Club Championship Table 2011 - 2012
| JS | IM | IB | JT | JN | GB | SM | AB | TB | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Smalls | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Ian McLachlan | 1 | ½ | 1½ | |||||||
| Ian Brownlee | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||
| John Tonkin | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| John Nicol | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| George Brown | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Scott Main | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||
| Alexander Bond | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| Tony Burns | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1½ |
Draw 2011-2012
| ROUND 1 | ROUND 2 | |||||
| Ian McLachlan | v | Tony Burns | Scott Main | v | John Nicol | |
| Ian Brownlee | v | Alexander Bond | Alexander Bond | v | John Tonkin | |
| John Tonkin | v | Scott Main | Tony Burns | v | Ian Brownlee | |
| John Nicol | v | George Brown | Jim Smalls | v | Ian McLachlan |
| ROUND 3 | ROUND 4 | |||||
| Ian Brownlee | v | Jim Smalls | Alexander Bond | v | George Brown | |
| John Tonkin | v | Tony Burns | Tony Burns | v | John Nicol | |
| John Nicol | v | Alexander Bond | Jim Smalls | v | John Tonkin | |
| George Brown | v | Scott Main | Ian McLachlan | v | Ian Brownlee |
| ROUND 5 | ROUND 6 | |||||
| John Tonkin | v | Ian McLachlan | Tony Burns | v | Scott Main | |
| John Nicol | v | Jim Smalls | Jim Smalls | v | George Brown | |
| George Brown | v | Tony Burns | Ian McLachlan | v | John Nicol | |
| Scott Main | v | Alexander Bond | Ian Brownlee | v | John Tonkin |
| ROUND 7 | ROUND 8 | |||||
| John Nicol | v | Ian Brownlee | Jim Smalls | v | Alexander Bond | |
| George Brown | v | Ian McLachlan | Ian McLachlan | v | Scott Main | |
| Scott Main | v | Jim Smalls | Ian Brownlee | v | George Brown | |
| Alexander Bond | v | Tony Burns | John Tonkin | v | John Nicol |
| ROUND 9 | ||||||
| George Brown | v | John Tonkin | ||||
| Scott Main | v | Ian Brownlee | ||||
| Alexander Bond | v | Ian McLachlan | ||||
| Tony Burns | v | Jim Smalls |
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Club Championship - Review of the 2010 - 2011 Tournament
As has generally been the case in recent years the Club Championship this season was a hard fought and very close affair, the result being in doubt right to the final game. Some key moments in the tournament are described below.
The competition was a seven round all-play-all event but, at times, it almost had the feel of a knockout tournament, given that it was always going to be difficult for anyone to recover from the loss of a game. A big test came in round one, which saw the two highest graded players, Jim Smalls and Ian McLachlan drawn together. In a close game Ian won a couple of pawns and then held on to take the win.
Ian McLachlan's next game was against John Nicol, a pairing that had ended in a drawn game in last season's competition. Colours were the same as last year and the opening was also the same, a French Tarrasch. John had an advantage in the middle game and had an attack that ought to have brought him the win, but time trouble intervened, he didn't find the win and a draw was agreed.
Meanwhile Ian Brownlee had got off to a good start, winning several games, which gave him a lead he held for most of the tournament. A critical game between Ian Brownlee and Jim Smalls came along when Ian was on 4/4. It was a close game that could have gone either way but which ultimately ended in a draw.
With 6 of their 7 games played Ian Brownlee and Ian McLachlan were now joint leaders on 5½/6, with the game between them still to be played. In that game Ian McLachlan made a mistake in the opening, giving Ian Brownlee the opportunity to win a pawn. After some thought Ian B declined the pawn (wrongly as post-game analysis showed) and his position deteriorated. Soon afterwards he lost the exchange and ultimately the game.
This was Ian McLachlan's tenth club championship win, the first being away back in 1969.
Play through the deciding game here.