Yorkshire Chess News

I<< HOME

Events

06/05/2024

4NCL 2023-24, Rounds 9 & 11

(For final divisional tables at foot of page click here.)

Rounds 9 to 11 of the 2023-24 4NCL competitions, which of course constitute “finals weekend”, were played on the May Bank Holiday weekend of 4th to 6th of May 2024, split across two sites.  Divisions 1, 2 and 3B played at the Mercure Daventry Court Hotel while Divisions 4 and 3K played at the Mercure Telford Centre Hotel.

All Yorkshire-based teams neither had any chance of ending up winning anything, nor seemed in danger of relegation (though CWR2 did in fact manage to finish bottom of their division).  Games included are primarily those broadcast live

In round 9, CWR1 was up against top-of-the-table Wood Green, so the final score was no disgrace.  The last two games to finish were boards 1 and 8.  Gawain Jones’s win over British Champion (and World over-50 Champion) Michael Adams in a rook-and-pawn ending was the highlight, with over 100 spectators on Lichess.  However, Andreea Marioara Cosman’s holding of five-time British Women’s champion Harriet Hunt to a draw, despite fighting much of the ending a pawn down, must count as second in the ranking of highlights.  The first CWR1 win came from IM Jose Camacho Collados who beat a GM Eldar Gasanov, but that ranks third in the highlight ranking as he so often makes winning look routinely easy!

CWR2 were seriously outgunned by third-in-the-table Manx Liberty, but despite 6 losses, some of those were hard fought and perhaps deserved more credit that the number indicate.

CWR3 cruised to 2½-2½, but, eventually, Miles Edwards-Wright chalked up a won game, so winning the match.

Hull & ER Tigers’ three draws against Fide Masters was creditable and led to a drawn match, helped by what was technically a forced mate in 7 moves sequence (actually allowed to play out as mate in 6) from bottom-board Shriaansh Ganti.

In round 10, CWR1 was up against a team slightly weaker than themselves, Celtic Tigers 1.  How they are “Celtic” is unclear.  The first win of the match for CWR1 was scored by Gawain Jones, who having despatched the England team’s board 1 was now paired against the England teram captain.  There had already been a couple of draws notched up, so when Jean-Luc Weller and Andreea Navrotescu won their games, CWR1 was 4-1 up with three games still in play.  It took a while, but in time Jonathan Rowson won his game so winning the match.  Daniel Alsina Leal went knight and pawn for rook down but eventually drew the ending.  Last to finish was Jose Camacho Collados who battled on and on a knight for a pawn down, until reigning on move 113.

More significant for the final result of division 1 was the defeat by 3rd-in-table Manx Liberty of top-of-the-table Wood Green.

CWR2 reached 3-3 against Blackthorne with Paul Townsend and Peter Gayson still in play.  The former seemed to be on course for a draw, but the latter was two pawns down in a R + opposite coloured bishop ending.  Peter lost in the end and Paul, after battling on and on, gradually getting the worse of things, eventually lost, leaving the score 3-5 in favour of the opponents.

CRW3 reached 2½-2½ against (Sutton-in-) Ashfield 1 with just Peter Shaw still in play.  He was playing Luxembourg-born ex Leeds University student Hubert Mossong who worked as a bus-driver for a while in the hope that some particular country (Turkey?) would join the Common Market, as is was then, enabling Hubert to become a CM translator.  I don’t think that plan worked out.  He now plays for Belper in the Derby & District league and has also played for Chesterfield in the Sheffield league.  He has captained Luxembourg to victory in the European Small Nations Chess Championship.  Shaw-Mossong was eventually drawn making the match score 3-3.

Hull & ER Tigers reach 2-3 with just Joe Varley still in play but managed only a draw making it 2½-3½ in favour of the opponents.

In Round 11, CWR1 had to play Wood Green.  On board 1, Gawain Jones faced Alexei Shirov, who was second highest rated, after Michael Adams.  A draw, especially with Black, would have been no disgrace, but when 22. … Ne5 came out of the blue (as far as the writer was concerned – can’t speak for Shirov, it was clear this was not going to fizzle out into an early draw.  Shirov resigned on move 38.  The only other win was from Andreea Navrotescu.  The only other game not lost was a draw from Daniel Alsina Leal.

