Updated: 04/08/24
WORLD CHESS LEAGUE “LIVE”
A joint venture between Castlehill Chess Club Dundee and Dundee Chess Club.
Time-Control – 10 minutes + 5 seconds (Two matches each player)
Apologies, but just lost track of this competition.
Dundee City A finished in an outstanding 3rd place in this very strong online competition after beating Birmingham University 6-2 in the 3rd place play-off. This after giving the eventual winners. Chess Club Politika, a battle and a half in the semi-finals (4.½ – 3½)!
It was a long campaign, but while not winning it, it was still a victorious effort and 3rd place at this level is just amazing! All our players deserve all the plaudit’s for their efforts!!
Thank you to all Dundee City players, to the World Chess League Online and to the organisers and helpers, because without them we would not have this competition!
Of course special thanks to the Tournament Director Peter Hornsby, the sponsors, Chess.com, Chess & Bridge, Purling London & Durham University, plus Twitch.TV for coverage of the matches online!
Bring on season 2024-25!
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Round Last 16 – Knockout – Sun 28th Apr 24
Result
Dundee City A 6½ – 1½ Rooty Hills Club Team Sydney A (Australia)
First off, congratulations to both teams for reaching the last 16 knockout stage! Grading wise, it was a close battle, but these teams have met before and Dundee City A have the edge in those encounters, and so it proved again, this time around. Rooty Hills, threw everything they had at Dundee City, including the boomerang! You could say this was the battle of “Blue Mountains”, but this time, Rooty Hills did not get their boomerang back as Dundee City A were on fire!
Congratulations to Dundee City A for reaching the Q/Final stage of this competition. Commiserations to Rooty Hills, who I am sure will be back next season, if they can find their boomerang!
Staring for Dundee City A this time around were, Richard Polacek IM, Andrew Wright, Rishi Vijayakumar & Declan Shafi!
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. Australia is the largest country by area in Oceania and the world’s sixth-largest country. Australia is the oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with the least fertile soils. It is a megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates, with deserts in the centre, tropical rainforests in the north-east, tropical savannas in the north, and mountain ranges in the south-east.
Next up, but a little closer to home, is Warwick Alumni!
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WORLD CHESS LEAGUE “LIVE”
A joint venture between Castlehill Chess Club Dundee and Dundee Chess Club.
Time-Control – 10 minutes + 5 seconds (Two matches each player)
Round 7 – Group A – Sun 24th Mar 24 – 7pm
Result
Dundee City B 2 – 18 Chess Club Dragon (Serbia)
Well even our mythical Scottish unicorn could not stand up to this Dragon of fire! Not so much well done, more roasted alive! Dundee City B were out gunned (pen knife v nuclear missiles!), out played, out fought, but full of true grit, right to the very end!
Congratulations (Честитам) to Chess Club Dragon`s from Serbia, you were world class (1 GM, 3 IM`s & 1 FM) and worthy winners on the night. It was a joy to watch and as always, a lesson learnt, painfully!
On the positive side Dundee City B did manage to get two points with Francesco Polignano on board 9 getting our only win (Fantastic achievement!), and Ross Brennan and Robert Jackson, both getting a draw! Everybody else battled hard but hit granite!
Serbia is a landlocked country in South East Europe which covers part of the Pannonian Plain and Central and Western Balkan Peninsula. It borders Hungary to the north, Romania and Bulgaria to the east, North Macedonia and Kosovo to the south, and Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro to the west.
The capital of Serbia is Belgrade (Beograd), a cosmopolitan city at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers; Stari Grad, Belgrade’s old town, is dominated by an ancient fortress called the Kalemegdan and includes well-preserved examples of medieval architecture and some of eastern Europe’s most-renowned restaurants. Serbia’s second city, Novi Sad, lies upstream on the Danube.
That is Dundee City B`s last game and finishes their involvement in the World Chess League live for the 2023-24 campaign. They finished in 5th place on 3pts.
To finish on a positive note: It`s congratulations to Dundee City A, as they finished top of group C and reach the last 16, where they will meet Rooty Hills A for a place in the last 8!
Way to go everybody!
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WORLD CHESS LEAGUE “LIVE”
A joint venture between Castlehill Chess Club Dundee and Dundee Chess Club.
Time-Control – 10 minutes + 5 seconds (Two matches each player)
Both Dundee A & B were in action, but things did not really go to plan!
Round 4 – Group A – Sun 7th Jan 24 – 7pm
Result
Team Italia 12 – 4 Dundee City B
For a change, a team turned up with more players than us (15 I think?)! We were short handed unfortunately, due to a number of things, but we battled hard with 8 boards in total.
There were a lot of good games from our point of view, especially on board one with Stephen Hogg once again proving what a valuable member of the team he is with an outstanding win in his first match, well worth the going over for the finish!
Graham Mooney on board 4 also managed a win, as did Ray Noble (Mr lucky!) in his second game. With good draws by Joshua Crofts (board 3) and Robert Jackson (board 5), Dundee City managed 4 points. I think considering the strength of Team Italia, this was an achievement and proved we never lie down no matter the odds against!
