Inverclyde Central Chess Club suffered a very disappointing start to the Glasgow League, being well beaten by Phones A. Inverclyde were confident going into the game, having won last season's fixture 6-2. However, the home team were considerable stronger than in previous years and outgraded Inverclyde on 6 out of the 8 boards. Early defeats for Jim McGranaghan, and David Logue in a misjudged English Opening got Inverclyde off to a bad start; however, a draw by Stephen Hilton and a fine win in a King's Indian for Stephen Riley brought Inverclyde back into the contest. The recovery proved to be short lived though, as Inverclyde were beaten on three of the four remaining boards as the hosts secured a comfortable win.
Inverclyde's only consolation was Kevin McDonald's win on the second board, in which he trapped his opponent's King in the centre of the board and sacrificed pieces to score a spectacular checkmate.
Having lost to one of the weaker teams in the League, Inverclyde Central now face a crucial match against newly-promoted Glasgow Montrose, a must win game if they are to avoid being drawn into a relegation dogfight.
| Bd | Grade | Phones A | (9) | vs | (8) | Inverclyde | Grade | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2125 | Mitchell, Robert | 1 | - | 0 | Montgomery, Jim | 2114 | Home Win |
| 2 | 1824 | Dickson, Robert | 0 | - | 1 | McDonald, Kevin | 2095 | Away Win |
| 3 | 1817 | Brady, Stuart | ½ | - | ½ | Hilton, Steve H | 1765 | Draw |
| 4 | 1751 | Brown, Allan D | 0 | - | 1 | Riley, Stephen | 1717 | Away Win |
| 5 | 1746 | Findlay, James | 1 | - | 0 | McPheator, Gary | 1705 | Home Win |
| 6 | 1677 | McIntyre, John W | 1 | - | 0 | Logue, David | 1637 | Home Win |
| 7 | 0 | Alshibane, Ihfaf | 1 | - | 0 | McGranaghan, James | 1490 | Home Win |
| 8 | 1560 | Barker, Luke | 1 | - | 0 | Curran, Andrew D | 1471 | Home Win |
| 5½ | - | 2½ | ||||||
