Scottish National Chess League

• The SNCL (Scottish National Chess League) is the premier Scottish club competition.
• The SNCL takes place at the Carnegie Conference Centre in Dunfermline KY11 8DY
• Castlehill Chess Club, Dundee and Dundee Chess Club jointly joined forces to put three teams in to the SNCL under the banner Dundee City!
• OFFICIAL WEBSITE: For all things SNCL

Updated: 26/10/23 – 10:14 hrs

SEASON 2023-24

SNCL (Scottish National Chess League)
Sun 22^nd Oct 23
Round 1 & 2

Dundee City teams are a joint venture by Castlehill CC & Dundee CC.

The SNCL is two nights longer as we move to 10 teams in the divisions, and an all-play-all format! We only entered three teams this time around, just to make sure we could fill them every time!

Division One
Round 1 – 10am

Dundee City A (2089) 3 – 2 (1886) CS BOS 1
It turned out to be a tough start for defending champions, Dundee City A, as CS BOS 1 pushed them all the way! It was not helped by a few players being late due to diversions caused by storm Babet! Mind you we were lucky the SNCL took place at all! In the end, David Findlay, Andrew Wright, Stephen Hogg & Helge Magnussen proved too strong and got Dundee City A off to the best possible start!

Division Two
Dundee City B (1559) 4 – 1 (1413) Corstorphine
With a weakened team, grading wise, this was going to be a tough ask for our “B” team, but the players stepping in did the business and showed us what strength in depth we have as a squad!

Ray Noble on bottom board, playing only in the morning match, got the team off to the best possible start with a 15-move win, with his usual sacking gambit style we have come to know him for! This was followed with wins from Tom Wardlaw and Kam Wan, ably supported by two draws from Matthew Deigham and Alisdair McLeod! Not a bad start at all!

Division Three
Dundee City C (1168) 1 – 4 (1526) Inverclyde Phoenix
Took about being an under-dog! Our “C” team were out graded on all boards by a massive amount! The only good news, if you could call it that, was Inverclyde only had 4 players so defaulted the bottom board! Captain, Daniel Coleman was the player losing out. Ana Belen Otero Seijas, Harvey Duke, Eve Kenicer and Afshin Alijani all put up good fights and made the other team work for it, but in the end experience and strength proved the winning factor! On an up note, all players will have learnt a lot from this experience and will be the better for it, if they can take it on board!

Division One
Round 2 – 3pm
Forth Valley A (1860) ½ – 4½ (2089) Dundee City A
You can`t always know how things are going to go, especially after the tough first round match, but this time our “A” team were in full throttle mode and showed us and Forth Valley, why they are the defending champions! Helge made it two wins in a row, as did Andrew Wright, with Ed Spencer and Stephen Hogg joining in. Captain, David Findlay got the obligatory draw to finish a perfect end to the day for our “A” team!

Division Two
Forth Valley B (1860) 2 – 3 (1625) Dundee City B
With our “B” team getting a boast, with captain Alastair Dawson back and Ray dropping out, our overall team strength was increased! It was a close fought game which to be honest could have gone either way! This time however, it was Dundee City C teams’ day with Matthew Deighan and Alisdair McLeod winning, Alastair Dawson & Kam Wan losing and Tom Wardlaw on board 4 bringing home the points under a lot of pressure! What a team performance and what a start for Dundee City B team winning both of their opening matches with a under strength team! Credit where credit is due team!

Division Three
Paisley (1467) 5 – 0 (1168) Dundee City C
This is like a boxing match where managers pick their fighters opponents to make sure they will come to no harm! Dundee City C team were once again out graded by a country mile, but over the board, you would not have known, as all our players preformed well above their grades to bring the fight to their higher graded opponents and make them work for the wins! You can`t ask more than that and I am very proud of all of them for how they played and handled themselves during both matches. Yes, it was 5 – 0, but performance wise in comparison with gradings, it was phenomenal!

The next 2 rounds are not to January 2024, which is one hell of a wait!

Come on Dundee City!

Chess-Results – SNCL results & tables

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SNCL (Scottish National Chess League)
Sunday 29^th January 23
Round 1 & 2

FORMAT
Divisions; 5 players per team; Time-Control: 90 minutes + 30 seconds increments. Home team (first named) has white on boards 1, 3 & 5.

After 3 years off due to the pandemic, it’s great news to see the SNCL back on the chess calendar! It’s one of the biggest and testing events there is, involving clubs from all over Scotland. It’s a test of your skills, endurance and stamina, not to mention the travailing involved for a lot of the clubs! It is also one of the most enjoyable and much loved chess competitions!

Once again Castlehill Chess Club, Dundee and Dundee Chess Club join forces to make up Dundee City teams, 4 in total spread across 3 divisions.

We had a few new players in the Dundee City Squad who have never experienced this competition, but were well up for it!

Round 1 – 10am
Div 1

Dundee City A (2094) 3½ – 1½ (1889) Dunfermline
Great start for the defending division one champions, Dundee City A! A comfortable win, against a side that had three top boards, but then fell away on the bottom two boards compared to the top three boards (still strong players!). Wins for Ed Spencer AGM(Bd3), Andrew Wright (Bd4) and Stephen Hogg (Bd5). There was a draw for Helge Magnussen (Bd2), along with a rare loss for David Findlay, on board one.

Now I believe its congratulations to Ed Spencer who just recently gained the title of AGM! Now he’s not an “Annual General Meeting”, but an “Arena Grandmaster”!

(Arena Grandmaster (AGM) is the highest online title. It is achieved by a series of 150 bullet games, 100 blitz games or 50 rapid games with a performance rating of over 2000.)

Fantastic achievement Ed, and well deserved!

Div 2
Dundee City B (1771) 2 – 3 (1990) Forth Valley A
Tough start for Dundee City B against a very strong Forth Valley A team! Depending on how you look at it, a bit of luck for Dundee City B as Forth Valley’s top board (2124) was missing in action, Andre Babin (1882) got a win by default. A great start for the team, but a long day for Andre without a game! Out graded on every board, it was a tough ask, but our players are nothing if not resourceful. Super junior Rishi Vijayakumar J11 (1826) on board 2 drew with black against a 2066! When you’ve got it, you have got it! Alistair Dawson (Bd3) also drew, while Keith Emery (Bd4) and Iain Sneddon (Bd5) both lost. Close but them the breaks at this level!

Div 3
Dundee City C (1579) 3 – 2 (1249) Dundee City D
Would you Adam & Eve it, all the way to Dunfermline just to play your own team mates! Yes Our “C” & “D” team faced off in round one. As we know derby matches are unpredictable at best and this was no different this time!

Dundee City’s D team players, Raymond Flood (Bd1) and Bruce Wallace (Bd2) both played brilliantly to secure draws against their much stronger opponents grading wise (Joshua Crofts & Leyton Hackney respectively). On board 3, Tom Wardlaw (1234) upset the apple cart with a great win against, Kit McEvoy Gould (1560)est, in a game that had everything in it, including the kitchen sink! That put the “D” team in a strong position, but the “C” team were not done yet as, Baillie Armstrong (Bd5) and Ray Noble (Bd4) saved the day with two nice wins to help Dundee City C team crawl over the winning line and get the bragging rights. Phew! Well played both sides!

Round 2 – 3pm

Div 1
Wandering Dragons (1925) 1½ – 3½ (2094) Dundee City A
Once again, Dundee City A wins 3½ to 1½ against a decent Wandering Dragon’s team! Wins for Helge Magnussen, Andrew Wright & Stephen Hogg, with a draw for Ed Spencer AGM and unusually another loss by David Findlay with the toughest job of board one!

Div 2
Dumfries & District (1560) 1 – 4 (1771) Dundee City B
In round two, Dundee City B were the top dogs grading wise and thankfully lived up to that billing to get their first team points on the board (no banana skins here!)! All our players won apart from board one, Andre Babin who had to wait along time for his first match! He lost but put up a valiant effort given the circumstances!

Div 3
Lenzie Dementors (1014) 2½ -2½ (1579) Dundee City C
Now Dementors are meant to be dark creatures that consume human happiness, creating an ambiance of coldness, darkness, misery and despair. So I guess we were up against kids, and very strong ones as well, sounds about right (only kidding, I think?)! If only we had brought our “Elder Wand” to cast the “Patronus Charm” spell!
Things did not go to plan for Dundee City C as in quick succession two of our “Muggle” players (Leyton Bd2 & Baillie Bd5) suffered the “Dementor`s Kiss” which sucked the life and soul out of them, 2 – 0 the Lenzie Dementors! To make matters worse for Dundee City C, on board 3, Kit McEvoy Gould, could only draw his match which meant the juniors were living up to their name “Dementors” and had at least got a draw, with two matches still playing! Oh “Hermione Granger” were are you, when we need your help!
Team Captain, Ray Noble (Bd4) was not only in shock with his team 2½ – 0 down,, he was having the fight of his life as his young opponent, who’s name was “Draco Malfoy”…sorry, Master Balaji Lochan! Luckily Ray was a secret member of the “House of Gryffindor” and also versed in the “Defence against the Dark Arts” and just managed to repel his young opponent to give Dundee City C a change to claim the draw!

