English Chess Forum

As usual Division Three South, Division Three North and Division Four South command attention on the forum - nothing at all on Division Two; so here's a thread should anyone wish to comment as the season progresses.

Tan Zhongyi's appearance for Kings Head must be worth a mention. As a minor correction to the pgn I presume her 22nd move against Stoyanov was Bb5 and not the spectacular 22..Bb3.

I will play the dangerous game of making predictions.

In 2A barring collapses in the final 3 rounds, it looks like West is Best, The ADs and North East England will make it through. West is Best still need to play both of those other teams, so who takes what through is very much still to be decided. The final spot looks like it will be either the Sussex Martlets or Anglian Avengers who are yet to play each other. There's still an outside chance for Warwickshire Select, but they still have difficult remaining fixtures and will likely need to win 2 of those.

Chessable White Rose 2 had a big win on Sunday against Warwickshire, which means that although they'll be in the Demotion Pool, they may take some points down with them and they still have the bottom of the table clash with Check Inmates to come. It does still feel as though them and Check Innmates are the most likely from the pool to go down.

In 2B King's Head have performed impressively well even if they do have more former World Champions than anyone else. I'm not sure if prior to the season I'd have had them in the top half of the league, but they currently look a certainty to go into the Promotion Pool, with Alba and Oxford looking the most likely to join them. It should be mentioned that 2 seasons ago King's Head were in a similar position after 4 rounds and I'm not sure that they won another match all season after that and ended up getting relegated. I would be surprised if they repeated that feat, but such are the perils of Div 2. Any of Manchester, Barnet or Grantham could take the final spot or edge out one of Alba/Oxford. Barnet have again not really lived up to their rating edge so far, but they have played all of the top 3 teams already so could conceivably (and maybe need to) win their remaining 3 matches.

KJCA picked up an impressive win over Manchester Manticores with 4/4 on the bottom boards and will be in a fight to survive this year, slightly surprisingly with Guildford 3 who are yet to win a game. Guildford presumably have the resources to strengthen, but they may have work to do even if they do: as ever the strength of Div 2 increases there seem to be fewer clear relegation candidates each season.

At this stage I will go for Promotion: King's Head, West is Best, The ADs and North East England.
Relegation: KJCA Kings, Guildford 3, Chessable White Rose 2, Check Inmates.

I have not got a clue what's happening in division 2.

We might have had some miracle results for us today which means we are safe.
We might not be safe
Or we might be needing like 2 game points v Barnet to be safe...

Well, we're through and will carry forward 5 points. ADs and Sussex Martlets will join us, as will one of White Rose 2 and North East England, who play each other on matchday 7.

The other pool is less clear, with Kings Head the only confirmed qualifier for the promotion pool.

2b is interesting, 4 teams competing for 3 spots; and who gets them will affect the relegation pool too

Grantham need a draw, but a loss for either Alba or Oxford would do even if they lose

yes, it is division two all right … anyone can beat anyone and the winner will be the team which makes the most 4.5-3.5 results (Barbican 2 made four last year).

I should probably look at Jack's very unique interpretation of the Caro-Kann yesterday! Since West is Best has more or less kept its team from last year, they do look like a good bet for repromotion.