The 5rd and 6th rounds of the 2019-20 Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) took place over the weekend of 8th & 9th February 2019. For sub-divisions of Divisions 3 and 4 this was the third weekend of play, but for higher divisions this was the second weekend, as their rounds 1 & 2 got postponed until 29th February & 1st March.

Divisions 1 & 2 played at the Mercure Daventry Court Hotel and Spa, Sedgemoor Way, Daventry, NN11 0SG.

Division 3 North played at the Mercure Bolton Georgian House, Manchester Rd, Blackrod, Bolton, BL6 5RU.

The “White Rose” teams are now sponsored by Chessable (see White Rose Sponsorship), which is reflected in their names.

In Division 3 North, the Jorvik team were absent, but captain Steve Hodge advises that they had withdrawn just from that weekend due to a player shortage, that this is a provision in the rules, and that with any luck Jorvik will be back for the next round! (This explains also the absence on the previous weekend of Bradford DCA Knights C and Shropshire 2.) Where such a withdrawal results in an odd number of teams, a three-team system of half-matches is adopted.

Division 1 games were again broadcast live on chess24.com, AND piped into the 4NCL website.

In round 5, Chessable White Rose 1, as they are now called, significantly out-graded their opponents. The most entertaining of the games was perhaps Richard Palliser’s. After he had swapped bishop for knight to secure the “knight pair”, his opponent made some ill-advised moves which allowed the knights to wreak havoc, and after the knights had come off, his opponent managed to allow a piece-winning pawn fork. (Click here to play through the game on screen.)

In round 6, Chessable White Rose 1, beat Barbican 4NCL surprisingly easily. On board 1, Dmitry Sneider went the exchange up for a pawn, but after things reduced to K, R + 2P versus K, N +3P, all on the same side of the board, things ended as a predictable draw. On board 2, Peter Wells’s opponent played the wrong knight to f3, allowing an immediate scissor mate from two bishops, though this may have merely been a “pretty” way of resigning, as otherwise he would lose a piece. (Click here to play through the game on screen.) Boards 3, 4 and 5 seemed to be agreed drawn in messy positions in some of which which you might think one or other player would be looking for a win. Paul Townsend’s draw was, however the result of a fight played out to K + 2P each. Svetlana Sucikova’s win was a trifle lucky; her opponent “won” a piece, not noticing it allowed a fairly obvious sacrificial mate in two! (Time may have been a factor in some of the games.)

First-named team in each match had White on 1, thereafter alternating colours down the team. Matches on the left were played on the Saturday, and those on the right on Sunday.

Division 1a

Chessable White Rose 1	6½‑1½	Celtic Tigers 1	Barbican 4NCL 1	2½‑5½	Chessable White Rose 1
Schneider, Dmitry	½-½	Reimanis, Ritvars	Turner, Matthew J	½-½	Schneider, Dmitry
Palliser, Richard J D	1-0	Skulte, Christopher	Griffiths, Ryan Rhys	0-1	Palliser, Richard J D
Wells, Peter K	1-0	Maciol, Ryszard	Jackson, James P	0-1	Wells, Peter K
Chow, Samuel	1-0	Quinn, John M	Taylor, Martin R	½-½	Chow, Samuel
Townsend, M Paul	½-½	Zulfic, Fedja	Sowray, Peter J	½-½	Weller, Jean-Luc
Wall, Tim P	1-0	Evans, Craig	Rogers, Jonathan W	½-½	Wall, Tim P
Weller, Jean-Luc	½-½	Pedersen, Carsten	Cox, John J	½-½	Townsend, M Paul
Sučikova, Svetlana	1-0	Andrzejewska, Anna	Bhatia, Kanwal K	0-1	Sučikova, Svetlana

