The second team have increased their pool strength with the welcome return of Neil Fleming.
Isaac being available for the first team has meant Jim and Richard K joining Richard C and Dave Wallace.
Don has stepped down from the captaincy role leaving him free to focus on his chess.
This has resulted in a very strong 2nd team which should do well in the 2nd Division.

All 2nd division results are here while grading results are here.

Opposition	H/A	Date	Res
Mussleburgh 1	A	Oct 10	1½-4½
Gorgie Dalry	H	Oct 31	5-1
Civil Service 2	A	Nov 13	2½-3½
Corstorphine 1	H	Nov 28	4½-1½
Corstorphine 2	A	Dec 18	2-4
Sandy Bells 1	H	Jan 16	5½-½
Badgers Brook 2	A	Jan 22	1-5
Edinburgh 5	H	Feb 27	3½-2½
Edinburgh University 2	H	Mar 19	6-0

Edinburgh University 2 (Home, 19th March)

The WD2 team finally clicked together to produce a 6-0 defeat on an under-strength University team.
We started with a default win and Richard K added a quick win shortly followed by Neil and Don.
Jim had a winning position which he converted easily and Richard C had a completely won position
but his opponent played on for ages and eventually gave up when there was no hope at all.

With this, Wandering Dragons 2 win the 2nd division with a 100% record.
A great team result with some tricky ties to negotiate.
Well done everyone!!

Wandering Dragons 2	6‑0	Edinburgh University 2
Fleming, Neil(1923)	1‑0	Werne, Lars(1663)
Kynoch, Richard J P(1869)	1‑0	Raghu, Shravan(1450)
O`Neil, Jim(1821)	1‑0	McKnight, Sam(1400)
Carter, Richard G(1764)	1‑0	Atkinson, Dylan(1350)
Heron, Donald(1599)	1‑0	Tuttle, Samuel R(1115)
Default, HOME WIN(0)	1‑0	Default, AWAY LOSS(0)

Edinburgh 5 (Home, 27th February)

As we faced up to one of the better teams in the league, we knew it was still banana skin territory.
We had a strong grading advantage but Richard K, Jim and Dave slipped.
Richard C started the night off early with a very nice quick win, mating in 18 moves. Click to see game.
Richard K and Dave seemed to go tactically wrong while Jim built up an advantage.
Our stalwarts, Ewan and Don, converted their wins leaving the match on edge at 3-2 to the Dragons.
Jim let his advantage slip in the end-game and eventually agreed a captains draw to take full points for the team.

Wandering Dragons 2	3½‑2½	Edinburgh 5
Kynoch, Richard J P(1869)	0‑1	Gyalus, Mark(1606)
Taylor, Ewan(1840)	1‑0	Willder, Matthew(1554)
O`Neil, Jim(1821)	½‑½	Zamvar, Vipin(1517)
Wallace, David(1776)	0‑1	Theagarajan, Eswar(1456)
Carter, Richard G(1764)	1‑0	McConnell, Ivor(1477)
Heron, Donald(1599)	1‑0	Robertson, Paul(1444)

Badgers Brook 2 (Away, 22nd January)

Another great team win but not without the banana skins.
Neil is still fighting to get back to his previous best, lost out on 1.
Richard K and Dave were not in great positions till they simplified and out-played their opponents in the end-game.
Jim, Richard C and Don were not really troubled and brought in the points quite quickly.

Badgers Brook 2	1‑5	Wandering Dragons 2
Ward, Stuart(1774)	1‑0	Fleming, Neil(1923)
McGilvary, David(1506)	0‑1	Kynoch, Richard J P(1869)
Matthews, Colin(1298)	0‑1	O`Neil, Jim(1821)
La Gamma, Antonio(1270)	0‑1	Wallace, David(1776)
Walker, Gordon J(1263)	0‑1	Carter, Richard G(1764)
van den Heever, Craig(895)	0‑1	Heron, Donald(1599)

Sandy Bells 1 (Home, 16th January)

A resounding victory for Dragons 2. Jim started the rout with a quick win closely followed by Don.
Other games followed suit with our grade advantage taking the results.
Neil continues in pole position with an opponent that seem determined to draw, which he did.
Overall, another excellent team result.

Wandering Dragons 2	5½‑½	Sandy Bells 1
Fleming, Neil(1923)	½‑½	Linskaill, Chris(1703)
Kynoch, Richard J P(1869)	1‑0	Moon, Billy(1250)
O`Neil, Jim(1821)	1‑0	Davidson, Max(1232)
Wallace, David(1776)	1‑0	Wallace, Mike(1194)
Carter, Richard G(1764)	1‑0	Dowle, Chris(1088)
Heron, Donald(1599)	1‑0	Kerray, Bill(1002)

Corstorphine 2 (Away, 18th December)

Another good victory with a few hiccups. Jim played well positionally but failed to spot the middle game winning tactics
and ended up in another rook ending, a pawn up, which he drew. Silvian guested for the second team and drew against a promising youngster.
Despite long castles and doubling of pawns seeking an imbalance, it was a solid symmetrical line in the exchange French that was drawish into the endgame.
Richard K went wrong on board 2 and lost out.

