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4NCL Online -
Season 3
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Junior 4NCL Online -
Season 3
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Entries closed, midnight
Thursday 14 Jan. |
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The statistics for Season 2
are below:
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11 players were banned
due to fair play
violations;
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11 other players were
banned by Lichess, for
whom the weight of
statistical evidence did
not support the 4NCL
overturning results
(e.g. the bans were
imposed as a result of
the cheating taking
place in non-4NCL games
on Lichess);
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Of the 22 cases above,
only 3 cases were
attributable to players
in Junior 4NCL Online;
the other 18 were
attributable to 4NCL
Online.
In Season 1, there were 50
cases, with the reduction in
part caused by changing the
definition of what
constituted a ban.
Previously all 22 cases
above would have resulted in
the player being banned. In
addition:
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A number of
players who were
banned in Season
1 have not
returned in
Season 2;
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With two
exceptions,
players who were
banned in Season
1 and readmitted
in Season 2 have
a clean bill of
health.
On the face of it, this is a
dramatic reduction and looks
positive; and for Junior
4NCL Online, it does look
considerably more like we
would expect to see from an
over-the-board event as a
whole.
However, 4NCL Online still
has a number of people who
we expect, if they continue
to behave in the way that
they have for much longer,
will be banned by Lichess
and meet our tolerance
threshold.
T here
are approximately 25 players
in 4NCL Online who we
believe were probably
cheating in Season 2. We say
this based on comparing data
from Season 2 with 4NCL over
the board dating back to
2017; there are a number of
performances which far
exceed anything we have ever
seen naturally from over the
board chess in England, but
which nevertheless fall
short of the thresholds
under which either 4NCL or
Lichess will ban someone.
There is a reasonable
probability that maybe one
or two of these people are
playing honestly, but the
chances that they are all
playing honestly are
vanishingly small. 4NCL
Online will be combining
Season 2 with Season 3 data,
and so the slate will not be
wiped clean, and may be used
to provide justification for
bans in Season 3. Most
disappointingly, amongst
these 25 are three squad
captains and an ECF arbiter.
While it’s disappointing
that a number of people are
clearly ‘sailing close to
the wind’, and also that
bans/suspicious activity are
weighted disproportionately
towards 4NCL Online rather
than Junior 4NCL Online,
nonetheless the overall
trend does appear to be in
the right direction.
T he
fair play guidelines
have been reviewed
and amended to take
account of
experience gained in
Seasons 1 and 2, and
we believe that they
strike a good
balance between
identifying cheats
effectively and
reducing the risk of
wrongly accusing the
innocent. We
encourage captains
to read the new
guidelines and to
share them with
their players – and
we also thank the
vast majority of
captains and players
who are committed to
a clean playing
environment.
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The 4NCL
Online and Junior 4NCL
Online fair play guidelines
have been updated for season
3. Please read and bring to
the attention of your
players the following
updated sections in
particular:
Section 4:
4NCL Online Fair Play Panel;
Section 5:
4NCL Online Appeals
Committee;
Section 8:
Other (public allegations of
cheating against other
players);
Section 8:
Other (streaming).
See updated guidelines here.
Team captains will be
able to submit their squad
lists from 7th January.
Returning teams will be
able to amend/update their
squad lists from the end of
season 2. New teams will
have until 16th January to
submit their squad lists,
and the squad lists at that
point will be used for the
purpose of seeding the
pairings in the lowest
division. Pairings and teams
will be published on 17th
January, and captains will
be able to submit their team
lists for round 1 from 18th
January.
All players will need to
sign the
Fair Play Form again for
Season 3, on the basis that
the fair play guidelines
have changed significantly
from the end of season 2.
The fair play form, the link
for which can also be found in
the dropdown menu(s) at the
top of this page, summarises
the significant changes from
season 2 which players need
to be aware of. Players will
not be available for
selection until the fair
play form has been signed.
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Division
1: ChessPlus Kingston
Division
2: CSC 1
Division
3: Catford Cosmonauts 2
Division
4: Hertford 1
Division
5: Hackney Thirsty
Division
6: Dundee City B
Division
1: KJCA Young Kestrels A
Division
2: May the Fork Be With You
1
Division
3: KJCA Young Kestrels F
Division
4: Barnet Knights A
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31.12.20
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Malcolm Pein turns
his attention back to
the Four Nations Chess
League in today’s
Daily Telegraph
chess column – and the
match which made
Kingston 4NCL champions.
The big final brought
plenty of action and a
surprising result.
ChessPlus Kingston
stunned Wood Green to win
the First Division of the
4NCL Online League. Having
pulled off one giant-killing
act to defeat Guildford
Young Guns 2˝-1˝
in the semifinal, they
produced another, despite FM
Marcus Harvey taking his
score for the season to a
whopping 8˝/9
by defeating Goran Pavlik.
More here ...
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21.12.20 -
The surprise winners
of Britain’s online 4NCL
league last week were
ChessPlus Kingston, who
overcame the favourites
Wood Green in the final.
ChessPlus organises
instructional courses
for chess teachers, with
support from
the European Chess
Union.
Fittingly
in the time of The Queen's
Gambit, CPK’s women made
decisive top board
contributions. In 1984 Pia
Cramling defeated Viktor
Korchnoi at the height of
the legend’s powers, her
Beth Harmon moment, and last
week she saved a lost rook
ending.
Dana
Reizniece-Ozola scored CPK’s
winning point. There have
been keen but weak chess
players, like Andrew Bonar
Law and Fidel Castro, in
positions of political
power, and strong players,
notably Garry Kasparov, who
never achieved power.
Latvia’s
former finance minister has
beaten the world No 1 woman,
and is still active in both
areas, scrutinising the
national budget on a
spreadsheet while playing
her 4NCL semi-final. She
speaks five languages and is
a mother of four children so
the FT is a good place to
mark her achievements.
Reizniece-Ozola’s
imaginative
sacrificial attack decided
the final, but IM Ravi Haria
missed a draw at the end. A
different 27th queen move
would have forced White to
draw by perpetual check or
allow Black a winning
counter.
Puzzle
2399:
White mates in three
moves (by Ellis Ridley,
1890). Just a single line of
play with all moves on both
sides forced and no checks
before the final mate, yet
some solving experts have
found it hard. How do you
compare?
Solution.
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