OFP Salver Standings – Thursday, 30th January 2020
Troon Chessblog – Thursday, 30th January 2020 – by Len Weir
Chess Blog J4
Jack Emulates dad in Bronze Win
Troon ‘C’ nearly trip
From Alex Smith;
Our game on Thurs 23rd ended in a disappointing 2 – 2 draw with Greenwood Knights
#1 Jim lost a very tough match to Lloyd Ferguson. He lost two pawns early on but managed to get them back but at the price of a slightly disorganised board. His opponent swapped off pieces to get a tactical advantage in a bishop end game and had an unstoppable pawn
#2 I played french defence against a king pawn opening, snatched two pawns early and my opponent got one back but left his pieces disorganised. I simply swapped piece for piece and his game gradually disintegrated
#3 Jack was simply too strong for his opponent and won with a classic queen rook march to the back row mate
#4 Dean was detained in glasgow and couldn’t play so we forfeited the point
Gold Championship
Clive was in excellent form to dispose of a hapless Len Weir. Going into the end game a pawn ahead he demonstrated how to wrap up a difficult Rook and pawn ending
Silver Championship
Frank Park secured the Silver title and promotion to the Gold next season with Bob Reid’s final sprint unable to catch him
Bronze Championship
Jack Barrett had to see off the emerging talents of Ross Duffy to claim the title he surrendered to Richard McMinn last Season
Well Done to both these Champions!
Motwani Quaich
Draw specialist Mike Chapman resisted the urge to go for a replay and managed to beat Sandy Gibson and now faces Cameron Smith in the next round
next week’s matches ………………all at home = busy night
Troon A v Ardrossan / Largs B
Troon B v Carrick
Troon C v Greenwood Gambits
GO TABLE TOPPERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OFP Salver Standings – Friday, 24th January 2020
Troon Chessblog – Friday, 24th January 2020 – by Len Weir
Chess Blog J3
Troon ‘A’ breathe fire on Dragons
After much negotiation Troon ‘A’ travelled to meet Kilmarnock Dragons. Duncan (Flash) Malcolm got his point in record time against Colin Strong. Tommy Barrett continued his fine form against Kenny Malkin with a draw. Board Five was the mystery game where neither player knew what was going on. Clive Baird was ‘supposed to be white!? (Yes) but won with the black pieces against John McNicoll. I managed the win against Roy Henderson to secure the win and John Calder bolstered that with a draw to Dougie Hamilton and Phil Thomas completed the rout extinguishing Jamie MacCallum. Result 1-5 to Troon ‘A’
ST0P press; Just learned Kilmarnock knocked in five against Prestwick ‘A’ so we still lead by 1.5 points
Troon ‘B’ went to the old mens’ cabin to accommodate Arthur Mccurley of Prestwick Falcons and scraped a draw 2.5-2.5. Our wins came at boards 4 & 5 courtesy of Mike Chapman and Sandy Gibson. John Shankland proved his resilience with a draw while captain bob employed his mirror in a long hard look contest!
