English Chess Forum

Table

Weekends 1-4 at Daventry; 22/23 October, 14/15 January 2023, 4/5 February, 18/19 March
Weekend 5 at Warwick; 29 April to 1 May

round 1 Warks 1 strongest on paper

round 2

Wessex A not playing weekend 1 and Shropshire only have 5 boards

White Rose 3 could get up very close to Warks 1 if their squad is having a strong weekend.

They were the only teams to win both matches, so early favourites for the 2 promotion places

I was pleased to see the Manticores get a decent start with a draw and a win after everything the team went through in the summer

2 to go down may be influenced by what happens with Wessex

Table after weekend 2 is very much a top half and a bottom half

WR3 and Warks 1 still on 100%, but CSC Kingston are in the mix

Very pleased to see the Manticores win both matches, a fitting tribute in the first weekend since the death of our former captain Mark Whitehead

Table after weekend 3, and Warks 1 are on 100%, but the 4 teams behind them are still in the mix only 2 points behind, especially CSC/Kingston 1 who have won all 4 matches they have played in this division

Table after weekend 4

3 teams on 14 and 2 on 12, so all to play for at the top

Then a big gap, and all the others in some degree of relegation danger

We may end up with some interesting decisions to make here - it's not entirely beyond the bounds that our first team will get relegated and our second team promoted.

That would mean West is Best end up with 2 teams in Division 2, so you'd have to play as separate squads presumably?

What would be more interesting would be if , for example, West is best 1 got relegated to Div 3 and West is best 2 got promoted to div 2 in the same season. The first team would now have to play all their best players in the third division and the second half of their squad in division 2.

Joey Stewart wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 22, 2023 8:51 pm

What would be more interesting would be if , for example, West is best 1 got relegated to Div 3 and West is best 2 got promoted to div 2 in the same season. The first team would now have to play all their best players in the third division and the second half of their squad in division 2.

If they tried to do that they might be at risk of breaking the 100 point rule. They would also be very likely to break the rule requiring them to have a higher average in the higher division team.

But by the same token they would also be breaking relegation/promotion rules by effectively refusing to move the appropriate teams up and down (and likely upsetting the second team players who worked hard for a promotion only to find themselves stuck in the same division) - it's a bit of a paradox, you would have to decide which rule trumps which .

Joey Stewart wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 23, 2023 8:42 am

B it's a bit of a paradox, you would have to decide which rule trumps which .

I think there are precedents. I believe there was a season where Manchester 1 was relegated from division 2 and Manchester 2 was promoted from division 3N to replace them. They played in the usual order the following season.

https://www.4ncl.co.uk/data/history/win ... s_1819.htm

I doubt that went down well with the Manchester 2 players, that's the story of thing that splits teams apart for good. It got me thinking, if they absolutely insisted that it was their promotion spot and the stronger team should have to earn their re entry could the players in the second team break away from the firsts as a separate side and maintain their eligibility that way?

No, it went down fine with our players, some of whom didn't want to trek down south to play; we have found this a struggle this season in Div. 3 West, and i am told that 4 of our squad have said they don't want to play next season, which is a shame

Joey Stewart wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 23, 2023 8:42 am

But by the same token they would also be breaking relegation/promotion rules by effectively refusing to move the appropriate teams up and down (and likely upsetting the second team players who worked hard for a promotion only to find themselves stuck in the same division) - it's a bit of a paradox, you would have to decide which rule trumps which .

If they wanted to ensure the appropriate team was promoted and relegated then they could switch to separate squads.