4NCL (Nations Chess League): Round 2 Report
SEASON 2023-24
4NCL (Nations Chess League)
Tues 12th Sept 23 – 7:30pm
Season 8 – Round 2
Time-Controls – 45 minutes + 15 seconds increments
Dundee City teams is a joint venture between Castlehill Chess Club Dundee and Dundee Chess Club.
In round 2, out of the 8 matches, we won 3, draw two, and lost 3! Dundee City teams faced Wessex Some Stars four time over the divisions! One win each, and two draws, so honours even! But Wessex Some Stars A will have been happy to draw with our “A” team in division one!
It`s seems the “only way is Wessex”!
RESULTS
Div 1 – Group A
Dundee City A (2280) 2 – 2 (2179) Wessex Some Stars A
Talk about a tough game! While the defending champions Dundee City A had a slight edge grading wise. All matches were battles of the highest quality, and in the end Wessex Some Stars A fully deserved the draw! Rishi once again proved he is not out of his depth at this level and maybe soon it will be the other players that will be out of their depth! Declan Shafi and Richard Polaczek IM both drew and a rare loss for Mr consistent, David Findlay on board 4.
There are 4 team in group A on 3 points, with our “A” team topping the table by 1 game point from you`ve guessed it, Wessex Some Stars A!
Div 1 – Group B
Wessex Some Stars B (2073) 2 – 2 (2042) Dundee City B
Another Wessex versus Dundee City battle and another draw! Scottish Champion Ed Spencer just can`t go wrong at the moment with another fine win on board 1! The middle boards (Andrew Wright (on phone!) & Stephen Hogg) were draws, with Alan Borwell on board 4 being the unlucky one in a dragon fight! Fair result for both sides.
In group B, we have a 3-way tie on 3 points, with our “B” team in 3rd place on game points.
Div 2 – Group B
Dundee City C (1889) 2½ – 1½ (1768) Shropshire & Friends 2
Andre, Graham, Theo & Dariusz, the dream team in any division! Fantastic performance against a more than decent side! I think our “C” team have a good shot at a promotion place if they can carry on like this!
In group B our “C” team sits in equal 1st place on the full 4 points, with Oxford 3!
Div 3 – Group A
Dundee City D (1744) 3 – 1 (1725) Ashfield Anonymous C
Two evenly matched sides, but Dundee City D were just awesome on the night! Ray Flood (board 4) started it all off, after his opponent made a mouse slip and asked for a “take-back” which is not allowed, so refused. It`s just one of those things in online chess you have to take on the chin! Joshua Crofts and Ross Brennan made it 3 wins, with Richard Kynoch on board one, the only player losing out this week.
In group A, our “D” team is in 4th place on 2 points, only one win behind the leaders!
Div 4 – Group B
Dundee City E (1615) 2½ – 1½ (1703) Wessex Some Stars F
This has to be the result of the night with our “E” team taking the spoils in a cracking battle against another very strong Wessex Some Stars team! Captain, James Anderson (1617) on board one took a draw against a 1725). Leyton Hackney (1644) on board 2, had a up and down match, which thankfully finished on an up! Cosmo Bobak (Brd 4) was doing fine until a blunder, but that’s chess for you! The match of the night was a titanic struggle on board 3, where Trevor Harley (1586) was up against a 1706. With both players in time trouble, it was nail-biting to watch, never mind play in! At one point, Trevor made his move as his clock hit zero, and got 15 second’s increment! Trevor looked to be on the wrong end of it at this point, only for his opponent in time-trouble, to miss a threat, with Trevor delivering checkmate with seconds to spare! What a breath-taking finish to this match! Trevor you must have nerves of steel!
In group B our “E” team sits proudly at the top of the group on 4 points, from the Hemel`s Gambit!
Div 4 – Group A
Dundee City F (1564) ½ – 3½ (1751) Lenzie Basilisks
This was always going to be an uphill struggle and so it proved. Having said that Robert Jackson on board 1 and Alisdair McLeod on board 2, had their chances, but it was one of those nights! Sir Philip Cohen on board 3 got a deserved hard-fought draw, then found out he had missed a win! Don`t you just love this game!
Our “F” team in group A, unfortunately are in 7th place for now, but still 5 rounds to go!
Div 5 (Swiss)
Chess Challengers A (1543) 2½ – 1½ (1491) Dundee City G
Oh boy, what a match! On another day, the score-line could have gone the other way. Ed Walton on board 4 could find no way through, so a draw. Subhayu Bannerjee and Stuart Duff both lost, but first-timer, Junior, Matthew Hunter won an end game which was looking like a draw with opposite coloured Bishops! His opponent offered the draw, but Matthew turned it down and then went on to demonstrate why he turned it down to take the full point. What a finish by Matthew! I was blown away by his end game play for one so young!
Despite this narrow defeat, our “G” team is in 9th place on 2 points, well in striking distance of the leaders!
Dundee City H (1133) 0 – 4 (1590) Wessex Some Stars G
Out graded, out gunned, out played! Having said that, there was some fighting chess from our players and hope for the future. On a comedy note: Ana on board 1, had just finished work and was playing on her phone, got on the wrong bus, had to get off that bus and catch another one and lost quickly! As Tommy Cooper said “Just like that”!
Our “H” team is in 23rd place on 1 point.
Round 3 on Tuesday 10th October 23, 7:30pm
For all the results and standings, click the link below.