On board one against a young lady graded 1071 (I, mean, really!!), Joshua Crofts (1660) was playing the match of his life! Joshua had dark square weaknesses all over the place, including his King, with his opponent having the dark squared Bishop, and for a while it was not looking good. But Joshua managed to plant a monster Knight on g4, which could not be touched and when I say monster, I mean the biggest monster piece I have ever seen on a chess board! It hemmed in the black squared Bishop, defended his King`s defences, so white could not bust in, left his opponent with no moves to make, “YES” it was a monster, worth at least two queens, it was that strong! Well played Joshua and what a win against an opponent who chess wise, felt, as strong as “Dumbledore and Voldemort” combined!

In the end, the draw felt like a win for Dundee City C! Hats off or even “Sorting Hats” off to the Lenzie Dementors for playing outstanding chess and getting the draw, but probably deserving of the win with that performance!

Dundee City D (1249) 1 – 4 (1530) Oban
Tough round 2 match for Dundee City D against a good and experienced Oban side. But every cloud has a silver lining and so it proved on board 4 with Daniel Coleman (1060) winning against the very experienced Glynis Grant (1207), who is also the main organiser of the SNCL! Well played Daniel!

Great start by Dundee City A to their defence of the division one title with two wins out of two! This puts them clear at the top of the table, but a long way to go!

Dundee City B won one and lost one, while Dundee City C, won one and luckily drew one which is a good start, with 5 rounds left! Dundee City D has some work to do after two losses, and will find it tough, thou not impossible!

Thank you to all the Dundee City players who took part this time. Thank you to the organisers and arbiters for pulling it all together and making it a wonderful day’s chess. It’s good to have the SNCL back again!

Rounds 3 & 4 are on Sunday 26^th February 23, 10am start
Fixtures
Div 1
Rd3: Edinburgh West v Dundee City A
Rd4: Dundee City A v Bon Accord

Div 2
Rd3: Dundee City B v Perth

Rd4: CSBOS1 v Dundee City B
Div 3
Rd3: CSBOS2 v Dundee City C & Corstorphine v Dundee City D
Rd4: Dundee City C v Forth Valley B & Dundee City D v CSBOS2

All the results, tables and fixtures can be found by clicking the link below.

SNCL (Official website)     ChessResults:  Division One    Division Two   Division Three

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

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SNCL 2019-20, Sunday November 3rd: Report of rounds 1 and 2.
Report by Alastair Dawson

And so that new 2019-20 Scottish National Chess League started at the Carnegie Conference Centre, Dunfermline, yesterday. The SNCL is one of the premier chess events in Scotland and this year no less than 40+ teams and over 200 players competed across five Divisions.

In the top division, Dundee City A team embarked on the defence of their Championship title; in division 2 Dundee City B team embarked on a new battle to maintain their place against some formidable opposition; in division 3 our newly-promoted Dundee City C team faces a series of strong opponents and in Division 5 our Dundee City Junior team, relegated from Division 4 last season, should gain valuable experience playing against a range of difficult opponents.

DIVISION ONE – 10:00am
In a packed conference centre in the morning Dundee City A team got off to a good start with a convincing win against Dunfermline Knights 3.5-1.5. With Andrew Greet playing in the Hull 4NCL Masters tournament and with Declan now at University, the A team welcomed Andre Babin onto Board 5. And it proved to be a great start for Andre with a win over John McBride. Another win for Ed Spencer and draws on the remaining boards signified a solid start to the title defence.

DIVISION TWO – 10:00am,
Dundee City B were up against Forth Valley A. Here convincing wins by Euan Dawson over Douglas Will and Ben Volland over Stephen Smith plus draws on the remaining boards was enough to give a 3.5-1.5 win.

DIVISION THREE – 10:00am
It was always going to be a tough call for Dundee City C. A whitewash was avoided against East Kilbride A through a fine effort from Subhayu Banerjee who earned a creditable draw with the black pieces against Tom Brisbane – the team result ending 0.5-4.5.

DIVISION FIVE – 10:00am
Dundee City Juniors started their campaign against Lathallan Community Chess. There was a star performance on Board 1 from Max Whisson  who beat Duncan Lyall (1437 rating) and another great performance on Board 5 from young Rishi Vijaykumar whose rating of 482 is no indication of his talent at the tender age of 8. The result of the match was a 2-3 loss but nevertheless a good start for our young players and huge amounts of experience gained.

DIVISION ONE – 3:00pm

Dundee City A were up against a powerful Wandering Dragons A team. Andre Babin continued his good form with a draw on Board 5 while Andrew Wright earned a very good win against Candidate Master Andrew Dunn (2104). But it was not to be – with a draw by David Findlay on Board 1 not enough to prevent a 2-3 loss.

DIVISION TWO – 3:00pm

Dundee City B were also up against a very strong CSBOS1 team. Out graded on all boards, a fine win by Ben Volland over Nigel Chapman plus draws from Alastair Dawson and Sam Gregory were not enough to prevent a 2-3 defeat.

DIVISION THREE – 3:00pm
Dundee City C faced an exceptionally strong Lenzie side led by Mark Sanger and the very-talented Jake Sanger. Despite a good win for Cameron Wilson on Board 5 plus another battling draw from Subhayu Banerjee the team went down to a 1.5-3.5 defeat.

DIVISION FIVE – 3:00pm
In the bottom division, our Dundee City Juniors turned out to be the only team winners of the afternoon. Up against Silly Sicilians there were wins on the top three boards. Max Whisson starred again on Board 1 and was ably supported with wins from Ramit Kanodia and Rishabh Akula – so a 3-2 win and a great afternoon for our young team.
SUMMARY
So all in all not a bad start. Star player of the day has to be young Max Whisson leading the Junior team on Board 1 with 2 straight wins – a fine performance. Special mention should also go to Andre Babin scoring 1.5/2 on his debut on Board 5 in the A team. Not to be forgotten also are the two fine draws gained by Subhayu Banerjee for our C team. It is very obvious from looking at the strength of the teams in Division 3 that Dundee City C are going to face very strong opposition in all 7 matches throughout the season – hence Subhayu’s performance is all the more creditable. Lastly one must not forget the excellent win by Andrew Wright against a Candidate Master in the afternoon. Well done everyone and we look forward to 2020 and Rounds 3 and 4 on Sunday February 2nd.

SNCL website

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Scottish National Chess League: 2018-19 – Rounds 1 and 2
November 4th, 2018, Dunfermline. Report by Alastair Dawson

The new 2018-19 SNCL chess season kicked off in Dunfermline yesterday. Dundee City have 4 teams registered this year. The A team start as reigning champions; the B team seeking promotion to Division 1 having come so close last season; the C team is trying to gain promotion to Division 3 while we have a new Junior team, also in Division 4.

 

Round 1 started with a surprise for the A team. Up against Stepps they suffered a loss when Andrew Greet lost to Douglas Bryson. But with Stephen Hogg winning well on Board 5 and draws from David Findlay, Declan and Andrew Wright, the match was drawn 2.5/2.5. In the afternoon, the A-team came into their own with a 4.5/0.5 win over Hamilton. Wins from Andrew, David, Declan and Stephen supplemented with a draw from Andrew led to a very convincing performance and a step towards their title defence. Special mention should go to Stephen for two straight wins.

 

In Division 2, the Dundee City B team started their campaign with a thumping win 5-0 over Dumfries and District A. The team has changed slightly from last year. Andrew Babin now takes up Board 2 with Carey Groves moving down to Board 4. Strength in depth is a feature of the team now, not only with Carey on Board 4 but also with Ben Volland on Board 3 and Euan Dawson on Board 5. The impressive nature of the 5-0 win was highlighted by Sam Gregory’s win on Board 1 over Michael Green (2076). The afternoon match proved to be much tougher. The team was up against Dunfermline Knights led by Ian Robertson (2045). Unfortunately both Sam and Andre lost their games but this was countered by win by Ben and Euan on Boards 3 and 5. A draw from Carey led to the match being drawn 2.5/2.5. Deserved credit goes to both Ben and Euan for winning both their matches.
Division 4

There were both new and old faces in the Dundee City C team in Division 4 now composed of Alastair Dawson, Paul Shafi, Ray Flood, Keith Rose and Ed Walton. The first match was a whitewash 5-0 over Hidden Dragons. Special mention goes to Ray Flood who crushed his opponent in only 13 moves. Whereas the opponents in Round 1 were relatively inexperienced, the match in the afternoon was very much more difficult against Dumfries and District B. Again the team completed a 5-0 wihitewash win with, again, Ray Flood being first to finish after only 35 minutes of play. Some of the matches were very tight indeed, particularly those of Alastair and Keith. Overall a great start to the promotion push and a rare 10-0 score for the day.

