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

Press Release

2003/04 season
Weekend 4
Divisions 1 and 2

Divisions 1 and 2 played rounds 7, 8 and 9 at the West Bromwich Moat House on the May Bank Holiday weekend (1st, 2nd and 3rd).

The weekend was a sad occasion as it was the first 4NCL gathering since the recent death of Chief Arbiter, Richard Furness. Richard’s friend and arbiter colleague John Robinson led a tribute before play started and a minute’s silence was observed. Richard made an irreplaceable contribution to the 4NCL - ever since most of us can remember he ensured the smooth running of the competition and served on the Management Board.

Moving on to the play itself, Division 1 now looks like a two-horse race between Guildford-ADC 1 and Wood Green 1, though Betsson.com still have an outside chance. Both of the leaders managed 3 wins out of 3 and the league will likely be decided by their final round encounter. Guildford have a vastly superior "Points Difference", so the pressure will be on Wood Green to score the win in their individual match.

Looking down the Division 1 table, several mid-table teams have strengthened their squads by bringing in new players. Notable debutants included European Women’s Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk who scored 2 wins and a draw for Numerica 3Cs and GM Alexandre Dgebaudze with 3 out of 3 for Micro Markets NWE.

Newly promoted Warwickshire Select have found Division 1 a bit tough this year and are now relegated; Slough 1 are also almost certain to face the drop. The remaining relegation place is tough to call, but The ADs forthcoming matches against Richmond and Barbican 4NCL 2 may hold the key.

Division 2 is agonisingly close, with Bristol 1 just heading Wessex 1 on Game Points. In a parallel to the top division, the two leaders will face each other in the final round. Guildford-ADC 2 also have a great chance to take the title, as they are just one match point behind the leaders and have a much easier run-in (at least on paper ...). Currently in fourth place, South Wales Dragons have a realistic chance of making gaining promotion to the top flight. The three relegation places are also in the balance. It looks like perm any 3 from 5!

The final rounds will take place at West Bromwich on May 22nd and 23rd.

Selected games

Jonathan Mestel vs. Anthony Hynes
The ADs 1 vs. Warwickshire Select, board 3
Division 1, round 7

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. e4 e5 4. Nf3 d6 5. d4 Qe7 6. Bg5 c6 7. c5 Bg4 8. cxd6 Qxd6 9. Qb3 Bxf3 10. Qxb7 exd4 11. Nd5 cxd5 12. Bb5+ Nbd7 13. Bxf6 Rd8 14. Bxd8 Kxd8 15. gxf3 dxe4 16. Rc1 Nb6 17. O-O Qe5

Mestel vs. Hynes

18. Rc8+ Black resigns.

Peter Wells vs. Brian Kelly
Slough 1 vs. Barbican 4NCL 1, board 2
Division 1, round 7

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 a6 5. Nf3 b5 6. b3 Bg4 7. Be2 e6 8. O-O Nbd7 9. h3 Bh5 10. Ne5 Bxe2 11. Nxe2 dxc4 12. Nxd7 Qxd7 13. bxc4 bxc4 14. Qc2 Be7 15. Qxc4 O-O 16. a4 Qd5 17. Qc2 Rfc8 18. Ba3 Bxa3 19. Rxa3 c5 20. Rc3 Ne4 21. Nf4 Qb7 22. Rb3 cxd4 23. Qd3 Qc6 24. Qxd4

Wells vs. Kelly

24... e5 25. Qxe5 Nd2 26. Nd5 Re8 27. Rb8 Raxb8 28. Qxb8 Kh8 and White resigns.

Joe Gallagher vs. Andrew Law
Guildford-ADC 1 vs. Wood Green 2, board 5
Division 1, round 7

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Nd4 5. O-O Nxb5 6. Nxb5 d6 7. d4 exd4 8. Qxd4 Be7 9. e5 dxe5 10. Qxe5 O-O

Gallagher vs. Law

11. Bg5 a6 12. Rad1 Bd7 13. Nxc7 Rc8 14. Rfe1 h6 15. Bf4 Bb4 16. c3 Ne8 17. Nxe8 Black resigns.

Bernd Rechel vs. Darren Wheeler
Wood Green 2 vs. The ADs 1, board 5
Division 1, round 8

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. c4 c6 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. Bd3 h6 7. O-O Be7 8. Re1 O-O 9. Nc3 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Nbd7 11. Bb3 Nb6 12. Ne5 Nbd5 13. Qf3 Nxc3 14. bxc3 Bd6 15. Qg3 Kh8 16. Qh4 Bxe5 17. dxe5 Nd5 18. Qh5 Kg8

Rechel vs. Wheeler

19. Bxh6 gxh6 20. Qxh6 f5 21. Bxd5+ cxd5 22. Qg6+ Kh8 23. e6 Qe7 24. Re3 Qg7 25. e7 1-0 Black resigns.

Matthew Turner vs. Lawrence Trent
Wood Green 1 vs. Barbican-4NCL 1, board 3
Division 1, round 8

1. g3 g6 2. Nf3 Bg7 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. c4 O-O 5. O-O d6 6. d4 Nc6 7. Na3 e5 8. dxe5 dxe5 9. Nb5 Qe7 10. b3 Rd8 11. Qe1 a5 12. Bb2 e4 13. Ng5 Bf5 14. f3 e3 15. g4 Bc8 16. Qg3 h6 17. Nxc7 hxg5 18. Nxa8

Turner vs. Trent

18... Ne4 19. fxe4 Bxb2 20. Nb6 Be5 21. Nxc8 Rxc8 22. Qe1 Qc7 23. Rd1 Bxh2+ 24. Kh1 Ne5 25. Rd5 Nxg4 26. e5 Bxe5 27. Qxa5 b6 28. Qb5 Bc3 29. Re5 Qxe5 30. Qxe5 Bxe5 and White resigns.

James Sherwin vs. Ben Hague
Bristol 1 vs. Micro Markets NWE 2, board 3
Division 2, round 7

1. Nf3 d6 2. d4 f5 3. c4 Nf6 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. Nc3 Nc6 8. d5 Ne5 9. Nxe5 dxe5 10. Qb3 Kh8 11. c5 h6 12. a4 g5 13. Bd2 a6 14. Rad1 Qe8 15. Qb4 f4 16. Qa5 Qh5 17. f3 g4

Sherwin vs. Hague

18. gxf4 gxf3 19. exf3 Bh3 20. fxe5 Bxg2 21. exf6 Rxf6 22. Kxg2 Rg6+ 23. Kh1 Be5 24. Rf2 Bxh2 and White resigns.

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