Sussex Smart Survivors compete in 4NCL Division 3The Four Nations
Chess League (4NCL) is a team tournament over three divisions, with
over 850 players
taking
part and almost £10,000 in cash prizes on offer. Their website claims "it
is the most prestigious team chess event held in the United Kingdom"! Summary:
Weekend 5: 5th/7th May, Hinckley Island The 2011-12 season drew to a close over the May Bank Holiday weekend at the Barceló Hinckley Island Hotel, where a total team of 7 players participated in Rounds 9-11. The team in board order was: Alex Therrien FM/Dave Graham (Dave replaced Alex on board 1 in Round 11), David Grant, Gerald Michaud, Grant Bucher, myself and Tim Woods. Our first match of the weekend was against BUCA (British Universities Chess Association), and as they outgraded us by over 100 FIDE points on average, we knew this would be a very tough match. However, two early results set the tone of the final result: Grant beat an opponent 100 or so points higher with a nice tactic, and I had the dullest 12-move draw possible against a 2127. The other results couldn’t quite keep up our positive start, but credit to Alex for outplaying a 2300+ FM, he looks like a real force to be reckoned with again after a year and a half away from chess! Unfortunately David blundered in a very complex position, Gerry drew an interesting game and after a positive opening, Tim lost a long slog, so we eventually drew 3-3, a decent start to the weekend. Round 10 saw us up against The Rookies, who on paper at least seemed to be an easier match than in Round 9. After about half-an-hour, Tim got a forced draw in a well-known position. I was always better in my game, and when I agreed a draw an exchange for two pawns up (thinking I had no winning chances), I later found out I was almost winning in the final position! This costly draw offer later backfired, as Grant lost a very complex game a pawn up, but facing a very strong attack, David drew in a Petroff (no surprise there!) and Alex again ground his lower-rated opponent down to leave us at 2.5-2.5 each, with just Gerry’s game left. There were chances for both sides, but unfortunately Gerry lost so we lost 3.5-2.5, although we probably deserved more... The final round of the season saw us up against another of the teams we started against, this time e2e4 3 (as opposed to their 5th team in Round 1). As noted above, Dave Graham was now our board 1 and he didn’t disappoint, grinding his opponent down in an ending. Unfortunately the rest of us couldn’t keep this up, as Tim drew, I lost my way in complications in what I thought was a won position, Grant gave his opponent counterplay in a winning position and drew, David unfortunately blundered a piece and Gerry lost after a long struggle, so we sadly finished the season with a 4-2 defeat. This result caused us to finish 27th out of 44 teams, so not a bad season – but it could’ve been better! Despite this though, it was a fun weekend, and I would encourage anyone offered to play to join in, as it is a very sociable and enjoyable time - so bring on 2012-13! Report by Matt Payne Weekend 4: 31st Mar/1st Apr, Hinckley Island Weekend 4 of the 4NCL’s Division 3 South saw the Sussex Smart Survivors arrive at Hinckley still harbouring faint promotion hopes. We had been handed a tough draw, with both our opponents averaging well over 2000 FIDE, but we had a strong team composed of David Graham, David Grant, Chris Jones, myself, Tim Woods and Morgan Blake. Saturday’s match saw us face Anglian Avengers 2, who had a difference of just 28 FIDE points between their highest and lowest rated players. We started badly, with Tim losing a difficult game as Black, but David Grant equalled the scores with a well-played positional win and Chris agreed a draw after a tense struggle despite a possibility of some fireworks on his part! Things went downhill from there, however: despite a great draw from Morgan against a player 500 points above him, I lost an messy King’s Gambit to leave Dave Graham needing a win to secure us a draw. Having earlier lost an exchange, it was a big ask, and despite a valiant effort from Dave over six and a half hours his opponent finally won to hand us a 4-2 loss. Despite the loss, spirits were still high during the team meal on Saturday night. We arrived at the venue on Sunday to face e2e4.org.uk 2, who won the previous day and were looking to cement their promotion credentials. Bizarrely, everyone repeated Saturday’s results, leading to another 4-2 loss. Despite starting well, we began to lose our way: Tim dropped a pawn and was drawn into a lost endgame, and I managed to get my queen trapped after almost equalising. Things weren’t all bad, however: Dave Grant produced a stunning rook sac to secure his second win of the weekend, while Chris defended a tough endgame to hold his opponent to a draw. Again we had left ourselves too much to do, and despite Morgan earning another fantastic half point against highly rated opposition, Dave Graham was beaten by a strong player to cap off the 4-2 defeat. In truth, it was always going to be a tough weekend against two good sides, but great performances from Dave Grant and Morgan at least gave us something to smile about. Hopefully we can get back to winning ways at the final weekend and finish the season on a high! Grant Bucher Round 7:
Round 8:
Back to Top Weekend 3: 11th/12th February, Latimer Place Web Editor's comment: This weekend was a triumph for the juniors (- & David - only just an adult!) - led by Grant. Read Morgan's report below. Round 5:
Round 6:
