The Carrick Chess Club plays at the Town Hall in Maybole on Wednesdays - beginners from 7 - 8 p.m., experienced from 7 - 10 p.m.. The club offers friendly games and club competitions as well as tuition and league games. For photos and trophies see the end of this page.

December 2005 The Ayrshire chess league has now completed the first two rounds. The league consists of three divisions. The first has eight teams who play each other twice. Later the top four teams play each other for the trophy, the bottom four try to avoid relegation. The second division has four teams who play each other three times. The 3rd division has four teams playing each other thrice. Div 1 & 2 have 6 boards, div 3 has 4 boards only. 1 point for a win, 1/2 point for a draw and the winning team gets an additional point. After two rounds:
Div 1: Greenwood Gambits 8.5; Troon A 8.5; Irvine A 8; Kilmarnock 7; Prestwick A 6; Ardrossan 5.5; Greenwood Rooks 5;  Irvine B 4.5

Div 2: Carrick 11.5; Ayr 6.5; Stewarton 5.5; Prestwick B 4.5

Div 3 : Largs 7; Greenwood Bishops 6; Greenwood Knights 3; Troon B 2

Here is the latest match played in Maybole between Carrick & Prestwick B. 4.5 - 1.5 for the home team!

Siegrun Macgilchrist 1 – 0 Gary McPheator;

Dr. Kenny Brooksbank 0-1 David Ferguson;

Eric McKinnon 1-0 John Dement;

Steell MacFadzean ½ Stuart Montgomery;

Stuart Lampard & Ali Roy won by default as Prestwick could only field four players.

Siegrun was especially pleased to win. She'd played against Gary a few times and usually lost to the young man.

October 2005 Ali Roy of Carrick Chess Club made an impressive debut in the world chess championship in Belfort, France recently when she won her first three games in the girls under ten section. Her excellent game against Irana Bareva from Russia was published in Scotland on Sunday. It was the first time that a Scottish girl was joint leader going into round four. Ali was oblivious to the fact she was causing much interest back home in Scotland via the internet, and good luck messages each day were very much appreciated by her mum and dad who accompanied her for the two weeks along with her little brother Zak.

1200 hundred children took part representing 82 federations and Ali proudly carried the saltire into the arena being the youngest girl, along with Steven Tweedie from Glasgow who was the oldest boy. Before the start of each game the girls exchanged small gifts from their country. Ali’s teachers and classmates from St Cuthbert’s primary school helped her make beautiful Scottish good luck cards with tartan ribbon and lucky heather which all the children admired. Ali played against girls from France, Italy, Bulgaria, Turkmenistan, Equador and other countries around the globe gaining 6 points out of 11 which was an excellent performance for her first ever cap for Scotland. Ali and her family had a great time and hope she will be selected to play for Scotland next year when the competition will be held in Russia.

Siegrun Macgilchrist of Carrick Chess Club tells us that the chess world is agog. After years of different people claiming to be world champions there is a new one: Veselin Topalov, 30,from Bulgaria. Everyone agrees that he is worthy of the title. He played against most of the best in San Luis, Argentine and won 1.5 ahead of the rest last Friday. As luck would have it, the reigning female champion is Antoaneta Stefanova, 26, also from Bulgaria. This country never had a world chess champion and now, suddenly, there are two. According to Siegrun, though, she is not the best woman player. The best is Judit Polgar who was playing in San Luis.

Thanks to her, many female players are competing on equal terms with boys. Maybole’s Ali Roy, 10, for example, is the best of boys and girls in her age group in Scotland. Carrick Chess Club is open from 7 – 10pm every Wednesday night in the Town Hall, Maybole. If you want to catch up with Ali, join the club and study the game! Even their adults are making waves: Charlie Roy, and both Athol and Siegrun Macgilchrist have all won prizes at various weekend competitions in September.