A couple of notable games last night:-
In a highly technical game Graeme King lost his unbeaten record since joining the club in october to Phil Thomas in the Motwani Quaich. Graeme will be out for revenge when they meet in the gold
Jack Barrett also came unstuck in sight of winning the Bronze Championship when last year’s bronze winner Richard McMinn came away with the smile. Richard can now catch Jack but needs another point being one game behind
Games for 29th January
Motwani Quaich
Mike Chapman v Sandy Gibson ( replay )
Jim Wainwright v Alex Smith
Gold Championship
Duncan Malcolm v Phil Thomas
Clive Baird v Len Weir
Silver Championship
Jack Barrett v Ross Duffy
Bob Reid v Richard McMinn
Spare ; Frank Park ; David Ferguson
OFP Salver Standings – Saturday, 18th January 2020
Troon Chessblog – Thursday, 16th January 2020 – by Len Weir
Chess Blog J2
AYRSHIRE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 4
Cameron Smith stole the headlines as he dispensed with Ayr’s Stephen Hamilton whose abhorrence of spectators ‘grimacing ‘ is notable. This takes Cameron to 3 points from 4 games only a half point behind joint leaders Elliot Frew and defending champion Jamie Malkin. John Calder also moved up to 2.5 winning over Bob Reid while Phil Thomas dropped a half point as did Mike Chapman whose draw with Brian Teaz was a solid affair. Mine was not so solid when I produced a timid account against Ali Roy
Gold Championship
John Shankland was unable to contain a resurgent Clive Baird who moved his total to 3 from 5
Games for January in the Gold are:-
Duncan Malcolm v Phil Thomas
John Calder v Cameron Smith
John Shankland v Graeme King
Clive Baird v Len Weir
Spare Mike Chapman ; Tommy Barrett
Silver Championship
A real battle has emerged for this title after Bob Reid defeated David Ferguson to take his total to 4.5 points from 6 games ahead of Frank Park’s 4 Points from 5 games. Frank’s next game against Alex Smith is pivotal in the direction of the Gardiner Cup
Games for January
Sandy Gibson v Ross Duffy
Alex Smith v Frank Park
Jack Barrett v Richard McMinn
Coronelli Trophy
Jim Wainwright’s game with John Calder eventually took place with John succeeding and progressing to meet Bob Reid in the third round
Here is the semi final draw:-
Duncan Malcolm v Bob Reid or John Calder
Tommy Barrett v Len Weir
Motwani Trophy
Sandy Gibson and Mike Chapman drew their first round tie so the replay will decide who moves forward to the Second round
Round Two
Cameron Smith v Sandy Gibson or Mike Chapman
Phil Thomas v Graham King
Jack Barrett v Jim Wainwright or Alex Smith
Ross Duffy v Clive Baird
Troon Chessblog – Friday, 10th January 2020 – by Len Weir
Chess Blog J1
Happy new Year !!!
Tables Toppers
There is a school of thought which says that success is contagious and after Troon ‘A’ had achieved leader status in the Ayrshire Chess League First Division and their stable mates Troon B had emulated them by leading the Second Division pack the gauntlet was thrown at the feet of Troon ‘C’ whose captain Alex Smith, took the unusual step of resting himself ahead of the Third Division clash with fellow title chasers Ardrossan/Largs ‘C’. He introduced Dean McCusker who quickly justified selection by chalking up a win for the home side. However things weren’t so easy for Troon when, in a winning position Jack Barrett fell to a neat trap. Jim Wainwright re-established Troon’s advantage and top board David Ferguson got the important half-point to take Troon ‘C’ to top position
Troon ‘B’ had the tricky task of a trip to Stewarton where they won 3.5-1.5 with wins for captain Bob Reid and Sandy Gibson. They were without regular top board Cameron Smith but this result extends their lead
Probably most impressive was a resounding win for Troon ‘A’ 5-1 over third placed Ayr. After the visitors defaulted on board six Clive Baird and Duncan Malcolm shot the home team into a winning position and John Calder and Tommy Barrett made certain of the match win with draws leaving Phil Thomas to apply the decorative touch and stretch their lead
Congratulations to all teams. I think this is the first time we have led all three leagues at this time of the year
Gold Championship Pairings for January
Coronelli Trophy
Jim Wainwright v John Calder *
Gold
Graham King v Phil Thomas
John Shankland v Clive Baird
Duncan Malcolm v Tommy Barrett
Spare Cameron Smith, Len Weir
Silver Championship Pairings For January
Bob Reid v David Ferguson
Sandy Gibson v Ross Duffy
Alex Smith v Frank Park
Jack Barrett v Richard McMinn
Coronelli Trophy
2nd Round
Jim Wainwright v John Calder
Motwani Quaich
Sandy Gibson v Mike Chapman
Ayrshire Championship Round Four
Troon Players
Cameron Smith (2)
Len Weir (2)
John Calder (1.5)
Phil Thomas (1.5)
Bob Reid (1.5)
Mike Chapman (1)
OFP Salver Standings – Thursday 9th January 2020
News Update – Thursday 9th January 2020
The Ayrshire Junior Chess Tour continues this month at Greenwood Academy on Thursday, 30th January