The hotel was picturesque, but rather labyrinth-like in design. We eventually managed to find the reception, where we were allocated our rooms. After an hour and a half or so of settling down in our rooms, we all sat down to our games, after discussing the psychological advantages to turning up late to a chess game. The match was against “Cambridge University 3”. Round 5 was, on the whole, a great success with me being the only player to lose in our team (surprise, surprise), despite us, on paper, being the weaker team. On board 4, Matt quickly built up a massive attack, as his opponent was pushed into an uncomfortably passive position, but slowly the attack lost impetus, and the game looked to be closer to a draw. However, a mistake from Matt’s opponent allowed him to win with an attractive combination. On board 3, Amy scalped a higher rated opponent who dared to chop off one more pawn than he really should, and he ended up with a completely immobilised rook. A few moves later, Amy sacrificed a bishop to ensure that her passed pawn promoted. On board 2, Grant played a very positional game, exerting pressure on both sides of the board, with an octopus-like knight anchored in the centre; eventually, the pressure became too much for Grant’s opponent. Everyone agreed that David’s board 1 game was dull, so much so that a draw was made after only 23 moves. In my game, I was nursing a small advantage until a critical point during the game in which I chose the wrong continuation to transpose into an endgame, and ended up with my opponent doubling rooks on my 7th rank and winning a pawn. Cosima’s game on board 5 was interesting, with her being held in a passive position from early on. Some time later, her opponent had worked up a winning position, only to suddenly lose his initiative. Soon, Cosima managed to gain a slight advantage, then two pawns, before finally mating him with a nice knight manoeuvre, in a game that lasted almost 6 hours. We won this match 4.5-1.5- good. That evening, the team went off to The Red Lion pub, accompanied by a few others who had come along for the ride. Come morning, everyone was eager to go, with only a brief amount of time taken for us to find the breakfast area and eat, before filing into the hall where we played our round 6 games. This day’s match was against the “Gloucestershire Gambits”. In my game, I was on the black side of a particularly dull Veresov, and as I castled kingside, an attack came from nowhere, leaving me dead after 20 moves or so: not my best game! Cosima’s game was the opposite of the game that she had played the previous day, and after winning a pawn, her opponent started to generate threats of his own and eventually force the promotion of one of his pawns, forcing her resignation. Matt was on a roll, and after winning a pawn in the middlegame, liquidated and proceeded to outplay his experienced opponent in a rook and pawn endgame. In David’s game, he had an advantageous initiative early on, but a material imbalance quickly made this difficult to exploit and later David dropped a piece, and the game. Amy’s and Grant’s games were both draws. In Amy’s game, she may have had an advantage at one point, but after pieces were exchanged, the endgame was drawn. Grant played the black side of a Grunfeld, pieces were exchanged, and there wasn’t enough material left on the board for either player to sufficiently pester the other. We lost this match 2-4. We ended the weekend with 8 points, with the leaders on 10. I would like to thank everyone who played for the team, and well done to Matt for getting his 2/2, as well as Grant and Amy who were undefeated over the two games. Report by Morgan Blake. Weekend 2: 14th/15th January, Hinckley Island Round 3:
Round 4:
Weekend 1: 12th/13th November 2011, Daventry The 2011-12 season kicked off on 12th/13th November at the Barceló Hotel, Daventry, where a new Sussex team took part (Sussex Smart Survivors), and I would firstly like to thank SJC for sponsoring the team. Rounds 1 and 2 took place over this weekend, and the team consisted of (in board order): David Graham, David Grant, David Norton, Grant Bucher, Matt Payne and Morgan Blake. Round 1 saw us up against e2e4.org.uk 5, and the tone of the match was set when after just half an hour, Grant on Board 4 won in 11 moves with the King’s Gambit! We also had an incredible win on Board 6, where Morgan faced an interesting (but lost) ending of N and h-pawn vs R and h-pawn. However, first his opponent stumbled into an incredible draw, with the rook trapped, but then he blundered the rook for nothing – what a swindle! Board 3 was a lot more comfortable, with David outplaying his opponent in a rook ending. Sadly though, our top two boards couldn’t outplay their lower-rated opponents, so they both drew. Mine was the last to finish, and I was up against it a pawn down, but I found some counterplay to force an interesting but drawn king and pawn ending. Therefore our match result was 4.5 – 1.5 in our favour; a decent start to the season. However a much sterner test was to come in Round 2, where we had to face a much improved KJCA Kings team from the one played last year, so we were outgraded by over 100 Elo. Luckily though, after 2 hours play, our board 1, 3 and I all had strong positions (mine was probably winning). Annoyingly though, none of us could convert, as my opponent found counterplay to get to a drawn ending an exchange down, whereas board 1 and 3 went from very strong positions to lost, although board 1 featured a cute queen sac to force mate. Worse was to come though, as Morgan was heavily outgraded and got outplayed, board 2 never got any counterplay and after a long slog, Grant lost what looked like a drawn ending, so sadly for us, the result was 0.5 – 5.5, a bit of a mauling! Despite this though, it was a fun weekend, and I would encourage anyone offered the chance to play to join in, as it is a very sociable and enjoyable time. Report by Matt Payne Round 1:
Round 2:
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