This time however, we were given the “STIVALE” (“BOOT”)!
Congratulazioni (Congratulations) to Team Italia on a deserved victory and we wish them well for the rest of the competition.
Italy is a European country with a long Mediterranean coastline, has left a powerful mark on Western culture and cuisine. Its capital, Rome, is home to the Vatican as well as landmark art and ancient ruins. Other major cities include Florence, with Renaissance masterpieces such as Michelangelo’s “David” and Brunelleschi’s Duomo; Venice, the city of canals; and Milan, Italy’s fashion capital.
This loss, leaves Dundee City B in 5th place in an 8-team group, on 2 points, with 3 rounds to go!
Round 4 – Group A – Sun 7th Jan 24 – 8pm
Result
Team Chile 8– 8 Dundee City B
Dundee City A finally get to play a game of chess, after two rounds of walkovers! Not sure if this had any impact on their performance, as Dundee City were favourites in this match grading wise, but a very strong Chile side put in a fiery performance, almost off the “Scoville” scale! If you thought “CAROLINA PEPPERS” were hot, Team Chile gave a “PEPPER X” performance to get a well-deserved draw!
It`s not too often you get “Pepper” sprayed and survive to tell the tale, so also well played Dundee City A!
Felicidades (Congratulations) to Team Chile on a deserved victory and we wish them well for the rest of the competition.
Chile is a long, narrow country stretching along South America’s western edge, with more than 6,000km of Pacific Ocean coastline. Santiago, its capital, sits in a valley surrounded by the Andes and Chilean Coast Range mountains. The city’s palm-lined Plaza de Armas contains the neoclassical cathedral and the National History Museum. The massive Parque Metropolitano offers swimming pools, a botanical garden and zoo.
This draw leaves Dundee City A in 1st place on 4½ points, along with Team Chile & Ampleforth Collage, with 3 rounds left, so still all in their own hands!
After all that drama, I am still hungry for more action, so me thinks a PepperX Pizza is called for! If I survive, see you for round 5!
Round 5 takes place Sun 4th Feb 24!
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WORLD CHESS LEAGUE “LIVE”
A joint venture between Castlehill Chess Club Dundee and Dundee Chess Club.
Time-Control – 10 minutes + 5 seconds (Two matches each player)
Round 3 – Group A
Result – Sun 3rd Dec 23 – 6pm
TJ Valasska Bystrice 18 – 4 Dundee City B
This was always going to be like running up hill pulling a boulder behind you and boy were we not wrong!
First the good news, we manged 11 boards! The bad news, we were out graded on all 11 boards and in a lot of cases, by a big margin!
Our players put up a good fight, especially Stephen Hogg on board 1, who managed a win and Graham Mooney being the only undefeated player in our team with two draws! The rest of us maybe had some chances, but were mostly left looking for scraps!
We were well and truly “Czech mated”!
Congratulations to TJ Valasska Bystrice (Czech Republic) on a great performance and deserved winners on the night! We wish you well for the rest of the competition.
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Austria, Germany, Poland, and Slovakia.
In 2016 the country adopted the name “Czechia” as a shortened, informal name for the Czech Republic.
Despite its landlocked location, there were brief periods in the Middle Ages during which Bohemia had access to the Baltic and Adriatic seacoasts—which no doubt was on William Shakespeare’s mind when he set much of his play The Winter’s Tale there. A region of rolling hills and mountains, Bohemia is dominated by the national capital, Prague. Set on the Vltava River, this picturesque city of bridges and spires is the unique work of generations of artists brought in by the rulers of Bohemia.
I can say, well worth a visit and the people are warm and welcoming!
This result leaves us in 5th place on 1 point. Dundee City B`s next match (Round 4) is against Team Italia, who sit in 4th place a half point above us!
Round 3 – Group C
Result – Sun 3rd Dec 23 – 7pm
Dundee City A W – L Heriot Watt University
Unfortunately for the second match in a row, Dundee City A found themselves without opponents
for what ever reason and got the walkover. Not ideal as they would prefer to play, but points are points!
Dundee City A sit in 3rd place, just a half point behind leaders, Ampleforth College on 4½ points. Dundee City A`s next opponents are Team Chile who are in 2nd place, also on 4 points!
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Round 2 – Group A
Result – Sun 5th Nov 23 – 11:00am
Dundee City B 10½ – 11½ Petts Wood & Orpington B (Eng)
This was a fantastic match between two sides who put their heart and soul in to it!
There were 11 boards in play and we could have had a few more! Petts Wood & Orpington had a slight grading advantage, especially on the top 5 boards and maybe that was the edge, who knows?
What I do know, it was a close match that could so easily have gone the other way! Stephen Hogg (2036) on board one took both points, as did board 10, Ana Belen Otero Seijas (1444), way to go Ana!
Unfortunately, we lost 3 matches 2 – 0, but Subhayu Banerjee (1562) on board 9 did win 1½ – ½, which is almost 2 nil!
