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

4NCL Newsletter

November 2001

Various items were discussed at the recent 4NCL Board Meeting and several points arose which I would like to draw your attention to:

1. It was agreed that John Hodgson's rating should be considered to be 2297 until this is properly resolved by Paul Keevil with FIDE.

2. With effect from the November weekend, a tally of defaults will be kept. At the end of the season, teams will be penalised one match point for every five defaulted boards.

3. Hotel bookings were excellent last time and resulted in the League receiving a handsome commission, which will put us in a good position for next year as we consider ways for the league to expand. Therefore I would implore everyone to get on and book their rooms again now, especially as we seem easily capable of booking up the whole hotel.

4. Noise is still bad by the lift in the immediate vicinity of the main playing area. Therefore I would be grateful if all Captains could help to enforce the 'non-congregation' and silence rule in this area during the playing sessions.

5. The web-site www.4ncl.co.uk/pre2010/pre2010 is now up and running properly under the excellent stewardship of Peter Sowray. I would encourage you to use this now as your main source of information about the 4NCL.

6. At the end of the weekend it would be extremely helpful to the Arbiters if people who are still around could help in the packing up of the equipment. I realise this is often difficult because of the need to get away promptly but I would appreciate any help that can be given.

7. There has been much discussion about situations arising where a "club" has two teams in the same division. One line of thought is that they should operate with two separate squads. The Board believes this would be too extreme a measure and favours a less severe solution but one which extends the principle of a player not being allowed to transfer during a season. After much debate it was decided to introduce for next season a rule stating that 'No player may play more than once against the same team'. This will require great care on the part of the captains, but will be a little fairer to the other teams. It is our intention to introduce this rule next season but we would appreciate any thoughts that people may have on the matter.

8. As a first step to expansion we are looking into the feasibility of having an extra weekend next year where we give potential new entrants to the league a chance to participate in a knockout competition.
This will also include the bottom three teams in Division 3 and will be used to determine the new composition of the division. Clearly if the number of new teams who want to get involved is enormous then we will consider expanding to either (a) a regionalised structure for divisions below the top three or (b) a fourth division (subject of course to venue constraints).

9. Unfortunately Charles Morris has had to resign from the board due to work and family commitments.
We thank him for all his support over the years. As his replacement the Board has appointed Mark Adams, formerly Gwent Dragons Captain, whose international experience and appreciation of the broader issues involving the whole league will be invaluable.

Finally I would just like to say that the first weekend was a great success. Many thanks to everyone involved.

Best wishes,

Paul Littlewood (4NCL Chairman)