4NCL (4 NATIONS CHESS LEAGUE) – Round four report.
4NCL (4 NATIONS CHESS LEAGUE)
Tuesday 5th October 21 – 7:30pm – Round Four
Time-Control: 45 minutes + 15 minutes increments
(Dundee City is a joint venture between Castlehill Chess Club Dundee and Dundee Chess Club.)
Division One – Group C
Tiger Sharks 2 (2216) 1 – 3 (2115) Dundee City A
Finally Dundee City A get a win, amazingly against one of the strongest sides! Dundee City A has been very unlucky in some very close matches, which could have gone either way, but not theirs it seemed. This was a well deserved victory for a very strong side. All our players played well with Jacques Ophoff CM drawing with an FM (2392), Ed Spencer beating a 2204 and Mr dependable, Stephen Hogg drawing on board 4! Declan Shafi on board two showed he is made of strong stuff after losing two weeks ago in the manner he did, he came back with a vengeance winning against a 2281! Fantastic performance Declan and everybody else!
This leaves Dundee City A in 6th place on 2 points in Group C.
MATCHES (Click board to go to game on Lichess)
Board 1: Jacques Ophoff (2260 v (2392) FM
Board 2: Shafi, Declan (2087) v (2281)
Board 3: Ed Spencer (2098) v (2204)
Board 4: Stephen Hogg (2015) v (1988)
Division Three – Group C
Dundee City B (1851)1½ – 2½ (1904) Spirit of Atticus B
This was a close and tough match with the difference being the two very strong top boards for Spirit of Atticus, both over 2000+. Our two bottom boards performed very well indeed, especially Euan Dawson with a draw against a 1910. This time it went the way of our opponents, on another night who knows. This is Dundee City`s first defeat and they will need to put it to bed and pull out all the stops in round 5!
Dundee City B sill sit top of the table on 6 points with 5 teams on their coattails on 5 points!
MATCHES (Click board to go to game on Lichess)
Board 1: Richard Kynoch (1862) v (2038)
Board 2: Andre Babin (1863) v (2056)
Board 3: Euan Dawson (1842) v (1910)
Board 4: Alastair Dawson (1833) v (1614)
Division Five – Swiss League (56 teams)
Colchester A (1510) 2 – 2 (1750) Dundee City C (1750)
On paper this looks like a chance missed for a win, but their opponents Lichess grading showed they were better players than their official grading seemed to indicate. Still it was a draw and not a loss so always a positive!
Dundee City C are in 17th place on 5 points and still in striking distance of the top!
MATCHES (Click board to go to game on Lichess)
Board 1: Dariusz Kosznik (1867) v (1655)
Board 2: Graham Mooney (1880) v 1586)
Board 3: James Anderson (1630) v (1462)
Board 4: Ray Flood (1633) v (1339)
Oxford 4 (1621) 3 – 1 (1522) Dundee City D
Out graded on all boards this was always going to be a tough ask and so it proved! Leyton Hackney got a fighting draw on board 1 against a 1720. John Robertson Jnr also got a fighting draw, while Peter Sallai was out gunned and Rishi Vijayakumar J10 has hit a brick wall for the moment. I am sure he will be learning from these defeats and will come back a stronger and better player for it!
Dundee City D are in 32nd place on 4 points and like Dundee City C are still in contention for promotion but will need to get their skates on!
MATCHES (Click board to go to game on Lichess)
Board 1: Leyton Hackney (1597) v (1720)
Board 2: Rishi Vijayakumar J10 (1497) v (1571)
Board 3: John Robertson Jnr (1563) v (1571)
Board 4: Peter Sallai (1433) v (1624)
Great result for Dundee City A getting their first win! A draw for Dundee City C keeps them in the mix, while Dundee City B & D live to fight another day!
For all the results and standings so far click the link below.
Round 5 4NCL matches for the above teams take place on Tuesday 19th October 21, 7:30pm on Lichess.org.