We are sorry to announce that
the 4NCL Harrogate Congress in
January will not take place. Due
to logistical challenges beyond
our control and much toing and
froing with the hotel we have
been unable to agree suitable
terms. We apologise for any
inconvenience this may have
caused.
Premier League Fantasy
Football
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Premier League, why don't you
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Managers
must give their real names – no
pseudonyms!
IM
Dietmar Kolbus
1966-2024
The 4NCL team was deeply
saddened by the news of
Manx Liberty’s Dietmar
Kolbus’ sudden passing.
Our sincere condolences
to Dietmar’s family and
friends at this very sad
time.
Here are two
heartfelt tributes to
Dietmar from 4NCL
players and captains:
Dietmar was a
larger than life
character who put a huge
amount into chess. He
was passionate about the
game, and it is perhaps
difficult to overestimate his
achievement as the
driving force bringing
the very best players in
the world to a tiny
island in the Irish Sea.
As a player he was
tenacious and incredibly
difficult to defeat. I
think he was very proud
of holding Fabiano
Caruana to a draw in the
Bundesliga:
I am sure that
Dietmar's many friends
will draw comfort that
his last picture at Biel
shows him looking in
rude health, enjoying
the game he loved. RIP Dietmar.’
‘Very sad to hear
that Manx Liberty’s
captain has died. Sorry
to the whole team for
their loss. We wish all
the best for the future
though. They brought an
extra dimension to the
4NCL, and I know their
captain was very proud
of his team.’
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
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.
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.
British Rapidplay
Championship 2024
lichess.org (5.4),
02.03.2024
'You could tell the
tournament was very
popular because
practically every
promising junior or
young player from these
shores was in
attendance. If Shreyas
is likely to win several
British titles at every
time control you can
think of in the future,
Stanley Badacsonyi
(known as Stanisbad
online) is quite likely
to join him, especially
at the faster time
controls that he excels
at...'
Available here
together with a link to a
Summary of Important Changes.
Captains and Managers are
asked to make themselves and
their team colleagues
familiar with them as soon
as possible.
Online Season 8 Winners
Congratulations
to the teams below for
their achievements in
the season 8 online
event.
The 4NCL is inviting
arbiters to apply to work at
the 4NCL in the 2023-24
season. We are seeking all
roles, from Chief Arbiter
down to a floor arbiter at
each weekend. The deadline
to respond to this
invitation is
Tuesday, 29th August.
Please
view the role/job
descriptions
for details, prior to making
an application.
Form now closed
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Football
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The Premier League starts next
Friday August 11th - so to be in
from Week 1 you must enter by
then!
4NCL Junior Team League
(edition
2 completed)
The second edition
of this event took place
on Saturday 8 July
2023
at
Fairfield Prep
School,
Leicestershire.
Thank you to the
arbiters, live broadcast
team, inputters and
helpers for their work
the season.
Britain’s 4NCL league
flourishes despite
rising costs
- Leonard Barden
17.5.23
- Britain’s
national chess league,
the 4NCL, continues to
flourish despite rising
costs. Its 12-team,
eight-player top
division, including a
mandatory female board,
is fiercely competitive
and incidentally
provides opportunities
for rising talents to
qualify for grandmaster
and international master
titles. Its second
division is a clash of
relegated teams and new
promotion aspirants.
In divisions three and four the
teams are reduced to six boards, and
the average rating can vary widely,
between around 2200 (master level)
and 1600 (weak club standard). Some
squads are ad hoc, created
specifically for a league season.
The 4NCL’s format and business
model is to play four weekends at a
Midlands hotel with two rounds each
time, and a final three-round
decider over the May bank holiday.
Pairings are seeded, so that the
likely top teams only meet at the
end of the season.
Covid disrupted the programme,
and for a season games were only
played online. Since then, the
business model has become more
difficult, as the few hotels with
bedroom and arena space for hundreds
of players have raised their prices.
In anticipation of the coming
2023-24 season, the 4NCL canvassed
clubs asking if they would accept a
much higher entry fee, and received
an overwhelmingly positive
response. For many teams, the 4NCL
is the highlight of their season.