 

The first SNCL tournament day of the 2018-19 season was most special, however, for our Dundee City Junior (D) team. For all of them it was their second outing in weekend chess following the highly successful Dundee Congress in October. The prime objective for them all is to have fun and enjoy their chess and also gain valuable experience. In the morning they were hugely outgraded against Corstorphine, typically in excess of a 500 point difference. There were losses on all boards except that of Rishabh Akula (608) who pulled off an amazing win over Angus Ruthven (1188) – a brilliant performance. So the match result was 1-4. In the afternoon the Junior team were again heavily outgraded against CS BOS2. This time the grading differences were individually between 500-700 points and this time there was a 0-5 loss. The Junior team players performed exceptionally well during both the morning and afternoon sessions. In fact they played two of the strongest teams in the group and they surely will relish playing some of less strong teams in Rounds 3 and 4 on November 25th.

 

Undoubtedly, the performance of the day has to go to Rishabh Akula while special mention should also go to Stephen Hogg, Ben Volland and Euan Dawson in the A and B teams for 100% game scores.

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Scottish National Chess League 2017-18, October 29th, 2017 by Alastair Dawson
Chess players in Scotland met on Sunday for Rounds 1 and 2 of the Scottish National Chess League, held at the Carnegie Conference Centre in Dunfermline.

In Division 1, the Dundee City A is once again hoping to contend for the National Championship that they have so narrowly missed time and again in recent years. In

Division 2, the Dundee City B team is hoping for a successful season and contending for promotion. The Dundee City team in Division 4 is also overdue promotion to Division 4 – although the competing teams hold a different viewpoint!

This season, the sense is that Dundee City although having the same A team as last season, has more strength in depth in its B and C teams and could do well. So the scene was set. In Round 1 in Division 1, the A team overcame Inverclyde in convincing fashion by 4.5-0.5 with wins from Andrew Greet, Ed Spencer, Declan Shafi and Stephen Hogg and a draw from David Findlay. In the afternoon, the Round 2 match against Thistles was always going to be much tougher facing IM Roddy McKay, Alan Grant, Sai Kong Tsang, Alastair Maxwell and Ian Marks. As it turned out, wins from Andrew, Ed and Declan and a draw from David Findlay sealed the win with 3.5-1.5. In sum, a very promising start with 100% match points but with some very tough matches still to come.

In Division 2, Dundee City B team opened their account facing IPCC led by Elliot Frew. It was not going to be easy but wins from Sam Gregory and Ben Volland supplemented by draws from Alastair Dawson, Euan Dawson and Carey Groves gave the B team a 3.5-1.5 win. Sam’s win over Gary McPheator was particularly elegant with a nice exchange sacrifice than led to a completely winning endgame. In the afternoon, the B team had a much more difficult encounter against Dumfries and District A. There was a lesson also to be learned in not paying attention to ratings. For example, Alastair’s opponent was showing as having a grade of 1310 but it later transpired that the has an English ECF rating of 165 that coverts to around 1830. The afternoon again went well with wins from Sam, Alastair and Ben plus draws from Euan and Carey giving us a very nice 4-1 victory.

In Division 4 the day started well in the morning with a 3.5 – 1.5 win over Forth Valley B. The team of Joshua Crofts, Robert Jackson (the latter two making their SNCL debuts) , Keith Rose, Agnijo Banerjee and Ray Flood is a strong one and will do well this season. Against Forth Valley B, there were wins from Joshua, Keith and Ray plus a draw from Agnijo – so a great start to the campaign. In Round 2, the C team crushed Bon Accord B. There were wins from Robert, Keith and Agnijo while Ray continued to make mincemeat out of his Board 5 opponents! A draw from Joshua completed the match.
So at the end of the day, the Dundee City C team sit equal first with Oban but half a point behind in game points. In Division 2, Dundee City B team sit equal first with a very strong Bon Accord A team but behind them by 1.5 game points. But pride of place after Round 2 goes to Dundee City A team who are in first place and half a game point ahead of Edinburgh 1 and 1.5 game points ahead of Stepps Warriors. I cannot remember, although I may be mistaken, a previous occasion when all three Dundee City teams on an SNCL day won all their matches with 6/6 – so well done to all.

Alastair Dawson

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Dundee City: Scottish National Chess League – Report Rounds 1 and 2, Sunday 30th October 2016: Report by Alastair Dawson

A joint venture between Castlehill Chess Club Dundee and Dundee Chess Club.

The three Dundee City teams had an excellent first day at the SNCL in Dunfermline. The A team embarked again for that elusive quest of a Championship title. The B team was looking to put in a strong performance in Division 2 while the C team is hoping to challenge this year for promotion to Division 3.

Things start very well for the A team in the morning when they beat Edinburgh West 4-1 with wins for Andrew [over Craig Pritchett], Sergey [over Alan Bell], Stephen [over Duncan Walker] and Declan [over Martin Robinson]. In particular, Sergey played a very fine R and P ending to overcome his opponent. In the afternoon, an equally tough challenge came with Wandering Dragons led by FM Alan Tate and IM Mark Orr on Board 3. The team won again by 3-2 with fine wins from Andrew and Stephen Hogg [over Richard Kynoch] plus draws from David and Sergey. All in all, a tremendous performance leaving the team well-placed as they move into Rounds 3 and 4 on November 27th.

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SNCL (Scottish National Chess League) SUNDAY 25th OCTOBER 2015: Rounds 1 & 2 Reports

Well the clocks may have gone back an hour, but Dundee City teams sprang into action on the day! In division One, Dundee City A  in their morning match against IPPCC blasted their opponents of the board with a 5 star performance and a 5-0 whitewash! Andrew Greet IM (2496), David Findlay (2185), Elaine Bamber WFM (2106); Mikey Grove (2054) & Alan Borwell were hot to trot! Indeed so hot that in the afternoon match against East Kilbride they carried on where they left off in the morning with a 4½ – ½ win! A very good day at the office for Dundee City A!

In division Two Dundee City B lost a close match 1½ – 3½  in the morning against a far stronger team in Giffnock & Clarkston.Keith Rose on board five has not played in the SNCL in a long, long time but showed his class with a fine win on bottom board! In the afternoon Dundee City B reversed things with a good, good win 3½-1½ against a very strong Edinburgh 2. Talk about punching above your weight! Both Stephen Hogg and Alastair Dawson made up for losing their first round matches with good wins in this round!

In division Four, Dundee City C (Mostly juniors when possible!), were up against it grading wise in both their matches! In the morning match against Wandering Dragons B, they went down 2 – 3. Martin Chalmers (1512) lost on board one, but Euan Dawson (1322) drew on board two against a 1616! The youthful Subhayu Banerjee (1258) won his match on board three, but on board four his son, Agnijo Banerjee could not quite match him losing in the end! Tom Constance on board five drew his match. But in the afternoon match against a strong CSBOSS2, they reversed the score line from this morning with a 3-2 win to get their first points on the board! Martin lead from board won and was supported by Euan (win), Subhayu (draw) and Agnijo (draw). Indeed Agnijo somehow drew a lost position being a piece down in the endgame! We are very lucky in having such juniors like Subhayu and Martin (A hard life is why he looks like that!) in our Junior side!

All-in-all this was a very good day for Dundee City teams as they got their league

Updated: 31/01/24

SEASON 2023-24
SNCL (Scottish National Chess League)
Sunday 28th January 24
Round 3 & 4

Dundee City teams are a joint venture by Castlehill CC & Dundee CC.

Fortunately, this time a day of calm weather separated the many winter storms and all teams managed to make it to the venue.

MORNING SESSION

Division 1 – 10am
Dundee City A (2089) 4½ – ½ (1809) Edinburgh 1
In the morning session, Dundee City A continued their winning ways with a heavy defeat of Edinburgh 1 too keep their title defence on track!
Team: David Findlay; Ed Spencer (Scottish Champion); Helge Magnussen; Andrew Wright & Stephen Hogg.

Division 2 – 10am
Dundee City B (1725) 1½ – 3½ (1685) Lenzie Basilisks
Dundee City B were up against league favourites, Lenzie Basilisks. It was a tough match as one might imagine. Joshua Crofts gained a good draw on Board 4- and Alisdair McLeod won on Board 5. But it was not enough, and Lenzie ran out winners in the end!
Team: Andre Babin; Alastair Dawson; Matthew Deighan; Joshua Crofts & Alisdair McLeod.

Division 3 – 10am
Dundee City C (1461) 3½ – 1½ (1259) Stonehaven
Dundee City C team put in a much stronger performance running out clear winners over Stonehaven. In this match full points were gained by Adam Clark on Board 2, Subhayu Banerjee on Board 3 and Ana Seijas Otero on Board 5. It was Adam’s first match in the SNCL and it was great to see him coming out of a tough rook and pawn ending with the full point.
Team: Kam Wan; Adam Clark; Subhayu Banerjee; Jonathan Kinnell & Ana Belen Otero Seijas.

AFTERNOON SESSION
Division 1 – 3pm
Wandering Dragons (2033) 2½ – 2½ (2089) Dundee City A
In the afternoon, things were much tougher for Dundee City A against a strong Wandering Dragons team led by FM Andrew Burnett. There were wins for Andrew Wright and Helge Magnussen and a draw for Scottish Champion, Ed Spencer against Alan Minnican. But masterly play by FM Andrew Burnett against David Findlay together with a win for Walter Burnett over Stephen Hogg meant that the match was drawn. It remains to be seen how costly this dropped point will be.

