4NCL 2025-26 Division One

[Neil Graham]

New thread to discuss this Division with the first weekend coming up 1st-2nd November at the Copthorne Hotel. Dudley.

[SMoss]

I have produced a report for the Kingston club website on the opening 4NCL weekend. The report covers all three CSC/Kingston teams, but since we are currently joint top of division 1 I thought it appropriate to post it on this thread. Those are also the games I looked at in most detail. I am hoping the report might stimulate some discussion on the forum of 4NCL, which has been unusually muted. There has been a bit of coverage of the quality of the breakfasts in the Merry-Hill Copthorne, but not much coverage of the quality of the actual play. Here's the report, with boasting carefully kept in check – our second team is also top of division 3 (knights)! – given the time-honoured connection between hubris and nemesis:

https://kingstonchess.com/csc-kingston- ... -campaign/

[John Upham]

I have produced a report for the Kingston club website on the opening 4NCL weekend. The report covers all three CSC/Kingston teams, but since we are currently joint top of division 1 I thought it appropriate to post it on this thread. Those are also the games I looked at in most detail. I am hoping the report might stimulate some discussion on the forum of 4NCL, which has been unusually muted. There has been a bit of coverage of the quality of the breakfasts in the Merry-Hill Copthorne, but not much coverage of the quality of the actual play. Here's the report, with boasting carefully kept in check – our second team is also top of division 3 (knights)! – given the time-honoured connection between hubris and nemesis:

https://kingstonchess.com/csc-kingston- ... -campaign/

I enjoyed the game which started with 302.Nb6??

[LawrenceCooper]

I have produced a report for the Kingston club website on the opening 4NCL weekend. The report covers all three CSC/Kingston teams, but since we are currently joint top of division 1 I thought it appropriate to post it on this thread. Those are also the games I looked at in most detail. I am hoping the report might stimulate some discussion on the forum of 4NCL, which has been unusually muted. There has been a bit of coverage of the quality of the breakfasts in the Merry-Hill Copthorne, but not much coverage of the quality of the actual play. Here's the report, with boasting carefully kept in check – our second team is also top of division 3 (knights)! – given the time-honoured connection between hubris and nemesis:

https://kingstonchess.com/csc-kingston- ... -campaign/

I enjoyed the game which started with 302.Nb6??

Had it been Peter Lalic's game then I could have believed that the move numbers were correct!

[John Upham]

Had it been Peter Lalic's game then I could have believed that the move numbers were correct!

I've been attempting to retro the position back to move 1 without luck so far.

[Jonathan Rogers]

Very good reports. It is a shame that we see hardly any of them these days - twenty or so years ago a few teams used to do likewise but no longer, it seems.

In the Barbican match, I think that Supratit blundered rather than gambited the pawn but it was one of those occasions where some compensation still arises. Boards five and eight were the curiosities - to humans, Black's threats on board five (the given full game in the report) looked dangerous and White seemed to be playing with fire but the engine backs White throughout. On board eight there was a rook and pawn endgame where White was two pawns up but could not make progress. Wretched things really are always drawn, it seems.

The Kingston win v Cheddleton (and by 6-2!) was certainly the standout moment of the weekend.

Perhaps the sun was rather shining on Kingston during the weekend but I wish them more sunshine against Wood Green!

[LawrenceCooper]

Perhaps the sun was rather shining on Kingston during the weekend but I wish them more sunshine against Wood Green!

Duly noted.

[Jonathan Rogers]

Forever the lot of the odds-on favourite!

[SMoss]

Thank you for all kind words Jonathan. Numbering of the moves in the opening game now corrected - I hope.

[Nick Ivell]

Wow that king and pawn ending was scary. I would never trust myself to go in for it, with either colour.

[LawrenceCooper]

The Kingston win v Cheddleton (and by 6-2!) was certainly the standout moment of the weekend.

Perhaps the sun was rather shining on Kingston during the weekend but I wish them more sunshine against Wood Green!

It was a rather wet weekend but definitely a closer match than the final score indicates.

[Leonard Barden]

Zero comments about the national chess league since November!
This morning is the 11th and final round.
Can anybody (Loz? Alex?) tell me who are the candidates (if any) for GM, IM, WGM and WIM title norms?

[Mick Norris]

Congratulations to Wood Green, but it's not been a vintage year

[ThomasEvans]

Zero comments about the national chess league since November!
This morning is the 11th and final round.
Can anybody (Loz? Alex?) tell me who are the candidates (if any) for GM, IM, WGM and WIM title norms?

Sergey Korshunov (Wood Green Youth) earned an IM norm in Round 10 (his 2nd norm).

Lorenzo Fava (IM norm, Warwickshire Select) will definitely have a chance today (he'll need a draw at worst), and there should also be chances for James Jackson (GM norm, Wood Green Youth) and Max Turner (IM norm, White Rose) who will both need wins provided they get the right opponents.

[ThomasEvans]

Norm candidates in Round 11:

Lorenzo Fava (Warwickshire, Bd.122) - draw for an IM norm (plays Theo Khoury, 2195)
Max Turner (White Rose, Bd.133) - win for an IM norm (plays Shreyas Royal, 2505)
James Jackson (Wood Green Youth, Bd.153) - win for a GM norm (plays Jakub Kosakowski, 2550)