September 2005 Carrick Chess Club is in full swing again, meeting from 7 – 10pm in Maybole Town Hall every Wednesday. Four of the club’s new members have played in the league and in the Ayrshire championship. Kenny Brooksbank, Alice Lampard, Alastair Muirhead and Charlie Roy acquired gradings for the first time. They now have nine graded members: K. Brooksbank 1504 (very high for a new grade!); Alice Lampard 548; Stuart Lampard 1119; Steell MacFadzean 1306; Athol Macgilchrist 998; Siegrun Macgilchrist 1579; Alastair Muirhead 1089; Ali Roy 1030; Charlie Roy 897. The average Scottish grade is 1208. Everyone's grade improved, except for Siegrun's. It dropped by 50 points., but she made up for it by coming 2nd in the Marymass under-1750 section in Irvine on 21st August. Ali was the greatest improver in Scotland. Her grade jumped by 515 points. She was also one of the most active players (110 games). During the year she won three grading and giant – killer prizes of £25 each and book prizes in the UK chess challenge. Although the club championship is not completed yet, Dr. Kenneth Brooksbank is the new champion - he got 7/7 - congratulations.

Carrick Chess Club's league matches have all been finished for this season and Carrick is third, 1/2 point behind Ayr. Irvine B will join their A team in the first division after the summer. Stewarton will be relegated from the first to join Carrick. Largs will be relegated to the third division. Results for the last two matches Carrick played:

Ayr won 4 -2 against Carrick.
S. Macgilchrist 1/2 Stephen Hamilton;
Kenny Brooksbank 0 -1 Tom Melrose;
Stuart Lampard 0 - 1 Ian Gardiner;
Alastair Muirhead 0 - 1 Vincenzo Tedesci;
Ali Roy 1 - 0  Alan Wilcocks;
Athol Macgilchrist 0 - 1 Brian Skirving.

Ali had lost to Alan in the Ayrshire Robertson Cup recently. So, this was sweet revenge. Irvine won 4 -2 against Carrick: S. Macgilchrist 1/2 Robert Gourlay; Kenny Brooksbank 1 - 0 Robin Yates; Stuart Lampard 0 - 1 Robert Loughran; Alastair Muirhead 0 - 1 Stephen Clark; Charles Roy 0 - 1 George Harkins; Ali Roy 1/2 Fred Carrick. Kenny Brooksbank won his first game in the second division! Last year he achieved 7/7 in the third! However, he did much better ( 2.5/6) against higher graded opponents in the Ayrshire championship, which was held in Troon this year. Siegrun Macgilchrist got 3.5/6. Four from Carrick played in the grading restricted Robertson tournament, which was won by Alan Wilcocks. Charles and Alastair ended up with 3/6 and Athol and Ali with 3.5. This is a good tournament for people new to competitive chess. Each year it's held in a different chess club, one round per month over 6 month.

Carrick Chess Club lost the last two home matches in a row: Irvine B beat them 3.5 - 2.5 with results: Siegrun Macgilchrist 1/2 Robert Gourlay; Steell McFadzean 0-1 Robin Yates; Kenny Brooksbank lost a very exciting game against Robert Loughran; Stuart Lampard1-0 Steven Clark; Alastair Muirhead 0-1 George Harkins and Ali Roy won by default. Ayr beat them 4 -2: Siegrun Macgilchrist 1/2 Stephen Hamilton; Kenny Brooksbank 1/2 T. V. Melrose; Stuart Lampard 0-1 Ian Gardener; Alastair Muirhead 0-1 Vincent Tedeschi; Ali Roy 1-0 Alan Willocks; Athol Macgilchrist 0-1 B. Skirving. In this match all the Carrick players were winning: Siegrun overlooked a tactic on move 14!, Kenny misplayed the ending, the other three made mistakes near the end (Athol lost on time), only Ali kept cool and coasted to victory! A few weeks ago she'd lost to her opponent in the Ayrshire Rooks championship. So it was sweet revenge for Ali! She has now 6/7 points in the league and is winning the best league trophy! Since there are no more home matches Carrick can resume their monthly blitz competition and play the club championships. The UK chess challenge is well under way with the 3rd round played on 9th March.

