Robin Templeton reports on last Thursday’s Dunbarton knockout match vs Dalmuir B:
Montrose cruise into the semis
Glasgow Montrose is the first team to book their place in the semi-finals of the Dunbarton league Knockout tournament by overcoming plucky Dalmuir B 3.5 – 0.5.
The match was closer than the result suggests with the all the games hard fought. In a complex position, Norman created so many problems that his opponent left his queen en prise. Kenny admitted to going a pawn down in the opening before he launched a checkmating attack on the rook’s file. On bottom board, late substitute Chris played out a careful draw with knight and pawns on either side. On top board, I was given the hardest workout of the season so far. Just when my opponent thought he had found a shot, it turned out to be a shocker. The motto – beware of the poisoned pawn.
|
Glasgow Montrose |
Dalmuir B |
|
| R Templeton B |
1 – 0 |
I McKechnie |
| K McCaffrey |
1 – 0 |
F Taylor |
| N Lindsay |
1 – 0 |
C McPhedran |
| C Perkin |
0.5 – 0.5 |
J McCartan |
|
3.5 – 0.5 |
‘B’ Team beat Cathcart 2.5-1.5
The ‘B’ team beat Cathcart ‘B’ last night in a Div. 3 fixture played away at the Giffnock Bowling & Tennis Club. Steve lost on board 3, but David and Sean scored convincing wins on boards 1 and 4 to leave Montrose 2-1 up, with all to play for on board 2. Roy, in time trouble, failed to convert a massive passed pawn on f6 into a win, but instead split the point in order to clinch victory for the team.
| Board | Cathcart B | 1.5 | 2.5 | Glasgow Montrose B | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | G. Livie | W | 0 | 1 | B | D. Reid |
| 2 | Mac McKenzie | B | 0.5 | 0.5 | W | R. Smeeton |
| 3 | S. Beaton | W | 1 | 0 | B | S. Forgrieve |
| 4 | A. Waddell | B | 0 | 1 | W | S. Groundwater |
‘A’ Team beat Inverclyde 5-3
Robin Templeton reports on last Thursday’s (10th Nov.) victory over Inverclyde:
Glasgow Montrose triumph
“GM pulled off a come from behind win against Inverclyde at the Novotel. This is the team’s first league triumph on returning to the bigtime and offers hope that it will be one of many.
“The evening started off well with Bahloul opening up the g file to go after black’s king before smartly castling queenside and resuming the attack and bringing home the win. Then Inverclyde struck back with two wins on top boards where the rating difference of 200 points told. I got bashed on the white squares and could not avoid checkmate. Edd almost reached equality with black on top board but the position of the pieces favoured his opponent. Sam played carefully to reach a blocked position with knight and seven pawns each to hold the draw. Kenny slowly built up a space advantage against Stephen who makes light of his visual impairment. Kenny won two pawns before his opponent dropped a bishop.
“The match is now 2.5 each with three games remaining. The tension mounts. George skillfully built up pressure and then when his opponent tried to activate his position, George delivered a two move mate. Norman’s game took a turn for the worse after having the edge in the middlegame. His opponent had a dangerous pawn on the seventh but only 23 seconds left on the clock. A draw was agreed. 4 – 3 to Montrose with one game remaining. Beni on his league debut had the task of pulling off the match win. He did not disappoint. R+3 pawns up against R+2 pawns all on the king side should be a book draw but it still has to be demonstrated. Beni won the game on the flag fall. The match was ours 5 – 3.
“This is a tremendous fightback from 2 – 1 down at one point. This shows a resilience on the bottom boards that bodes well for the future.”
|
Glasgow Montrose
|
Inverclyde
|
|
|
E Ferry B
|
0 – 1
|
J Montgomery
|
|
R Templeton
|
0 – 1
|
K McDonald
|
|
S Collins
|
0.5 – 0.5
|
J Calder
|
|
K McCaffrey
|
1 – 0
|
S Hilton
|
|
B De Armentia
|
1 – 0
|
S Doherty
|
|
N Lindsay
|
0.5 – 0.5
|
S Riley
|
|
G Murphy
|
1 – 0
|
G McPheator
|
|
B Voghouey
|
1 – 0
|
D Logue
|
|
5 – 3
|
‘A’ Team lose 3.5 – 4.5 to Cathcart
Robin Templeton reports on Monday nights Div. 1 tussle vs. Cathcart:
Glorious defeat
Glasgow Montrose almost pulled off an upset in their opening league division one campaign before losing narrowly 4.5 – 3.5 to Cathcart.
Norman was first game to finish with a dead drawn position. Montrose picked up wins on the bottom two boards with David all over his opponent . Chris was the only black point scorer on the night on board seven. David and Chris ended up fighting for the privilege of playing board 8 prior to the match. It certainly got them in fighting mood!
Team captain Sam Collins weathered the early storm before tripping up in the endgame. It was a draw he was heard to mutter. Bahloul got tied up with his knight on h8 at one point. Edd drew the short straw when six time Scottish champion and international master Roddy McKay made his first start of the season. He slowly got ground down. My own game against Alan Grant was a cat and mouse affair. After 55 moves I was left with the Lucena position and converted.
With the scores tied at 3.5 each all focus shifted to George’s game. He tried gamely but the exchange down and an open king was too much. The result reflected the overwhelming 200 rating point difference on the top six boards. It was however a cause for optimism for the rest of the season as GM gave one of the big five a fright.
|
Cathcart
|
Montrose
|
|
|
R McKay W
|
1 – 0
|
E Ferry
|
|
A Grant
|
0 – 1
|
R Templeton
|
|
A Maxwell
|
1 – 0
|
S Collins
|
|
M Tyre
|
0.5 – 0.5
|
N Lindsay
|
|
D Campbell
|
1 – 0
|
Bahloul
|
|
Tsang Sai Kong
|
1 – 0
|
G Murphy
|
|
A Taylor
|
0 – 1
|
C Perkin
|
|
A Stewart
|
0 – 1
|
D Reid
|
|
4.5 – 3.5
|
Glasgow Montrose Chess Club 