Chess.com Manx Liberty won the
4NCL 2022-23 top division for a
second year running. The Isle of Man
team won all its 11 matches,
with Chessable White Rose second,
Cheddleton third, and Wood Green
fourth. Round nine settled it, as
Manx edged White Rose 4½-3½, a score
made up of seven draws and a win for
Alexey Shirov, the former world
No.2, who has won all his 10 4NCL
games spread over several seasons.
Manx explained the strange score:
“The living legend known for his
attacking style lived fully up to
high expectations and presented an
exciting victory with tactical
fireworks. The fast 1-0 lead allowed
the remaining Manx team members to
play a disciplined match without the
pressure to come up with more
victories.” A new variant on parking
the bus?
Fabiano Caruana, the reigning US
champion, scored a narrow win in
Bucharest with 5½/9, half a point
ahead of a quartet of pursuers.
China’s newly crowned and fatigued
world champion Ding Liren trailed on
4/9, but it could have been worse,
as he was in last place before a
final round win.
Puzzle 2520
White mates in one
move (no catch, but
still hard to
visualise)
Congratulations to Dundee
City A for becoming the
first Scottish team to be
crowned the 4NCL Online
division one champions!
Incredible achievement for
Scotland, the City of Dundee
and the two chess clubs in
Dundee City (Castlehill CC &
Dundee CC).
4NCL Season
2023-2024: Expressions of Interest
You can still find the
link to the form here
and further details
about the proposals for
next season.
Winners 22-23
Congratulations
to Chess.com Manx
Liberty on retaining
their 4NCL Division 1
title
|
Final Table
4NCL Season
2023-2024: Expressions of Interest
As many of you will know, we’ve had
some difficulty finding venues for
next season, and as a consequence
are likely to have to limit the
number of teams we can accept. That
said, we (and also our venue-finders
Guaranteed Events, who need to
commit to bedroom allocations when
signing contracts with hotels and
are on the hook financially for any
shortfall in bedroom take-up) would
like some comfort that we’re likely
to fill the full quota of 64 teams.
The reason for asking the question
is that of course in the normal
scheme of things we would expect
that at least 64 teams will enter
out of the 2022-2023 season total of
83 teams. But we expect entry fees
to have to increase (we’re hoping to
keep them within the range of
£475-500 for Divs 1 and 2 and
£350-375 for Div 3),
and we’re slightly nervous that that
may put off some teams from entering
– while noting that this still comes
in at around £5.50 per game, so
still in line with most weekend
congresses.
We’ve accordingly set up an
‘Expression of Interest 23-24’ form,
and I should be grateful if you
would please complete it no later
than
Friday 5 May.
The reason for haste is twofold:
the hotels will likely only hold
the dates we have for at most
another two weeks without signed
contracts; and
there’s always the risk that the
hotels may receive other
enquiries willing to pay more
than we do.
We’re asking you to complete the
form on a ‘no limitation on team
numbers’ basis, on the assumption
that if we get more than 64
expressions of interest on that
basis then at least 64 will enter
even if the numbers we can accept
are limited. We understand that some
combined squads may decide not to
play at all rather than play on a
reduced team numbers basis – but
this survey was never going to be a
precise science.
You can find the link to the form
below. Many thanks in advance for
your help.
Thank you to the players,
arbiters, organisers and
helpers
for a great event, and
many congratulations to
Ameet Ghasi
(British Rapidplay Champion) and
Kamila Hryshchenko
(British Women’s Rapidplay Champion)!
Britain’s Four Nations
league fosters potential
grandmaster talents
- Leonard Barden
17.2.23 - Generation
Z young masters are in
contention for GM
performances this
season, while the
revamped chess.com Tour
prize fund offers new
incentives for the world
top 200.
Britain’s Four Nations
Chess League (4NCL) is a
team competition, but it
also plays a key role in
providing opportunities for
the best young talents
aiming at the grandmaster
title. The potential rewards
of becoming a strong GM have
just jumped, due to the new
prize structure of the
revamped online
chess.com Champions
Tour.
