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

Daily Telegraph

Malcolm Pein's daily chess column is available at the Telegraph's web site. You need to register, which is free. The daily chess column can be found by clicking the "Chess Club" link in the Arts section.

This article is used on the 4NCL web site with permission.

The holders Wood Green I and Betsson.com lead the 4NCL Division one with four match points each after the first weekend's play at the West Bromwich Moat House. Because of a clash with the European Team Championships some teams struggled to field a full complement of players and in the league table below Slough have a negative score because they were deducted a point for conceding too many defaults.

The division 1 round two results were:

Wood Green II 3-5 Wood Green I
The ADs I 6.5-1.5 Slough I
Betsson.com 5-3 Guildford-ADC I
Richmond 4-4 Numerica 3Cs I
Barbican 4NCL II 4-4 Barbican 4NCL I
Micro Mark NWE I 5.5-2.5 Warwicks Select

League Table

Wood Green 4
Betsson.com 4
Barbican 4NCL I 3
Barbican 4NCL II 3
Guildford-ADC 2
The ADs 2
Wood Green II 2
Micro Mark NWE I 2
Numerica 3Cs I 1
Richmond I
Warwicks Select - 0
Slough I -1

In the second division, Perceptron Youth and Bristol I, two of the teams relegated from last season's Division one managed to win both their matches as did Wessex I who were in the top flight not so long ago. Here is one nice miniature from the second division and a combination from the 4NCL's Finance Director Mike Truran who plays in Division 3.

Black's eccentric opening involves too many pawn moves and although he manages to close the a1-h8 diagonal his dark square weaknesses soon come back to haunt him. After 13...c5 Black has no pieces developed and White is ready to attack.

D.Hughes - D.Neil
4NCL Div 2 (1.6) Wessex I v Micro Mark NWE
Modern Defence

1 e4 d6 2 d4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 Bc4 c6 5 Nf3 b5 6 Bb3 Nd7 7 0-0 e6 8 d5 Nc5 9 Nd4 Bxd4 10 Qxd4 e5 11 Qe3 b4 12 Ne2 Nxb3 13 axb3 c5 14 f4 Nf6 15 fxe5 Ng4 16 Qg3 Nxe5 17 Bg5 Qc7 18 Bf6 0-0 19 Qh4 Ng4 20 Be7 Re8 21 Rxf7! 1-0

Final position after 21.Rxf7! if 21...Kxf7 22.Qxh7 mate

board

Position after 43.Kg1 and now Black won with 43...Rf2! 44 Nxf2 Rxf2 45 Qd3+ Kh8 46 Qxd4+ cxd4 47 Kxf2 Qxh2+ 48 Kf3 dxe3 49 Rxe3 Qh1+ 0-1

board