NINE-YEAR_OLD Ali Roy of Maybole has been selected to play for Scotland’s under-10s in the World Chess Championships in Belfort, France, later this year. Ali had a great season last year winning junior competitions all over Scotland and England, building a big reputation for one so young. And Carrick Chess Club member Ali currently holds the number one position in a table of the top 50 rising stars. But she has decided not to defend some of the trophies which she currently holds. For Ali has been advised both by the Scottish youth squad and local tutor Mrs Siegrun Macgilchrist to play mainly in adult congresses and allegros, in order to benefit her championship chances in France. St Cuthbert’s Primary School pupil Ali says she doesn’t mind not playing for trophies this year, as in adult competitions you get a chance to win some money instead! Not surprisingly, she is an important member of Carrick Chess Club, where she more than holds her own against adult opponents.

In the club’s most recent matches, they beat Irvine B 3½-2 ½, but lost out to Ayr by the same score. Irvine match (Carrick names first): Siegrun Macgilchrist halved with Robin Yates; Kenny Brooksbank 0, Robert Loughan 1; Steell MacFadzean 0, Steven Clark 1; Stuart Lampard 1, George Harkins 0; Alastair Muirhead 1, F Carrick 0; Athol Macgilchrist won by default. Stuart was especially pleased as he’d been beaten by the same opponent in the clubs’ first encounter earlier in the season. Ayr match: Siegrun Macgilchrist halved with Graham R Wilson; Steell McFadzean 0, S Hamilton 1; Kenny Brooksbank 0, Jim Sands 1; Alastair Muirhead 0, A Everingham 1; Charlie Roy 1, T V Melrose 0; Ali Roy 1, Ian Gardiner 0.

That was a particularly good win for Ali, as Ian is an experienced player, graded 700 points higher. But underlining her massive potential, Ali recently played a ‘simultaneous’ at Carrick against six opponents, beating them all. In this club competition, Ali went from board to board making her moves against opponents who had the advantage of much greater time to ponder their own moves.  Siegrun Macgilchrist’s half against Ayr’s Graham R Wilson was also a fine result, as Graham is a noted chess theoretician.

Carrick Chess Club won their recent match against Irvine B 3 1/2 - 2 ½. Results with Carrick names first are: Siegrun Macgilchrist 1/2 Robin Yates; Kenny Brooksbank 0-1 Robert Loughan; Steell MacFadzean 0-1 Steven Clark; Stuart Lampard 1-0 George Harkins; Alastair Muirhead 1 -0 F. Carrick; Athol Macgilchrist 1 -0 default. Stuart was especially pleased as he'd been beaten by the same opponent in the clubs’ first encounter. However, they lost to Ayr 3 1/2 - 2 1/2, with boards 5 & 6 winning as usual! Results were: Siegrun 1/2 Graham R Wilson; Steell 0-1 S. Hamilton; Kenny 0-1 Jim Sands; Alastair 0-1 A. Everingham; Charlie Roy 1-0 T V Melrose; Ali Roy 1-0 Ian Gardiner. This was a particular good result for Ali, 9,  as Ian is an experienced player and 700 points higher graded than she is. Siegrun also enjoyed her draw against such a theoretician as Graham.

Chess Club News December 2004   Carrick Chess Club at the last meeting of the year 2004  front: Zak Roy; Georgia Wallace; Stuart Tweedie & Andrew Wallace;  seated from left: Alastair Muirhead; Dr. Kenny Brooksbank; Stuart Lampard  &  Athol Macgilchrist  back: Ali Roy; Daniel Wallace; Kenneth Tweedie; Alice & Vincent Lampard Andrew Tweedie & Siegrun Macgilchrist Championships in 2004 Siegrun won the Club Championship for the 6th time Charlie Roy & Kenny Brooksbank were 2nd equal  Junior champion is Alastair Muirhead. Junior B was shared by Kenneth Tweedie & Rachel Whiteman.  Ali Roy won many trophies by playing in Scottish & English events. Alastair Muirhead; Dr. Kenny Brooksbank; Stuart Lampard, Athol Macgilchrist & Steell McFadzean won the third division trophy. Kenny Brooksbank was best league player. The junior xmas blitz was won jointly by Ali Roy & Daniel Wallace, the senior by Siegrun Macgilchrist.