After last weekend’s
fifth and sixth (of 11)
rounds, there is already a
huge gap between the top
five teams and the rest.
Wood Green, Chessable White
Rose and Chess.com Manx
Liberty all have a maximum
12/12, while The Sharks and
Cheddleton have 11/12 after
drawing with each other. The
rest, led by Celtic Tigers
on 5/12, are already
concerned only with avoiding
relegation. 4NCL pairings
always put likely title
deciders at the end of the
season.
The 4NCL has long been a
route to the GM title for
the best young talents.
Staged over five weekends at
Midlands hotels, it provides
strong opposition and the
support of team mates. To
become a grandmaster, a
player requires three norm
performances at 2600+, plus
a personal rating of 2500+.
England’s established GMs
are ageing, so generation Z
has an opportunity.
Diagram: White mates in
three moves, against any defence (by
Fritz Giegold), White is queen, two
bishops and two knights up while the
Black king is trapped without a
single legal move. The answer
contains just two lines of play.
Easy? You’ll do very well to crack
it in half an hour. The obvious try
1 Qa8/c8 cxb3 2 Qh8 is a stalemate
draw.
Britain’s route to
grandmaster for rising
chess talents
- Leonard Barden
17.1.23
- Britain’s Four
Nations Chess League
(4NCL) has become a
favoured route to the
grandmaster title for
the game’s best
young talents. Staged
over five weekends at
hotels in Daventry,
Warwick and Milton
Keynes, it offers
opposition that is
strong — but not
overwhelmingly so — in
an environment where
team support can be
crucial.
Every competitive player
acquires a rating. A
novice is below 1000, an
average club standard
player is 1 200-1600.
This rises to 1800 for
strong club level, 2000
for expert, 2200 for
national master and 2400
for international
master.
To become a
grandmaster, a
player needs three
2600-rated
performances, plus a
personal rating of
2500. England had
around 30 GMs half a
century ago, and
survivors from that
golden era now make
up the No 1 nation
in over-50 and
over-65 tournaments.
A new generation is
needed, and a
quartet of players,
all born after 1999,
are in serious
contention.
Cambridge graduates
Matthew Wadsworth,
22, and Harry
Grieve, 21, fought
out the British
Championship at
Torquay in a
final-round epic
last August. Grieve
secured the title
and his first GM
norm then, while
Wadsworth has a norm
from the 2018-19
4NCL season, along
with some
near-misses. Both
have begun the
current 4NCL season
well, with three
wins and a draw
each.
Puzzle 2503
(Diagram):
GM Nick Pert vs
Andrew McClement,
4NCL 2022. White to
move and win. Pert,
the 2021 British
champion, has a
mighty d7 pawn, but
the obvious 1 Rh8+
Ke7 2 Re1+ is
stopped by 2...Re6.
Instead, a subtle
two-move
sequence won for
White. Can you find
it?
Carlsen edged out by
Hikaru Nakamura in
online speed final epic
- Leonard Barden
23.12.22 - The world
No.1 lost by a minimal
margin, 14.5-13.5, to
the former US champion
and popular streamer
before the pair headed
for the World Rapid and
Blitz in Kazakhstan
starting this weekend.
The long standing and
evenly matched online
rivalry between Magnus
Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura
took another twist on Sunday
when the five-time US
champion and popular
streamer edged out Norway’s
world No 1 14.5-13.5 in the
$100,000
chess.com speed
championship final.
The event, a four-hour
mix of 5/1 and 3/1 blitz and
1/1 bullet, is a marathon
test of fast reactions,
creativity, and
resourcefulness under
extreme and constant time
pressure, and this pair have
monopolised it. In 2016 and
2017, Carlsen beat Nakamura
in the final; since then,
with Carlsen mostly not
competing, Nakamura has won
five years in a row.
Rapid chess in the UK
received a major boost this
week when the ECF and 4NCL
announced that the 2023
British Rapid Championship
will be staged in Bradford
on 15-16 April. It will be
an 11-round Fide-rated Open,
with a £3000 prize fund.
This is an enhanced
version of what used to be
an annual event which has
been in abeyance since 2019.
