English Chess Forum

Do any 4NCL statisticians out there know of the youngest (or oldest) 4NCL team? The thought occured to me during round 7 when my team's top five boards had an average age of about 12, players born in 1999, 2005, 2001, 2005 and 1997.

I think that would be pretty hard to beat Loz. Nice to see youth getting a chance.

I did notice that David Anderton faced Josh Altman on Saturday in the Div 2 b match AD's v Barbican Youth. There can't have been many instances of a greater difference in ages than that for a match?

In a congress I once played Ken Bloodworth, a mere 80 years my senior.

Ihor Lewyk wrote:I think that would be pretty hard to beat Loz. Nice to see youth getting a chance.

I did notice that David Anderton faced Josh Altman on Saturday in the Div 2 b match AD's v Barbican Youth. There can't have been many instances of a greater difference in ages than that for a match?

I wouldn't say that in earshot of DWA

Not in the 4NCL, but in recent Hillingdon Leage matches, there were two matches between Harrow C, and Harrow Junior B. The first match led to a win for the senior, all of definitely of pensionable adge. Less than a month later though, the juniors achieved a credible draw, even though one of the players, a starter in chess, had to be drafted in as a last minute reserve.

Juniors can improve remarkably quickly!

Tact means that I do not want to ask the ages of the Harrow C team. The juniors would have been aged around 13.

Speaking of results by juniors, there was a stunning result on board 8 in the Cambridge University 2 vs Anglian Avengers 1 match:

http://www.4nclresults.co.uk/4ncl/7/2a/export/#t2

The CU2 player was born in 2002 (rated 1683). The AA1 player was born in 1984 (rated 2102).

The whole bottom five boards of that match made a mockery of the ratings system.

Christopher Kreuzer wrote: The whole bottom five boards of that match made a mockery of the ratings system.

Which one though? The ratings shown for the Anglian players are all ECF conversions as indicated by the little e. But even so, that's an experienced line-up being put to flight.

Rob Thompson wrote:In a congress I once played Ken Bloodworth, a mere 80 years my senior.

Any advance on 83 years from the 2012 Bury St Edmunds Congress?

http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/bury_st_edmu ... _1_1655621

Looking at youngest teams at 4NCL. I reckon the Barnet Knights in Div 3 probably take some beating on the young age stakes..
Our Manchester `B` team found ourselves up against these youngsters in the final round..of a division 3 match, played on the final day. With little to play for, I guess many players were probably thinking about getting a reasonably early finish and heading home.
The prospect of getting turned over by some sharp shooting juniors, using the latest theory, certainly meant we couldnt afford to take any chances.
I view these matches with some caution/reservations...
Firstly, to find yourselves pitched against a team that on paper you outgrade by an average of about 200 points sounds like a walkover. We should have demolished them by around 5-1, but actually struggled to muster a narrow win.
There was one adult present, but the rest probably averaged about 10.
To say they gave a good account of themselves goes without saying..
I`m not altogether convinced that putting these youngsters through such giant killing challenges is necessarily a good idea.
On the grading front...how should such games be graded...kids who are obviously pretty clued up on the game, with heavily discounted gradings, could, at a stroke, inflict humiliating defeat. Playing with the lightest of touch, they tear through the openning, proceed briskly into the middle game, gain time on the clock, and look to be in no particular problem after 3 hours of battle. Is it the adults being intimidated, or are the kids heading for the shredder, when experience eventually takes over. Or do the young wippersnappers pull some cunning tricks from their bottom draw, to bamboozle tired old fuddy duddies...
My instinct says dont push the kids too hard...