Leyton Hackney (1634), Euan Murray (1857), Andy Rowe (1662), Conor Kelly (1415) & Ed Walston (1567) all shared the points, while Alisdair McLeod (1980) lost to a 2056, Robert Jackson (1760) lost to an 1827 and junior Matthew Hunter (1717) lost to an 1823.
Congratulations to Petts Wood & Orpington B on a well-deserved win under intense pressure! We wish them well for the rest of their campaign,
Dundee City B may have lost their round 2 match, but the future is looking bright on all fronts!
Dundee City B are in 4th place, just one point behind the leaders, with 5 rounds left!
You can also watch, listen to commentary on this match and others on YouTube (ChessHeros), click the link below.
You Tube – ChessHeros
If you just want to watch the Dundee City match its about 1 hour 11 minutes in.
Bring on round 3!
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WORLD CHESS LEAGUE “LIVE”
A joint venture between Castlehill Chess Club Dundee and Dundee Chess Club.
Time-Control – 10 minutes + 5 seconds (Two matches each player)
Here we go again as the World Chess League starts up again! Once again Castlehill CC and Dundee CC, join forces to create two Dundee City teams. The World Chess League since it`s start has been evolving over the seasons and once again it has been updated for season 23-24 with it`s format moving to qualifying group stages (8 teams-all-play-all), then seeded knockout.
Peter Hornsby, the tournament Director and his helpers have been very busy behind the scenes trying to improve how the tournament runs and I have to say Dundee City are looking forward to this new format!
Round 1 – Sun 8th Oct 23
Group A – Time – 18:00
Result
Dundee City B 5 – 3 Surrey University Tournament Club
Can guess the author within the report.
What a way to start a tournament, which had a “Twist” or two, and it turnout to be a humdinger of a match!
With “Great Expectations” Dundee City B faced Surrey “with the Fringe on top” University) in round 1. This turned out to be “A Tale of two half’s”. The Chess.com gradings were not really reflective of how strong the Surrey players were, for example their board 4 rated as 1204, but turned out to be far stronger! It`s a case of them not playing enough games yet on Chess.com which is just one of those things we all have to deal with!
It`s a fast time control and it can cause some glitches, and in the first 4 matches, that seemed to be the theme! In a high-quality game on board 1, Alan Borwell was holding his own and more, when he missed a tactic and got mated. Talk about “Hard Times”!
On board 2, Stephen Hogg was a bit slow off the mark and lost a piece on move 55 after his opponent redirected his knight to cause havoc! In the end Stephen lost on time!
On board 4, Joshua Crofts was like Alan, holding his own, then faced a few on screen issues I believe, which may or may not and have disturbed him, but he fell for a knight fork on his rook`s, and that was that. It was a “Bleak House” indeed!
Our only winner in the first 4 matches was board 3, Theodoros Vasiliadis, who held his nerve to the end.
With Dundee City B, 3 – 1 down it was going to take a momentous effort on their behalf to get back into the match.
They did not disappoint, showing resolve, tenacity and incredible, outstanding and awesome chess to turn the game on it`s head and winning all 4 matches to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat to complete one of the best comebacks ever!
I don`t know how the players felt, but I thought it was one of the best matches I have watched online and it`s only the first round!
Theodoros was the backbone of the side, winning both of his matches, but Alan, Stephen & Joshua added the drama and steel to the match! Well played everybody.
Round 1 – Sun 8th Oct 23
Group C – Time – 21:30 hrs
Result
Dundee City A 4 – 0 Hawaiian Islands Chess Team
Dundee City A started their 2023-24 campaign to hopefully go one better than in their last one, which would take some doing after a fantastic 2022-23 campaign!
Unfortunately, the Hawaiian team only turned up with two players, which is. two short of the rules I think, but more importantly, some of our players missed out on playing!
Despite that, it had its moments! Not only did Dundee City win all the matches, but one of the games against a 1900+ player was checkmate in 4 moves!
The Opening was a Queens Pawn Opening, Borg Defence. Talk about “You will be assimilated”!
Well played Richard Polaczek IM and Ian McDonald!
Can`t ask better than that in first match!
Can`t wait for round 2!
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WORLD CHESS LEAGUE “LIVE” 2023-24 season
A joint venture between Castlehill Chess Club Dundee and Dundee Chess Club.
Time-Control – 10 minutes + 5 seconds (Two matches each player)
A new season, a new format, with all teams competing in a qualifying group format, with the top 16 teams qualifying for the last 16 knockout stage!
The 1st round kicks off in October 23! See next tab for all the fixtures!
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WORLD CHESS LEAGUE “LIVE”
A joint venture between Castlehill Chess Club Dundee and Dundee Chess Club.
Time-Control – 10 minutes + 5 seconds (Two matches each player)
PLAY-OFFS – 19/08/23 (6 teams involved)
Dundee City A, the first ever Scottish team to reach the play-off stages of the World Chess League Online, had some very tough matches and did themselves proud!
