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

Daily Telegraph

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

Wood Green and Guildford remained in control of the 4NCL Division one after the fifth and sixth rounds were completed at Birmingham on the weekend of the 15th and 16th of January. Two more victories took both teams to 11/12 match points.

The leaders have each conceded a drawn match to one of the newcomers from Division two; Hilsmark Kingfisher and Slough Sharks, which means that the contest should remain open until the last weekend of the season in May and as many as five teams may still be in the hunt.

England’s leading all-amateur side Barbican 4NCL are handily placed in third with 9/12.

Team	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
Wood Green 1	5	1	0	11
Guildford-ADC 1	5	1	0	11
Barbican 4NCL 1	4	1	1	9
Slough Sharks 1	3	2	1	8
Hilsmark K'fisher 1	3	2	1	8
Guildford-ADC 2	3	0	3	6
Wood Green 2	3	0	3	6
Barbican 4NCL 2	1	1	4	3
3cs Oldham 1	1	1	4	3
The Ads 1	1	1	4	3
Betsson.Com	1	0	5	2
N.W. Eagles 1	1	0	5	2

Wood Green brought in Alexey Shirov for the weekend’s play and he scored 2/2. I dare say Jim Plaskett did not mind losing this game too much as his win bonus probably does not compare with the Ł250,000 he recently pocketed on the television game show ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’

J Plaskett – A Shirov
4NCL Div1 Birmingham
Ruy Lopez

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 b5 6 Bb3 Bc5 7 Nxe5 Nxe5 8 d4 Bxd4 9 Qxd4 d6 10 c3 c5 11 Qd1 0-0 12 Re1 Re8 13 Bc2 d5 14 Be3? Neg4 15 Bf4 Nh5 16 Qf3 dxe4 17 Bxe4 Ngf6 18 Bg5 h6 19 Bxf6 Nxf6 20 Nd2 Qxd2 21 Re2 Qxe2! 22 Qxe2 Rxe4 0-1

Shirov

board

Plaskett

Final position after 22...Rxe4

I am deeply saddened to report the death of John Robinson one of the 4NCL’s and indeed the ECF’s most popular and hard working Arbiters. His speedy and accurate transmission of the results and games consistently enabled me to bring the League standings and best games to readers promptly. He was one of those amiable stalwarts of British Chess without whom there would be no properly run tournaments for the players to enjoy.

John never recovered properly from a stroke he suffered some months ago. His funeral will be in Kettering on February 15th please contact the ECF if you wish to attend.