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Press Release

2002/03 season - Weekend 2

For the first time ever, 4 Divisions of the 4NCL competed under one roof at the Telford Moat House. This record-breaking event, taking place on the weekend of January 18th and 19th, saw 44 matches involving 352 players.

In Division 1 Wood Green 1, headed by England’s two top-rated players Michael Adams and Nigel Short, maintained their 100% record with wins over Barbican 4NCL 1 and Richmond. Betsson.com moved into a clear second place with two heavy victories of their own. Guildford-ADC 1 had a round 3 scare when the Perceptron Youth’s top two boards Stuart Haslinger and Martin Taylor overcame Grandmasters Gallagher and Hebden. But Guildford eventually came through and retain third place on game points.

North West Eagles 1 and Warwickshire Select are beginning to open up a gap at the top of Division 2. Both sides have 4 wins out of 4 to date. It’s already beginning to look like their round 9 clash will decide the league, though Numerica 3Cs 1 and Guildford-ADC 2 will hope to have a say. Individual upset of the weekend was scored by Warwickshire Select’s Anthony Hynes who beat GM Keith Arkell.

Division 3 saw many very close matches – in fact round 3 saw three matches end up all square. The North West Eagles squad are having a fantastic season and their second team are emulating the first team by heading their Division.

And finally, Division 4 is headed by The ADs 3 and Wood Green 3 – though it’s interesting to note that already there are no undefeated teams in this Division.

All 4 Divisions will meet again for Rounds 5 and 6 at Telford on the weekend of 8th and 9th March.

Selected games

Richard Jones vs. Joanna Dworakowska
South Wales Dragons 1 vs. Betsson.com, board 3
Division 1, round 3

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bc4 e6 7. Bb3 b5 8. Bg5 Be7 9. Qf3 Qb6 10. O-O-O Nbd7 11. Rhe1 O-O 12. Qg3 Nc5 13. Bh6 Ne8 14. Bd5 b4 15. Na4 Nxa4 16. Bxa8 Bf6 17. Be3 Nc7 18. Bc6

Jones vs. Dworakowska

18... Nxb2 19. Kxb2 Qxc6 20. Kb1 Qc3 21. f4 Nb5 22. e5 Na3+ 23. Kc1 Nc4 and White resigns.

Neil McDonald vs. Charles Cobb
Wood Green 2 vs. Bristol 1, board 2
Division 1, round 3

1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 c6 3. Nf3 Bf5 4. O-O e6 5. d3 h6 6. Nbd2 Nf6 7. b3 Be7 8. Bb2 O-O 9. Qe1 Bh7 10. e4 a5 11. a4 Na6 12. Qe2 Nc5 13. Nd4 e5 14. Nf5 Bxf5 15. exf5 Nfd7 16. Rae1 Bf6 17. Qd1 Re8 18. Qa1 Qb6 19. Re2 Na6 20. Rfe1 Nb4 21. Nf3 Re7 22. h4 Rae8 23. Nh2 h5 24. Bf3 e4 25. dxe4 dxe4 26. Bxh5 Qc5 27. Qc1

McDonald vs. Cobb

27... e3 28. Rxe3 Rxe3 29. Rxe3 Rxe3 30. fxe3 Bxb2 31. Qxb2 Qxe3+ 32. Kg2 Qe4+ 33. Nf3 Nf6 34. g4 Qe2+ 35. Kg3 Ne4+ 36. Kf4 Nd5+ 37. Ke5 Nec3+ and White resigns.

Jim Plaskett vs. David Moskovic
Guildford-ADC 1 vs. The ADs 1, board 5
Division 1, round 4

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 h6 8. Bh4 Nc6 9. Be2 Be7 10. Bg3 O-O 11. Qd2 e5 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. fxe5 dxe5 14. Qxd8 Bxd8 15. Bxe5 Re8 16. O-O-O Nxe4 17. Nxe4 Bf5 18. Bf3 Rxe5 19. Nd6 Bg6 20. Bxc6 Rb8 21. Bf3 Bf6 22. b3 Ra5 23. a4

Plaskett vs. Moskovic

23... Bg5+ 24. Kb2 Rxa4 25. Rhe1 Bf6+ 26. c3 Ra5 27. Be4 Bxe4 28. Rxe4 Rc5 29. Rd3 Be5 30. Ra4 Rc6 31. Nc4 Bxh2 32. Rd5 Rg6 33. b4 Rxg2+ 34. Kb3 Rg6 35. Rda5 Rf8 36. Rxa6 Rxa6 37. Rxa6 f5 38. b5 f4 39. b6 f3 40. b7 f2 and White resigns.

Ian Snape vs. Frank May
The ADs 2 vs. South Wales Dragons 2, board 5
Division 2, round 3

1. c4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. d4 c6 7. Nbd2 b5 8. b3 a5 9. Qc2 a4 10. c5 axb3 11. Qxb3 Nbd7 12. Bb2 Qa5 13. Bc3 Qa4 14. Rfe1 Bd8 15. h3 Bc7 16. Qb1 h6 17. a3 Re8 18. e4 dxe4 19. Nxe4 Nd5 20. Bb2 Qa7 21. Qc1 Qb8 22. Ne5 Bxe5 23. dxe5 Nf8

Snape vs. May

24. Nf6+ gxf6 25. exf6 Kh7 26. Bxd5 cxd5 27. Re5 Kg6 28. Rh5 Kxh5 29. Qd1+ and Black resigns.

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