They finished in 4th place in an outstanding field which included two teams from England, one team from the USA, two teams from Serbia and of course Dundee City A from Scotland!
Dundee City A teams first match (preliminary) was against the World Chess League director, Peter Hornsby`s team, Durham Alumni from England! It was close, but Dundee City managed to win 5½ – 2½!
In the second preliminary round, Dundee City won again by the same score-line, 5½ – 2½, this time against English outfit, Petts Wood & Orpington A. Not only did this mean Dundee City A had guaranteed at least 4th place, but it also meant they finish the competition as the top British side having themselves put the other British sides out!
Dundee City A team, the flower of Scotland (and the UK)!
In the semi-final, Dundee City A faced Serbia`s Chess Club Politika “B” team who had 4 IM`s in their team! It proved too high a mountain to climb in the end, losing 5½ – 2½ but what a performance by our players!
In the third-place play-off, Dundee City A, faced Z-House from the United States of America, who had finished their semi-final against Politika A (Serbia) 4 – 4, but lost on tie-break. That must have hurt!
After three gruelling matches, it was no surprise that it had taken it`s toll on our players as they were overwhelmed 7 – 1 by the super talented Z-House!
This meant an outstanding 4th place for Dundee City A team!
All credit to our incredible players; IM Richard Polaczek, Andrew Wright, Declan Shafi and Ed Spencer, (reigning Scottish Chess Champion 2023)!
A special mention to Andrew Wright whose score of 6 out of 8 was not only outstanding in the face of quality opponents, it included victories over an IM and GM!
Castlehill Chess Club, Dundee Chess Club, the City of Dundee and our beloved Scotland are all tremendously proud of your achievements in this competition.
“You all faced adversity and rose to be that nation again!”
The final was a fiercely contested affair between local Serbian club rivals, Chess Club Politika A & B, with the “A” team winning 4½ – 3½ to not only take the World Chess League Online title, but also the bragging rights over their team mates! Get in there!
Thank you to our players, all of the other teams and of course the organisers, including the hard-working director/tournament organiser, Peter Hornsby! Without all your enthusiasm, time and hard work, we would not have such an excellent World Chess League! Also thank you to all the sponsors, including Chess.com, which is an amazing chess platform to play on!
That`s it for another campaign. The new one will be upon us before we know it and it will have a new format as well!
See you all again soon!
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WORLD CHESS LEAGUE “LIVE”
A joint venture between Castlehill Chess Club Dundee and Dundee Chess Club.
Time-Control – 10 minutes + 5 seconds (Two matches each player)
Round 10 – Sun 2nd July 23
Result
Dundee City A 5 – 3 Warwick University
What an outstanding result by Dundee City A to beat the tremendously strong Warwick University team 5 – 3! Four boards were in play and boy did both teams pull out all the stops to try and reach the play-offs!
On board one, Richard Polaczek IM won both his matches, on board two Andrew Greet IM, won one and drew one, while on board three, Andrew Wright also won and drew
Ed Spencer on board four lost both his matches, which regardless of the strong opponent, is most uncharacteristic of him. He has always been the player, who pulls something out of the hat for us, but you can’t do it all the time and he along with everybody else is a team player and the team won!
What a result and well played everyone, including Warwick Uni players! Dundee City A team finished on 8 points and an incredible 4th place! That also means for the first time Dundee City A reaches the play-off stages! I maybe wrong, but I think Dundee City A will be the first Scottish team to do so, making history again in another competition!
I will update ASAP once I have more info on play-off`s!
Result
Team Chile 9½ – 8½ Dundee City B
What a match against an unbelievably strong Team Chile! To only lose by one point is incredible and shows, what a performance by all Dundee City B team players!
Nine boards where in play for this match, which is credit to both teams!
All players, from both sides, deserve the credit for the way they played their matches. Dundee City B team congratulate Team Chile on their deserved win on the night.
Alisdair McLeod on board two did very well to take a point against his much stronger opponent. Theodoros Vasiliadis, on board three, was outstanding to win both his matches!
Joshua Crofts on board 4 drew both his matches against the odds, Ross Brennan on board 7, won one and drew one (Outstanding!), while Ana Belen Seijas Otero on board 8, was not to be outclassed by her stronger opponent and showed that Spanish ladies are not to be taken lightly. ¡Excelente interpretación Ana!
The performance of the match has to be Subhayu Banerjee`s, on board 6, massively out graded, but with the heart of a lion (and a bit of luck!), Subhayu managed to win both his matches! একেবারে অসামান্য শুভায়ু! (Absolutely outstanding Subhayu)!
Our top player on board one, Alan Borwell, and our board 5 player, Graham Mooney CM, did not fair so well this time, both losing their two matches. They fought hard, but it was not to be their night this time. Ray Noble on board 9 also lost both his matches, and had no excuses, as his opponent outclassed him in all departments of chess!
Once again congratulations to Team Chile and unlucky, but well played Dundee City B!
Dundee City B finished their campaign on 6 points and in 19th place, truly an amazing achievement!
