Yes it is true, for about a week the A team topped Glasgow Division 2 after a superb win over Renfrew. The chasing pack who (with the exception of the leaders, Hamilton) have all played more games overtook us and with the game against Cumbernauld awaiting a ruling on a draw claim with the match poised at 3½ - 3½, we are sitting 5th. Our next game is against Cathcart B on 13th
January where a win will see us back in 2nd place with a game in hand!
The B team started the month with an excellent win over Bishopbriggs, despite being outgraded on all 4 boards. This kept the team on top as the only undefeated team in the 4th Division. This was to change unfortunately when Polytechnic D appeared for their match and the B team lost 1.5-2.5 and are now in 2nd place.
It looks like the C team are going to be instrumental in the promotion chances of the B team. A 3-1 defeat by Strathclyde Police was quickly followed by 2½ - 1½ victory over one of our closest rivals, Hamilton D. The C team are sitting mid table (11th) out of the 15 teams in the league.
In the Lanarkshire Leagues, Only the B Team have played and they were beaten 4-0 by Hamilton A and 3½ - ½ by Crowwood A. Both the A and B teams are locked in a tense relegation battle.
We have had a superb start to our SNCL campaign. The win and loss reported in October were followed up with a 3½ - 1½ victory over Cumbernauld and in the afternoon, we gained revenge over Kilmarnock for last years defeat with a 3-2 win.
November has also been a good month for our congress attendees. Stewart McKay was joint first in the Major at Glasgow and Jim Johnson and Andy Howie shared 1st in the Minor at Oban. It is good to see East Kilbride keep up the record of congress results is has had in the past few years. Will we see a repeat of 4 of the 12 Grand Prix prizes? We have Alex Nisbet, Frankie Murray, Stewart McKay, David Potts, Jim Johnston and Andy Howie all in the top 10 of their sections so anything is possible!
As the next report will be after Christmas, from the players of East Kilbride Chess Club, have a merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year!
Early League Success for East Kilbride Chess Club
In the Glasgow League, the "A" team faced a difficult start to their campaign
in Division 2, when they faced the strongly fancied Hamilton "B". After a
close, tense contest, Hamilton narrowly edged the match by 4.5 to 3.5. The
second match was an away tie at recently relegated Montrose "B" where East
Kilbride ran out 5-3 winners, despite being three key players short.
In Division 4, the EK "B" team have made a strong start by winning their first
three matches, having defeated Bearsden "B" (3-1), EK "C" (2.5-1.5) and
Cathcart "D" (3.5-0.5) to sit top of the division, and look well placed to
contend for one of the two promotion slots.
Also in Division 4, EK "C" have made a slow start. After losses to EK "B" and
Paisley (1-3) the team rallied to draw 2-2 against Cathcart "C" and take their
first point of the season.
In the Rapidplay League, the "A" team suffered defeats to the top two teams in
Division 1, while the "B" team are the early leaders of Division 2 after
winning their first two matches, and the "C" team lie in mid table.
In the Lanarkshire League, the "A" team lost heavily to defending champions
Hamilton "A" (0.5-3.5) and have also drawn 2-2 with EK "B". Both East
Kilbride teams sit mid-table in Division 1. The "C" team are top of Division
2 on board difference after beating the "D" team 4-0.
The club have also played their first matches of the season in the Scottish
National Chess League An opening loss to a very strong Prestwick team (1.5-
3.5) was followed by a victory over Newtonhill by the same score. An
excellent performance from Alex Ian Nisbet on Board 2 saw him achieve a
grading performance of 2010 so far - almost 600 points above his
present playing grade.
The B team played Bearsden B in the first game of the Glasgow season. Fielding our strongest players against a team most found it hard to beat last season. First to finish was Piero with a dramatic queeining of a pawn. Faced with such overwhelming odds, his opponent quickly resigned. Jim was next, his opponent, already in time trouble, committed the cardinal sin of picking up the wrong piece. His hesitation was fatal as his flag fell. 2-0 to us. Ian was having a splendid game on board 1 and soon had his opponent asking for a draw in a very tight position. Ian reveled after the game that he felt that his opponent could have won with correct play. Finally Andy was the only one left playing and was in time trouble (yes you are reading this correctly, he had less than 2 minutes left when the game ended). Andy realised that it was a totally drawn position and offered the draw. Bizarrely his opponent wanted to play on (presumably he thought he could win on time) and later blundered with one of his moves. The position was
and Andy played Kb2, proclaimed stalemate and stopped the clock! What can you say!!