4NCL - The Four Nations League - www.4ncl.co.uk/pre2010

2006/2007 Season

Although there are still a few months to go before the start of the new season, please find below some useful information for both existing teams and potential new entrants.

Dates and Venues

We are pleased to announce that we have concluded agreements with De Vere Venues, the UK’s leading provider of conference centres, and the Britannia Hotel in Coventry, the venue for last year’s Coventry International Tournament. We will also be continuing our relationship with the Paragon Hotel in Birmingham and our long-standing association with the West Bromwich and Nottingham Park Inn Hotels. As well as ensuring that the first, second and third divisions continue to play together in one venue, our wider range of arrangements with hotels reduces our exposure to the unexpected future loss of a particular venue and provides further scope for the anticipated further growth of the highly successful fourth division.

The Hotels page on the website gives further information on the above hotels.

Rounds 1 + 2

16th/17th September 2006
De Vere Venues, Sunningdale
Divisions 1, 2 and 3

23rd/24th September 2006
Paragon Hotel, Birmingham
Division 4

Rounds 3 + 4

11th/12th November 2006
Britannia Hotel, Coventry
Divisions 1, 2 and 3

2nd/3rd December 2006
Park Inn Hotel, West Bromwich
Division 4

Rounds 5 + 6

13th/14th January 2007
Britannia Hotel, Coventry
Divisions 1, 2 and 3

10th/11th February 2007
De Vere Venues, Sunningdale
Division 4

Rounds 7 + 8

3rd/4th March 2007
De Vere Venues, Wokefield Park
Divisions 1, 2 and 3

24th/25th March 2007
Park Inn Hotel, Nottingham
Division 4

Rounds 9, 10 + 11

5th to 7th May 2007
De Vere Venues, Wokefield Park
Divisions 1, 2 and 3

26th to 28th May 2007
De Vere Venues, Sunningdale
Division 4

Entry Requirements

All entries, whether for existing teams or for new entrants, need to be received, together with the appropriate entry fee and confirmed team lists, by Friday 30 June 2006. Please note this is a month earlier than last year’s deadline because of the earlier start to the league in the 2006/2007 season.

We envisage that we will be able to accommodate around 36 teams in total in Division 4. We therefore need to reserve the right to decline entries above 36 teams if necessary – although we will of course try to avoid this if possible. For new entrants we will be operating on a "last-in, first-out" basis, i.e. if we receive entries from new teams that takes the total over the number which we can accommodate, or if we receive an odd number of entries, preference will be given first to existing teams and then to the earliest entries from new teams. We therefore encourage new teams to submit their entries as soon as possible to secure their place.

Entries should be sent to Mike Truran at The Old Farmhouse, 7 Church Street, Ducklington, Witney, Oxon, OX29 7UA.

Prizes

We are pleased to announce that the total prize fund for the 2006/2007 season will be Ł8550, an increase of over 25% from the 2005/2006 season. Prizes will be as follows:

Div 1	First Ł3000	Second Ł1500
Div 2	First Ł1500	Second Ł750
Div 3	First Ł800	Second Ł400
Div 4	First Ł400	Second Ł200

Entry fees

Despite the increase in the prize fund, entry fees will remain in line with those for the 2005/2006 season as follows:

Div 1	First teams Ł250	second, third etc teams Ł300
Div 2	First teams Ł225	second, third etc teams Ł275
Div 3	First teams Ł200	second, third etc teams Ł250
Div 4	First teams Ł125	second, third etc teams Ł150

Please make cheques payable to '4NCL' and send along with your entry to Mike Truran at the above address.

As usual, entry fees entitle teams to nominate up to 16 players (Divs 1-3) and 12 players (Div 4) in their team lists. Nominated players taking team lists over 16 (Divs 1-3) or 12 (Div 4) in total will be subject to the usual registration fee.

Registration fees (Ł5) and wildcard fees (Ł10) remain at the same level.

Other

You are recommended to read the rules for the 2006/2007 season carefully, particularly in light of the various changes compared with the 2005/2006 season. New entrants especially are advised to give the rules their careful consideration. In particular, please note the new requirement that all players in the league need to be fully paid up members of a national chess federation in order to be eligible to play in the league.

It would be helpful if team captains/managers of entering teams could check their contact details in the "Team Captains" section of the 4NCL website and confirm that they are shown correctly. Please notify Peter Sowray of any updates required.

If entering teams would like a link to their own website from the 4NCL website, please let Peter Sowray know.

Queries

If there are any points that you wish to discuss further then please get in touch with Paul Littlewood or Mike Truran, contact details for whom can be found on the Management Board page of the website.