Division 2 – 3pm
Edinburgh 2 (1579) 2 – 3 (1725) Dundee City B
Dundee City B team regrouped and came out winners over Edinburgh 2. This time, wins from Andre Babin and Alastair Dawson plus draws from Matthew Deighan and Joshua Crofts were enough to secure the victory.

Division 3 – 3pm
Edinburgh West C (300) 1½ – 3½ (1461) Dundee City C
Dundee City C team was up against Edinburgh West C. This time wins from Adam Clark, Jonathan Kinnell and Ana Seijas Otero plus a draw from Subhayu Banerjee were sufficient to take the points. Special mention should go to Adam and Jonathan who both played exceptionally well in their first SNCL outing.

With Round 4 finished there is still a long way to go for the Dundee City teams.

STANDINGS
Division 1
Only a single point at the top of the table separates Dundee City A, Dunfermline Knights, Stepps and Wandering Dragons, but crucially, it`s still in our “A” team’s own hands!.

Division 2
Dundee City B sit in 3^rd place, two points behind Lenzie and Dumfries.

Division 3
Dundee City C have now moved up the table after a shaky start in October to lie in 10^th place out of 16 teams.

We all look forward now to Rounds 5 and 6 that are due to take place on February 25^th 2024 – weather permitting!

Report by Alastair Dawson.

For all the results & standings, click “HERE” for all divisions.

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Scottish National Chess League 2022-23: Dundee City Report for Rounds 3 and 4, 26^th February 2023.  

With the 2022-23 chess season, Day 2 of the Scottish National Chess League (SNCL) came hard on the heels of Day 1. Four teams from Dundee City are represented in this competition. For this national event, players from both Castlehill Chess Club and Dundee Chess Club join forces to create the ‘Dundee City’ teams. With Rounds 1 and 2 still fresh in the memory, our players embarked on another gruelling day of chess competition.

ROUND 3 – 10am
For our C team it was not the start that they wanted – going down by 1.5-3.5 to CSBOS2. Even at this stage, the latter team look like promotion contenders and only a default for us on Board 5 plus a draw from Ray Flood was all that was to show for our efforts.

Our D team put up a stronger fight but faltered against Corstorphine going down by 2-3. Here, the two wins came on Boards 4 and 5 from Daniel Coleman and Afshin Alijani -it was Afshin’s first win in SNCL competition so many congratulations to him but commiserations to the D team.

In Division 2, our B-team put on the afterburners and put Perth to the sword with a whitewash 5-0. That said, none of the matches were easy with Perth fighting tooth and nail – so many congratulations to Andre, Rishi, Alastair, Keith and Iain.

In the top Division, our A team were up against a strong Edinburgh West with IM Craig Pritchett on top board. But after a tough contest, our A team came out on top by 3-2. On this occasion the points were brought home after wins from Stephen Hogg and Ed Spencer plus draws from Andrew Wright and David Findlay – a very good result indeed.

ROUND 4 15:00hrs
Things did not go so well for our C and D teams. The C team went down to a strong Forth Valley B side by 1-4, the only points coming from draws secured by Joshua Crofts and Ray Noble.

For Dundee City D the fight was much closer against CSBOS2 with our players going down by the close margin of 2-3. For Dundee the winners were Tom Wardlaw and Bruce Wallace. That said, CSBOS2 out-graded the D-team players on all boards.

In Division 2, our B team was up against the other promotion contender – CSBOS2. Out graded on all boards, a fierce set of chess battles ensued but, in the end, the greater strength of our opponents showed, and our team went down by 1.5-3.5. On this occasion, three draws from Alastair Dawson, Keith Emery and Iain Sneddon were as much as we could achieve.

In the top Division, a huge battle took place between our A team and another of the title contenders, Bon Accord. The result, after several hours of tough chess was a 2.5-2.5 draw. On this occasion, Andrew Wright and Stephen Hogg were the points winners, supplemented by a draw from David Findlay on Board 1. The enormity of the competition was illustrated by Andrew Wright’s game that was the last to finish in the tournament venue sometime after dark around 6.45 pm.

To summarise then after 4 Rounds having been completed, our C team are sitting in 5^th place out of 8 just slightly below mid-table. Our D team, at the moment, is positioned perilously close to the bottom in 7^th place. For the C team, the top performers are Ray Noble with 3.5/4 and Joshua Crofts on 2/4. For the D team both Daniel Coleman and Tom Wardlaw have a creditable 2/4.

In Division 2, the B team is sitting mid-table in 4^th place out of 8. For this team Alastair has 3/4 while Rishi Vijaykumar, Iain Sneddon and Keith Emery are all on 2.5/4. But top performers by some distance are our A team who sit top of Division 1 on 7 points but closely followed by Bon Accord and Edinburgh 1 who are both on 6 points. For the A team the star player so far is Stephen Hogg with a perfect 4/4! He is closely followed by Andrew Wright on 3.5/4 and Ed Spencer on 2.5/4.

So it is all to play for in Rounds 5 and 6 on Sunday 19^th March and good luck to all of our 4 teams!

Alastair Dawson

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

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Scottish National Chess League, February 2nd, 2020 Rounds 3 & 4, Carnegie Conference Centre, Dunfermline.  Report by Alastair Dawson

 

Dundee City had 20 players on hand to compete in Rounds 3 and 4 of this year’s SNCL. Competition was extremely tough as usual. When silence descended in the hall except for the shuffling of chess pieces.

Our A team embarked on a bruising encounter against Edinburgh West who were led by IM Craig Pritchett on Board 1 down to George Neave (2116) on Board 5. It was a great debut for Jacque Ophoff on Board 1 who defeated Craig Pritchett. This was followed by fine draws by David Findlay (vs Joe Redpath), Stephen Hogg (vs Neil Farrell) and Ed Spencer (vs George Neave). So a 2.5/2.5 draw against arguably the strongest Division 1 team. In Division 2,

Dundee City B had on the face of it not too hard a match against Dumfries but the match ended up drawn. Full points were collected by Ben Volland and Robert Jackson on Boards 4 and 5, Alastair drew against Nikos Argyroudis to secure the draw. In reality, it was not so good however, since he (this author) inexplicably threw away a simple win in time trouble.

In Division 3, Dundee City C lost 2-3 against a strong Perth team. The highlight of this match was a superb win on Board 1 by debut Michael Dugdale (1536)over Martin Gourlay (1904). But a win on bottom board by Ed Walton was not enough to prevent the loss.

In Division 5, Dundee City D (Juniors?) were up against it in an encounter against Edinburgh and Fife Red Bulls. The latter team was hugely strong and led by WFM Rhian Hughes ably supported on Board 2 by Lloyd Hughes. So out-gunned and out-manoeuvred the team went down 0-5.
And so to the afternoon. Nothing is easy in the SNCL and nowhere was this more the case than in Division 1 where the Dundee City A team were up against Bon Accord A. With FMs Murad Abdulla and Hamish Olsen on the top two boards and Daniel Maxwell, Euan Gray and Duncan Harwood on boards 3,4 and 5 this was not going to be easy. In a tense encounter between Murad and Jacques Ophoff and with both players having no more than a minute each left on their clocks it was Murad who came out on top. But this was countered by fine wins from Stephen Hogg and Ed Spencer and draws from Andrew Wright and David Findlay. Ed, in particular, starred in a difficult position where he pulled off a magical Q sacrifice with a smothered mate threat to win the game. So the A team ended up winning by 3-2.

In Division 2 there was some trepidation since Dundee City B were up against a very strong Kilmarnock team with Jamie Malkin, Eliot Frew and Kenny Malkin on the top 3 boards. In the end Kilmarnock proved too strong with the only points on the team sheet coming from Alastair with a win over Kenny Malkin and a draw by Ben Volland against Douglas Hamilton. So the final result was 1.5-3.5 to Kilmarnock.

In Division 3, Dundee City C played well against Pentland Hills but suffered a 2-3 loss. Here, the top performance was a very good win by Keith Rose over Andrew Clark supported by draws from Jan Barron-Majerik and Ray Flood.

In Division 5 things turned out well for Dundee City D against Hamilton B. Here, Marten Kats gained a convincing win on Board 2. And there were wins also for Max Whisson and our young talent Rishi Vijaykumar – so a great 3-2 win.
To sum up – after 4 rounds in Division 1, Edinburgh West are marginally ahead on 6 points with 3 chasing teams on 5 points – Dundee City A, Stepps and Bon Accord A. In Division 2 Dundee City B are sitting mid-table on 3 points. The clear leaders here are Thistles and Kilmarnock –each on 8 points. In Division 3, things are looking not so good for Dundee City C who presently sit bottom of the Division. But some good performances in Rounds 5 and 6 will help considerably. In Division 5, Dundee City D are presently in 6th place with 4 points. Our Juniors are doing well and gaining priceless experience with every match played. Next up is the 3rd match day on March 1st – good luck to all.

Star performance of the day in this case needs to be shared between Michael Dugdale’s win over Martin Gourlay and Jacques Ophoff’s win over IM Craig Pritchett.