CWR2 fared much the same, being on the losing end of 5½-1½ with Sheng Liang Bernard Chan still in play, in an ending where he had R+B+N v Q but significantly less pawns.  Black’s extra pawns proved too much, and White resigned at move 62.

CWR3 did better.  They reached a 3-2 lead with Peter Shaw still in play.  His eventual draw meant CWR3 won 3½-2½.

For Hull & ER Tigers, Maxim Larchikov was last to finish.  The team needed him to win in order to draw the match, and he delivered the win, eventually.

Fixtures / results were as follows (to be completed as the weekend progresses).  To play through a game on screen, click on “play” to the right of the game result, then use the browsers “back” function to return to this page.

		04/05/2024: Round 9
		Division 1
		Chessable White Rose 1	3½-4½	Wood Green
GM	W	Gawain C B Jones	1-0	Michael Adams	GM	play
GM	B	Jonathan Rowson	½-½	Marcus R Harvey	IM	play
GM	W	Daniel Alsina Leal	½-½	Matthew J Wadsworth	IM	play
IM	B	Richard J D Palliser	0-1	Jon S Speelman	GM	play
IM	W	Jose Camacho Collados	1-0	Eldar Gasanov	GM	play
FM	B	Tim P Wall	0-1	Conor E Murphy	IM	play
	W	Jean-Luc Weller	0-1	Matthew J Turner	GM	play
WFM	B	Andreea‑Marioara Cosman	½-½	Harriet V Hunt	IM	play
		Manx Liberty	7-1	Chessable White Rose 2
GM	W	Rasmus Svane	½‑½	Samuel Chow	FM	play
GM	B	Alexei Shirov	1-0	M Paul Townsend		play
GM	W	Frederik Svane	1-0	Thomas Carroll		play
GM	B	Constantin Lupulescu	½-½	Harry Li		play
GM	W	Viktor Erdos	1-0	Sheng Liang Bernard Chan		play
GM	B	Pawel Jaracz	1-0	Alan J Walton	CM	play
GM	W	Mircea-Emilian Parligras	1-0	Jim Burnett		play
WIM	B	Julianna Terbe	1‑0	Martina Flint		play
		Division 3 Bishops
		Chessable White Rose 3	3½-2½	She Plays To Win Lionesses
FM	W	Peter M Gayson	½-½	Annmarie Muetsch	WIM
	B	Miles D Edwards-Wright	1-0	Abigail Riis Weersing	WFM	play
	W	Peter Shaw	1-0	Srimathi Raajesh		play
	B	Alex Burke	0-1	Ruqayyah Rida
	W	Steve J Gibbs	1-0	Emily Maton		play
	B	Seth Woozeer	0-1	Alannah Ashton
		Division 3 Knights
		Hull & East Riding Tigers	3-3	Crowthorne A
	W	Maksym Larchikov	½-½	Paul S Cooksey	FM
	B	Joe Varley	½-½	Richard M Webb	FM
	W	Simon Smith	½-½	Ian D Thompson	FM
	B	Douglas Vleeshhouwer	½-½	Colin Purdon
	W	David W Stephenson	0-1	Harvey L Duckers
	B	Shriaansh Ganti	1-0	Peter K Tart		play
		05/05/2024: Round 10
		Division 1
		Celtic Tigers 1	2½-5½	Chessable White Rose 1
IM	W	Malcolm Pein	0-1	Gawain C B Jones	GM	play
	B	Jamie A Horton	0-1	Jonathan Rowson	GM	play
	W	Marco Gallana	½-½	Daniel Alsina Leal	GM	play
FM	B	Jonathan Pein	1-0	Jose Camacho Collados	IM	play
FM	W	Hendrik Hoffmann	½-½	Richard J D Palliser	IM	play
	B	Ryszard Maciol	½-½	Tim P Wall	FM	play
