Chess Scotland Events

Due to COVID-19 pandemic this event has been cancelled until further notice from 2019 onwards.

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Season 2017-18

SUNDAY 4th FEBRUARY 2018
Semi-Final: Castlehill v Edinburgh Civil Service
12:30pm at Castlehill Chess Club. Report by Keith Rose

Today we played Edinburgh Civil Service in the Semi-Final of the Spens Cup. We were already without Declan (exams tomorrow) but then lost Lloyd to illness. The line ups and results were:

Sam Gregory (1868) 1 – 0 Crawford MacNab (1869)
Ben Volland (1820) 0 – 1 Richard Scott (1622)
Euan Dawson (1767) ½ – ½ Rudolph Austin (1622)
Andy Rowe (1574) ½ – ½ Ralph Jackson (1589)
Keith Rose (1539) 0 – 1 Chris Giannoukos (1540)

You can see we were fairly evenly matched with us having an edge on boards 2 and 3.

First to finish was Rose-Giannoukos.
Volland-Scott was next but I didn’t see much after a fairly even middlegame position. Rowe-Jackson followed with neither player able to break through a very solid and cluttered board. We needed to win on the last two board to draw the match and win on tie-break (again).

Sam had a dreadful position in the last 8-10 moves before the time control but both players were very short of time. MacNab made an error of judgement bu picking off a couple of Queenside pawns to make the time but this allowed Sam (as black) to get a pawn to g3 and his Queen and two Bishops caged and mated the white King. Euan had been under pressure for some time and lost a piece. However (as black) he had a running a-pawn. In the following position Euan played Rb1

Next moves were Rb2+ Kg3, Rb1 Rxh2 a1=Q (missing Rg1+), Nxb1 Qxb1, winning. No, not quite. Euan was unable to find a way to make the better material count and had to settle for a draw with about a minute left.

So we went down 2-3. There’s always next year

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CHESS SCOTLAND: SPENS CUP
Saturday 20th January 2018: 1pm; Castlehill v Glorney Juniors

Report by Keith Rose

We met Glorney Juniors from Aberdeen in the Spens Cup on Sat 20th Jan. On paper we could have expected to win comfortably. We got off to a bad start when Lloyd dropped a piece for pawn very early. His young opponent then played very solidly to keep a grip on the game and Lloyd never got a sniff of counter-play.

Better news with the second game to finish – after Nandini played perhaps too aggressively early on Andy Rowe won by converting a pawn advantage; third result saw Ben’s position collapse from a pretty solid & safe looking position (unless I’ve missed something). So 1 – 2 down. Game four was decided after a time-scramble that had both players – Sam and Connor – needing to play about 15 moves in about 5 minutes each. They made it and shortly after agreed a draw.

The last and deciding game had Declan and Kalyan go into the second time period with Declan a rook + four pawns against Rook and two. Declan contrived to blunder away one pawn but had the other King cornered and was able to win the other rook and the game.

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Season 2016-17

In the Q/Final`s of the Spens Cup we play Wandering Dragons at home in the Chaplaincy on Saturday 21st January, starting at noon. It will be a hard match but we have the players to do some damage! Spectators welcome!

Spens Cup Draw

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Season 2015-16:

CHESS SCOTLAND: SPENS CUP: 23/01/16

Castlehill Chess Club traveled to Cumbernauld to face Troon Chess Club in the Spens Cup. The teams were made up of five players from each club, with a time-control of 40 moves in 2 hours, plus 30 minutes quick-play. The match started at 11am.

Castlehill were out graded on “ALL” boards with Troon`s average grade being 1756, while Castlehill`s was 1619. Not only that but we had two new players in our side that had no experience of playing at this level! But we were confident they would cut it!

Well Castlehill won the match 4 – 1 with all players stepping up to the plate! The score looks impressive, but I am lead to believe all matches were closer than the score line suggests!

Congratulations on a great result and team effort! What a team!

Castlehill Chess Club would like to thank Troon`s players for a friendly and competitive match played in the right spirit and of course Cumbernauld Chess Club for the use of their facilities and equipment!

