4NCL (Nations Chess League): Round 3 Report!
SEASON 2023-24
4NCL (Nations Chess League)
Tues 10th Oct 23 – 7:30pm
Season 8 – Round 3
Time-Controls – 45 minutes + 15 seconds increments
Dundee City teams is a joint venture between Castlehill Chess Club Dundee and Dundee Chess Club.
Hail, rain and fire would be a good way to describe the 4NCL matches in round 3! It was a tough, joyful and a heart-breaking night for Dundee City teams, but sometimes you must fight your demons and stand tall!
RESULTS
Div 1 – Group A
Shropshire & Friends 1 (1975) 3 – 1 (2284) Dundee City A
It was heartbreak for Dundee City A as they unexpectedly lost their first game in a while, which has put a dent in their championship hopes of defending the title they won in season 7! All credit must go to Shropshire & Friends 1 for some great performances and they fully deserved the win! Mind you it did not help that one of our players, playing from Brazil, fell victim to a power cut just as the 4NCL was about to start! Unfortunate, but somethings you have no control over, it is what it is!
Dundee City A sit in 6th place on 3 points, just 2 points behind the leaders, with 4 rounds to go, so still in prime position to finish in the top two and defend their title!
Div 1 – Group B
Dundee City B (1987) 1½ – 2½ (2035) Hackney Heffalumps
This was a tough match for Dundee City B team, who were slightly weakened with some players missing, but their replacements proved themselves worthy of their place in the “B” team! Alan Borwell (Brd 3) and Graham Mooney (Brd 4) drew their matches, giving their team a strong foundation to build on. Stephen Hogg (Brd 2), also drew his match keeping the match all-square. Ed Spencer on board one was up against an FM and took him all the way, but just lost out at the end. We gave Hackney Heffalumps a fight, even fright, to the end, but congratulations to the Heffalumps on the win!
Dundee City B, sit in 3rd place on 3 points, just 2 points behind the leader, ready to strike at any moment!
Div 2 – Group B
Hackney Thirsty (1787) 1½ – 2½ (1890) Dundee City C
Our Dundee City C team have had a great start to season 8 with this being their 3rd win out of 3 matches! You can`t ask better than that! This teams fighting quality, team spirit is absolutely amazing. Andre Babin, Theodoros Vasiliadis and Ross Bremner fought hard and long to secure a draw, especially Ross on board 4! Alastair Dawson on board 3 gave the team a great start with a win. The irony is, Alastair is normally the player that draws his matches! Way to go lads!
Dundee City C sit in 2nd place on 6 points, just a ½ game point behind Oxford 3, who are also on 6 points!
Div 3 – Group A
Wells Globetrotters 1 (1785) 1 – 3 (1758) Dundee City D
It was a very even encounter grading wise, but Dundee City D held their nerve against a very strong Wells team to take the points. Wells Globetrotter had a bit of bad luck with their top player on board one not showing up until it was too late, giving us a free point and earning them a ½ point penalty. Joshua Crofts on board 2 won, as did Ray Flood on board 4 with a fantastic performance! Ross Brennan on board 3 found his opponent too solid and ended up losing to one of Roger Hargreaves, Mr Man, called Mr Strong (username)!
How could you fight that!
Dundee City D sit in 3rd place on 4 points, just 2 points behind the leaders, but a few games points to make up!
Div 4 – Group B
Farnham B (1549) 1½ – 2½ (1569) Dundee City E
Dundee City E team are proving to be a tough team to beat with a never say die attitude! Leyton Hackney (Brd 3) and Cosmo Bokak (Brd 2) both winning, with Trevor Harley (Brd 4) losing a curious match to say the least. So, it was down to their captain on board one, James Anderson to get the half point needed to secure the win and that he did to make it 3 wins out of 3 matches! Phenomenal performance once again from Dundee City E team players!
That puts them out on their own at the top of the group on 6 points!
Div 4 – Group A
Worcestershire Wolfpack A (1836) 2½ – 1½ (1569) Dundee City F
Out graded and outgunned, Dundee City F team punched well above their weight and so nearly caused an upset! On another day the result could easily have gone the other way! Without doubt, our players showed they are not out of their depth at this level, indeed other teams should be shaking in their boots every time they come up against our “F” team! If they keep this up, their results will turn around at some point!
Dundee City F sit in 7th place on zero points for now!
Div 5 (Swiss)
Dundee City G (1490) 1½ – 2½ (1503) War & Piece Nimrod
Another tough match, in a very hard division for our “G” team. Again, it was one of those matches that could have gone the other way on another day! Ed Walton on board 3 is the very essence of Mr dependable with another draw, while Subahyu Banerjee`s bad run continues on board 2 with a loss! I am sure it will turn around soon. Board one, Euan Murray, put up a valent battle but just lost out at the end. Credit to Stuart Duff on board 4 for the win, but at times it seemed he was trying to grab defeat from the jaws of victory, but in the end had to settle for the win! Well done, Stuart!
Dundee City F, sit in 19th place on 2 points, in a very dangerous division!
Chessy McChessface (1276) 3 – 1 (1078) Dundee City H
Dundee City H team as always in this division, are out graded! It`s also the team for players to get experience at playing in competitions like this, so it`s not so much about the results, but what they can learn from the games!
All our players were out graded on all boards, and went down fighting, some even kidding and screaming! But we did get one success, with board 4, David Ewing winning his match! Well played David and the rest of the team. It`s murder out there in division 5, but don`t worry, we have your backs!
Dundee City H sit in 27th place and as Yazz sings, “the only way is up”!
Round 4 on Tuesday 24th October 23, 7:30pm
For all the results and standings, click the link below.