Its generous conditions for
top players are sure to
attract a strong entry of
grandmasters. It is also an
opportunity for rising
talents to showcase their
skills, and for ambitious
amateurs to take on, and
perhaps surprise, highly
rated opponents.
Diagram: Magnus Carlsen v
Hikaru Nakamura, game seven,
Chess.com speed final 2022. Black to
move and win.
Thank you Tim and
Andy for another smooth, if
very long tournament!! I
hope these continue as with
young kids I can't get out
to club nights so between
these Congresses and 4NCL
Online I get my weekday
evening chess fix.
Huge thanks to you
and Andy for your
organisation and management!
I’d like to say thank
you on behalf of ***. ***
thoroughly enjoyed the
online congress. (a parent's
email).
Many thanks yet again
to you and your team for
your time and efforts. Very
much appreciated.
Many thanks for
organising and running the
4NCL online event, it all
seemed to run very smoothly.
As I can't easily attend OTB
tournaments and longer
format games this is a nice
substitute.
Thanks a lot for your
time in organising this.
Very much appreciated.
We regret that the first
Junior 4NCL weekend on 24-25
September at Woodland Grange,
Leamington Spa, has had to be
cancelled after the hotel late
in the day reneged on the agreed
venue hire charges. We’re
looking for new dates and venues
– more to follow when we have it
-
Mike Truran.
Fantasy Football
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Reminder - the League
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use their real names - NO
pseudonyms.
Online Seasons 6 &
7
Dates for the next two
online seasons are here.
Some updated rules will
be published soon as
well, along with pairings
- with thanks to Alex
Holowczak and Dave
Thomas.
Games Report - 28th Congress, Leamington Spa,
8-10
July 2022
This congress
was a Chessable ECF Grand Prix event
Game
Report -
28th Congress, Leamington Spa,
8-10
July 2022
GM Nigel Davies, competitor at the recently
held 4NCL 28th Congress at
Woodland Grange,
Leamington Spa,
has published this
detailed annotated report of
one of his games, played in round 1 of the FIDE
Open. Thank you Nigel.
4NCL Congress Leamington Spa
Many thanks to the 4NCL
organisers for a really
great 28th OTB congress weekend at
the Woodland Grange Hotel.
One of the best venues I
have played in and
first-class, quietly
efficient organisation of
the chess itself - from a competitor
The 4NCL Management
Board’s report on the
Roger Emerson/Alexander
Cherniaev incident at
the 30 April – 2 May
2022 4NCL weekend
can be found here.
The Warwickshire
Junior Team League
4NCL and Warwickshire
Chess Association are
collaborating on a joint
event called The
Warwickshire Junior Team
League. See links below
for further details.
Saturday
23 April 2022 at
Kenilworth School,
Kenilworth CV8 2DA.
Game
Report -
2nd 4NCL Easter Congress,
15-18 April 2022
GM Danny Gormally, competitor at the recently
held 2nd 4NCL Easter Congress at
Mercure Daventry,
has published
this detailed
and instructive annotated report of
three games he played in rounds 1, 2 and 3 of
the FIDE Open. Thank you Danny.
Season 21-22 Update
We’re amending
rule 12.2 so that
round 2 on the Sunday of
the bank holiday weekend
(1 May) starts at 1pm,
not 12 noon. We were
hoping to run a blitz
event on the Sunday
evening, but on
reflection have decided
that it’s on the ‘too
difficult’ list. Maybe
next season…
Regarding Div 3 South
May bank holiday weekend
venue arrangements. We
had been told that Div 3
South would be at Kents
Hill Milton Keynes;
we’ve now learned that
the booking was actually
made at Holiday Inn
Maidenhead/Windsor - and
Holiday Inn
Maidenhead/Windsor are
apparently closing until
January 2023, as I
understand it because
they’ve agreed a
government contract to
accommodate
asylum-seekers. Anyway,
Guaranteed Events are
now urgently looking for
a new venue, which may
or may not be on the
same weekend. More to
follow as soon as I have
it.
