Grangemouth Chess Club

05/06/2026

13/05/2026

World Youth Chess Championship

For the second year in a row a major youth chess championship - this time the World Youth Chess Championship, previously the European Chess Championship - will see the Scottish team powered by members of Grangemouth Chess Club!

https://www.chessscotland.com/news/scotland-at-the-world-youth-chess-championships

This is pretty remarkable and something for all of us to celebrate, regardless of the outcome of the championship itself.

Good luck to Daniel and Nicholas!

13/05/2026

Neil Giffen Cup Final

A disappointment for us, congrats to Stirling. Report thanks to Isaac Browning.

In a tense and thrilling final that came down to the last board to finish, Stirling edged out Grangemouth by 4-3 to win the cup.

1. Isaac Browning 1/2-1/2 John McLay
2. John Iwuozor 1-0 Alan Bell
3. Leo Gardner 0-1 Graham Hamilton
4. William Spiers 1-0 Dougie Will
5. Sean Flanagan 1/2-1/2 Pranav Hariharan
6. Richard Warcup 1-0 Duncan Glassey
7. Bill Cook 0-1 Alan Petrie

Stirling 4-3 Grangemouth
Stirling had white on the even boards.

In a not altogether uncommon occurrence this season, John was last to arrive but first to finish his game. Alan B had a pleasant grip on the dark squares but missed a sudden tactic that lost him a piece. Next, William won after gaining an extra pawn against Dougie. I then drew with John after squandering a clear middlegame advantage by some questionably timed exchanges and weakening moves.. Alan P pulled a point back for Grangemouth with a fine attacking win over Bill. Sean and Pranav drew after an interesting middlegame featuring an attempt by Sean to trap the opposing queen left his own rook in a vulnerable location. Later, the game simplified to a level endgame with rook and bishop each. Graham exchanged queens early on and gradually wore down Leo to level the match at that stage.
This meant it all came to board six. Fortunately for Stirling, Richard had netted an extra exchange and despite Duncan's best efforts to find counterplay in their mutual time trouble, Richard advanced a passed pawn up the board to force resignation and win the match.

Thank you to Grangemouth for making the trip, for a very well fought match, and, ultimately, for the trophy!

07/05/2026

Sicilian hidden gems

I got this email entitled "Discover Sicilian hidden gems". I've always been fascinated by the Sicilian and over the years have spent ages analysing various intriguing lines. Who would have ever thought that there could be non-chess related Sicilian hidden gems.

30/04/2026

Grangemouth 2.5 v 2.5 Badger's Brook

1. Bill Gray (c) v Colin Matthews 0-1
2. Joe Johnstone v Gordon Walker (c) 1-0
3. Jim Stallard v David Lawrence 0-1
4. Sean Gray v Siraaj Gujral 1-0
5. Crawford Welsh v Peter Woolven DRAW

Report by Bill Gray

Badger's, who had White on the odd numbers as stipulated in the cup rules, win on board count.

It was a match of fluctuating fortunes. Sean won on board 4 fairly quickly. Jim reported being a R ahead v David before blundering his Q. Crawford apparently missed a mate that involved a Q sac, and, despite being 2 pawns up in an endgame, his game eventually finished in a different coloured Bishops' draw. I erred v Colin by delaying acceptance of a Q exchange, overlooking a schwischenzug that won a crucial pawn with a check, leaving me positionally lost. Joe's late swindle v Gordon - he was an exchange down and losing, but engineered an unlikely checkmate - had no consequence on the match result, the Away team proceeding to next month's final against Dunfermline. Congratulations to them!

Note by Alan Bell
Here is a link to the critical position in Crawford's game. He had played very well and was winning comfortably; the Queen sacrifice was just the fanciest way. What Crawford played should have been winning too but opposite coloured Bishops need to be handled with care and a unnecessarily cautious moves led to a position where it was impossible for Black to break through despite being two pawns up (the move order may be wrong but the final position demonstrates the problem). (the link works even though it says 'error').