Division 2a

Sussex Martlets 1	4½‑3½	Chessable White Rose 2	Chessable White Rose 2	4½‑3½	Warwickshire Select 1
Graham, David B	0-1	Keetman, Maaike	Keetman, Maaike	0-1	Pitcher, John
Cumming, Rhys	1-0	Gayson, Peter M	Gayson, Peter M	1-0	Mason, Donald J
Miller, Dominic	1-0	Arnott, Jonathan W	Arnott, Jonathan W	1-0	Thomas, Nicholas
Grant, David J	½-½	Shaw, Peter	Shaw, Peter	0-1	Bowcott-Terry, Finlay
Brewer, Callum D	1-0	Ho, Conrad	Ho, Conrad	½-½	Hanley, James L
Blake, J Morgan	½-½	Burnett, Jim	Burnett, Jim	1-0	Baruch, Andrew J D
Willson, Ollie	½-½	Busuioc, Alexandra	Busuioc, Alexandra	0-1	Page, Mark E
Graham, Cassie M	0-1	Chan, Sheng Liang Bernard	Chan, Sheng Liang Bernard	1-0	Cooper, David M

Division 3 North

Shropshire 2	3‑3	Bradford DCA Knights A	Bradford DCA Knights A	4½‑1½	Euwe's North Sea Tigers
Bryant, Richard B E	0-1	Watson, Phil R	Watson, Phil R	0-1	Gardiner, Eric D
Lewis, Christopher D	1-0	Bak, Christopher	Bak, Christopher	½-½	Collinson, Mark I
Sheard, Martin	½-½	Ther, Mate	Ther, Mate	1-0	Varley, Joe
Hinchcliffe, Gary	½-½	Jennings, Roger W	Jennings, Roger W	1-0	Carmichael, Ned
Tarr, Steve F	0-1	Nicholson, Jim W R	Nicholson, Jim W R	1-0	Hackett, Thomas
Ross, Stuart	1-0	Bak, Andrew	Bak, Andrew	1-0	Grice, Alec

J'Adoube 2	3-3	Bradford DCA Knights B	Bradford DCA Knights B	5-1	Manchester Manticores 4
Parry, Samuel	½-½	Patrick, David A	Patrick, David A	1-0	Potter, Steven
Hirst, Joe	½-½	Baxter, Harold	Baxter, Harold	½-½	Jayawarna, Tarini
Davison, Colin F S	½-½	Johnson, Paul A	Johnson, Paul A	½-½	Jayawarna, Thisumi
Taylor, John Paul	1-0	Holliday, John K	Slinger, Tony J	1-0	Grindrod, John
Emmerton, Stephen J	½-½	Khan, Karim	Khan, Karim	1-0	Beswick, Andrew
Mills, Colin J	0-1	Bowman, Richard L	Holliday, John K	1-0	Wilson, Jeff

Euwe's North Sea Tigers	½‑5½	Manchester Manticores 2
Gardiner, Eric D	0-1	Rawlinson, Aidan M
Collinson, Mark I	½-½	Mulleady, Peter J
Varley, Joe	0-1	Hilton, Tim
Carmichael, Ned	0-1	Reed, John
Hackett, Thomas	0-1	Collins, Richard A
Grice, Alec	0-1	Tyton, Adam

			Bradford DCA Knights C	½‑4½	Manchester Manticores 3
			Bramson, Mike	½-½	Lonsdale, Jon I
		Game played on Saturday	Bowman, Richard L	0-1	Jones, Neil T
			Ibbitson, Anthony	0-1	Taylor, Mark
			Clarke, Paul R H	0-1	Livesey, R Nigel
		Game played on Sunday	default	(‑1)‑1	Gawne, Martin
			Waite, Nicholas	1-0	Norris, Michael J

			Shropshire 1	5½‑(‑1½)	Bradford DCA Knights C
			Rutter, Nick J	1-0	Clarke, Paul R H
		Game played on Saturday	Paul, Nathanael	1-0	Waite, Nicholas
			Higgie, Charles L	1-(-1)	default
			Gostelow, David W	½-½	Ibbitson, Anthony
		Game played on Sunday	Higgie, Charles L	1-(-1)	default
			Jamieson, Ian	1-0	Tait, Bill