- Mike Truran,
2nd April 2022
J4NCL Online
Thank You
This e-mail is long
overdue…
I want to say a big thank
you on behalf of my players
and parents for another
fantastic Junior 4NCL Online
season. I never realised
until a couple of years ago
when I set up a chess club
just how much work is
involved in organising and
running chess events. Every
time I have e-mailed for
help it’s always been given
without issue; as a team you
have always been available
to assist.
Three-quarters of my
players only took the game
up during the past few
years; we actually only
formed to play in this event! Many of them are teenagers
who without this opportunity
wouldn’t play chess
competitively. Your event
has given the players a
focal point to play matches
and is one of the success
stories from the lockdown
period.
Thank you again for all
you have done to make the
event such a success and
such fun for everyone over
the past few years.
- From a J4NCL Team
Captain
Thank You
Hello Mike, I just
wanted to send a quick thank
you to you and the
organising team after the
recent 2nd 4NCL Easter OTB
congress. This was my first
chess over the board
competition in England, and
my first anywhere for 19
years, and I was absolutely
knocked out by how
professional the whole thing
was in every regard.
A great venue, the live
presentation (including
published games - which must
take so much manual
processing) all with
friendly and helpful people,
etc.
I'm really impressed and
thankful. Please pass my
sentiments to all involved.
- From a competitor
Division 3 South
We’ve managed to secure
Kents Hill Park, Milton
Keynes
again for the rescheduled
Division 3 South weekend -
not entirely ideal in some
respects, but at this late
stage it seems that we don’t
have a big range of venues
to select from. The good
news is that it’s on
25-26
June, the same weekend as
the rearranged Div 1&2
weekend.
Could I please ask the
Division 3 South captains to
let me know whether:
You
would prefer two rounds
over the two days at the
usual 4NCL time limits,
or whether you would
prefer three rounds at
4NCL congress time
controls (all moves in
90 minutes plus 30
second increment per
move from move 1)?
If the latter:
whether you would like
two games on the
Saturday and one on the
Sunday, or the other way
round?
whether you would like
all three rounds played
at 4NCL congress time
limits, or whether you
would like the two-round
day played at 4NCL
congress time controls
and the one-round day
played at the usual
league time control?
Kind regards
Mike Truran
David Robertson RIP
by John Carleton
I first met Dave in 1964
when the chess teams for two schools
located in the Birmingham area,
Bishop Vesey GS [my school] and King
Edward’s GS Camp Hill [Dave’s
school] played each other. A couple
of the Camp Hill players came across
as very confident [well, “cocky” was
the way I thought of it].
These two were strong
players, and Dave was one of them.
In 1965 I had brought about some
improvement in my game and edged my
way into the Warwickshire U18 team
which won the national
championships.
Divisions 1 & 2 rounds 10 and
11 are confirmed for 25-26
June at Daventry Court.
We’re hoping to hear soon
about whether we can find
venues for Divisions 3 South
and Central. As Division 3
North only has eight teams
we won’t be arranging a June
weekend for that.
More to follow when we have
it!
- Mike Truran
Seconds
stumble
- but
thirds
thrive
22.2.22
- Many
thanks
again to Peter
Kitchen
(Celtic
Tigers)
for
another
great
pictorial
report
about
their
exploits
during
weekend
2 at
the
Holiday
Inn
Maidenhead/Windsor.
Roger Emerson and Nigel
Povah conclude their
coverage of Guildford’s
4NCL adventures, which
saw their team go an
astonishing 85 matches
without defeat
Following Wood Green’s
retreat from the
forefront of the 4NCL,
Guildford’s strongest
challenger looked likely
to be Cheddleton, headed
by David Howell and
Jonathan Hawkins.
Indeed, our meeting in
February 2015 proved to
be a tense affair, which
ended as a narrow
victory, 4½-3½. However,
it could have been a
catastrophic defeat as
we had substantially
worse positions on
several boards.
Roger Emerson and Nigel
Povah explain how
Guildford continued to
raise the bar
Taking over management
from Nigel in November
2011, Roger brought in a
number of new players,
including grandmaster
Romain Edouard (about
whom more later), and
several overseas titled
players now living in or
with close ties to
England, including GM
David Smerdon, IM
Gediminas Sarakauskas,
his wife Zivile and her
sister IM Dagne Ciuksyte,
who is now a mainstay of
the England Women’s
team.