11/04/2026

Grangemouth B 3 v Grangemouth A 2

Final match of the League season for both teams saw a reversal of last week's result leaving the B team above the A team in second place in the League. Again both teams were below full strength though again the teams were comparable in grading average. Board 3 was first to finish with Mark showing too much experience and class for Joe who has just achieved his first live grading. Nevertheless a good season for Joe. The bottom two boards were both a bit topsy turvy with the advantage swinging quite wildly before reduced material led to draws in both games. On top board, John tried out the Scandinavian for the first time ever but he got a very passive position and a break through in the centre saw White cash in. On board 2 Alan P really should have had a big advantage out of the opening but he walked into a wee trap (well it is Dougie he was playing) and instead of winning a piece he lost a pawn. After that Dougie was always on top and duly delivered the full point to give the B team the victory.

03/04/2026

The Candidates Tournament

A variety of sites to choose from if you want to watch the Candidates tournament live or in catch up but my preference is this one as it features my all time favourite commentating duo of Peter Svidler and Jan Gustafsson. So far it has been a very exciting start with Sindarov in scintillating form.

In the spring of 2026, Cyprus hosts one of the most important events in the chess calendar. The world’s strongest players gather with a single objective: to earn the right to challenge for the World Chess Championship titles.

03/04/2026

Sean's blog - "I don't like any of my openings."

An excellent and very honest blog by Sean. Definitely worth a read and maybe reflect on your own opening preparation with a similar degree of honesty; it's part of how we improve (also tactics and tactics as well as calculation and evaluation, and tactics).

I don't like any of my openings. Here's why.

03/04/2026

Stirling C 3 - 2 Grangemouth C, 25 March 2026

Board 1
Douglas Heatlie (B) 1 - 0 Jim Stallard (W)
Board 2
Nathanael Loch (W) 1 - 0 Crawford Welsh (B)
Board 3
Kenny MacPherson (B) 1 - 0 Joe Johnson (W)
Board 4
Toby Geyer (B) 0 - 1 William Walker (W)
Board 5
Kai Austin (W) 0 - 1 Harry Leishman (B)

This was the match Dave Hewitt was meant to captain. Stirling C, despite being the home team, travelled to Grangemouth to play so that internal tournaments could go to schedule.

It was a close match as Douglas decided it at the end. I had gave away Douglas to Stirling B who were playing that same night, but when one of my players couldn't make it, I asked for Douglas back. It's a good thing I did. Otherwise we wouldn't have gone away with a win.

Nathaniel Loch

Addendum by Alan Bell
This was young William's second League match (he won his first as well!) against a rapidly improving though already decently graded player. An excellent result!

03/04/2026

Grangemouth A v Grangemouth B

The first of two long delayed matches between the two Grangemouth Teams. These should have been played in December and January but illness to several players resulted in the matches being postponed. With the season coming to its conclusion and a busy fixture list it was decided that every effort should be made to play the matches this week and next. Consequently the lineups for both teams look a bit strange. The A Team was missing their top 3 players whilst the B team was missing 2, 4 and 5. However the teams were fairly evenly matched by grading, partly due to Mark Monaghan rejoining the club and playing for the A team.

First to finish was Joe on board 4 where he outplayed Sean to win material. Alasdair looked to be at least holding a R & P ending against Mark but let it slip as his time reduced. Ethan played well to repel Harry's attack and energe material up. That left the top two. Duncan played a speculative opening, gambiting a pawn early. The complications saw both players churning up their time, particularly Duncan. However when the position settled down I was a clear pawn up and should be winning technically. As with last week's debacle, I made it hard for myself but at least managed to avoid blundering and eventually managed to win. That left Dougie and Alan battling away to the bitter end. Alan had played a near text book minority attack and Dougie had to give up a piece for a pawn. His attack on the King never looked like being sufficient and as his time ran down resignation was forced.

So 3 - 2 win for the As which certainly removes any doubt about Stirling League title. Congratulations to Stirling. On behalf of the Bs we will take credit for inflicting a loss and a draw in the two matches we played against the champions!

Alan Bell