the longest no-losing streak.

[matt_ward]

Yes,

I have played in the same Leagues and club, as Nick Pert. I for one can back he has not lost in along time. I can't remember the last time Nick Pert lost in League chess..

What is his fide 2600 almost and he's not what you'd call an active player. So that is just pure ability and class for the game.

http://www.berkshirechess.org.uk/player ... n=20102011

http://www.berkshirechess.org.uk/player ... n=20092010

http://www.berkshirechess.org.uk/player ... n=20082009

http://www.berkshirechess.org.uk/player ... n=20072008

http://www.berkshirechess.org.uk/player ... n=20062007

Nick is right, and check this record out for size, he's lost one game against a phenomenon standard of players, in what the last 5 years of league chess.

Regards Matt.

[Ben Purton]

Danny gormally had 63 games unbeaten did he not , fide wise?

[matt_ward]

Yes this is correct, I don't see what your trying to prove however. I think Nick just wanted people to get the right information correct.

Matt.

[Jonathan Rogers]

Yes,

....

What is his fide 2600 almost and he's not what you'd call an active player. So that is just pure ability and class for the game.

.....


If he has played more than 150 games since May 2009, I would call him active! Phenomena record though, certainly - what is his secret (and if the answer is "just natural talent" then why is this happening now and not five years ago)?

[Ben Purton]

4ncl, Berkshire London and Surrey leagues must make up 70 games alone , so 125-150 is correct , think he's played more games than you and me combined Johnathan ;(

[Richard Bates]

4ncl, Berkshire London and Surrey leagues must make up 70 games alone

29 graded games in 2009/10 would suggest that's a slight exaggeration, unless Berkshire and Surrey league don't get graded.

Basically I would guess we're looking at c. 60-65 slow play games (including international events & depending on activity since July 2010) + an undetermined number of rapid/blitz games.

[Ian Thompson]

29 graded games in 2009/10 would suggest that's a slight exaggeration, unless Berkshire and Surrey league don't get graded.

Berkshire League and Surrey Border League were graded last season, apart from the Berkshire League Cup final, which wasn't played until 17 June. I assume that will be in this season's grading results. I'll be pretty annoyed if it isn't.

[LozCooper]

Yes this is correct, I don't see what your trying to prove however. I think Nick just wanted people to get the right information correct.

Matt.

I think Ben was pointing out this thread isn't just about Nick but about the longest no-losing streaks. Therefore it doesn't seem unreasonable to consider other player's records.

[LozCooper]

What is his fide 2600 almost and he's not what you'd call an active player. So that is just pure ability and class for the game.

He's currently 2570 which is his highest rating but gaining from the 4NCL which will be rated in July. After being inactive from the Sep 09 - May 10 lists he played three FIDE rated tournaments between Aug-Oct and his rating is increasing steadily. He has always been very consistent and is still improving despite his relative inactivity at international level.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

If anyone out there is running a well paid closed event (London Classic, Wijk an Zee etc) please invite me!!!!

The London Chess Classic expanding to 9 players (instead of 8 players) has been mentioned before. But that would involve two extra rounds (i.e. 9 rounds, still 4 games a day, but each player having a bye in one of the rounds). More than that would (it seems) run into problems in the size of the stage used (unless the venue changes). Not a clue who you would lobby about that, but the first target would be to break into the top 4 in England.

Does anyone know how the Wijk an Zee (sorry, Tata Steel) organisers decide who they invite?

[Michael Jones]

Looking at this year's lists, the criteria appear to be something along the lines of:

A Group - 2700+, or 2600+ and Dutch.
B Group - 2650+ and under 25, or 2550+ and Dutch.
C Group - 2500+ and under 25, or 2400+ and Dutch.

[John Sargent]

Danny gormally had 63 games unbeaten did he not , fide wise?

I need to start getting the Pig In Paradise to FIDE rate their games...

[James Toon]

Sean, I've never lost a game in the Leicestershire League......

Very droll - but Mark has played every year (I think) since '77. Not sure how many games that is, but it's in the hundreds! I think he was on a run of something like 42 wins until a draw in 2008!

That's some record, who, was, is his nearest graded player then?

I was a (not very strong) Leicestershire junior in the 1970s. Mark Hebden was one of the top players then, along with Glenn Flear and Geoff Lawton – as I recall, they were all graded about 200. Of the three, Mark is the only one still playing in the Leicestershire League and is currently graded 242. His nearest graded player is Brandon Clarke on 208.

I lost quite a lot of games in the Leicestershire League.

[James Toon]

One thing you cannot question is the last time he lost, as everybody remembers their losses

I heard an unsubstantiated claim that Nick lost with K+fgh pawns vs K+abc pawns against Gary O'Grady at Hastings.

That is actually true, although it wasn't in Hastings, it was in a pub in Godalming, shortly after I had finished filming an endgame DVD for ginger gm!! What can I say I was completely outclassed!

The pub in question is the Star in Church Street. It is a fine pub serving a selection of real ales - exactly the kind of place one would expect to find the Drunken Knights team in the Surrey Border League. I went there before Christmas and got started on Old Scrooge ("A mean pint"). I was due to play Nevil Chan. Crucially, he turned up late. As we both drank at roughly the same rate, I was leading by three pints to two at the point in the middlegame where I made a fatal error and turned a defensible position into a losing position. You have been warned.