearest rival Graeme Russell in the final round to win that section but unfortunately lost and had to share second place on 4 points out of 5
You can see details of this Congress by taking this link to the Chess Scotland website and selecting the Congress / Oban Congress results. http://www.chessscotland.com/event2016/events2016.htm
20th October 2015. Andrew Greet Simultaneous at Club
Bearsden Chess Club are fortunate to have two ex-Scottish Chess Champions as members and one of them , International Master Andrew Greet, recently gave a Simultaneous Display at the Club for Junior and Adult members, at the start of the chess season.
That required Andrew to simultaneously play 12 Junior Club members (see photo) and then 14 Adult members.
Although he had the large handicap of only spending a few seconds on each move (and allowing his opponents to select the White pieces and play first! ) Andrew’s level of skill was such that he eventually won ALL of the Junior and Adult games.
That required Andrew to simultaneously play 12 Junior Club members (see photo) and then 14 Adult members.
Although he had the large handicap of only spending a few seconds on each move (and allowing his opponents to select the White pieces and play first! ) Andrew’s level of skill was such that he eventually won ALL of the Junior and Adult games.
15th August 2015. Ritvik Maheshwari gets to Challenger Final of UK Schools Chess
9 - year-old Ritvik Maheshwari, one of several promising Juniors in the Club, has not only won the junior section of his High School of Glasgow Chess Club with 7/7 but also won through to the final of the Delancy UK Schools Chess Challenge at Loughborough. The Chess Challenge is a four-stage competition involving 50,000 pupils across the UK. Here is an extract from the Milngavie and Bearsden Herald..
19th July 2015. GM Jacob Aagaard 2nd in Scottish International
In the122nd Scottish Championship and International held in Edinburgh from 11-19 July club member GM Jacob Aagaard came joint second half a point behind the winner GM Oleg Korneev of Spain. FM Neil Berry of Scotland had the same score as Jacob and was awarded the title of Scottish Champion on tie-break as he had the higher FIDE performance (TPR)
(Jacob has previously been both Scottish and British Chess Champion)
(Jacob has previously been both Scottish and British Chess Champion)