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

Press Release

2001/02 season - Weekend 5

The fifth and final weekend of the 2001/02 4NCL season took place in Birmingham on 4th,5th and 6th May.

In Division 1, Beeson Gregory ran out as worthy winners and retained their title from last season. With convincing wins against Barbican 4NCL 2, Wessex and Slough 1, Beeson finally shook off Wood Green 1’s challenge. Guildford-ADC 1 took a rather distant third place, despite a shock round 9 loss to Bristol 1. Going into the final weekend, Wessex 1 and Beeson Gregory 2 looked doomed for the drop into Division 2 next season. So it proved, and they were joined by Thistle White Rose who had the misfortune to lose their final three matches.

Division 2 saw a titanic tussle between Perceptron Youth and Richmond. The two leaders met in round 10 with the match resulting in a 4-4 draw. In the final round the leading pair managed narrow victories against Athenaeum and Slough 2 respectively, leaving the Perceptron outfit as Division 2 champions by a single match point. South Wales Dragons 1 held off the challenge of North West Eagles to take the remaining promotion spot. The battle to avoid relegation was just as close. Eventually it was Poisoned Pawns 1, losing their three final weekend matches 3.5-4.5, who joined Slough 2 and Witney & Swindon in Division 3 next year.

In Division 3, a final round victory by Warwickshire Select over Milton Keynes gave the Midlands team the championship. In the battle for the other two promotion spots South Wales Dragons 2 and Guildford-ADC 2 edged out White Rose 2. All Four Corners and Poisoned Pawns 2 took the bottom two spots, with Milton Keynes just nudging ahead of Guildford-ADC 3 on goal difference.

Final standings:

Division 1

Champions: Beeson Gregory 1

Runners-up: Wood Green 1

Relegated to Division 2: Wessex, Beeson Gregory 2 and Thistle White Rose

Division 2

Champions: Perceptron Youth

Also promoted to Division 1: Richmond and South Wales Dragons 1

Relegated to Division 3: Witney & Swindon, Slough 2 and Poisoned Pawns 1

Division 3

Champions: Warwickshire Select

Also promoted to Division 2: Guildford-ADC 2 and South Wales Dragons 2

Not guaranteed a place next season: All Four Corners, Poisoned Pawns 2 and Guildford-ADC 3

Selected games

David Coleman vs. Jonathan Mestel
Barbican 4NCL 2 vs. Beeson Gregory 1, board 7
Division 1, round 9

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. Bc4 Bd7 10. h4 Rc8 11. Bb3 h5 12. g4 hxg4 13. h5 Nxh5 14. O-O-O Nxd4 15. Bxd4 Bxd4 16. Qxd4 e5 17. Qd2 Rxc3 18. bxc3 Qf6 19. Qxd6 Bc8 20. fxg4 Bxg4 21. Qxf6 Nxf6 22. Rd6 Kg7 23. Bd5 Bf3

Coleman vs. Mestel

24. Rxf6 Bxh1 25. Rf1 Bg2 26. Rf2 Bh3 27. Bxb7 Be6 28. a3 f5 29. exf5 gxf5 30. Ba6 f4 31. Bd3 Bd5 32. c4 Ba8 33. Re2 Re8 34. Be4 f3 35. Re3 Bxe4 and White resigns.

Nigel Short vs. James Poulton
Wood Green 1 vs. Wessex, board 1
Division 1, round 9

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Bd3 Qc7 8. Rb1 Nbc6 9. Qg4 Bd7 10. Qxg7 O-O-O 11. Nf3 cxd4 12. cxd4 Nxd4 13. Nxd4 Qc3+ 14. Ke2 Qxd4 15. Be3 Qa4 16. Qxf7 Ng6 17. Rb4 Qxa3 18. Rhb1

Short vs. Poulton

18... Nxe5 19. Qg7 Nc6 20. Rxb7 Rhf8 21. R7b3 Qe7 22. Qxe7 Nxe7 23. Bc5 Rf7 24. Rc3 d4 25. Ba6+ Kc7 26. Rb7+ and Black resigns.

Danny Gormally vs. Stephen Dishman
Guildford-ADC 1 vs. Barbican 4NCL 2, board 5
Division 1, round 10

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4 4. Bc4 e6 5. Nf3 a6 6. Nxd4 cxd4 7. Ne2 b5 8. Bb3 Bb7 9. d3 Bc5 10. c3 dxc3 11. bxc3 Nf6 12. O-O O-O 13. Ng3 Rc8 14. Bd2 d5 15. e5 Nd7 16. d4 Ba3 17. Qg4 f5 18. exf6 Qxf6 19. Rae1 Rfe8 20. Bc2 g6 21. h4 Nf8

Gormally vs. Dishman

22. Nh5 Qf7 23. Re3 Kh8 24. Nf4 Bd6 25. Rf3 Qg7 26. h5 gxh5 27. Qxh5 Re7 28. Nh3 Ng6 29. Bh6 Qg8 30. Bg5 and Black resigns.

Jonathan Speelman vs. John Richardson
Wood Green 1 vs. Beeson Gregory 2, board 4
Division 1, round 10

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. d4 Bb4 5. e3 O-O 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 c5 8. O-O cxd4 9. exd4 Bxc3 10. bxc3 Qc7 11. Qe2 Nbd7 12. Ba3 Re8 13. Rac1 b6 14. Ne5 Bb7 15. f4 Rad8 16. Bd3 Qb8 17. Rce1 Qa8 18. Qc2 g6 19. Nc4 Ba6 20. Nd6 Bxd3 21. Qxd3 Re7

Speelman vs. Richardson

22. f5 Nd5 23. fxg6 fxg6 24. c4 N5f6 25. Ne4 Rf7 26. Ng5 and Black resigns.

Michael Franklin vs. Zhanna Lazhevskaya
Richmond vs. Perceptron Youth, board 6
Division 2, round 10

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nbd2 Bf5 6. dxc5 e6 7. b4 a5 8. Bb5 axb4 9. cxb4 Nd7 10. Qb3 Na7 11. Ba4 b5 12. cxb6 Qxb6 13. Nd4 Qxb4 14. Nxf5 Qxb3 15. axb3 exf5

Franklin vs. Lazhevskaya

16. Bc6 Rc8 17. Bxd7+ Kxd7 18. Rxa7+ Ke6 19. O-O Rc2 20. Nf3 Bc5 21. Nd4+ and Black resigns.

Ian Rogers vs. Alesandar Wohl
Beeson Gregory 1 vs. Slough 1, board 2
Division 1, round 11

1. d4 c5 2. d5 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Bd3 e6 6. Nc3 Ne7 7. h4 a6 8. a4 exd5 9. cxd5 Nd7 10. h5 Ne5 11. Be2 f5 12. Nh3 fxe4 13. Nxe4 Bf5 14. h6 Bxe4 15. hxg7 Rg8 16. Nf4 c4 17. Rxh7 Qa5+ 18. Bd2 Qb6 19. Bc3 g5

Rogers vs. Wohl

20. Rh6 gxf4 21. Bxe5 O-O-O 22. a5 Qc5 23. Bd4 Qxd5 24. Bxc4 Qg5 25. Qh5 Qxg2 26. Bxg8 Nxg8 27. Qh3+ Qxh3 28. Rxh3 Re8 29. Kd2 f3 30. Re1 Kd7 31. Rh4 d5 32. Rf4 and Black resigns.

Click here to go back to index of press information.