National Club Championships 11-12 April 2015

[MartinCarpenter]

People do quite often play up in opens when they can in majors

Have to say that an over 175 average over 4 boards really isn't a significant marker anyway. Most biggish, and many medium sized, clubs in the country could do that. I'd have thought you'd ideally want a 200+ average Open section, but obviously the interest isn't there.

In all honest there's some clubs which could push well over 200 without that much effort.

[Roger de Coverly]

In all honest there's some clubs which could push well over 200 without that much effort.

That's always been the problem with the National Club in its Open form and why it lost support once the 4NCL was created with its more flexible rules. In many parts of the country you would be lucky to find six or even four players over 200 in an entire league, let alone one club. Indeed you wouldn't want all the elite players piled up in the same club for reasons of retaining some degree of sporting interest in the local competitions. So like the main Saturday Yorkshire League, you would want to allow a team to represent a collection of clubs. It's my understanding that with independent evening leagues in several Yorkshire conurbations, that the Yorkshire league team named after the city will represent the local association rather than any one club.

[MartinCarpenter]

Yes. And we drag connected players in from outside etc. The strongest Yorkshire league top 4 is York at just under 220. Bradford/Sheffield fairly similar.

If you restricted to the local league teams, then it'd be ~200 tops. Leeds city centre probably the strongest in the county. (Palliser, John Hall, Colm Barry and Mossong/Birkin/Deighton etc.).

With the Yorkshire champions league (summer event for the local league champions in Yorkshire), what seems to happen is that the stronger teams just give everyone a game over the course of the event. Seems to work well

3C's are absolutely genuinely a club of course and seem to be 220 for their top 4 with a ton of not much weaker options underneath. Some of the London clubs must be hugely strong.

>175 really isn't much.

[David Gilbert]

Everyone ready for the weekend? Perhaps the hotel isn't quite....

"Guest announcement: we love our hotel and work hard to keep it in tip top condition. Our next phased investment will be on refurbishing the hotel restaurant from the 30th March to the 17th April. During this time the restaurant will be closed, however alternative dinning will be provided in our comfortable and spacious hotel lounge and bar, for breakfast lunch and dinner."

[David Gilbert]

What a fabulous and compelling weekend. One of those right out of the top drawer. Fantastic entertainment. There were 24 teams magnetic teams, lots of camaraderie and friendly banter between the players, with all the hostilities taking place over the board. We played together, ate together, drank our coco together, and slept…….no we didn’t do that last one. The weekend though belonged to Sutton Coldfield whose three teams took three titles, with a combined score of 8½/10. Well done them! Hot stuff.

The full list of winners are Sutton Coldfield (Open), Newton Abbot (Major), Sutton Coldfield 2 (Intermediate), and Sutton Coldfield 3 (Minor).

Thanks to Alex Holowczak, Dave Thomas and Guy Greenland for putting on a great show. Numbers were up by a third on last year. Hope to see everyone, and more teams, back in 2016. This event can really take-off. And I should add thanks to the Holiday Inn and its sparkling team. Good rooms, brilliant and spacious playing conditions. Even the restaurant re-opened in time for dinner on Saturday night, and the food was surprisingly good. Mike Truran has found a real diamond venue for chess events. Anyone looking for a Hotel Congress need glance no further than the 4NCL Congress at the same place on 17-19 July 2015, the week before, and an ideal warm-up for, the British Chess Championships. Come and play some chess.

[Kevin Thurlow]

"Even the restaurant re-opened in time for dinner on Saturday night"

Was Jeremy Clarkson there?

Sutton Coldfield were a bit greedy - hope they go for 4/4 next time...

[David Gilbert]

"Even the restaurant re-opened in time for dinner on Saturday night"

Was Jeremy Clarkson there?

Yes. However did you fathom that out? He went straight to the hot food counter and seemed to enjoy himself. Saturday in the Hotel pool had begun with the dolphin babies, moved on to the awkward age sharks and finished with Jeremy's group, the beached whales. Lots of flapping around and shouting at people apparently.

[Mike Truran]

David

Nice words, which I have passed on to the hotel. The GM was delighted!

There are some in the ECF who are not convinced the Nat Club has a future in its present format. Based on what I have heard from you and others, I wouldn't be too sure.

Mike

[David Robertson]

It may have a future as the National Minor Clubs Championship. The Open this year would be better renamed the North Brum Play-off

[IM Jack Rudd]

And last year it was the London Overground Play-off.

[Brendan O'Gorman]

Some photos of what I thought was an enjoyable event http://tinyurl.com/NatClub2015. With a little more advance notice and publicity, this formula could prove a hit. I understand the 2016 championships are already planned for about the same time of year. Clubs might like to follow Newton Abbott's lead and treat it as an end of season celebration.

Also good to see no fewer than three ECF directors in attendance - two organising, one competing. This competition has the potential to strengthen the answer to the perennial question What does the ECF do for me?

[David Gilbert]

David

Nice words, which I have passed on to the hotel. The GM was delighted!

There are some in the ECF who are not convinced the Nat Club has a future in its present format. Based on what I have heard from you and others, I wouldn't be too sure.

Mike

I’ve no idea who the ECF sceptics might be, not Alex, Dave and Guy, or Bob Kane who was there in a playing capacity. After years in the doldrums the new format has revived the competition. The ECF has found a way of giving something back to the ordinary Club player, who is after all the bedrock of the chess community. The event is popular with clubs and players, and their acclaim will only bring out more players and more clubs over the coming years.

David Robertson spoke articulately at the last Council meeting about the importance of continuous improvement at Board level and the pursuit of innovative solutions that drive chess forward. Well, it should be recognised that Alex and his partners have been on the front foot and have thought up a new format that is beginning to work. The Board and Council should recognise they have a potential hit on their hands and put themselves firmly behind these Championships.

As to the Hotel, it deserves praise. They were well organised, well drilled and did it all with a smile.

PS: Great photos Brendan! The picture of Paul Carlucci with the chess board reflected into his specs is amazing! The four at the end show Dave Thomas putting one of my games into a PGN format!

[David Sedgwick]

Some photos of what I thought was an enjoyable event http://tinyurl.com/NatClub2015. With a little more advance notice and publicity, this formula could prove a hit. I understand the 2016 championships are already planned for about the same time of year. Clubs might like to follow Newton Abbott's lead and treat it as an end of season celebration.

Also good to see no fewer than three ECF directors in attendance - two organising, one competing. This competition has the potential to strengthen the answer to the perennial question What does the ECF do for me?

Two ECF directors competed, making four present in all. Bob Kane and John Foley were both in the Drunken Knights team that won the Major Plate.

I was amongst those who were sceptical about the new format, but it's looking as though I was wrong and 2016 may confirm that. Well done Alex Holowczak.

[Brendan O'Gorman]

David, thanks for this correction. Apologies to John Foley whose appointment as a non-executive director I'd missed.

[Ian Kingston]

After years in the doldrums the new format has revived the competition.

Just a quick reality check: in the last year under the old format (2013), the numbers of entries were:

Open: 3
Major: 14
Intermediate: 10
Minor: 6

This year:

Open: 2
Major: 6
Intermediate: 10
Minor: 6

So it's a bit of a stretch to say that the competition has been revived.

That said, I think the format may have potential: one weekend of regional qualifiers followed by a national final might increase the numbers.