After a slow start in the second division of the Ayrshire league, Carrick Chess Club have made it to the top at the half way stage! Their best result came when Largs visited Carrick and the home team won 5 - 1 Results from that game were: (Carrick players first): Siegrun Macgilchrist 1 -0 Bob O'Brien; Steell McFadzean 1/2 Robert Simpson; Stuart Lampard 1- 0 Alan Plato; Alastair Muirhead 1 - 0 Mark Smith; Athol Macgilchrist 1- 0 G. A. Hilligan; Ali Roy 1/2 Hugh Millar. Alastair has the best record in the league with 4/4. The league position after four rounds: Largs 11; Ayr 13; Irvine 14.5; Carrick 15.5. The club has its blitz party on Wednesday December 22 and starts again on January 12.

Chess Club News November 2004  has now played two rounds in the Ayrshire league’s 2nd division. The first match was won by Largs 4 - 2. Siegrun Macgilchrist, Stuart Lampard, Charlie Roy and Athol Macgilchrist lost on boards 1 -4’ Alastair Muirhead and Ali Roy won on boards 5 and 6. The second match against Ayr was a draw, each team winning 3 games: Siegrun Macgilchrist 0 -1 Graham Wilson; Dr. Kenneth Brooksbank 0 - 1 S. Hamilton; Steell MacFadzean 1 - 0 Jim Sands; Stuart Lampard 0 - 1 T. V. Melrose; Alastair Muirhead 1 - 0 Ian Gardiner; Ali Roy 1 - 0 Vincent Tedeschi.  Both of the club’s youngsters did well to win both of their games and this was Ali's first venture into league games.  In the match against Ayr, everyone was finished with their games except for Ali (9) and Vincent. All the players watched the endgame as Ali skilfully converted a pawn into a queen with the help of her king and knight. When Vincent resigned, she received a standing ovation! Ali also did well in two recent junior competitions in Glasgow. A week past on Saturday she got 5/6 and won the first prize trophy. On the Sunday, she shared first prize with 5.5/6. She received a trophy for best overall girl, including the secondary section.

Chess Club News September 2004  Thousands of schools from all over Britain take par in one of the largest chess competitions in the country. The best players in each school go on to the next stage. Ali Roy was champion in St. Cuthbert's primary school and went on to play in the Megafinal, the second stage where the Scottish children from many schools took part. She won 6/6 and was the best of the girls & boys of her age group. The next stage was the Gigafinal in Manchester, where children from English counties, Scotland, Ireland & Wales met. Ali was runner up in the girls' section for under 9s. The winners went on to play in the Terafinal in Sheffield. Ali was invited to play in the challengers section, where all age groups played together. She won 3/6. From these competitions her grade improved from 515 to 912! She also won £36.93 worth of books and some of them you can see in the photo. Grandmaster Michael Basman emphasised to the remaining 150 children at Sheffield that every single one of them should be proud of themselves for reaching the final day of this very prestigious competition.

Chess Club News August 2004
Carrick Chess Club won the 3rd third division of the Ayrshire league (4 boards) and has won promotion to the 2nd division (6 boards). Siegrun Macgilchrist is now encouraging more people to join. She said, “Come on all you budding chess players and join the Carrick Chess Club on Wed, 25th Aug, when the new season begins.” The club meets in Maybole Town Hall from 7 – 8pm for beginners and 7 – 10pm for experienced players. Siegrun also told us that Johnny Rowson (26), third Scottish Grandmaster, won the Scottish championship in July and followed it by an even better performance in the British in August, winning £ 10,000 in Scarborough for playing 11 games. Joseph Redpath (19), another Scot, won the World major championship, also in Scarborough and gained £1,000.

Chess Club News - April 2004
First - Ali Roy 6/6. She also won a blitz competition at lunch time, also organised by Steven Taylor. 2nd equal - Daniel Wallace and Lauren McFadzean 4/6 Merit for boys - Roddy Paterson Merit for girls - Alice-May Morris best 9 years old - William Saxton (after Ali, who is also 9) best 7 years old - Andrew Wallace.  Geraldine Downie organised the trophies and refreshments on behalf of the library, Steven Taylor controlled the event and Carol Wright and Siegrun Macgilchrist helped to run it.

