English Chess Forum

International Round Up 27/04/10

4NCL Divisions 1 & 2 1st-3rd May Sunningdale
4NCL Division 3 1st-3rd May Wokefield Park
http://www.4ncl.co.uk/


The final rounds of the 4NCL take place next weekend with Divisions 1 and 2 in Sunningdale and Division 3 at Wokefield Park. As well as the Division 1 title being at stake there are four promotion and relegation places at stake in each division.
The Championship Pool in Division 1 looks like a four way battle for the title with Wood Green & Pride & Prejudice separated by half a game point on 7 match points whilst Barbican and White Rose are only a point behind. With at least two European places available there is much to play for although I have feeling that game points will decide who wins the league. The remaining four teams are four points behind so whilst they could finish in any order from 5th-8th it is highly unlikely they will be able to catch the top four.
There is plenty to play for in the relegation pool although it looks like Jutes of Kent and Poisoned Pawns will need to win all three matches to have a realistic chance of staying up. Apart from Betsson, no team appears safe although Barbican 2 and Pandora’s Box probably only need to win one match to be safe.
Division 2 is headed by three very powerful teams with Cheddleton, e2e4.org.uk and Sambuca Sharks expected to field numerous titled players. Realistically, this leaves Warwickshire Select, Barbican 2 and AMCA to battle it out for the final promotion place.
The relegation pool sees FCA Solutions needing three wins to have any hope of survival whilst Bristol and White Rose 2 probably only need 1 win to be safe. This leaves 5 other teams battling it out to avoid the drop.
Division 3 sees around 13 teams with a realistic chance of promotion so I’ll limit myself to saying that Warwickshire Select 2 are currently a point clear of Cambridge University 2, RHYFELWYR ESSYLLWG (cut and paste proves very useful when mentioning this team!), Sambuca Black Sheep and KJCA Kings.

Future events:

e2e4 Warrington Chess Congress 7-9 May
http://www.e2e4.org.uk/warrington

e2e4 Sunningdale Congress 28-31 May
http://www.e2e4.org.uk/sunningdale

Please all view the ECF calendar for a list of all domestic events: http://www.englishchess.org.uk/?page_id=1390

2010 World Universities' Chess Championship 4-12 September Zurich
http://www.buca.org.uk/news/2010-world- ... ampionship

If any eligible students are interested in playing in the event above please contact Alex Holowczak at [email protected] for further details.

In addition to the individual websites the latest international chess news can be found at the following link:
http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic807.html Please note the site is currently down but I hope it will be restored soon.

I encourage players to send me details of events they or others are playing in abroad and I will do my best to include them in my round-up.

Lawrence Cooper
Director of International Chess
English Chess Federation 27/04/10

As I read the latest rules, we are now limited to only two entries to the ECC.

Jonathan Rogers wrote:As I read the latest rules, we are now limited to only two entries to the ECC.

Does the 4NCL pool format count as 8 teams or 16?

http://www.europechess.net/rules-and-regulations/

1.1.10 The federations in which a national team championship with at least ten teams in the highest division is organised, are entitled to enter a third club provided that at least 20 grandmasters and/or players with a FIDE-rating over 2600 have participated in this championship one year prior to the current European Club Cup.

Without checking, I would presume the 20 GM standard is met.

Mmmm, seems that I misread the rules. Well, not for the first time recently (see 4NCL section). I'm pretty sure that we can say that 1.1.10 refers to our first division as a whole and also that there must have been 20 GMs or more.

The other point to note is that

1.1.6 The clubs which play in a federation in which a national team championship is organised, must have ended in the top-half of the ranking of the highest division of this championship organised within one year before the start of the current European Club Cup.

So only the teams in the championship pool are eligible.

I don't know why I started this. I'll be amazed if more than one team wants to go.

Without having asked any of the captains I was thinking that Barbican & White Rose are the most likely to be interested.