4NCL (Nations Chess League) – Round 5 report!
SEASON 2022-23
4NCL (Nations Chess League)
Tues 21st March 23 – 7:30pm
Season 7 – Round 5
Time-Controls – 45 minutes + 15 seconds increments
Dundee City teams are a joint venture between Castlehill Chess Club Dundee and Dundee Chess Club.
Not too shabby a night, with 4 wins 3 draws and no losses! Dundee A are still on course for another shot at the division one title, with the “B” team also in with a shout! Dundee City “C” & “D” teams on course to meet each other in the latter stages (hopefully), and the “E”, “F” and “G” teams in the fighting zones, rather than the danger zones!
Dundee City teams are on a “voyage of discovery” in season 7 and who knows where that might lead! Ship ahoy!
RESULTS
Div 1 – Group B
Dundee City A (2203) 3 – 1 (2001) Shropshire & Friends 1
Another good win for Dundee City A which keeps then top of group B on 8 points, a point ahead of the chasing teams. With two draws on the top two boards (IM Richard Polaczek & David Findlay) and our bottom two boards winning (CM Jacques Ophoff & Andrew Wright), this was a real team effort!
Next up Wessex Some Stars B!
Div 1 – Group A
Charlton Cobras (2141) 2 – 2 (2076) Dundee City B
What a result against the group leaders and season 6 division one champions! Make no mistake, this was a draw, but in every other aspect it felt like a victory! Charlton Cobras had two FM`s in their side, but Dundee City B were hot to trot on the night! Nice wins again for Ed Spencer and Iain Sneddon! This puts Dundee City B in 2nd place in group A on 8 points, just one point behind leaders, Charlton Cobras.
Up next, Guildford 1.
Div 3 – Group A
Guildford 2 (1375) 0 – 4 (1916) Dundee City C
You know, it’s never easy playing a team which you out grade on all boards by a big margin. The pressure is all on you, with the other team playing without a care in the world! But we need not have worried as all our players stood up to the challenge and played some nice chess and got the result they deserved! Guildford 2 played well, and made our players work for their wins, and in the end experience told! Well played Ross Bremner, Andre Babin, Graham Mooney & Theodoros Vasiliadis!
Dundee City C are on a 100% record with 5 wins out of 5 and top the group A table on 10 points, 2 points clear of Jurassic Coast.
Next up, 3rd placed Wells Globetrotters 1!
Div 3 – Group B
Sheffield Uni Graduates (1868) 2 – 2 (1829) Dundee City D
Another good draw for Dundee City D against a strong side. Well played Daruisz Kosznik, Rishi Vijayakumar, Richard Kynoch & Sir Philip Cohen! It was a very fluid match which swung one way and then another, especially Rishi`s (a pawn up, but made an error, but fought hard for draw!) and Philip’s (wrong end of it, but fighting draw!)! That’s when you need that little bit of luck even in chess!
Dundee City D sit top of group B on 9 points, just ahead of Sheffield Uni Graduates.
Next up, 3rd placed War & Piece Overlord!
Div 4 – Group A
Dundee City E (1627) 2 – 2 (1530) Shropshire & Friends 4
Good all round team performance deserving of a draw at least. Nice finishes by Ray Flood and Leyton Hackney, James Anderson under the cosh in the end game (most unusual) and an unfortunate blunder by Trevor Harley after a hard fought game left us with a draw! Yes a dropped point in some ways, but a draw that keeps Dundee City E in the hunt for a semi-final place! Well played everyone!
Dundee City E sit in 3rd place in group A on 7 points, 2 points behind the two leaders.
Up next, Hebden Bridge 2 who are just a point behind, in 4th place (Double header!).
Div 5 (Swiss)
Harrow Juniors (1620) ½ – 3½ (1612) Dundee City F
Grading wise this was a very close match, so the result in the end was outstanding! Ed Walton ended up in a locked position and a draw was agreed. Joshua Croft (Bd 2) got our first win after his opponent helped him trap his own queen! Alisdair McLeod (Bd 3) made it 2½ – ½, with a nice finish. That left Ross Brennan on board one to bring home the bacon in a very tight game in which Ross seemed to be fighting a rear guard action (cramped position?) until his opponent blundered and gifted him a piece! After that Ross made short work of the end game!
Very well played team against a strong side! Dundee City F sits in 4th place on 7 points, 2 points behind the leaders so in touching distance with two rounds to go!
Dundee City G (1449) 3 – 1 (1194) Chess Challengers B
Really nice win in the end for Dundee City G team! Adam Crocker (Bd 3) started it all of with a nice cameo performance, followed up with Afshin Alijani (Bd 4) winning after his opponent sacked his Bishop and then got his queen pinned to his King, game over! Kit McEvoy Gould (Bd 2) found himself down a pawn in the end game and his opponent cashed in that pawn for a win. On board 1, Euan Murray got of too a flyer after his opponent lost his Bishop in the opening! It was looking plain sailing for Euan, but then he started to drift a little, making it a lot harder than it should have been! In the end another blunder (Knight forked King and Rook) put Euan on easy street and a good win! Well played everyone, good team effort! Dundee City G sit in 17th place on 5 pts and still in with a promotion chance if they win both their last two games and other results go their way!
For all the results and standings, click the link below.
4NCL (Castlehill page)