4NCL (Nations Chess League): Season 7: Here we go again!
SEASON 2022-23
4NCL (Nations Chess League)
Tues 24th Jan 23 – 7:30pm
Season 7 – Round 1
Time-Controls – 45 minutes + 15 seconds increments
Dundee City teams are a joint venture between Castlehill Chess Club Dundee and Dundee Chess Club.
For the seventh season in a row, Dundee City has added a team to the 4NCL which now stands at 7 teams! Fantastic achievement and hopefully we can try and keep it going but it’s getting harder! Also in season 7 Dundee City B will be playing their first ever game in division one and we wish them luck in the fires of hell!
Div 1 – Groups
Streatham A (2088) 1½ – 2½ (2260) Dundee City A
Dundee City A, after just losing out on the division one title in season 6, showed their mental strength in round one. Of course nothing is easy at this level and Streatham A was never going to roll over! It was a very close match that could have gone either way, but Dundee City A got their campaign off with a winning start!
Spirit of Atticus A (2058) 1 – 3 (2102) Dundee City B
Dundee City B are over the moon after a winning start in their first ever match in division one! Grading wise there was nothing in it, but our players showed their experience and determination to show they mean business and are not here to just make the numbers up or be pushed around! Fantastic performance!
Div 3 – Groups
Dundee City C (1883) 2½ – 1½ (1752) Wessex Some Stars E
Another rock solid team effort from Dundee City C to get off to a winning start in round one of season 7! Indeed looking at the players they have, they look more like a team of sleeping giants just waiting for their place in history!
Dundee City D (1829) 3 – 1 (1185) Watford Juniors
Talk about a potential banana skin match! Grading wise this was a no contest, but that’s not always how it works as our hero from season six found out! Watford Juniors fought all the way and made a decent contest of it, including toppling our top board! Still banana skin avoided and the battle begins again in round 2!
Div 4 – Groups
Charlton Cobra`s C (1513) 1 – 3 (1622) Dundee City E
They talk about the “Famous Five”, but Dundee City E team after their campaign in season six are beginning to turn heads and maybe now we have a “Famous Four”! Nice victory against tough opponents.
Div 5 (Swiss)
Dundee City F (1590) 2 – 2 (1403) Colchester JFF B
A steady start for Dundee City F, but maybe chances missed. Kit got himself in a bit of trouble on board 2, while on board 4, Baillie Armstrong had connection problems but was still in the game only a pawn down, but time running out. Of course time-trouble and connection problems add to the pressure and unfortunately Baillie left a Rook for the taking and that was that! Alisdair McLeod (board 3) finished off his game in style, while Ross Brennan (board one) finished his opponent off after a hard battle, with a queen sac (QxR)! Beautiful finish by Ross! While maybe Dundee City should have sneaked a win, all credit to Colchester JFF B who deserved their draw with a battling performance from their players!
Dundee City G (1506) 2 – 2 (1545) War & Piece Nimrod
Boy, was this a battle and a half! Like the novel by Leo Tolstoy, every match went on and on with no quarter given! It could have gone either way but for one mistake from either side, and maybe in the end a draw was a fair result after every player left nothing in the tank by the end of the match. Both Adam Crocker (board 4) and Ed Walton (board 3) battled hard to earn their draws, and I mean hard! Euan Murray (board 2) got a break near the end when his opponent allowed a pin on his King and lost a piece! It must have hurt after Euan`s opponent had played so well. Speaking of hurt? On board one Conor Kelly under intense pressure managed to get into a great position and indeed on move 31 had a forced checkmate (Qxh7+)! But just when you think it’s all over, something goes wrong and the tables were turned in the matter of one move? Heart-breaking for Conor, but one I am sure he will learn from and I can assure him it’s happened to us all, even those God’s of chess in our “A” team!
Season 7, round one, 5 wins and 2 draws, with no losses. What an unbelievable start to the campaign! All we need to do now is build on it!
Round 2 takes place on Tuesday 7th February 2023, 7:30pm on LIchess.org!
For all the results and standings, click the link below.