Entries wanted for Summer League

[Leon Watson]

Hello forum,

Long-time lurker first-time poster here.

I want to make people aware of a new league we're running at Battersea over the coming months.

It's called the Summer Chess League and starts in June. It is ECF-rated, but the idea is it a bit more casual than most leagues. The kind of league you can play in while having a nice pint of Whitstable Bay.

London's lighter chess league we are calling it...

Clubs or groups are invited to enter as many four-board teams as they want. The only provisos are:

* it costs £15 per team
* all line-ups have to be declared in advance
* all games will also be handed in and published on the website
* all players must be ECF

Games will go on the website so everyone can see and the best games each week will be analysed by a GM.

There will also be a launch night get-together that may include a few famous faces and a blitz or some instruction. We are organising that.

We are particularly looking for teams that are not affiliated to clubs, so are outside the normal structure. However we will welcome any. So far we have around 20 teams entering.

There will be three divisions, an open division and two grade limited divisions. We haven't confirmed yet what those limits are but will soon - likely to be u150 and u115.

Here are the dates: http://www.summerchessleague.org.uk/not ... ms-update/

Please let us know if you want to enter a team.

And happy chessing.

Yours,

[Brendan O'Gorman]

Hi Leon,
Well done for organising this tournament. Will the grade limited sections require all competitors to be below the specified grade or will the limit apply to the average team grade?

[Leon Watson]

Hi Brendan, we ran a small league last year but this is a massive expansion and the first time we've attempted anything on this scale. The divisions are almost certainly going to be something like open, u150 and u115 - but we're open to some tinkering if that causes a problem and makes it difficult for teams to enter.

It's a bit of a chicken and egg scenario at the moment - we don't know what sections will suit until we know what teams want to enter and we don't know what teams want to enter until... you get the picture. At the moment if teams are interested they can pitch in with ideas and we will listen and then do what seems best.

Bit long-winded answer, sorry.