	W	Stefanie Duessler	0-1	Jean-Luc Weller		play
	B	Gaston Franco	0-1	Andreea Navrotescu	WGM	play
		Chessable White Rose 2	3-5	Blackthorne
FM	W	Samuel Chow	½-½	Richard A Bates	IM	play
	B	Harry Li	½-½	Simon T Ansell	IM	play
CM	W	Jonathan W Arnott	0-1	Daniel W Gormally	GM	play
	B	M Paul Townsend	0-1	Laurence E Webb	FM	play
	W	Thomas Carroll	1-0	Dave J Ledger	FM	play
FM	B	Peter M Gayson	0-1	Zoe Varney	WCM	play
	W	Sheng Liang Bernard Chan	1-0	Robert S Eames	FM	play
	B	Martina Flint	0-1	Stephen C Ledger		play
		Division 3 Bishops
		Ashfield 1	3-3	Chessable White Rose 3
	W	Paul Madden	½-½	Alan J Walton	CM
FM	B	Hubert Mossong	½-½	Peter Shaw
FM	W	Michael Dougherty	½-½	Jim Burnett
	B	David H Coates	½-½	Miles D Edwards-Wright
	W	Michael A Naylor-Eade	0-1	Greg T Eagleton
	B	John S Garnett	1-0	Seth Woozeer
		Division 3 Knights
		Poole Patzers	3½-2½	Hull & East Riding Tigers
	W	Oliver Stubbs	½-½	Maksym Larchikov
	B	Oscar Garcia Hernandez	½-½	Joe Varley
	W	John P Weatherlake	½-½	Simon Smith
	B	Richard Smith	1-0	Douglas Vleeshhouwer
	W	Madison B Bowden	1-0	David W Stephenson
	B	Martin O'Neill	0-1	Shriaansh Ganti		play
		06/05/2024: Round 11
		Division 1
		Manx Liberty	5½‑2½	Chessable White Rose 1
GM	W	Alexei Shirov	0-1	Gawain C B Jones	GM	play
GM	B	Frederik Svane	½-½	Daniel Alsina Leal	GM	play
GM	W	Rasmus Svane	1-0	Jonathan Rowson	GM	play
GM	B	Viktor Erdos	1-0	Richard J D Palliser	IM	play
GM	W	Constantin Lupulescu	1-0	Jose Camacho Collados	IM	play
GM	B	Pawel Jaracz	1-0	Tim P Wall	FM	play
GM	W	Mircea-Emilian Parligras	1-0	Jean-Luc Weller		play
WIM	B	Julianna Terbe	0-1	Andreea Navrotescu	WGM	play
		Celtic Tigers 1	6½-1½	Chessable White Rose 2
IM	W	Malcolm Pein	1-0	Samuel Chow	FM	play
FM	B	Jonathan Pein	0-1	Harry Li		play
FM	W	Hendrik Hoffmann	1-0	M Paul Townsend		play
	B	Jamie A Horton	½-½	Thomas Carroll		play
	W	Marco Gallana	1-0	Jonathan W Arnott	CM	play
	B	Ryszard Maciol	1-0	Sheng Liang Bernard Chan		play
	W	Gaston Franco	1-0	Alan J Walton	CM	play
	B	Stefanie Duessler	1-0	Martina Flint		play
		Division 3 Bishops
		Chessable White Rose 3	3½-2½	Oxford 2
FM	W	Peter M Gayson	0-1	Hendrik Brackmann
	B	Peter Shaw	½-½	Edgar Wilson
	W	Jim Burnett	1-0	Neil Staples
	B	Miles D Edwards-Wright	1-0	Timothy Foster
	W	Greg T Eagleton	1-0	Sean Terry
	B	Rishab Cammanchery Krishnan	0-1	Alexander Hertog
		Division 3 Knights
		Rhyfelwyr Essyllwg	3-3	Hull & East Riding Tigers
	W	Thomas Brown	0-1	Maksym Larchikov		play
	B	Alan Young	0-1	Joe Varley		play
	W	William Hewitt	½-½	Simon Smith
	B	John Trevelyan	½-½	Douglas Vleeshhouwer
	W	Rudy Van Kemenade	1-0	David W Stephenson
	B	Paul Hatchett	1-0	Shriaansh Ganti