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Scottish National Chess League, Rounds 3 and 4, November 25th 2018

Dundee City Report by Alastair Dawson

Four Dundee City teams arrived at the Carnegie Conference Centre, Dunfermline, with different objectives. For the A team the intention was to continue to defend their Championship title. For the B and C teams, wins were required to maintain the push for promotion in their respective divisions. For the Junior team the aim was to play good chess, enjoy their games and learn from their experiences.

DIVISION ONE (AM)

The A team started in the morning against Kilmarnock. Wins for Andrew Greet, Andrew Wright and Stephen Hogg together with a draw for David Findlay was sufficient to secure a 3.5/1.5 win.

DIVISION TWO (AM) 

The Dundee City B team managed to overcome a strong Perth team led by Martin Gourlay on Board 1. Wins for Euan and Alastair Dawson together with draws for Carey Groves and Andre Babin was enough to earn a 3-2 victory.

DIVISION FOUR (AM)
The C team had a tough encounter against Forth Valley B, out graded on the top 3 boards but with a slight edge on the bottom two boards. The result was a 2.5/2.5 draw with wins from Ray Flood and Ray Noble as well as a draw from Paul Shafi.

The Junior team, had another difficult set of games. From the heat of battle came 2 wins, one from Max Whisson on Board 1 and the other from Risabh Akula on Board 4. Despite these successes the team lost 2-3 to the Silly Sicilians.

DIVISION ONE (PM)
The A team was up against Thistles led by IM Roddy McKay. It turned out to be a successful afternoon with wins for Andrew Greet on Board 1, Andrew Wright on Board 4 and Stephen Hogg on Board 5. Stephen’s win against Stephen Robinson was particularly elegant with the latter’s King mated in the middle of the board. The match win was by 3.5-1.5 that now places them in 1st place on 7 points closely followed on 6 points by Bon Accord A and Stepps.

DIVISION TWO (PM)
The B team faced a weakened Giffnock team missing Phil and Rosie Giulian who are n Bled, Slovenia, playing in the World Senior Championships. The match was fiercely contested but wins from Euan and Alastair Dawson on Boards 4 and 5 together with draws from Sam Gregory, Carey Groves and Andre Babin resulted in a comfortable win by 3.5-1.5. This leaves the Dundee City B team in joint 1st place with Wandering Dragons A on 7 points closely followed one point behind by Forth Valley A.

DIVISION FOUR (PM)
Dundee City C were up against Bon Accord B. This match proved to be one of the closest of the day. A nice win from Ray Noble was followed by another from Ed Walton who converted a slight edge in a R and P ending into a won K and P ending. Losses from Ray Flood and Keith Rose meant that the match result depended on the outcome of Paul Shafi’s game on Board 1 against Kalyan Kante. After a lot of manoeuvring and pressure by Paul against the White King position the game finally ended equal. This drawn game resulted in a drawn match 2.5/2.5. This result puts Dundee City C team in 2nd equal place in Division 4 tied with CS BOS 2 with both a point behind Dunfermline B.

The Junior team had their first big success as a team in the afternoon when they beat Liver Fryers by 3-2. Stars of the afternoon were Ramit Kanodia, Charvi Kanodia and Risabh Akula who all won their matches. What a wonderful achievement and we all celebrate their success.

So a break now in the Scottish National Chess League for the Christmas and New Year period – the battles for success in the respective Divisions resumes with Rounds 5 and 6 scheduled to take place on Sunday February 24th 2019.

SNCL Website

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Scottish National Chess League, Rounds 3 and 4, November 26th 2017:
Dundee City Report by Alastair Dawson.

Following their outstanding start in Rounds 1 and 2 of this year’s SNCL, Dundee City started Rounds 3 and 4 of the tournament on Sunday in good spirits. As usual, the Carnegie Conference Centre in Dunfermline was packed with chess players from across the country. Dundee City had 3 teams respectively in Divisions 1,2 and 4.
For the Dundee City A team the morning session started well with a 4-1 win over Wandering Dragons A. Wins came from IM Andrew Greet over CM Andrew Dunn as well as from Ed Spencer and Declan Shafi. Ed arrived late but then proceeded to win in 13 moves. So fast and emphatic was this win that with his game completed and the the board reset, some spectators couldn’t work if the match had not in fact started! David Findlay drew with the Black pieces against IM Mark Orr so that with an additional draw from Stephen Hogg on Board 5, the team had made a convincing start.

Dundee City B team found it much harder going in Division 2 against Forth Valley A. A win from  Alastair Dawson plus draws from Sam Gregory and Dominic O’Rourke was not enough and the team went down 2-3.

In Division 4, the C team had a tough battle on their hands against Oban illustrated by Ben Volland paired against Duncan Campbell (1899) on Board 1. It was not to be for the C team with a fine win from Ray Noble plus draws by Ray Flood and Subhayu Banerjee being not enough to avert a 2-3 defeat.

 

In the afternoon more difficult matches against high-graded opponents were to follow. In Division 1 Dundee City A team faced a strong Edinburgh West team led by IM Craig Pritchett. This time wins from Andrew Greet over Craig plus an excellent win by David Findlay over George Neave as well as a draw from Declan Shafi against Alan Bell resulted in a 2.5-2.5 draw.

In Division 2 the B team were up against favourites Bon Accord A. This time an excellent win from Dominic O’Rourke over Euan Gray (1915) plus draws from Sam Gregory and Euan Dawson resulted in a narrow 2-3 defeat.

In Division 4 the C team put on a display of ‘power chess’ to defeat Dumfries and District B 4.5-0.5. Wins from Ben Volland, Ray Noble (his second of the day), Ray Flood and Subhayu Banerjee were supplemented by a draw from Agnijo Banerjee.

 

This season the winners of each division are to be determined by game points rather than match points. So after 4 rounds the Dundee City A team is sitting in top spot with 14.5 game points ahead of nearest rivals Edinburgh 1 on 13.5 points. In Division 2, Dundee City B team sit in 2nd place on 11.5 points behind leaders Bon Accord A who are on 16 points. In Division 4, the Dundee City C team are sitting in first place with 14.5 points ahead of Oban who are on 13.5 points. So overall the 3 teams are doing very well with 2 leading their respective Divisions and the 3rd in second place.

After Christmas and New Year, these various chess battles will  recommence with Rounds 5 and 6 due to take place on Sunday February 18th 2018.

 

Alastair Dawson

 

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Dundee City: Scottish National Chess League – Report Rounds 3 and 4, Sunday 27th November 2016

A joint venture between Castlehill Chess Club Dundee and Dundee Chess Club.

Scottish National Chess League: Rounds 3 and 4, November 27^th 2016: Report by Alastair Dawson

The three teams from Dundee City arrived at the exclusive Carnegie Conference Centre in Dunfermline for Rounds 3 and 4 of the SNCL with different aims. For the A team, the intention was to keep pushing for that elusive Championship title. For the B team the hope was to consolidate our position in Division 2. For the C team in Division 4 there were high ambitions that they could push strongly into promotion contention. For this particular pair of rounds Dundee City had struggled to find 15 players for the three teams. For a host of reasons, 7 of our regular players were unavailable for selection – which left us struggling to complete the teams. Things were so stretched that Tom Constance was playing the morning round for the C team but being replaced by Ray Noble for the afternoon match. In the end we made it – just – but with no reserves to call on this time we were always going to be vulnerable to any late call-off. And so it was. Poor Sam Gregory became ill on the weekend of the tournament, leaving us one player short.
MORNING PLAY
And so the morning commenced. The A team faced old rivals Hamilton A and a tough battle was in prospect. With David Findlay losing out to Joe Redpath and Ed Spencer to Pat Coffey the nerves were jangling. But Stephen Hogg pulled off yet another superb win [3 wins now in 3 rounds] over Tom Donoghue, Andrew Greet won a R and N ending with an extra pawn over Andrew Muir leaving young Declan on Board 5 to clinch the match 3-2 with a fine win over Alexander Bond.

For the B team it was a different story. With only 4 players it was going to be a struggle against a very strong Inverclyde team led by Jim Montgomery [2122] and Kevin McDonald [2030]. With a loss by Alastair against Kevin McDonald and draws on Boards 4 and 5 from Darius and Jim Anderson, the highest score we could obtain was 2. That said, Gary Weir on Board 1 pulled off one of the wins of the season so far beating Jim Montgomery in a Q and minor piece ending where Jim’s King was left hopelessly exposed to Gary’s Q and N. So a 2-3 loss for the B team.

The C team were also to find it tough going. They were faced with Division 4 form team, Paisley whose strength in depth was exemplified by Richard Cochrane [1949] on Board 1. Our debutants, Kim Ah See and Lewis Foggie plus Tom Constance on Board 3 found no concessions from their opponents while a draw from Euan Dawson was the only half point to be had – so a 0.5-4.5 loss to the league leaders.

AFTERNOON PLAY
In the afternoon Round 4, the A team turned on the style with a 5-0 whitewash over Forth Valley A. Special mention should be made of Stephen Hogg whose win now gives him a hugely impressive 4/4 in the Championship so far.