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WORLD CHESS LEAGUE “LIVE”
A joint venture between Castlehill Chess Club Dundee and Dundee Chess Club.
Time-Control – 10 minutes + 5 seconds (Two matches each player)
Round 9 – Sun 30th April 23
Div 1 – Result
Iran Pro 3½ – 4½ Dundee City A
Oh boy what a result for Dundee City A against one hell of a strong team in Iran Pro! Iran Pro had 1 GM, 1 FM & 1 IM, while Dundee City A had only 1IM! All players from both sides were graded over 2000+, so no easy matches on the cards! Four boards were in play.
Iran or “The Islamic Republic of Iran” is the 17th biggest country in the world and the 17th most populous country with an estimated 86.8 million population!
Iran is home to one of the oldest civilizations in the world and has a rich cultural heritage, including art, literature, architecture (Royal Palaces, Ancient Mosques) and much more.
They also have a strong chess base and as you can see world standard chess players!
To win by 1 point was a out of this world result and while it’s a team game and all players scores count, I must say, David Findlay’s point against an FM and Ed Spencer’s outstanding 2 – 0 result were fantastic! But the score of the match has to be Mikey Grove’s 1 – 1 score line against a Grandmaster. What a result Mikey!
This puts Dundee City A on 7 points and they need just one more point to reach the play-offs!
Div 1 – Result
Team Italia Live 1 – 11 Dundee City B
Congratulations to Dundee City B on what turned out to be a stupendous result against 6 man Team Italia Live! We were expecting more players from the Italian team and indeed had 15 players all ready to play! There are no guarantees in board numbers and we cannot complain about the result with only one loss! Considering the grades of both sides, I think we were expecting a tighter match, but thankfully, it was Dundee City B teams night! If only it worked that way “ALL” the time!
Italy comprises some of the most varied and scenic landscapes on earth and is often described as a country shaped like a boot! A European country with a long Mediterranean coastline has left a powerful mark on Western culture and cuisine. Its capital, Rome, is home to the Vatican as well as landmark art and ancient ruins. Other major cities include Florence, with Renaissance masterpieces such as Michelangelo’s “David” and Brunelleschi’s Duomo; Venice, the city of canals; and Milan, Italy’s fashion capital
This win puts Dundee City B on 6 points and a outstanding 14th place with one round to go!
Dundee City wishes both Iran Pro & Team Italia Live all the best in round 10 and thank them for the honour of playing them in the World Chess League!
Round 10 is scheduled for 2nd July 23!
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WORLD CHESS LEAGUE “LIVE”
A joint venture between Castlehill Chess Club Dundee and Dundee Chess Club.
Time-Control – 10 minutes + 5 seconds (Two matches each player)
Round 8 – Sunday 2nd April 23 – 6pm – Chess.com
Div 1 – Result
Dundee City A 8 – 0 Peoneros (Mexico)
The World Chess League “live” is amazing in many respects, but one big one is the many different teams you play from all over the world! This match was no exception as Dundee City A faced, Peoneros from Mexico!
Mexico, or to use it’s official title, “Estados Unidos Mexicanos (United Mexican States)” has a population of 125,959,205 (approx), official language, Spanish.
It is the third largest country in Latin America, full of High Mountains, deep Canyons, sweeping deserts and dense Rain Forests. It was once home to the Maya civilisation!
The result given the games was a little harsh on the Peoneros players as they were heavily out graded on all 4 boards, but as you would except from such a proud nation, they went down fighting!
We wish Peoneros all the best in the next round and it was an honour playing you!
Well played Richard Polaczek IM, Declan Shafi, David Findlay & Ed Spencer! This puts Dundee City A on 6 points and in 9th place so far after 8 rounds, with 2 rounds left!
Div 1 – Result
Romania Live Chess 5½ – 8½ Dundee City B
Another game, another team, and another country! Just amazing how you can play chess against teams from so many country’s!
Romania is the 12th largest country in Europe and the 6th most populous member of the European Union. Its full of natural wonders and landscapes like the Carpathian Mountains and Danube Delta. It is also home to the forested region called Transylvania with the cliff top, Bran Castle, the home of legend Count Dracula!
Well this was certainly a match you could get your teeth into! The Romanian players fought like tigers and at one point, it could have gone either way. The thing is, while it was 7 individual players against 7 individual players, it’s also about being a team and helping each other out! It was not Joshua Crofts day on board 2, steaming along, only to blunder in his first games, and unfortunately in his 2nd game as well. But being a team game, Joshua may well be the player who wins the match for us in our next game!
Alan Borwell on board one did a fantastic job against a 2223 to take a point! Graham Mooney (board 3), and Ray Noble (board 7) both won 2 – 0, while Ross Brennan (board 4) and Ray Flood (board 6) both drew their games. Subhayu Banerjee on board 5 got a brilliant 1½ points to make it 8½ – 5½ to Dundee City B. Well played everybody, including our Romanian friends who battled hard and on another day, you never know!
Dundee City wishes Romania Live Chess all the best in the next round and look forward to playing them again in the future!
