Move rates and League structure

[MartinCarpenter]

I was mostly wondering about 3C's II. To be honest I think I might well agree with you

This is of course another very clear problem for 4NCL North. Especially serious for getting many Yorkshire teams. We're all playing each other a huge amount anyway so the attraction of say flooding 4NCL North (as we could) to do so even more is really quite limited. At least division 3 'proper' offers new, very varied, opponents.

[David Pardoe]

Might be worth looking at the Best Western offerings. They certainly have a wide range of property in there group, spread around the country.

Anybody who knows anything about the UK hotel business would know that this is not worth pursuing but please feel free to go for it!

Mike, Sean...
I`m certainly no expert on hotel chains, and I guess you`ve both studied various options regarding your events, in some detail.
I`ve had a brief look at Best Western in the Yorkshire region, which is probably a typical sample, and it looks like they cater for the medium size hotel market.. ie, hotels with circa 30 - 60 rooms.
See http://www.bestwestern.co.uk/destinatio ... ounty.aspx
Some of these might well offer alternative venues for the Northern league div 3...subject to clearance on Conference and room availability and terms. I guess that most w/e`s the hotel take-up would be around 70% of team players, with the remainder travelling, so you probably need an hotel with at least 40 rooms.
No rush to change currently, but I guess that some might call for greater variety...north or south of Hinckley....see how next season pans out.
As for other hotel groups, I guess you`ve already checked out Hiltons, Holiday Inns, Jury`s Inns, and Marriotts, etc.....the latter of which might provide some larger venues, which might cater for individual leagues. ie, Divs 1,2 or 3...but not all three.
The Marriotts at Derby and Bradford/Shipley look top draw, but might carry a premium...both have over 110 rooms.
Here`s the UK Marriott map http://www.marriott.co.uk/hotel-search/ ... om.hotels/
I guess the other possibility is the University sites during vacation periods....Nottingham, Sheffield, and Birmingham perhaps....and others. But maybe this might be deemed `down market` by some..?
Its a slightly different offering than other events, like Woodhouse, which I guess are played in various pubs and working mens clubs...as is the tendancy with county matches. The Football can often be heard in the background, in the crowded bars. Its a different atmosphere...but chess caters for many tastes, and the variety is good.

[Simon Brown]

Hi Mike. Please accept this offer of strength.

[Roger de Coverly]

Rules for the new season have been published at http://www.4ncl.co.uk/1314_rules.htm

In which

The rate of play shall be 40 moves in 1 hour 40 minutes plus 30 seconds per move, followed by the rest of the game in 50 minutes plus 30 seconds per move.

As it's probable arbiters will continue the practice of not using the move counter, it's likely at least part of the game has to be played with the clock showing an incorrect time remaining.

Whilst with the existing seven hour sessions, games can be guaranteed to be finished by 9pm on the Saturday and 6pm on the Sunday, I'm sure there are 4NCL players who will take full advantage of the freedom to play 150 moves or more giving even later finishes.