After the excitement of playing a Grand-Master, and an unbelievable Rapid-play night with Chessnuts.com , it was time for the final round of 4NCL season 5 and the penultimate match in the NSDCA’s VMS League.
Tuesday night was round 7 of the 4NCL online which concludes the league schedule. The “AOL” team struggled against Morriston Alekhine in the battle for the division 2 wooden spoon, with a disappointing heavy loss. Only Simon Layhe spared our blushes salvaging a draw on top board. The “BOL” team faired slightly better going down 3-1 to Braunstone in division 3 with Nigel Gardner the sole victor for us. At the end of the league campaign the AOL team have failed to register any match points while the BOL team picked up two draws to finish second from bottom in their sub division. A decision will be made later in the year whether we play in season 6 based on members wishes.
In the real world of OTB chess the C team played their final match of the season hosting Alsager. With our visitors only having four players available captain Dave Price stood down. The match ended in a 2-2 draw with the final game on board 3 going down to the wire where opposing captain Andy Barker saved the match for Alsager. Our points came from wins by Karl Lockett (bd 1) and Mike Keenan (bd 4).
In the internal tournaments, their was a division 1 top of the table clash with Harry Gardiner (8.5/11) retaining his lead with a draw against Martin Burns (7.5/11) ; and Neville Layhe notched up another point to move to joint 4th with Karl Lockett on 6/12.