Dundee City B is on 5 points and in 25th place. Wow, dizzy heights indeed! Well played “TEAM”!
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WORLD CHESS LEAGUE “LIVE”
A joint venture between Castlehill Chess Club Dundee and Dundee Chess Club.
Time-Control – 10 minutes + 5 seconds (Two matches each player)
Round 7 – Saturday 11th March 23 – 8pm – Chess.com
Div 1 – Result
Dundee City B 6 – 2 The 9th Rank (USA)
Unfortunately the 9th Rank could only muster 3 players this time (praise to their captain who worked very hard to try and get 4 boards!), which meant they had to default two games as four boards are the minimum requirement in this event. Now while it’s nice to get points, especially against a very strong side like the 9th Rank, I know we would rather have played the games an given all our players a game and took our chances on the night! Dariusz Kosznik was our unfortunate player who lost out in this match.
Dundee City B got off to a flier with young Rishi Vijayakumar J11 (1906) as white against an 1866 on board 3. He faced the Budapest Gambit, Fajarowicz variation and it followed the book line along a draw(ish) variation, but Rishi had other ideas!
By move 15 Rishi held the advantage and his opponent tried to swap Queens off to ease the pressure, but fell into a Rishi special combination and ended up getting his queen and King forked by Rishi, end of game, 1 – 0 Dundee City B in double quick time! How the hell can you work all that out at such speed? Well played young man! Just the start we needed!
Alan Borwell (2040) on board one and up against a NM in what turnout to be a French Défense, Howwitz, Papa-Ticulat Gambit (what?), did an unbelievable job in winning his first match to give Dundee City B a 2 – 0 start (forgetting the defaulted matches for now)! It just shows, when you have got it and have the vast, vast, vast, vast (Sorry Alan!) experience someone like Alan has, under pressure, you still have what it takes! The finish was exquisite with 26. Nb6#. Nice one Alan!
On board 2, Theodoros Vasiliadis as black played the Berlin defence in the Bishop’s Opening. It looked a very complex game, but could have been all theory as far I know! Time was an issue for his opponent and Theo took full advantage squeezing his opponent’s spaces down to almost nothing and leaving him with his Rook, Knight, King & Queen all on the first rank (e1, f1, g1 & h1 respectively!) with no where to go, nice! What a game and well played Theodorors!
Dundee City 3 – 0 up! With the two defaulted matches that meant Dundee City had already won the match and could relax!
Rishi as black won his second game (Caro-Kann) making it 2 wins for him. Alan lost his 2nd game with Black in a Bird’s Opening as did Theodoros with white in a Catalan.
The final score was Dundee City B 6 – 2 The 9th Rank (4 -2 in games played)
Congratulations to Dundee City B and it’s players on a fine win. Some great games by both sides and a big thank you to the 3 players (including their captain) of the 9th Rank who made a game of it despite the disappointment they must have felt being two nil down before they started. They battled as if their life depended on it and some great chess was the bonus for all! Thank you!
Dundee City B sit in 34th place on 4 points, but with some matches still to be completed.
Bring on round 8!
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There have been a few issues with the main 2023 World Chess League website (Scorch Chess), which has meant no access for a little while. It all appears to be working now, so catch up time!
Round 7 – Saturday 4th March 23
Div 1
Rooty Hill Club, Sydney 3½ – 4½ Dundee City A
Well this was a lot closer than the last time they met each other in Oct 21, when Dundee City A won 8 – 4! With just 4 boards in play, it was never going to be easy and could have gone either way. Yes Dundee City A team had a grading advantage, but sometimes online, that can be deceiving as Rooty Hill Club, Sydney proved! Dundee City A teams number one board, IM Richard Polaczek was the main difference getting 1½ points, with the rest of the team ably supporting him (Declan Shafi, Ed Spencer, Stephen Hogg) to get the job done by the narrowest of margins! So Dundee City A did indeed, pick themselves up, dust themselves down and once again prove they are made of strong stuff! What a team! Well played and unlucky Rooty Hill Club Sydney, on another day it would have been you that won!
There are still matches to play in this round, but at the moment, Dundee City A sit in 11th place on 5 points.
Dundee City B play their 7th round match against USA side, The 9th Rank, on Sat 11th March 23, 8pm on chess.com
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Round 6 – Saturday 25th February 23
Div 1
Dundee City A 2½ – 9½ Chess Club Politika B
Well not a lot to be said, as the best team by a country mile won! Dundee City A have a good side, but Chess Club Politika B are a step above that! With two IM`s & 2 FM`s they proved to be too strong for our team with just one IM. Six boards were in play and all our players fought hard but it was like trying to roll a big boulder up Mount Everest with just your bare hands, never going to happen! Congratulations to Chess Club Politika B on a convincing win! For Dundee City A, it’s a matter of, pick yourself up, dust yourselves down, and try again!
Round 6 – Sunday 19th February 23
Div 1
Dundee City B (1676) 9 – 1 (1083) Watford Juniors
Congratulations to Dundee City B on a fine win! Now looking at the score line, it looked a comfortable win, but the score line does not tell the whole truth!