Chess Club News - March 2004
Nine year old Ali Roy, of Carrick Chess Club, has been successful in recent competitions. She was awarded the best girl trophy in Ayrshire for under 12s and, in another competition. the best Scottish girl trophy for under 10s. She also won 2nd prize in the Edinburgh mixed Primary 5 & under. Dr. Kenny Brooksbank of Girvan won the blitz competition for the first time. He's also the chess club’s best league player. He won 7/7 - 100%! Siegrun Macgilchrist has achieved a Fide (International) grade of 1875. She is one of only four players in Ayrshire and the first in Carrick Chess Club. The others are Steven Brown (Ardrossan), 2089; John Shaw (Kilmarnock), International Master, 2444 and Johnny Rowson (Troon), Grandmaster, 2547. There are only 81 players in Scotland with a Fide grade out of a total of 3000. The lower grading limit for Fide is 1800, but will drop to 1600 in July and it will get easier to achieve a Fide grade over the years. The lowest limit will be 1000 eventually, so that everyone in the whole world can play anywhere and compare their grades to anyone else. At the moment the national grades are quite different depending on the standards adopted. For South Ayrshire children (up to age 16) there is a chess competition in Maybole library on Thursday, 15th starting at 10 am.

Chess Club News - January 2004
Carrick Chess Club was victorious in both of its January matches. The away match was played in Greenwood against the Bishops with a 3-1 result. Individual scores Steell McFadzean 1-0 Gordon Wallace; John Bryden 1-0 Scott McPherson; Stuart Lampard 0-1 Scott Greenwood; Kenny Brooksbank 1-0 default. Kenny was able to play a friendly against Stephen Taylor which ended in a draw. The home match against Troon B went even better with a 4-0 win! Games were Steell McFadzean - Jordon Gray; Kenny Brooksbank - George Allan; Stuart Lampard - Alex Smith; Athol Macgilchrist - Chris King. Carrick was in second place with 11 points, the same as Greenwood En Passants before these two matches were played. Troon B was first with 13.5 points, the Knights had 7 and the Bishops trailed with 1.5 points. The monthly senior blitz was won by Siegrun Macgilchrist, runner up was Kenny Brooksbank The junior blitz was won by Alastair Muirhead, second Olivia Steven. Ali Roy was 2nd equal in the recent Hamilton junior "under P6" competition. Alice Lampard got 50%.

Chess Club News - December 2003
Carrick Chess Club has completed its annual chess championship and this year seven players took part - the greatest number since Rich Pettit started the Carrick Chess Club webpage! It was a close contest, especially since Steel MacFadzean beat Siegrun Macgilchrist, the trophy holder for the last 5 years, in the first round! However, Steel lost to John Bryden and drew two games while Siegrun won her other games and so, the trophy was hers once again. Full results were: Siegrun 5/6; Steel 4 and John 3.5. The December blitz was also won by Siegrun Mcgilchrist; second equal were Alastair Muirhead (aged 16!) and Dr. Kenny Brooksbank. The Junior blitz was contested by eight players and the winner was Ali Roy with 5/5, and second was Alice Lampard with 4/5. In the league Carrick won 3 - 1 against Greenwood Knights in the last home match. Individual results, Carrick first: Steel McFadzean 0-1 Stephen Taylor; John Bryden 1 -0 Corey McCulloch; Kenny Brooksbank 1 - 0 Garry Easton; Stewart Lampard 1-0 Jordan Mathews.

Some adult members: from left to right - Athol & Siegrun Macgilchrist, Steell MacFadzean & Paul Baerm. (Photo taken 2000)

The Robertson Challenge Cup was won for the first time in 1909 by the EDINBURGH LADIES CHESS CLUB. Click on the image above or here to view chess trophy photos.

Juniors from 2000: left to right - David Foster, Blair Kirkpatrick, Jonathan Simpson, Nicola Docherty, Louis & Chloé Simpson & Kerrie Docherty

This is a friendly online chess club where you can play chess with players from all over the World!

The Scottish Chess Association - news and links for Scottish and International Chess sites.