Mike Truran wrote: ↑Sun May 12, 2019 8:59 pm
It would be interesting to get some background.
Stories of the rival league were sufficiently solid that a team or two, Maidstone springs to mind, withdrew from the 4NCL in anticipation of the BCF forming its own national league. Needless to say, come October, the rest of the 4NCL carried on as normal without the missing teams, who rejoined the following season.
olimpbase has archived the 4NCL results back to the beginning.
1993-94 was the first season. The six competing teams in finishing order being
Invicta Knights Maidstone
Barbican London
Covent Garden
Slough Chess Club
North West Eagles
Bristol Chess Club
The second season 1994-95 had a full compliment of 12 teams.
Again in finishing order
1. Midland Monarchs
2. Slough Chess Club
3. Wood Green London
4. Witney Chess Club
6. British Chess Magazine
7. Barbican London
8. Invicta Knights Maidstone
9. Covent Garden
10. South Wales Dragons
11. Na Fianna
12. Bristol & District
In the third season, 1995-96, it was 14 teams, but note the absence of Invicta and Barbican, both founder members.
1. Slough Chess Club
2. Midland Monarchs
3. Wood Green London
4. British Chess Magazine
5. Witney Chess Club
6. South Wales Dragons
7. Guildford Chess Club
8. Richmond Chess Club
9. Hertford Chess Club
10. North West Eagles
11. Croydon Chess (previously Covent Garden)
12. Na Fianna
13. Bristol Chess Club
14. Newcastle Chess Club
In the fourth season 1996-97, there were 18 teams, but 12 rounds. The arbiters, probably including the late Richard Furness devised some pairing scheme that was a hybrid between a Swiss and an All play All.
Note the reappearance of Invicta and Barbican
1. Midland Monarchs
2. Invicta Knights Maidstone
3. Slough Chess Club
4. Northumbria Vikings
5. Barbican London
6. British Chess Magazine
7. Bristol Chess Club
8. North West Eagles
9. Wood Green London
10. South Wales Dragons
11. Guildford Chess Club
12. Richmond Chess Club
⇓ 13. Wessex Chess Club
⇓ 14. Croydon Chess
⇓ 15. Na Fianna
⇓ 16. Witney Chess Club
⇓ 17. Hertford Chess Club
⇓ 18. Celtic
The following season, there were enough teams for two divisions.
So it was during 1995 that the BCF threatened to set up its own league in competition.
As reported at the time by the late Richard Hadrell.
From the SCCU Archive
https://sccu-chess.com/archive/
Bulletin 1995-96 reporting on the SCCU Exec meeting September 1995.
(6) National League. The BCF is setting up its own National League, starting in January under the direction of Simon Brown, in direct competition with the 4NCL. Dates are to clash with 4NCL ones and it’s clearly meant as a hostile takeover. We’re not sure whether it already has the Management Board’s OK, but if not it seems to be a formality. It stems from deep dissatisfaction with the way the 4NCL’s run, and if your Editor tried to give details he’d be at risk of getting them wrong. Someone said, and no one dissented, that if we’re to have two rival leagues it is important that they clash with each other and not with county matches or other things. The BCF would obviously prefer it if the 4NCL just folded. Someone said the BCF seemed to be rushing things, given that the 4NCL season starts soon and the new League hasn’t been officially announced yet. Someone else said, with doubtful relevance, that it had been in the air for a year or more.