All
players involved in
new registrations
will need to sign the
Fair Play Form for
Season 10. Please note
that players will not be
available for selection
until the fair play form
has been signed and
received. Previous/old
registrations roll over.
4NCL 2023-24 norm
achievers
A big congratulations to the
following players who achieved
title norms during the 2023-24
4NCL season.
Team
Fed
Player
Norm
Alba
Hamish Olson*
IM (11 rounds)
Blackthorne
Zoe Varney
WIM (11 rounds)
Chessable White
Rose 2
Samuel Chow
IM (9 rounds)
Oxford 1
William Claridge-Hansen
IM (11 rounds)
The ADs
John Richardson
IM (9 rounds)
Barbican 4NCL
Martin Taylor
IM (9 rounds)
*Hamish Olson achieved
an 11 round norm in 10
games for outscoring the
target norm score by 1
point.
Thomas
Evans,
4NCL
Chief
Arbiter
Britain’s 4NCL national
league has closest ever
three-way finish
- Leonard Barden
10.5.24 -
Britain’s
4NCL national chess
league has traditionally
been the preserve of one
or two very strong and
well-financed clubs.
Guildford, the record
holders, went unbeaten
for eight seasons with
81 wins and two draws
before they abdicated
their title and
downsized in 2021.
The 2023-24 season ended
on Monday with the closest
finish in the league’s
history as Wood Green, with
20/22 match points and 61
game points, edged out Manx
Liberty by just half a game
point and the Sharks by one
game point.
Wood Green have dominated
the London League unbeaten
for many years before a
recent loss to Hammersmith,
while Manx Liberty, from the
Isle of Man, are also a
professional team with a
nucleus of Romanians. Manx
had 2600+ rated grandmasters
on the top three boards, and
had won the 4NCL for the
last two seasons.
The Sharks, for whom GM
Dan Fernandez scored an
unbeaten 7/9, were the
surprise. Their squad of
mainly English IMs upset a
weakened Manx team in an
early round, then stayed in
the leading group. Wood
Green’s Loz Cooper and
Sharks’ Ben Purton are team
managers with excellent
long‑term records, and for
both this was probably their
finest achievement yet.
One individual result
stood out. GM Gawain Jones
of Chessable White Rose made
an impressive return
following the tragic death
of his wife, Sue Maroroa,
last year. Jones won all
three of his games, starting
with
a rare defeat of the
eight-time British champion
Michael Adams in a rook and
pawn ending, and concluding
with
the tactical coup
32...Bg2+! against Alexei
Shirov.
Diagram: Artur Yusupov v
Kevin Spraggett, Candidates match,
Quebec 1989. White (to move) chose 1
Rdd8. Can you do better?
Main 4NCL, 23-24
(completed)
Congratulations to Wood Green
winners of a very close and
competitive 4NCL 2023-24
Division 1, just pipping Manx
Liberty and The Sharks 1 - well
played all! More details in the
links below.