4NCL Weekend 4 28-29 March
Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2015 9:54 am
29. Bd2+ and 30. Ra3+ would have been a nice finish in Nigel's game.
Quite a big shock in the Cheddleton-Hackney match!
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4NCL Weekend 4 28-29 March
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Re: 4NCL Weekend 4 28-29 March
Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2015 4:47 pm
Re: 4NCL Weekend 4 28-29 March
Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2015 6:58 pm
Nigel's finish was more precise since if 29 Bd2+ Bb4! delays mate.
Re: 4NCL Weekend 4 28-29 March
Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2015 7:05 pm
Yes, but not as pretty.
Re: 4NCL Weekend 4 28-29 March
Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2015 8:37 pm
Cheddleton edged home thanks to Ezra winning his rook ending albeit the match result is one of many that won't be carried forward.Mike Truran wrote:Quite a big shock in the Cheddleton-Hackney match!
Re: 4NCL Weekend 4 28-29 March
Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2015 11:54 pm
I presume those at the venue know the team pairings for tomorrow. How about an update for those following the League from a distance?
Re: 4NCL Weekend 4 28-29 March
Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2015 9:43 am
How about looking at the website?
Re: 4NCL Weekend 4 28-29 March
Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2015 9:47 am
The Round 8 pairings are now up on the 4NCL website.
A note on positions as teams begin the final sections:
Championship pool:
Guildford 1 - 6(17)
Guildford 2 - 4(13½)
Cheddleton - 4(12½)
Barbican 1 - 3(12)
White Rose - 3(12)
Blackthorne Russia - 2(10½)
Oxford - 2(10)
Grantham - 0(8½)
Relegation pool:
Wood Green - 6(16)
Cambridge Univ - 5(14)
Barbican 2 - 5(13½)
S Wales Dragons - 4(11)
The ADs - 2(11)
e2e4.org.uk - 1(11)
Hackney - 1(9½)
Warwickshire - 0(9)
The two Guildford teams meet today. The first team's average rating of 2533 against the second team's 2367 suggests that the first team should win comfortably but strange things can happen in team chess. Looking at the relegation pool, the two-point gap between retention of top division status and relegation seems intimidating at first sight but when one looks at the squads, a couple of teams may fancy their chances of catching South Wales Dragons, in particular e2e4.org.uk, who play the Dragons today with a team averaging 2287 against one averaging 2195. Hackney also have reasonable chances of survival with a very decent squad, though they meet a reinvigorated Wood Green today.
A note on positions as teams begin the final sections:
Championship pool:
Guildford 1 - 6(17)
Guildford 2 - 4(13½)
Cheddleton - 4(12½)
Barbican 1 - 3(12)
White Rose - 3(12)
Blackthorne Russia - 2(10½)
Oxford - 2(10)
Grantham - 0(8½)
Relegation pool:
Wood Green - 6(16)
Cambridge Univ - 5(14)
Barbican 2 - 5(13½)
S Wales Dragons - 4(11)
The ADs - 2(11)
e2e4.org.uk - 1(11)
Hackney - 1(9½)
Warwickshire - 0(9)
The two Guildford teams meet today. The first team's average rating of 2533 against the second team's 2367 suggests that the first team should win comfortably but strange things can happen in team chess. Looking at the relegation pool, the two-point gap between retention of top division status and relegation seems intimidating at first sight but when one looks at the squads, a couple of teams may fancy their chances of catching South Wales Dragons, in particular e2e4.org.uk, who play the Dragons today with a team averaging 2287 against one averaging 2195. Hackney also have reasonable chances of survival with a very decent squad, though they meet a reinvigorated Wood Green today.
Re: 4NCL Weekend 4 28-29 March
Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2015 11:24 am
Interesting to note the opening in the Zhou- Jones match. If I remember correctly Yang- Fan annotated a game of his for the latest edition of BCM featuring him playing this opening, but with 4. Ng5. This time he's chosen to go down a quieter road, presumably not willing to take the chance on Gawain having prepared an improvement.
Re: 4NCL Weekend 4 28-29 March
Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2015 8:12 pm
That's the point, on Saturday night there wasn't anything.Mike Truran wrote:How about looking at the website?
Re: 4NCL Weekend 4 28-29 March
Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2015 9:55 pm
How exactly would knowing the pairings on the Saturday evening as opposed to the Sunday morning have changed your life? Or did you have nothing else to do on the Saturday evening but sit in front of a PC waiting for a chance to complain when the pairings failed to appear in line with your self-imposed deadlines? Did you really wait up until 11:54 to complain?
Whatever. I'm growing tired of your constant carping.
Whatever. I'm growing tired of your constant carping.
Re: 4NCL Weekend 4 28-29 March
Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2015 10:00 pm
The pairings were on the website from about 9.30 last night, I posted them on Facebook in case any players/captains hadn't seen them.
Re: 4NCL Weekend 4 28-29 March
Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2015 10:06 pm
Thanks Lawrence. It's nice to have yet another example of a poisonous little distortion from the Sage of Bourne End.
Re: 4NCL Weekend 4 28-29 March
Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2015 7:58 pm
Re: 4NCL Weekend 4 28-29 March
Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2015 1:22 am
That is a great column, Leonard. I must confess I was completely fooled by the puzzle you set there. 
I loved this bit (I hope you don't mind me quoting it):
"Oxford have a reputation this year as giant-killers and they justified that by avoiding a statistically plausible 0-8 whitewash. Their untitled board four beat Guildford’s Spanish IM while Oxford’s woman player, Francesca Matta, covered herself and Bicester CC with glory by setting up an impassable endgame blockade and drawing against a male GM – whom the Guardian will not name but who can be identified by judicious internet research – rated some 550 points higher."
http://www.4nclresults.co.uk/2014-15/4n ... export/#t1
Aha! Glenn Flear...
It was their board 5 (Aidan Rawlinson) who beat Spanish IM Alberto Suarez Real.
Leonard's description of the king hunt where Short mated Zakarian sounds good as well.
I'm going to put all three games below, though they can also be played through at the 4NCL site by following this link:
http://www.4ncl.co.uk/replay/div1b_1415.htm#r7
EDIT: PGNs now properly copied over from the 4NCL site by clicking the 'c8' square on the replay page.
I loved this bit (I hope you don't mind me quoting it):
"Oxford have a reputation this year as giant-killers and they justified that by avoiding a statistically plausible 0-8 whitewash. Their untitled board four beat Guildford’s Spanish IM while Oxford’s woman player, Francesca Matta, covered herself and Bicester CC with glory by setting up an impassable endgame blockade and drawing against a male GM – whom the Guardian will not name but who can be identified by judicious internet research – rated some 550 points higher."
http://www.4nclresults.co.uk/2014-15/4n ... export/#t1
Aha! Glenn Flear...
It was their board 5 (Aidan Rawlinson) who beat Spanish IM Alberto Suarez Real.
Leonard's description of the king hunt where Short mated Zakarian sounds good as well.
I'm going to put all three games below, though they can also be played through at the 4NCL site by following this link:
http://www.4ncl.co.uk/replay/div1b_1415.htm#r7
EDIT: PGNs now properly copied over from the 4NCL site by clicking the 'c8' square on the replay page.