Rhyfelwyr is the plural of the Welsh noun Rhyfelwr meaning “warrior”, while Essyllwg is seemingly a mistaken variant of Seisyllwg, the name of a mediaeval Welsh kingdom which succeeded the Kingdom of Ceredigion based around and inland of Aberystwyth and was named after its ruler Seisyll ap Clydog.  Thus, we have in effect “Warriors of (Mediaeval) Aberystwyth (and district)”.  (Alternatively, Welsh estyll meaning plank or board seems another, half-plausible derivation.)  Rudy Van Kemenade, past board 1 for Huddersfield and former lecturer at Huddersfield College/University (after earlier having been a mole-trapper in South Africa), decades ago took up a post at Aberystwyth University and has since remained there.

Final Divisional Tables

(Pink background denotes relegation, green background denotes promotes.)

	Divs.1 to 3 were run as all-play-all events.								Div.4 was run as a Swiss event.
	Division One	GP	MP		Division Three Bishops	GP	MP		Division Four	GP	MP
1	Wood Green	61	20	1	Greater Woodpushers	45	19	1	North West Eagles	47½	20
2	Manx Liberty	60½	20	2	Warwickshire Select 2	47	17	2	Average Woodpushers	43½	20
3	The Sharks 1	60	20	3	Barnet Knights B	38	17	3	Desert Penguins	48½	18
4	Wood Green Youth	56½	16	4	Chessable White Rose 3	34½	16	4	ToBeDecided	40	16
5	Cheddleton	48½	13	5	Ashfield 1	37½	14	5	Coventry	33	13
6	Chessable White Rose 1	44½	10	6	The Rookies	36	11	6	The Full Ponty	38	12
7	Blackthorne	40	10	7	The MASCeteers	30	11	7	Guildford Young Guns	37½	12
8	Alba	34	7	8	Oxford 2	32½	10	8	She Plays To Win Uni	35½	11
9	Barnet Knights A	34½	5	9	She Plays To Win Lionesses	30	9	9	War and Piece A	34	11
10	Oxford 1	33½	4	10	Brown Jack	27	6	10	Watford A	33½	11
11	Celtic Tigers 1	29	4	11	Shropshire & Friends	20	1	11	* Lancaster	24½	11
12	Chessable White Rose 2	26	3	12	Sussex Martlets 3	18	1	12	CSC/Kingston 3	34½	10
								13	Apprentice Woodpushers	32½	10
	Division Two	GP	MP		Division Three Knights	GP	MP	14	Ashfield 3	32	10
1	Barbican 4NCL	54½	17	1	Iceni 1	41	19	15	Wessex B	31½	10
2	CSC/Kingston 1	54	16	2	Crowthorne A	39½	15	16	Crowthorne B	31½	10
3	The Sharks 2	47	14	3	Sussex Martlets 2	36	15	17	Celtic Tigers 3	26	10
4	The Audible Checks	46½	14	4	Wotton Hall	35	15	18	Oxford 3	25½	10
5	Warwickshire Select 1	51	12	5	Wessex A	34½	12	19	Ashfield 2	30½	9
6	The ADs	49	11	6	Rhyfelwyr Essyllwg	32	11	20	She Plays To Win Young Stars A	30½	9
7	Cambridge University 1	38½	11	7	Celtic Tigers 2	33½	10	21	Iceni 2	29½	9
8	SchachAttack	42½	10	8	Hull & East Riding Tigers	32	9	22	English Deaf Chess Association	26	7
9	Anglian Avengers	42	10	9	MK Phoenix	28	8	23	Barnet Knights C	24½	7
10	Sussex Martlets 1	41	9	10	Surbiton	26½	7	24	* Oxford 4	11	4
11	Gonzaga	41	8	11	Poole Patzers	25½	6	25	She Plays To Win Young Stars B	20½	3
12	Cambridge University 2	11	0	12	CSC/Kingston 2	29½	5	26	War and Piece B	15	2
								27	* Watford B	3½	2
* Lancaster, Oxford 4 and Watford B acted as “filler” teams, playing 7, 4 and 2 rounds respectively.