Nigel Povah and Roger
Emerson chronicle the
rise of their 4NCL
powerhouse team
In this series of
articles we will cover
the history of Guildford
teams in Division One of
the 4NCL over the past
25 years, from small
beginnings to the
powerful squad of the
late teens of the 21st
century. In many ways
this growth has mirrored
the expansion of the
4NCL itself into a
large, successful and
well managed
organisation.
26.11.21
- Many
thanks
to Peter
Kitchen
(Celtic
Tigers)
for his
comprehensive
report
about
their
exploits
during
weekend
1 at
Kents
Hill
Park,
Milton
Keynes.
4NCL Weekend 2
We have, with
great reluctance
and after much
debate, decided
not to proceed
with weekend 2
of the 4NCL on
15-16 January.
20.12.21
- Many
thanks
to Chris
Skulte
(Celtic
Tigers)
for this
detailed
and
upbeat
report
about
the 1st
team's
exploits
during
weekend
1 at
Kents
Hill
Park,
Milton
Keynes.
We regret to announce
that the 4NCL Women's
League weekend due to be
held on 11-12 December
has been cancelled for
two (maybe related)
reasons:
a. the increasingly
uncertain position
regarding Covid;
b. the relatively
small number of
entries so far.
We'll try to organise
another weekend in the
first quarter of 2022.
4NCL Weekend 2
We have, with
great reluctance
and after much
debate, decided
not to proceed
with weekend 2
of the 4NCL on
15-16 January.
Reasons for the
decision include
the following:
The
difficulty
that many
teams may
have in
raising full
teams given
many
players’
likely, and
entirely
understandable,
reluctance
to play
given
prevailing
conditions
and
restrictions;
Uncertainty
as to future
Omicron
trends;
Uncertainty
as to HM
Government’s
future
intentions
as to
whether
further,
more
stringent,
regulations/guidelines
will be put
in place;
The
opportunity
to
postpone/cancel
the weekend
at all
venues
without
financial
penalty (if
we delay
further,
that
opportunity
will almost
certainly
reduce/disappear);
The risk of
severe
financial
penalties if
a
significant
number of
teams and/or
players
decide not
to play
(and/or do
not stay
overnight),
resulting in
the bedroom
allocations
at the
various
venues not
being taken
up in full.
We’re
currently
investigating
whether we can
postpone the
January weekend
to a
weekend/weekends
in June. If we
can do that,
bedroom bookings
already made
will be
transferred to
that weekend
(but can of
course be
cancelled in
line with the
usual T&Cs). If
we can’t do
that, bedroom
bookings already
made will be
automatically
cancelled.
We also have
an option to
postpone/cancel
weekend 3 on
12-13 February.
We won’t be
making a
decision on that
until the New
Year, by which
time things may
(or may not)
have clarified
somewhat.
If there is a
(small) silver
lining to a
(rather dark)
cloud, three of
the four
divisions being
played as
Swisses means
that we should
hopefully still
be able to
complete the
season so long
as we can get at
least three
weekends
completed
(although norm
opportunities
may be
unavoidably
affected).
With very
best wishes for
Xmas and the New
Year from all at
the 4NCL, and
here’s hoping
for better times
ahead.
Kind regards,
Mike
Truran
Carlsen plans fast start
in Dubai while Firouzja
captures his records
- Leonard Barden
27.11.21
-
The world champion aims
to exploit Ian
Nepomniachtchi’s lack of
experience in world title
matches, while the French
18-year-old has just broken
two of Carlsen’s own
landmarks.
Magnus
Carlsen says he plans a fast
start in the opening three
rounds of his 14-game, $2m
world title match against
Russia’s
Ian Nepomniachtchi on
Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Play starts at 12.30pm GMT
throughout the match, which
can be followed live and
free online, with expert and
computer commentaries on
every move.
Nepomniachtchi will have the
favourable white pieces in
the first game, whose
colours were determined
by popping balloons.
