SNOCL (Scottish National Online Chess League) Rounds 1 & 2
SNOCL (Scottish National Online Chess League)
Sunday 31st January 21: Rounds 1 (am) & 2 (pm)
The inaugural SNOCL took place on Sunday 31st January 2021. This is like an online version of the OTB SNCL (Scottish National Chess League! Once again Castlehill Chess Club and Dundee Chess Club joined forces to make up the teams “DUNDEE CITY”!
Dundee City put an astonishing five teams into this new competition more than any other club. The teams are made up of 5 players, that means 25 players needed every time we play! There are five divisions each with six teams in them. Two matches are played on the day, 11am & 2pm. Time-Control: 25 minutes + 10 seconds increments.
Our two top teams, Dundee City 1 & 2 are in division one. Dundee City 1 is a very strong team and has a chance of winning the division. Dundee City 2 is dependant on who’s playing which can change depending on player availability so might find it hard going!
Dundee City 3 are in division two, Dundee City 4 are in division 4, with Dundee City 5 in division 5!
This was a new venture using new software and was being played on chess.com which a lot of players are unfamiliar with, mostly using Lichess. We expected gremlins and we got them with players having difficulty making the challenge, seeing a challenge to accept and a few other minor problems. A couple of players missed out on one game each for a “No Show” or a technical issue, but all in all it went very well thanks in no part to our Dundee City Captains who marshalled their troops well and coped with everything that was thrown at them!
ROUND ONE; 11am
Division One
Dundee City 1 (4 – 1) Edinburgh University 1
Cracking start to their first SNOCL outing with only IM Richard Polaczek losing. Andrew Greet IM, David Findlay, Stephen Hogg and Ed Spencer all won!
Edinburgh 1 (5 – 0) Dundee City 2
It was a tough ask in division one for Dundee City 2 who had a slightly weaker side than might have been expected. It proved to be a gap to far to but they did not give up without a fight. It did not help to be a player down for the match, but these things happen. Martin Chalmers was ahead on board 5, but then lost a piece and the game! He was gutted but that’s chess.
(Graham Mooney; Ben Volland; Robert Jackson, John Robertson & Martin Chalmers)
Division Two
GP Cyber Cats 1 (5 – 0)Dundee City 3
Out graded on all boards, this was going to be a test of character for our players, especially our newer players! The shining light was Ana Belen Seijas Otero (1402) on board 4 with a draw to stop the whitewash! Well played Ana! Everybody played well but just a battle too far this time!
(Kit McEvoy Gould; Peter Sallai; Robert Jackson; Darren Cruickshank & Ana!)
Division 4
Dundee City 4 (3½ – 1½) Phones
Great win for our team 4 with Trevor Harley (1333) beating a 1493! Cosmo Bobak on board three got a default for a no show. We know he would rather have played, but that`s chess online or OTB! Rishi Vijayakumar J9 got a draw and Max Whisson J15 won on the bottom board for a fantastic victory!
Division 5
Lenzie 2 (4 – 1) Dundee City 5
Just did not work for our players in this one. The teams were evenly matched grading wise, but nothing seemed to go right and all credit to the Lenzie 2 players who did the business! Peter Gibson on board 2 was our only winner and that was a strange one with his opponent resigning with out making a move! Something went wrong somewhere!
(Henri Meadows; Peter Gibson: Max Wang; Haoqi Liu & Alexander Barron-Majerik)
ROUND TWO; 2pm
Division One
Dundee City 2 (0 – 5) Dundee City 1
Given the grades, this was no surprise, but it still hurts to be whitewashed in both games on the first day! Our number “1” brothers lived up to their billing to make it 2 out of 2, the perfect start!
Division Two
Dundee City 3 (1½ – 3½) Bearsden
Once again out graded, but fought all the way against the odds! Once again Ana puts in another fighting draw and is looking a very good edition to our chess club!
Division 4
Bon Accord 2 (3 – 2) Dundee City 4
This was a close battle and Dundee City 4 was just unlucky this time not to take the spoils! Out graded on all boards bar one, this was a performance and a half! Rishi Vijayakumar J9 was the star with a win over a 1775! Trevor Harley could not repeat his win in round 1. Cosmo Bobak did not get a game in round one, but made up for it with a win in this one! It was not enough but it`s a start! Oh so close to an upset!
Division 5
Dundee City 5 (0 – 5) GP Cyber Cats 2
Out graded on all boards and out played in all matches! Sometimes you have got to just suck it up!
All-in-all everything went well and we are all looking forward to the next round. A big thank you to all our players for supporting us, the captains for doing a sterling job, and a big thumbs up and congratulations to the organisers of the SNOCL, especially Ian Brownlee, William Hume & John McNicol who have worked tirelessly to get it up and running in such a short time-frame!
For all the results, League tables and fixtures, please visit the SNOCL website. Take a look around you can’t do any damage!
Rounds 3 & 4 on Sun 28th Feb 21, 11am start