For the B and C teams the selection of the two teams turned out chaotically. Initially the B team was defaulting one board, then the opponents of the C team defaulted two boards, this then being followed by the opponents of the B team, East Kilbride A, defaulting one board!! The result of this mess was that Ben Volland moved up to Board 4 in the B team, Jim Anderson had a default win on Board 5 for the B team. For the C team, the Board order became Euan Dawson, Ray Noble and Lewis Foggie. Kim Ah See was then awarded a default win on Board 4 while Board 5 shared a default. Add to that the fact that your author mislaid his glasses at the start of the round and was unable to complete a team sheet for the B team and you have a total shambles. When play finally got going, Gary Weir lost to Lennart Koehn, Alastair drew with Alan Jelfs but with Ben losing to his 1931 opponent and Darius losing on time, the default win for Jim Anderson on Board 5 did not matter and we went down 1.5-3.5.

But there was a nice surprise at the end for Dundee City. With a draw on Board 1 for Euan and a nice trap that won the game for Ray Noble [who had heroically turned up from work to support the team struggling for players] the default win for Kim Ah See proved decisive and the team won 3-2. Wow!

SUMMARY
So where does this leave our 3 teams. Well the A team are now clear joint top leaders with Edinburgh 1, led by Neil Berry, who they meet in a decisive match for the Championship in the final match of the season in Round 7 on 26^th March 2017. The B team are now in a relegation spot. But they have already played the top two teams, Inverclyde and Stepps, and with hopefully a stronger cohort of players available for Rounds 6 and 7 the pressure is on to produce two wins at the end of February. Division 4 is now led by Paisley with Dundee City C in 4^th place [out of 14 teams] and they now require 2 wins in Rounds 5 and 6 to contend for promotion on the final day.

Alastair

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SNCL: Sunday 29th November 2015: Dunfirmline; Rounds 3 & 4
(A joint venture between Castlehill Chess Club, Dundee & Dundee Chess Club

Division One
Two fine wins for Dundee City A, particularly against Hamilton A, putting the team in first place by one point ahead of Edinburgh after four matches!

Dundee City A 3½ – 1½ Forth Valley A
Hamilton A 2 – 3 Dundee City A
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Division Two
Dundee City B  team were really up against it in their two matches, being heavily out graded in both. Paul gained a half against Alistair Maxwell, perhaps should have won, and the others put up stiff resistance. Keith drew a sharp game against John Calder in the second match, so no whitewashes after all. Dundee City B are now 6th of 8

Dundee City B ½ – 4½ Thistles
Inverclyde 4½ – ½ Dundee City B
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Division Four
Dundee City C team/juniors excelled themselves by winning both matches against teams equal or better than them grading wise. They now sit in second place after four matches with three to go!.

Dundee City C 3 – 2 Crouching Tigers
Musselburgh ½ – 4½ Dundee City C
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Congratulations to all our players at the SNCL, especially our “A” team and Junior!

For more match and table info go to the SNCL official website “Here“

Updated: 27/02/24

SEASON 2023-24
SNCL (Scottish National Chess League)
Sunday 25^th February 24
Round 5 & 6

Dundee City teams are a joint venture by Castlehill CC & Dundee CC.

We are now past the half-way stage in this year’s SNCL tournament.

MORNING SESSION

Division 1 – 10am
Dundee City A (2090) 2 – 3 (2039) Stepps
When the players sat down to play Round 5 on Sunday morning, Dundee City A team were up against Stepps. On this occasion things did not go Dundee City’s way. A late slip in an ending by David Findlay against IM Douglas Bryson and losses also for Ed Spencer and Stephen Hogg resulted in an uncharacteristic 2-3 loss.

Division 2 – 10am

Dundee City B (1729) 3 – 2 (1626) East Kilbride
There were wins for Andre Babin, Matthew Deighan and Joshua Crofts which sealed a 3-2 victory over a tough East Kilbride team.

Division 3 – 10am
Dundee City C (1503) 3½ – 1½ (1417) Forth Valley C
Dundee City C were about to start a fantastic day of chess. A late call-off by Tom Wardlaw due to illness meant that the team was defaulting a point in each of the 2 rounds. In the morning round, however, against Forth Valley C wins for Alisdair McLeod, Ray Noble, Ana Belen Otero Seijas plus a draw for Kam Wan resulted in a 3.5-1.5 victory.

The competition resumed in the afternoon.

AFTERNOON SESSION
Division 1 – 3pm
Hamilton A (2090) 2½ – 2½ (1822) Dundee City A
Dundee City were up against Hamilton A led by Tom Donohue (1934). There were wins this time from Andrew Wright and David Findlay. However, losses for Helge Magnussen and Stephen Hogg plus a draw from Ed Spencer resulted in a 2.5/2.5 draw.

Division 2 – 3pm
Dumfries and District (1791) 2 – 3 (1726) Dundee City B
Dundee City B faced the highly-rated Dumfries and District team. This time, despite a loss for Alastair Dawson on Board 2, there were wins for Ian Sneddon and Joshua Crofts. These wins, plus draws for Andre Babin and Matthew Deighan resulted in the second 3-2 win of the day – a fantastic result despite being out-graded on the top 3 boards.

Division 3 – 10am
Dundee City C (1503) 3½ – 1½ (1368) Queens Park
Dundee City C team continued their sparkling form against Queens Park. While Dundee United were running out winners that afternoon against Queens Park in the Scottish football Championship, our Dundee City chess team ran out convincing winners over Queens Park with 4 wins from Alisdair McLeod, Kam Wan, Ray Noble and the fast-improving Ana Belen Otero Seijas. With the defaulted Board 5, the match score was a 4-1 victory. To summarise, of the 8 matches played by Dundee City C-team on Sunday, they notched up 7 wins plus a draw – a remarkable achievement!

So where does this leave the 3 Dundee City teams? In Division 1, our A-team has now slipped into 4^th place – and 3 points behind leaders Dunfermline Knights who are on 11 points. Rounds 7 and 8 represent crunch time for the A-team with a morning match against Edinburgh West and the present leaders, Dunfermline Knights in the afternoon.

In Division 2, our B team has climbed the rankings with their two wins. They now sit in 2^nd place on 10 points and 1 point behind tournament leaders Lenzie Basilisks. They are now due to play CSBOS2 in Round 7 and local rivals, Perth, in Round 8.

In Division 3 (Swiss division), our Dundee City C team has rapidly climbed the league table and now sits in 3^rd place, 2 points behind the joint leaders Edinburgh West B and Inverclyde Phoenix. For the team pairings in Division C for Rounds 7 and 8, we will have to wait until March 17^th to find out the next two opponents for our Dundee City C-team.

Good luck to all our teams for Rounds 7 and 8 on Sunday March 17^th – with promotion places at a premium and a national title at stake, there is a lot to play for!

Report by Alastair Dawson (Thank you)!

For all the results & standings, click “HERE” for all divisions.

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SNCL (Scottish National Chess League)
Sunday 19^th March 23
Round 5 & 6

FORMAT
Divisions (Dundee City have 4 teams); 5 players per team; Time-Control: 90 minutes + 30 seconds increments. Home team (first named) has white on boards 1, 3 & 5.

Oh what a day, or should I say what a lead up to the day! Due to the SNCL being held on Mothers day, it caused us no end of problems and it looked like we were going to default our 4^th team due to lack of players! In the end (last minute) we managed to get three players for the 4^th team and in the end only defaulted the bottom board! But of course all of this had a knock on effect on the overall strength of our “B”, “C” & “D” teams!

Division One
Round 5 – 10am

Stepps (2052) 2 – 3 (2094) Dundee City A
This was a tough match and Dundee City A can probably count themselves a bit lucky to get the result! Mind you as they say, a good side always finishes in 2^nd place, a good side with a bit of luck, finishes in 1^st place! Let’s see if that holds true! We had wins for Ed Spencer and Andrew Wright, with David Findlay and Helge Magnussen drawing theirs, David’s against IM Douglas Bryson (2279)! The ever dependable Stephen Hogg had one of his rare defeats! Dundee City A have shown, they are not just a collection of good players, they are a collection of “TEAM” players and that is why they have been top of the heap for a while! All for one and one for all!

Division 2
Round 5 – 10am
Dundee City B (1729) 2 – 3(1435) Lenzie Basilisks
Dundee City B had a weaker team due to Mothers Day but still out graded their opponents by a big margin! Having said that, Lenzie Basilisks are full of juniors and up and coming players and their gradings do not reflect their real strength! Still it was a disappointing result in the end, but what can you say, when you face the “King of Serpents”, born from a chicken egg, hatched beneath a toad (Reference: Basilisks – Harry Potter universe)! Keith Emery is only winner, with Iain Sneddon and Leyton Hackney getting draws. Our 2 top boards, Andre Babin and Alastair Dawson found the going tough and lost this time.