Despite being well out graded on all boards and average team grades, the Watford Junior players gave everyone of the Dundee City players a fight and something to think about! Nothing is ever as easy as it may look and this was a case in point with the talented Watford Juniors! I am sure we will here great things in a few years time from some of the juniors that played in this match. The experience gained playing in matches like this, is invaluable! We all greatly enjoyed the games and wish Watford Juniors all the best in their remaining matches!
As for Dundee City B team, well played Alan Borwell, Theo Walcott, Subhayu Banerjee, Ana Belen Seijas Otero and Ray Flood! You just never know if a match like this will turn into a banana skin, but not this time!
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Time-Control – 10 minutes + 5 seconds (Two matches each player)
Round 5 – Sunday 22nd January 23
Dundee City B 7 – 3 Fiji Chess Federation Rapid Team (9.03am)
We were expecting 4 boards, but we had two players standing by just in case Fiji had more players available. They did and with about 5 minutes before kick-off they had 6 players, so Dundee City B matched them, only for one Fiji player to pull out at the last second (have no idea why?), leaving one of our regular players (Ray Flood) without a game! Instead the stand by player (Ray Noble) got the game as he was not bottom board.
Team average grading wise Dundee City B had the edge by 231 points (1740 – 1509), but board wise the top 3 boards were close, with the bottom two boards favouring Dundee City B!
Congratulations to all Dundee City B players for winning this match which was a lot closer than the score-line suggests. At one point it could have gone either way but for our players holding their nerve under severe pressure from the Fiji players.
Alan Borwell on board one did well to get a half point as his opponent was on fire (metaphorically speaking!)! Rishi Vijatakumar J11 on board two was ruthless to say the least, even cut throat, to win 2 – 0.
James Anderson on board 4 fell into a draw in game one, but out manoeuvred his opponent in the latter stages of his second game to take a very important point for the team!
Ray Noble probably had the easier of the games and won his first game quickly after a blunder from his opponent. His opponent rallied in the 2nd game and even went a pawn up after an error from Ray. It was not looking good for a while as his opponent seemed to find inspiration after that, only to go pawn grabbing at the end and fall for a mating net, and Ray Noble is not one to refuse a gift like that, 2 – 0, Ray. Phew!
The finish of the match was a great little mate by Graham Mooney under extreme pressure; it was a beauty and deserving of the win!
Commiserations to our Fiji opponents who left nothing on the board trying for that win and made us work hard to get over the winning line! It seems the Republic of Fiji, famed for their rugby and hospitality can also play chess to a high level. Imagine playing chess in the South Pacific with coral reefs and clear lagoons as your back drop? Mmm…Sounds like heaven!
Good luck to Fiji in the next round and let’s hope we can build on this win in round six! Well played everybody!
Cuba live Chess Team (2141) 2½ – 5½ (2204) Dundee City B (8.03pm)
This was a tough match with noting between the teams grading wise. Four boards were in play with 7 of the players graded over 2000+, including one IM, Richard Polaczek for Dundee City A!
While grading wise there was nothing between them, I got the impression that our players had more experience at this level.
On board one, Richard Polacezk IM got 1½ points, while Andrew Wright on board two kept everything steady with two draws.
David Findlay shared the points one each, but Ed Spencer on board 4 was inspired and took the double, winning 2 – 0!
What looked like being a close match, turned out okay in the end for Dundee City A and its players who all played their part!
The Republic of Cuba was the birth place of arguably one of the greatest Chess world champions ever, Jose Raul Capablanca from 1921 to 1927. Indeed he never lost a single game of chess from 1916 to 1924, and at the time, was considered invincible!
Thankfully the Cuba live Chess team were not invincible!
We wish them well in their next round match and hopefully Dundee City A can continue winning in the next round!
Cannot ask for more with both Dundee City teams winning their round 5 matches! I cannot give you more of an update as the official website is not working at the moment, but as soon as it is I will up date link!
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WORLD CHESS LEAGUE “LIVE”
Time-Control – 10 minutes + 5 seconds (Two matches each player)
Round 4
Both Dundee City “A” & “B” teams were in action in round 4, well I say action? Dundee City A was ready to play “ChessKidsNations” but no show from their players? Not sure what has happened as “ChessKidsNations” are a very strong side!
Will update if any further developments on the above.
RESULT
Round 4 – Sun 11th Dec 22, 1pm
Dundee City B 2 – 6 Shenzhen Peng Yue Chess Club
Four boards were in play in what turned out to be a very entertaining match with some firecracker chess played by both sides!
Shenzhen Peng Yue`s players I was reliably informed were mostly juniors, if not all juniors and boy could they play chess! Our players in board order Graham Mooney, Subhayu Banerjee, Ray Noble & Ray Flood were an experienced bunch but could not stop these young guns from taking us down. Not only that, when our players had an edge or even an almost winning position, the Shenzhen Peng Yue players fought like tigers and they had one hell of a bite!