Now we have reached the Semi-Final stages and are away to face the Wandering Dragons (Edinburgh) on the 12^th March 2016! We will be away from home and it will be a tough one, but we have the players and the winning mentality to upset the odds again!

Saturday 12th March: SPENS CUP: Semi-Finals: Wandering Dragons v Castlehill
Slateford Bowling Club, Edinburgh EH14 1TH), starting at 12:50.    Report by Keith Rose (& Ray Noble)

Unfortunately Dragons beat us but look at the differences in grading (see score card!). Declan continued his march up the grading list and Ben played a fine game against Konarski – it was agreed drawn with Ben 2 Rooks, a Bishop and several pawns against a Queen and several pawns but Konarski could force a repetition.

Ray “Hard luck. It was some ask grading wise! Declan doing what he does best now! Excellent result! And as for Master Ben Volland? Great performance indeed! Plenty of positives despite the result!”

Congratulations Wandering Dragons and best of luck in the final!

The full knockout draw can be seen at: Spens Cup

Due to COVID-19 pandemic this event has been cancelled until further notice from 2019 onwards.

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Season 2016-17

The draw has been make for the Chess Scotland Nancy Elder tournament and as expected most of Castlehill`s players have been drawn together for the first round. Last year the final was contested between Euan Dawson & Keith Rose, with Euan coming out on top! Let’s hope for the same again this year.

Nancy Elder Draw

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Season 2015-16:

We entered ten players in the Nancy Elder Tournament
(a knockout event for individuals graded up to 1850).

Saturday 23rd April 2016 – FINAL!
The final was contested between two Castlehill players, Keith Rose (1646) & Euan Dawson (1322).

Both players gave it their all and at the end with both players short of time, the game ended in a draw!

They will meet again colours reversed at Castlehill Chess Club. Date to be confirmed! A guaranteed Castlehill winner, but who will it be?

FINAL REMATCH: Euan Dawson v Keith Rose

Thursday 19th May 2016 saw the Nancy Elder re-match final played at Castlehill Chess Club between the young lion, Euan Dawson, and the old hand, Keith Rose, both from Castlehill!

Keith with black decided to test Euan`s knowledge and take him out of his comfort zone and have a bit of fun as well! What did Keith play? An Ian McNab classic, the Latvian Gambit! But the game did not go to plan, as Euan showed a lot of maturity for his years and navigated his way through all the labyrinths of possible traps to end up with a won game!

Congratulations Euan on winning the Nancy Elder Cup. This is a fantastic achievement for one so young and follows on from one of our other top juniors who won this title last year, Declan Shafi! Not only that, Euan beat a very experienced and good player in the final in Keith Rose. In the semis Euan also beat the top player in the competition and has proved that he is a very, very worthy champion!

Castlehill Chess Club are proud to have so many good juniors in our club and Euan is one of the most improved juniors at our club and this victory is just rewards for all his hard work!

WELL DONE SON!

Nancy Elder

Due to COVID-19 pandemic this event has been cancelled until further notice from 2019 onwards.

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Final; Saturday 23rd April 2016

We played in the final of this tournament on 23rd April against Edinburgh Civil Service. Unfortunately, although the teams were evenly matched by grading, we lost on tie-break (bottom board elimination) after drawing 2.5 – 2.5. The teams were:

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Semi-Final: Saturday 2^nd April 2016
Venue: Castlehill Chess Club; The Chaplaincy Common Room, Dundee Uni
Castlehill v Hamilton

Congratulations go to our Castlehill team who at home beat against the odds Hamilton in the Semi-Final of the Campell Rosebowl to reach the Chess Scotland finals! Out graded on all boards, especially the top ones and board 5! The Campbell Rosebowl is a sort of consolation Cup for those who lost in the preliminary or first round of the Spens Cup.

A fantastic result by for Castlehill, and what a performance by all the players involved!

We will meet Edinburgh Civil Service in the final at Grangemouth on April 23