First 4NCL

[Joey Stewart]

So..... what do people have as predictions for this 4ncl? I am back in division 3, so was wondering who people think might be the top teams to watch out for this year.

[John Upham]

I'm hoping that the BCM Rhinos might do quite well but good luck to all the BCM teams.

The BCM Dragons will have their work cut-out this weekend in Division one.

[Andrew Bak]

It's going to be hard to look beyond Guildford or Wood Green for the Div 1 title again. Guildford seem to have strengthened by recruiting Gawain Jones, Mark Hebden and Robin van Kampen (from White Rose, Cheddleton and Sambuca Sharks)

Division 3 - I guess you have to start by considering the relegated Div 2 teams - Bradford Knights A, Brown Jack, Cambridge Uni 2 and FCA Solutions 1. They all seem to have squads that will be there or thereabouts at the end of the running.

Having a quick look through the registrations, other strong contenders would seem to be Hackney, Sussex Smart Surviviors 1 and Ashfield-Breadsall (a new team I think?)

[Carl Hibbard]

It's come around again struth my memory I nearly just rebooted the server with Dave and the Live games on it

[Andrew Camp]

Lorin D'Costa and Karl Mah draw after eight moves.

Fantastic stuff.

[LawrenceCooper]

Lorin D'Costa and Karl Mah draw after eight moves.

Fantastic stuff.

That explained their appearance in the bar in time for most of the second half of the football

[John Upham]

That explained their appearance in the bar in time for most of the second half of the football

This result did cause a certain cascade of mirth in the Whitley/Mandela Suite. I was just getting round to take their pictures when they signed the score sheets and left the playing room!

[Christopher Kreuzer]

That explained their appearance in the bar in time for most of the second half of the football

This result did cause a certain cascade of mirth in the Whitley/Mandela Suite. I was just getting round to take their pictures when they signed the score sheets and left the playing room!

I see the match e2e4.org.uk 1 vs Wood Green Hilsmark 1 from the Sunday (round 2, division 1a) ended 4-4 after eight(!) draws. That looks like a big upset there, as Wood Green were heavy favourites on paper to win that match. I presume those weren't all 8-move draws? Anyone know more about the games from that match? When was the last time all eight games in a 4NCL match ended in draws?

[Alan Burke]

Currently Sunday 7.20pm yet no Division 3 results even for the Saturday matches are on the 4NCL website even though the results of the Sunday matches for Divisions 1 and 2 are already published.

Any reason ?

[Ian Thompson]

I see the match e2e4.org.uk 1 vs Wood Green Hilsmark 1 from the Sunday (round 2, division 1a) ended 4-4 after eight(!) draws. That looks like a big upset there, as Wood Green were heavy favourites on paper to win that match.

It probably won't matter though. Despite e2e4's good start I'd still predict that they end up in the relegation pool after 7 rounds (unless they recruit some new players to their squad). If Wood Green go through to the Championship pool this match result will be discarded.

[benedgell]

Div. 3 South results are up for both days, Div.3 North aren't for either, as far as I can tell.

[Alex McFarlane]

The lack of Div 3 North results may have something to do with the fact the games will not take place until the end of the month!!

[benedgell]

D'oh!

[Matthew Turner]

I see the match e2e4.org.uk 1 vs Wood Green Hilsmark 1 from the Sunday (round 2, division 1a) ended 4-4 after eight(!) draws. That looks like a big upset there, as Wood Green were heavy favourites on paper to win that match. I presume those weren't all 8-move draws? Anyone know more about the games from that match? When was the last time all eight games in a 4NCL match ended in draws?[/quote]

Some quickish draws, but I saw the match when six draws had been agreed and Peter Sowray (playing for e2-e4) seemed to be a clear pawn up against Nick Pert. In the end perhaps Wood Green were a bit lucky?

[Sean Hewitt]

Some quickish draws, but I saw the match when six draws had been agreed and Peter Sowray (playing for e2-e4) seemed to be a clear pawn up against Nick Pert. In the end perhaps Wood Green were a bit lucky?

I haven't seen the games yet but I'm told that we were better in the Byron game when agreed drawn, Jackson turned down a draw against Speelman and Sowray was much better in his game. Josse was worse against Trent but somehow ended up in rook and pawn ending a clear pawn up, which Lawrence defended well.

Safe to say that we did much much better than we expected in this match. On the back of beating Guildford 2 yesterday, we're over the moon!

It probably won't matter though. Despite e2e4's good start I'd still predict that they end up in the relegation pool after 7 rounds (unless they recruit some new players to their squad).

This is our 3rd season in Div1 and we've made the Championship Pool in each of the previous two seasons. I was confident that we would do so again this year and after this weekend I'd be amazed if we didn't. I'm happy to have a £50 charity bet if you (or anyone else) would like. My favourite charity is L.O.R.O.S. and I'm always happy to help them raise a few quid