4NCL campaign concludes with relegation

Tuesday night saw us play the Round 10 match to conclude the first online season against a team called Stroud the Young. Our own youngster Harry Gardiner finished the campaign in style with his 2nd win in a row. Karl Lockett on top board added to his tally with a draw after being held by his opponent as we narrowly lost 1.5-2.5.

In Round 9, the previous week we played CSC4, and gained just our 2nd win of the tough campaign. Neville Layhe, after a late start due to his opponent not accepting the challenge, raced to a level endgame where his one pawn advantage could not be converted due to opposite colour bishops. Meanwhile Karl Lockett and Harry Gardiner secured full points in their games with overwhelming attacks.

We finished the season in line with our seeded position in a division where 30 of the other 31 teams were all graded higher than us. Next season life should be a little easier in division 4, and it is hoped we can enter more teams if OTB chess is not on the horizon when the next online season is due to commence towards the end of August.