1st weekend 12-13 November, Staverton Park, Daventry & Redworth Hall by Lawrence Cooper

The first weekend of the 2011-12 season was split between three venues, Divisions 1 and 2 were played at Staverton Park, Division 3 South was played at the Barcelo in Daventry and the Northern League took place at the Barcelo, Redworth Hall.

I would like to start with a big thank you to the three hotels for accommodating the 4NCL again this season. It is a mutually beneficial arrangement where the league gets good quality rooms and playing space at good prices whilst the hotels are guaranteed to be fully booked and I think it’s fair to say that bar takings will always be healthy!

Section A of Division One features last year’s runners up Wood Green Hilsmark Kingfisher 1. With Pride & Prejudice dropping out of the league WGHK have added Michael Adams, David Howell, John Emms and Chris Ward to their already impressive squad and they will be favourites to top the section. A much stronger Guildford squad and Blackthorne Russia (formerly Betsson) appear to be their closest challengers.

Guildford head the section after the first two rounds by virtue of a 6½-1½ win against The ADs and a 5½-2½ win over Blackthorne. Romain Edouard, Jim Plaskett and Gavin Wall all scored 2/2.

WGHK 1 also won both matches but were restricted to a 5-3 victory against promoted Anglian Avengers in round 1 with Stephen Gordon and Neil McDonald suffering surprise defeats to David Spence and Alan Merry (aged 14). They beat e2e4.org.uk 5½-2½ in round 2 although Jon Speelman and Ketevan Arakhamia lost to Daniel Fernandez (aged 16) and Alexander Longson respectively.

Blackthorne Russia and e2e4.org.uk both won their other match to end the weekend on 2 match points, and are joined by Barbican 2 who defeated Anglian Avengers. The ADs and Bristol are on one match point whilst Anglian Avengers are on 0.

Section B features the strong Cheddleton line up which has been further strengthened by Mark Hebden (who has an uncanny knack of joining teams who subsequently win the league) with Barbican 1 and White Rose likely to be their nearest challengers.

Both Cheddleton and Barbican had comfortable wins in round one but Cheddleton then defeated Barbican 4½-3½ with wins for Jonathan Hawkins as black against Matthew Turner, David Eggleston against John Cox and Robert Bellin against Jonathan Rogers. The Barbican wins came for Lorin D’Costa and Ingrid Lauterbach against Arlette van Weersel and Jason McKenna.

White Rose beat both Jutes of Kent and WGHK2 with Gawain Jones beating both Simon Williams and Bogdan Lalic to continue his excellent form from the European Team Championship. James Adair also started with 2/2, including a win against Malcolm Pein.

Cambridge, Oxford and Jutes of Kent all joined Barbican on two match points whilst Guildford 2 and WGHK 2 have yet to get off the mark, albeit the latter defaulted board 8 in round 1 and Brian Smith was pressed into action on both days as the clash with the European Team Championship reduced their selection options. One notable result was that Marcus Harvey (aged 15) defeated Simon Williams on top board in the Oxford-Jutes of Kent match in round 2.

In Section A of Division 2 Kings Head and Poisoned Pawns started with two match wins whilst Pandora’s Box and White Rose 2 are on three match points after they drew in round 2. Bradford secured their first points against Cambridge 2 whilst Barbican Youth, Cambridge 2 and FCA Solutions are yet to get off the mark, albeit Barbican Youth defaulted two boards on both days and actually scored 4 points on the 6 boards played against Poisoned Pawns 2 but were deducted 1½ points for the defaults meaning they lost by the unlikely score of 4-2½.

In Section B both AMCA Dragons and South Wales Dragons started with two match wins, 3Cs, Brown Jack, Sambuca Sharks and Warwickshire Select are on two whilst Rhyfelwyr Essyllwg and Spirit of Atticus are yet to get off the mark.

North East England, led by FM David Walker and Andrew Dunn, made a strong start to Division 3 North with two wins, including a narrow win against Cheddleton who were the second highest rated team at the first weekend. Bradford B also recorded two 3½-2½ victories. Cheddleton 2 and Jorvik both won one match whilst Holmes Chapel and Manchester Manticores are yet to open their account.

Division 3 South looks as wide open as ever with 37 teams of which Celtic Tigers and e2e4.org.uk 2 fielded teams with an average in excess of 2100. Whilst e2e4 started with two match wins, Celtic Tigers lost 1½-4½ to British Universities in round 2.

There was also 4NCL debuts for three players under 12; Eva Ressel (FCA Solutions), Theo Slade (Bristol 3) and Harry Grieve (AMCA Cheetahs).

League leaders after 2 rounds on four match points:

Division One Section A: Guildford 1 & WGHK 1.

Division One Section B: Cheddleton 1 & White Rose 1.

Division Two Section A: Kings Head & Poisoned Pawns.

Division Two Section B: AMCA Dragons & South Wales Dragons. Division Three North: North West England & Bradford DCA Knights B.

Division Three South: KJCA Kings, British Universities CA, Oxford 2, The Rookies, Wessex, Anglian Avengers 2, Leeds University Old Boys, Gloucestershire Gambits, Cambridge University 3 & e2e4.org.uk 2.

The second weekend takes place on the 14th and 15th January 2012 with Divisions 1, 2 and 3 South taking place at the Barcelo Hotel, Hinckley Island with Division 3 North being held at De Vere, Wychwood Park, Crewe.

© Photos with thanks to John Saunders, Editor, CHESS.

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