Even the two draws and one win that Dundee City B got were very hard work with a bit of luck thrown in (eh Ray Noble!) as the Shenzhen Peng Yue players went down fighting as if their life’s depended on it! Dundee City players had chances to get more points but just fell short in the end.
In the only win for Dundee City B, Ray Noble had a winning game from move 27 after winning a piece for two pawns after a mistake by his opponent. But after that Ray`s opponent threw everything at him including the kitchen sink and forced errors, 5 in total from Ray who was now on the wrong end of it! Thankfully with a bit of pressure and time issues, Ray managed by move 67 to fork his opponents King & Queen and then managed to checkmate before his flag fell. PHEW!
In Ray Noble`s second game he started okay but then for some reason kept dropping pawns all over the place and imploded very quickly! Hero to Zero in the matter of minutes! Just another day at the office for Ray Noble!
Subhayu Banerjee and Ray Flood got the two draws, Ray`s came in the 2nd game in which he was winning but could not find the winning moves before his time ran out and had to settle for 3 fold repetition draw before his clock hit zero! All credit to his opponent who would not give up or lie-down! “ROAR”!
Two pieces of music came to my mind while playing my opponent which would have made for a fantastic back drop to the games “Eye of the Tiger” & “Kung Fu fighting”! The games were fast as lighting and you could hear the preverbal roar of the tiger from the Shenzhen Peng Yue players!
Congratulations to Shenzhen Peng Yue Chess Club and its players on a deserved win. Best of luck for the rest of the tournament. I am sure you will do well.
As for Dundee City B? We just need to pick ourselves up, shake ourselves down and try again!
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WORLD CHESS LEAGUE “LIVE”
Time-Control – 10 minutes + 5 seconds (Two matches each player)
Round 3
Both Dundee City “A” & “B” teams were in action in round 3 on Sunday 13th November 2022.
Dundee City B 1 – 7 Team Iran Pro (4pm)
Dundee City B were first up and had their backs to the wall against a very, very strong “Team Iran Pro”! Only 4 boards in play but what 4 boards by Iran!
- 2506
- 2315
- 2156 FM
- 2155
Alan Borwell (1947), Alisdair McLeod (1947), Rishi Vijayakumar (1877) & Ross Brennan (1657) gave it their all against all the odds, but could not get a sniff! Well I say that, but on board 4 in the first 4 matches, Ross Brennan got a win without playing a move! Have no idea what happened, but a points a point! Must have heard about Ross`s new opening “Chopper” and could not “Raleigh” to the cause!
Ah memories of Mungo Jerry and the Push-bike song come to mind!
The score line does not tell the whole story as some of the games were closer than the score suggests, but in the end the best team won, so congratulations to Team Iran Pro and best of luck in the next round.
A big hand to our players who put up a good fight under heavy fire and even pulled off a point (somehow?)!
Z-House (USA) 6½ – 1½ Dundee City A (8pm)
Well if you thought Dundee City B had it hard, it was nothing compared to Dundee City A facing 4 boards and all “GM`S! Talk about putting yourselves through the wringer! Both teams were unbeaten (2 wins each) going into this match, so something had to give!
The score line given the opposition is fantastic, even one could say a moral victory! But given how some of the games went and how well our players (Dundee City) played, we might have nicked another ½ point or more!
Andrew Wright on board 2 was phenomenal and deserved his victory against the GM in his 2nd game! He was unlucky in his first game after defending like his life depended on it and only succumbing just as the finishing line was racing towards him!
But Andrew was supported by the rest of the team and on board 4 Dundee City A got a half point in the second game thanks to Dundee Chess Club Stalwart, and living legend, Ed Spencer! What a game!
Yes Dundee City lost the match, but against such GM opposition, it almost felt like a win, certainly a moral one at least! Even the commentators on Twitch TV, Chess Heroes thought so!
Well done Richard Polaczek IM, Andrew Wright, Stephen Hogg & Ed Spencer, an heroic performance against all the odds!
Now speaking of commentators, Dundee City player and Castlehill Chess Club Dundee member, Kit McEvoy Gould was doing some of the commentating on Twitch TV/ChessHeroes. He did a fantastic job, especially under the circumstances given the main presenter and Kits co-presenter had power issues where he stayed and was working off battery power! Great to listen to you Kit, you’re a natural; you even sounded and looked as if you knew what you were talking about! More please!
Dundee City A sit in 28th place on 2 points out of 3, while Dundee City B sit in 56th place on 1 out of 3 points. Still a long way to go and room for improvement!
In round 4 both Dundee City teams face opponents who have already played one of the Dundee City teams!
Round 4 – Sun 11th Dec 22
Dundee City A v ChessKidsNation (USA)
Dundee City B v Shenzhen Peng Yue (China)
A big shout out to the World Chess League “Live” and all of those behind it who’s work is unsung for the most part! This includes the founder and Tournament director, Peter Hornsby who is instrumental in the smooth running of this fantastic world wide chess competition. Also to Twitch TV, ChessHeroes and the presenters for adding another dimension to this competition!