Carlsen will push for an
early lead. “As a reigning
champion you have a good
chance to strike at the
start,” he said. “That’s
definitely something I am
going to try.”
Previous cases of
first-time challengers who
froze include Tigran
Petrosian’s
disastrous game one in
1963 against Mikhail
Botvinnik and Bobby
Fischer’s poisoned pawn
capture against Boris
Spassky in 1972.
In the 2018 match Fabiano
Caruana was shaky in the
marathon first game and
should have lost at move 38.
Carlsen himself, in his
second game against Vishy
Anand in 2013, planned the
Caro-Kann 1 e4 c6 but
nervously knocked over his
c7 pawn. However, there are
also examples such as in
1927 and 2000 where the
challenger scored early and
went on to win the match.
Diagram:Alexey Shirov
v Leinier Domínguez, Wijk
2010. White to move and win.
In the game as played,
Shirov agreed a draw due to
time pressure, so the puzzle
challenge is to do better.
Online chess booms while
over the board play
recovers from the
pandemic
- Leonard Barden
2
.11.21
-
Last weekend’s
Scarborough congress
attracted a bumper entry
of 300, as tournament
regulars greeted the
resumption of a popular
fixture.
Competitive chess in the
north-east is recovering
well from the pandemic.
The British championship
and a GM tournament were
staged in Hull. and an
invitational in North
Tyneside.
The 4NCL national league,
played online last season,
returns over the board
shortly with 80 teams
against 94 before Covid-19.
There will be new champions,
for Guildford’s record
breakers have retired
after 83 matches and eight
years without defeat.
County teams plus local
clubs and leagues, which
have an older demographic,
have been generally less
resilient, although a few
have successfully tapped in
to the online chess boom
inspired by Netflix’s
Queen’s Gambit.
Battersea, Camberley,
Kingston, Richmond and
Surbiton, all in a suburban
belt, have booming
memberships.
Puzzle
2443: Roland
Scott v Joseph Blake,
Edinburgh 1920. White (to
play) is queen for bishop
up, but can you find his
only winning move? A century
ago, Scott solved the puzzle
and won the British
championship.
We expect to
publish Covid
guidelines for
the new season a
couple of weeks
before the first
weekend of the
new season given
the present
uncertainty
about whether
HMG
guidance/rules
in place at the
moment will
remain as they
are or become
more stringent.
There will be
no problem with
teams getting
entry fee
refunds after
the 31 October
entry deadline
if the approach
the 4NCL adopts
is not to their
liking, and
bedroom bookings
can as usual be
cancelled
without charge
up to five
working days
before the first
weekend.
Hull 4NCL International
Congress
Friday 22 October -
Sunday 24 October,
Canham Turner Conference
Centre
Thank you to the players,
arbiters & organisers
for a great event.
Entry
Guidelines
These are now posted (in
PDF format) together with
fees due and important dates
for the new season.
Main Rules
Now available here (in
PDF format).
As usual there are amends
from the 2019-20 season and
Captains and Managers are
asked to make themselves and
their team colleagues aware
of them as soon as possible.
Online Season 4 Logins
All
new captains in both main
and junior online events
should now have received an
e-mail containing season 4 login
credentials. If you have not
received it please check
your spam filters or
folders, and if still not
located contact
straightaway.
Accounts for all existing
captains who have re-entered
their teams are also now
enabled. Please also see the
Fair Play Regulations notice
above.
Jack Rudd and Nigel Davies
have
annotated some games
from this event. Thank you
both!
Main
4NCL
Arbiter
Interest
The main 4NCL is seeking to
recruit arbiters for the
2021-22 Season. To be
considered as an arbiter you
must be registered with FIDE
as a licensed NA, FA or IA.
If you are registered with
FIDE as ENG, SCO or WLS but
do not have a licence then
the appropriate federation
can arrange for you to get
one.
For the
2021-22
Fantasy
Premier
League
why not
join
"Premier
Chess" -
the
number
one
League
for
chess
players?
Joining
the
league
couldn't
be
easier.
Simply
go here
and
you'll
be added
automatically
after
you've
entered
the
game.