4NCL (Nations Chess League) & JUNIOR 4NCL Reports Round 2
4NCL (Nations Chess League) & JUNIOR 4NCL
Season 6 – Round 2
Time-Controls – 45 minutes + 15 seconds increments
Dundee City teams are a joint venture between Castlehill Chess Club Dundee and Dundee Chess Club.
Another busy and outstanding night’s chess from all of our 6 teams!
Division One – Group B
Dundee City A (2269) 3½ – ½ (2186) Wessex Some Stars A
What a strong line-up from Dundee City A with board order, IM Richard Polaczek (2358), Declan Shafi (2288), CM Jacques Ophoff (2209) & Mister dependable, David Findlay (2223)! They did not disappoint against strong opposition with an unbelievable 3½ to ½ score line! This puts them on 4 match points with 6 game points and tied first place in group B with Farnham B! Well played lads!
Division Two – Group A
Barnet Knights B (1751) 0 – 4 (2048) Dundee City B
Well given the strong line-up of our “A” team, the “B” team has never looked so good! They did what they had to do and avoided the potential banana skin when you play a team lower graded then yourself. What a performance from Ed Spencer (2137), Stephen Hogg (2040), Gary Weir (2004) and newbie, Iain Sneddon (2014)! Can’t ask or do better than that! That puts them on 4 match points, with 6½ game points and in 2nd place, just behind Shropshire & Friends 2 by 1 game point! Well played lads!
Division Four – Group B
Shropshire & Friends 4 (1348) 1 – 3 (1912) Dundee City C
The knock on effect of fielding stronger “A” & “B” teams, is we have stronger teams all the way down the divisions, including our “C” team! In the end it was a comfortable win, but given the grading difference a slightly “Squeaky backside” performance given the two draws against them! Still that’s what makes a good side when they win matches like this to get their first points on the board! Well played Ross Bremner (1996), Andre Babin (1896), Alan Borwell (1936) and Richard Kynoch (1821)!
That puts Dundee City C on 2 match points, with 4½ game points and 3rd place in the group table, only 2 match & game points behind the leaders Sheffield University Graduates!
Division Four – Group A
Streatham B (1756) 1̕½ – 2½ (1824) Dundee City D
This was a tough match against teams of similar strength. Graham Mooney (1875) on board one rolled back the years and showed his vast experience to secure a draw against a 2050! That draw proved vital to the teams result! Dariusz Kosznik (1866) on board 2 carried on where he left off in season 5 and will be a vital member of this team. Sir Philip Cohen (1870) on board 3 is beginning to find his form from years ago and is literality “Turning back the hands of time”! Newbie, Ross Brennan (1686) lost on board 4 but is proving to be a good addition to the Dundee City squad! That puts Dundee City D on 4 match points, with 5 game points and sitting in 2nd place only 2 game points behind leaders Ashfield Anonymous D!
Division Five – Swiss – 36 teams
Heffalump Hunters (2071) 4 – 0 (1614) Dundee City E
Well what can I say? Up against a side that is division 1 or 2 standards, there was only one outcome! Mind you given the Dundee City players involved, they went down fighting tooth and nail until the end! This really was “Hunter” v “Prey” and unlike in films, there were no happy endings for Dundee City E. Of course like in the films “They’ll be back”! Well played under a lot of pressure, Ray Flood (1630), James Anderson (1630), Leyton Hackney (1613) and Trevor Harley (1586).
Dundee City F (1516) 2 – 2 (1651) Colchester JFF A
Another tough match with Colchester having the advantage on the top two boards. The grading`s were more even on the bottom two boards. This made Colchester JFF A the favourites to win, but our players are tough fighters and when the going gets tough, the tough get going! A draw was a fantastic result on the night but we did have chances on win the match. Kit McEvoy Gould (1561) on board one was doing so well he turned down a draw offer from his 1881 opponent, something in the end he lived to regret!
Subhayu Banerjee (1519) on board 2 also played well, but was disappointed in the way he played in the end game. No matter how well you play, you can’t win them all!
Euan Murray (1506) and Ed Walton (1481) under pressure stood their ground like “pillars of stone” to get the 2 points needed to secure an unexpected draw! Well played everyone!
Dundee City F team are on 3 match points and 5 game points and sit in 9th place, with Dundee City E team on 2 match points, 4 game points and sit in a respectable 16th place for now!
Four wins, 1 draw and one loss is a fantastic Dundee City teams performance on the night! The loss does not really count given the opposition our “E” team faced!
BRING ON ROUND 3!
JUNIOR 4NCL (Nations Chess League)
Thurs 22nd Sept 22 – 6pm
Season 6 – Round 2
Time-Controls – 10 minutes + 5 seconds increments
Division Three – Group B
Young Dragons C (807) 6½ – 1½ (473) Dundee City Juniors
With Rishi Vijayakumar away to the FIDE World Cadets Championship, our junior side was not only weakened, but one player short as we have yet to find a 5th or 6th player! That meant we had to default two games in what was already an up hill struggle grading wise! But while our junior side went down 6½ – 1½, out of the ashes came Josh Dickson J11 (632) to make his mark and statement in the absence of Rishi, with a win and draw against a 1078! Remarkable performance and one that shows he is not only improving as a player, but he has the temperament as well! With Rishi not available, Josh stepped up and stepped out of the Rishi`s shadow, to show why he is in the team. Well played young man! Also well played against tough opponents were Haoqi Lui J (411) and Noah Dickson J (378). With a star player (Rishi) and a backbone (Josh Dickson), then add a tail that can wag (Haoqi Lui & Noah Dickson) you a have the makings of a good team for the future!
For all the results and standings click the link below.