Division 3
Round 5 – 10am
Corstorphine (1606) 3 – 2 (1451) Dundee City C
This was a hard fought battle, with every Dundee City player giving it their all! In all 3 of our players drew against stronger opposition (Ray Noble 1531 – 1699; Ray Flood 1475 – 1689; Bruce Wallace 1430 -1521), while Peter Selbie (Kirkcaldy), helping out Dundee City in their hour of need, drew against a 1202. Now that was a strange game as at one point Peter seemed to have an advantage, only to find himself in a losing position and then somehow, getting into a won position, only to play the wrong move in a king and pawn v King ending to draw! But it was the fair result as Peter had stopped writing down the moves after the 5 minute mark, but that is illegal in this competition as we have 30 second increments, you “MUST” keep writing down the moves until the game ends! All’s well, that ends well!
Forth Valley B (1579) 4½ – ½ (1146) Dundee City D
Dundee City D were hit badly player and grading wise due to Mothers Day and it showed in the results.
Unfortunately one of our players, missed his lift, but still made his way to the venue all be it too late for the first match! That put Dundee City D 2 – 0 down at the start, counting the bottom board default. On board one, Tom Wardlaw (1234) got a fantastic draw against a 1711! Afshin Alijani (UG) on board 3 fought hard against a 1621 before losing in the end. On board 4 we had Wull Swales stepping in to help us, but he was out graded and out gunned on the day!

Division One
Round 6 – 3pm
Dundee City A (2094) 3½ – 1½ (1957) Hamilton B
While no match is a sure thing; this was at least a convincing performance by Dundee City A! Wins for Helge Magnussen and Ed Spencer (his 2^nd win!), plus draws from David Findlay, Andrew Wright and Stephen Hogg and no losses helped Dundee City A to a nice win.

Dundee City A, the defending champions sit top of the league table on 11 points, with one game to go! That will be against Edinburgh 1 who are a very strong side, but don’t always field their strongest side, except when they face Dundee City A! They have FM Neil Berry and FM Craig Thomson in their side, plus a few other handy players if they all turn up, which they might do for the quick-play event in the afternoon!

Division Two
Round 6 – 3pm

Edinburgh 2 (1619) 2 – 3 (1729) Dundee City B
Not as comfortable as it should have been, but very few matches are these days! A win is a win in the end no matter how you get there! Wins for Keith Emery (his 2^nd) and Leyton Hackney (undefeated), plus another draw for Iain Sneddon and a 2^nd defeat for Alastair Dawson (most unusual!), meant it all rested on the board one match between Michael Ridge (1870) and Andre Babin (1882). To be fair, Andre was on the wrong end of it and losing, but his opponent was in time trouble and Andre sacked a piece to complicate matters and somehow got the draw! Andre “Houdini” Babin? Has a nice ring about it! Well played every one!

Dundee City B sits in 3^rd place on 6 points and is safe at least. Maybe with the full side, we might have had a chance at promotion, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes! Always next season!

Division Three
Round 6 – 3pm

Dundee City C (1451) 1 – 4 (1617) Oban
Well not a lot we can say here as we were well out graded and out gunned! Oban, were deserved winners and we will just need to lick our wounds, pick ourselves up and dust ourselves down for the last match! Congratulations to Peter Selbie (1263) on board 5 for a nice win and stopping the team whitewash! Peter had a good “Guest” tournament with one win and one draw! Glad to have you onboard Peter!

Dundee City C sits in 6^th position and still in the danger zone for being relegated. Dundee C face Hamilton B in the last match and draw would be enough. The most important thing is it’s in our own hands! Mind you a little help from our team mates (Dundee D) who play Lenzie Dementors would not go a miss (Insurance policy!)!
Dundee City D (1146) 1½ – 3½ (1376) Hamilton B
Another hard game not helped by being a board down! Kam Wan (1075) on board 3 won his game against a 1390. Way to go Kam! Tom Wardlaw (1234) got another great draw on top board, this time against a 1685! Tom I think it’s safe to say, your grade for next season will be a lot higher that at present! Well played once again Tom!

 

Dundee City D sit bottom of the heap on zero points and are looking like being relegated. It all depends on a number of factors, but first things first; they need to win their last match against Lenzie Dementors to have any chance! Mind you, Dundee City C could only draw with Dementors!

 

Given the circumstances of Mothers Day, it went better than we could have hoped for! The Main thing is Dundee City A was not affected and stay on course to defend their division one title!

Thank you to all our players who supported us on the day, with special mention to Peter Selbie and Kam Wan (both Kirkcaldy) for stepping in, in our hour of need!

Last round (7) on Sunday 7^th May 23, 10am!

For all the past and present results and standing, click “HERE“

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

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Scottish National Chess League, March 1st 2020, Rounds 5 and 6:
Report by Alastair Dawson

 

Dundee City prepared for play in Rounds 5 and 6 knowing that the outcomes of the various matches would go a long way to determine promotions, relegation’s and, of course, the national championship itself.

AM MATCHES
Dundee City A  faced Stepps in the morning. It proved to be successful with a hard-fought drawn match. Jacques Ophoff drew with IM Doug Bryson on top board. There followed draws for Andrew Wright and Andre Babin and a win for Ed Spencer. In

Division 2 a big setback took place an hour prior to the match with the late call-off by Gary Weir as a result of sickness. With the adjustment of board order Euan Dawson assumed the role of being top board for Dundee City B. It worked – with him gaining a nice win over John Smith, On Board 2 Alastair Dawson secured a second game point but losses on Boards 3 and 4 resulted in a 2-2 draw but a 2-3 match loss owing to a default on Board 5.

In the 3rd division, Dundee City C  was up against it. With losses on the top three boards, two wins from Ed Walton and Cameron Wilson were insufficient overall, the team losing 2-3.

In Division 5, Dundee City D team gained the result of the morning. On Board 1, Max Whisson notched up a nice win and Rishabh Akula did likewise on Board 3. Krish Akula gained a comfortable draw – and this time, it was their opponents who were a player short and had to default on Board 5. The net effect was a 3.5 – 1.5 win.

PM MATCHES
In the afternoon Dundee City A faced a strong Hamilton team led by IM Andrew Muir. Once again, Jacque Ophoff excelled and gained a draw through a perpetual check sequence. There were draws also from Stephen Hogg and Andrew Wright. But the match was won on Boards 4 and 5 through victories from both Ed Spencer and Andre Babin.

There was drama for our Dundee City B team who faced a very strong Giffnock team led by FM Phil Giulian. Having lost in the morning, it was going to be a very tough task to get anything from this match. But then on Board 1, Euan’s game was first to finish with a remarkable win, his first against a Fide Master. Alastair drew with Neil Thomson on Board 2 and there were losses on Boards 3 and 4. On Board 5, Ray Noble arrived to replace Gary Weir for the afternoon match. Not only did he win well, but his win brought the match to a draw. So one point gained against such a strong team – an amazing result!

The same was not true for our C team in Division 3 – they crashed horribly to a much stronger Wandering Dragons team – enough said! And the same was the case for Dundee City D team who also had an afternoon nightmare – a whitewash loss 0-5.

 

SNCL Division 1  If teams tied on match points, then board points will be the tie-break!
#	Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts
1=	Edinburgh West	6	2	4	0	8
1=	Stepps Warriors	6	3	2	1	8
1=	Bon Accord	6	3	2	1	8
1=	Dundee City A	6	3	2	1	8
5	Hamilton A	6	2	1	3	5
6=	Edinburgh 1	6	1	2	3	4
6=	Wandering Dragons	6	2	0	4	4
8	Dunfermline Knights	6	1	1	4	3

 

 

SNCL Division 2  If teams tied on match points, then board points will be the tie-break!
#	Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts
1	Kilmarnock	6	6	0	0	12
2	Thistles	6	5	0	1	10
3	CSBOS1	6	4	1	1	9
4=	Dundee City B	6	1	2	3	4
4=	Edinburgh 2	6	2	0	4	4
4=	Giffnock	6	1	2	3	4
7	Dumfries & District A	6	1	1	4	3
8	Forth Valley A	6	0	2	4	2

 

SNCL Division 3  If teams tied on match points, then board points will be the tie-break!
#	Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts
1	Perth	6	5	1	0	11
2	Wandering Dragons B	6	5	0	1	10
3	East Kilbride A	6	4	1	4	9
4	Pentland Hills	6	3	1	2	7
5	Dunfermline Knaves	6	2	1	3	5
6	Lenzie	6	2	0	4	4
7	Oban	6	1	0	5	2
8	Dundee City C	6	0	0	6	0

 

SNCL Division 5 If teams tied on match points, then board points will be the tie-break!
#	Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts
1	Phones	6	6	0	0	12
2=	Hamilton B	6	4	0	2	8
2=	Edinburgh and Fife Red Bulls	6	4	0	2	8
4=	Dundee City D	6	3	0	3	6
4=	Lathallen Community Chess	6	3	0	3	6
6	Silly Sicillians	6	2	0	4	4
7=	Rafaferz	6	1	0	5	2
7=	East Kilbride B	6	1	0	5	2

 

For performances of the day there are two. One would be that of Ed Spencer on 2/2 who was in overdrive in Division 1 crushing opponents with apparent ease. The second was from Euan Dawson who not only scored 2/2 on top Board in Division 2 but beat an Fide Master in the process – well done Euan!