Corstorphine 2	2‑4	Wandering Dragons 2
Dempsey, Graham(1795)	0‑1	Fleming, Neil(1923)
Wilson, Graham (1543)	1‑0	Kynoch, Richard J P(1869)
Gourlay, Brian(1534)	½‑½	O`Neil, Jim(1821)
Dowling, Richard K(1468)	0‑1	Wallace, David(1776)
Taylor, Dave J(1272)	0‑1	Carter, Richard G(1764)
Rath, Srinivas(1193)	½‑½	Grosu, Silvian(1571)

Corstorphine 1 (Home, 28th November)

A great team result with everyone playing well. This match was likely the toughest of the league.
Jim, unfortunately, did not make a contribution this time - his opponent played well and got into a rook endgame where Jim went wrong.
A special note of thanks to Ewan Taylor, who stepped up to ensure our team order and risk his own game after a long period of OTB inactivity.
Not only was Ewan rusty from OTB games but he was out graded and still got a draw.
Everyone did well but Richard K had a special night. He was the only other one outgraded on the night but pulled off a brilliant personal win.
Dave Wallace ground out a small advantage to reel in the win on 4 and Richard G and Don showed their chess superiority with a good win each.

Wandering Dragons 2	4½‑1½	Corstorphine 1
Kynoch, Richard J P(1869)	1‑0	Raja, Parthipan(1939)
Taylor, Ewan(1840)	½‑½	Massa, John A(1906)
O`Neil, Jim(1821)	0‑1	Sykes, Chris(1766)
Wallace, David(1776)	1‑0	MacNaughton, Alistair K J(1647)
Carter, Richard G(1764)	1‑0	Wilson, Graham (1543)
Heron, Donald(1599)	1‑0	Gourlay, Brian(1534)

Edinburgh Civil Service 2 (Away, 13th November)

Our 2nd team are not firing all cylinders, just yet. Neil slipped up against a guy who used to be over 1800, Dave could have put his guy down quicker but had very little time and forced the win another way. Don fought hard to get the win but missed the "coup de grâce" with little time left. This secured the draw and the team win. Many thanks to Chris who played Emma (ungraded). She was quite good when she played at chess in the park (a few years ago) but Chris had his chances early in the game but they failed to good defence.

Civil Service 2	2½‑3½	Wandering Dragons 2
Bate, Simon(1532)	1‑0	Fleming, Neil(1923)
Heatlie, Douglas S(1499)	0‑1	O`Neil, Jim(1821)
Miller, Patrick M(1413)	0‑1	Wallace, David(1776)
Reis, João(1410)	0‑1	Carter, Richard G(1764)
Brown, Gerry(1342)	½‑½	Heron, Donald(1599)
Scott, Emma L(u/g)	1‑0	Moore, Chris (1270)

Gorgie Dalry (Home, 31st October)

Our 2nd team are now firing (almost) all cylinders. Richard C had a hiccup on board 4 and lost out. We are all aware of the banana skins that face us when we play weaker player. We just pick up and win the next. The other boards had good wins but Jim had to to fight for his, after going the exchange and a pawn up, the ending held many drawing options and although his opponent was a lot weaker on paper, found many of them. Jim ground him down and after 67 moves had a forced checkmate.

Wandering Dragons 2	5‑1	Gorgie Dalry
Fleming, Neil(1923)	1‑0	Girdwood, Paul(1564)
Kynoch, Richard J P(1869)	1‑0	Hynd, William(1508)
O`Neil, Jim(1821)	1‑0	McKinney, Stuart(1464)
Carter, Richard G(1764)	0‑1	McConnachie, James(1402)
Heron, Donald(1599)	1‑0	Henderson, Malcolm(1158)
Default Win()	1‑0	Default Loss()

Mussleburgh 1 (Away, 10th October)

Neil getting rid of his rustiness salvaged a draw against an in form Michael Ash on 1. Richard K on 2, went wrong against Kathleen Rutherford, who can and did play well above her grade. The rest had comfortable wins.

Mussleburgh 1	1½‑4½	Wandering Dragons 2
Ash, Michael(1689)	½‑½	Fleming, Neil(1923)
Rutherford, Kathleen(1678)	1‑0	Kynoch, Richard J P(1869)
McDonald, Keith(1541)	0‑1	Wallace, David(1776)
Hope, Iain D(1434)	0‑1	O`Neil, Jim(1821)
Kelly, Maurice P(1421)	0‑1	Carter, Richard G(1764)
Loudon, James M(1320)	0‑1	Heron, Donald(1599)