Bearsden 3.5 - 4.5 Inverclyde
Inverclyde Chess Club made a fantastic start to the 2014-15 chess season with a win away to Bearsden. The club had narrowly avoided relegation from the Glasgow League First Division last season, but could feel more confident about the season ahead, boosted by the return of Jim Montgomery, who played top board. Inverclyde were very keen to avoid a repeat of last season's humiliation, when a understrength Inverclyde team were crushed 8-0 by a Bearsden team which included a Grandmaster and an International Master.
On this occasion Bearsden could not field their star players, and the the teams were more evenly matched, though the home team still started as clear favourites: Inverclyde had a grading advantage on board 1, with boards 2-4 being roughly equal; Bearsden had the grading advantages on boards 5-8.
The match began well for Inverclyde, with a comfortable win for Andy Smith on board 8. Neither side could break through on board 6, as David Logue drew, preserving Inverclyde's lead. The match then shifted towards Bearsden, as Inverclyde could only manage two draws from the next four games to finish, through John Calder and Stephen Hilton. With the top two boards last to finish, Bearsden lead by 3.5-2.5. Some sharp play in a knight and queen endgame by Inverclyde's Jim Montgomery was enough to win his first game back for Inverclyde, leveling the score. With the final result depending on the last game to finish, Kevin McDonald coolly exploited the extra piece and time advantage he had built, and his opponent's resignation gave Inverclyde the match.
After last season's struggle against relegation, it was a great relief for Inverclyde's players to make such a positive start to the season.
Full Result:
| Bd | Grade | Bearsden A | (1) | vs | (7) | Inverclyde | Grade | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2027 | Rocks, Daniel | 0 | - | 1 | Montgomery, Jim | 2144 | Away Win |
| 2 | 2007 | White, Stuart A | 0 | - | 1 | McDonald, Kevin | 2026 | Away Win |
| 3 | 1970 | Webb, Jeff R L | ½ | - | ½ | Calder, John | 1928 | Draw |
| 4 | 1845 | Bucher, Goetz | ½ | - | ½ | Hilton, Steve H | 1832 | Draw |
| 5 | 1858 | Dyer, Michael T | 1 | - | 0 | McPheator, Gary | 1741 | Home Win |
| 6 | 1774 | Burt, J Mel | ½ | - | ½ | Logue, David | 1629 | Draw |
| 7 | 1724 | Smith, Antony V | 1 | - | 0 | Sheridan, Marc | 1467 | Home Win |
| 8 | 1694 | Voghouey, Bahool | 0 | - | 1 | Smith, Andy | 1375 | Away Win |
| 3½ | - | 4½ | ||||||
In other news:
* Inverclyde's Kevin McDonald won the first club rapidplay tournament of the season with a 10/10 perfect score.* Inverclyde will kick-off their Scottish National Chess League campaign in Dunfermline on 9th November
* Inverclyde's next Glasgow League match will be versus Polytechnic on Monday 3rd November
* The Inverclyde Chess Club Championship and Allegro Championship (30 minute games) are starting this month. There is still time for people who are not yet members of the club to enter.