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Scottish National Chess League, Rounds 5 and 6, February 24^th  2019
Report by Ray Noble

Dundee City  “A”; “B”; “C” & Junior Report (Castlehill CC & Dundee CC)
After the festive break, battles resumed once again for our 4 teams in the penultimate day at the Carnegie Conference Centre, Dunfermline.

ROUND 5 (Morning 10am)

Division One
Dundee City A got a hard fought draw against Edinburgh West (2½-2½) with all matches being a draw. It could have gone either way and in some ways Dundee City A got the luck of the draw in the end.

Division Two
Dundee City B got a tanking against Forth Valley A losing 4½-½, with Ben Volland stopping the whitewash! A big thank you to Carey Groves who played despite being ill to make the team up. It just was not the “B” teams day.

Division Four
Dundee City C faced the league leaders, Dunfermline B . Paul Shafi on board 1 lost, but Keith Rose, Raymond Flood, Ray Noble and Ed Walton all won to give Dundee City C a 4-1 win and go top of the league!

Dundee Juniors + newbie Marten Kats won 3½-1½ against Hamilton B, but it was a disappointing match with Hamilton B defaulting on two boards and Marten Kats and Krish Akula not getting a game.

ROUND 6 (Afternoon 3pm)
Division One
Dundee City A are in seventh heaven after showing Bon Accord the Northern lights, beating them 4-1 to end the day in top spot (10 points), 2 points ahead of the teams in 2^nd place!  Andrew Greet beat twice Scottish Champion, Murad Abdulla on board one, while David Findlay ground out a draw against Hamish Olson. Declan Shafi also drew on board 3. Our two bottom boards, Andrew Wright and ever dependable Stephen Hogg were the hero’s winning both their matches! With only one match left the ball is in their court to make it back to back titles! They will face 3^rd placed Edinburgh 1 in the last match!

Division Two
It was not Dundee City B`s day as they again lost, this time to Wandering Dragons B, 3½-1½. The “B” team were missing Alastair and Euan Dawson due to Euan turning 18 (Happy birthday Euan from all your chess friends and also well done in passing your driving test!) and having a family bash in St.Andrews!  Even so it was a disappointing day and probably means another year in division two. They face league leaders Wandering Dragons A in their last match. Mathematically there are possibilities but…

Division Four
Dundee City C won their 2^nd match of the day against CS Bos 2 to cement top spot. Dundee City C was helped by CS Bos 2 only having 4 players which meant Ed Walton missed out on a match. Ray Noble won his 2^nd match (hard to believe I know!) to make it 2-0. All we needed was 1 point out of three matches. How hard could that be? Well Ray  Flood lost to give CS Bos 2 some hope. At one point Paul Shafi on board one was looking dodgy and Keith Rose on board 3 was balancing on a double edged sword! Would he checkmate, or would his opponent promote his pawn?

In a titanic struggle and one that will be worth putting up on website, Keith Rose prevailed for Dundee City C in a nail biting finish to not only secure the win for the team, but make sure we finished top by one point with one match left to play. Great play Keith a captains performance! In the end Paul lost his second match but it did not matter. Division 4 champions and promotion are up for grabs on the last day of action on the 24^th March! I do not no for sure but it looks like Dundee City C will face Corstorphine who sometimes turn up with the strongest side in the division ( Brd 1 1810; brd 2 1595 etc) and other times not Brd 1 1596; Brd 2 1222 etc)! Lets hope it`s the later or we could have our work cut out!

Dundee City Juniors fared less well in the 6^th round losing 4½-½ to Dumfries & District B. Out graded, out gunned they put up a battle with Rishabh Akula got a great draw against a 1252 (644 points higher than him)! The experience gained at this level will help them develop their skills and will benefit them in the long term.

SUMMARY
Well a mixed day for our teams with Dundee City B having a nightmare, and Dundee Juniors an up and down day. Both have nothing to play for but pride in the last match left, or maybe not in the “B” team’s case?

But it`s congratulations to Dundee City A who are in pole position for back to back titles and face Edinburgh 1 in the last match. Dundee City C who by winning their matches (one against the leaders at the time), moved into top spot by 1 point and one match left.

Once again thank you to all the organisers of the SNCL for a great day’s chess! Without your dedication and support this would not take place.

For all the results, tables and individual player results visit the SNCL website at:
http://snclchess.co.uk/

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Scottish National Chess League, Rounds 5 and 6, February 18^th 2018

 The penultimate Sunday of this season’s SNCL started off for the three Dundee City with a range of expectations.

Divison One (Dundee City A)
AM
For the A team it was all about maintaining top spot and being able to reach the last Round in good shape for the final match against favourites Edinburgh 1. The team also had an important change. Andrew Greet was down in Newcastle playing in the prestigious Northumbria Masters. In his place came Andrew Wright, a very strong player in the Dundee chess scene from years past. In the morning the opponents were Steppes.

On Board 1, David lost against IM Douglas Bryson, both Ed and Andrew Wright drew on Boards 2 and 4. But wins from Declan over Alex Gillies and Stephen Hogg over Jim Small were enough to secure a 3-2 win.
PM
In the afternoon, Dundee A were up against a substantially weakened Hamilton team. The top Boards were fiercely contested: David was beaten by Joe Redpath, Ed had a nice win against Tom Donohue but Declan lost to Stephen McQuillan. Then Boards 4 and 5 came to the rescue with straightforward wins for Andrew and Stephen giving a 3-2 win.

Division Two (Dundee City B)
AM
The expectation was to keep challenging for promotion. With Bon Accord runaway leaders there was a chance to push towards the 2^nd place promotion slot. On the face of it the morning match against lower graded Perth was the easier match and the afternoon pairing against Giffnock much more difficult. But things did not go to plan. Against Perth, Carey Groves was beaten on Board 1 by Martin Gourlay, on Board 2 Alastair could get no more than a draw out of David Hall. But with young guns Euan Dawson and Ben Volland both winning on Boards 3 and 4 and Keith Rose losing on Board 5 the match ended up tied 2.5-2.5.

PM
So on to the afternoon. Carey had her work cut out against FM Phil Giulian and lost. Then Euan took a hard-fought draw against Rosie Giulian. He was followed by wins from both Ben and Keith. Last to finish was Alastair who overcame Antonios Floros giving us a  3-2 win!

Division Four (Dundee City C)
AM
our C team had a different look about it – Robert Burnett was on Board 1, Ray Flood on 2, Subhayu on 3, Josh Cargill-Brown was making his team debut on Board 4 as was Jack Gibson on Board 5. Leaders in this group were Oban and Musselburgh. So the plan was to continue picking up points and keep in touch with 2^nd place. But Musselburgh were the opponents and it proved a daunting task. Robert was beaten on Board 1 but Ray Flood continued his good form with a win on Board 2. With Subhayu drawing on Board 3 the match outcome was going to be determined by what happened on Boards 4 and 5. But after superhuman efforts neither Josh nor Jack were able to hold their positions and the team lost 1.5-3.5.
PM
Things were better in the afternoon against CS BOS 2. Draws from Robert, Ray and Jack (especially well-played) plus a nice win by Josh earned the team a 2.5-2.5 draw.

SUMMARY
So where do these results leave the teams? In Division 1, the A team lead Edinburgh 1 by half a game point. Thus in the final match at the end of March a draw would be enough to secure the title – easier said than done, however, given the strength of Edinburgh 1. In Division 2 the B team are tied in second place with Kilmarnock – who they play in the final round. Dundee, however, have a better game point score and so here also a draw would secure promotion to Division 1. In Division 4, the C team are sitting  in 3^rd place and only a 4-0 score in the final might be enough to catch the top two team, but even then only if some other matches go in Dundee’s favour. So, overall, Rounds 5 and 6 went well for the Dundee City teams. Certainly, no other teams in Scotland are in the position going into Round 7 of both playing for the Championship and also for promotion to Division 1. Special mention should go to Andrew Wright, Jack Gibson and Josh Cargill-Brown who all had their debuts and who all put in fine performances.

 Alastair Dawson

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Dundee City SNCL Report, Rounds 5 and 6: February 26th 2017:
Report by Alastair Dawson:

 

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SNCL: Report by Alastair Dawson

Outstanding day for Dundee City Chess Team at SNCL Rounds 5 and 6, 28th February 2016.
With a weakened team today, Dundee City A pulled off a win plus a draw against Edinburgh West and Wandering Dragons A. The team now sits on top the National League leading Edinburgh 1 by 2 points with one round to go. In the morning against Edinburgh West, draws from David Findlay, Ed Spencer, Alan Borwell and WFM Carey Groves were added to with a vital win by Sergey Tin to secure a priceless 3-2 match score. They followed this up in the afternoon with a draw against a very strong Wandering Dragons team led by Andrew Dunn [CM] and IM Mark Orr. David Findlay made an excellent draw on Board 1 but the match was drawn thanks to star performanaces on the bottom 2 boards. On Board 4, Sergey Tin capped off a great day’s play with a win over Graham Hamilton while on Board 5 WFM Carey Groves won against David Wallace.

Updated: 20/10/23

SEASON 2023-24
SNCL (Scottish National Chess League)
Sunday 21st April 24
Round 9 (last) + the Scottish team lighting tournament