Inverclyde Central Chess Club scored their first ever victory over Polytechnic A in the last match of the season in the Glasgow Chess League First Division. The match had been rearranged from earlier in the season, and Polytechnic were one player short and had brought a much weaker team than usual, having missed out on the Championship and having no prospect of advancing beyond fourth in the table. Inverclyde were in 6th position in the table, and could not hope to climb further barring an improbably large win of of at least 7.5-0.5. Inverclyde though, were still motivated by beating their opponents for the first time.
Polytechnic edged the top two boards, with a win and a draw, and scored a big upset against Inverclyde's David Logue on board seven, but the match was decided by four wins for Inverclyde on boards three to six. These wins included a fine King's Indian attack by Stephen Riley, some inventive endgame play from Gary McPheator, a good win for Stephen Hilton against a higher rated opponent, and a comfortable win for Stephen Doherty. These wins, and the default on board eight allowed Inverclyde to record a very comfortable 5.5-2.5 victory.
MATCH RESULT
| Bd | Grade | Inverclyde | (7) | vs | (3) | Polytechnic A | Grade | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2107 | McDonald, Kevin | 0 | - | 1 | Davis, Eddie | 2174 | Away Win |
| 2 | 1797 | Calder, John | ½ | - | ½ | Watt, David A | 1901 | Draw |
| 3 | 1751 | Hilton, Steve H | 1 | - | 0 | Stewart, Ken W C | 1894 | Home Win |
| 4 | 1711 | Doherty, Stephen | 1 | - | 0 | Jenkins, David M | 1737 | Home Win |
| 5 | 1670 | McPheator, Gary | 1 | - | 0 | King, Graeme E | 1695 | Home Win |
| 6 | 1705 | Riley, Stephen | 1 | - | 0 | Laidlaw, Basil H | 1616 | Home Win |
| 7 | 1675 | Logue, David | 0 | - | 1 | Alomenu, Gilbert | 1154 | Away Win |
| 8 | 0 | DEFAULT | W | - | L | DEFAULT | 0 | Win by Default |
| 5½ | - | 2½ | ||||||
The win allows Inverclyde to finish these season on high, and with a positive score of five wins, one draw and four losses in the league. The overall performance of Inverclyde's players was strong, particularly Jim Montgomery, who scored an outstanding 6.5/8, and Gary McPheator and Stephen Riley, who scored 6/9 and 5.5/8 respectively.
GLASGOW LEAGUE DIVISION ONE - FINAL TABLE
| Matches | Played | Defaults | Score | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Team | Team Name | P | W | D | L | Pts | W | D | L | W | D | L | Boards | % |
| 1 | 2 | Shettleston A | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 38 | 22 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 68 |
| 2 | 4 | Hamilton A | 9 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 41 | 16 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 71 |
| 3 | 5 | Cathcart A | 9 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 35 | 18 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 64 |
| 4 | 3 | Glasgow Polytechnic A | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 31 | 21 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 41½ | 58 |
| 5 | 1 | Bearsden A | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 29 | 19 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38½ | 53 |
| 6 | 7 | Inverclyde | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 28 | 17 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 37½ | 52 |
| 7 | 8 | Crowwood A | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 16 | 17 | 37 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 25½ | 35 |
| 8 | 10 | Phones A | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 14 | 23 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 25½ | 35 |
| 9 | 6 | Giffnock A | 9 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 13 | 23 | 33 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 26½ | 37 |
| 10 | 9 | Glasgow Polytechnic B | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 20 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 26 |
