After the Christmas and New Year break, the Nottinghamshire Chess league seasonresumed with our teams being involved in six matches, winning two, drawing two and losing two matches during January.
First team (Division 2)
The first team (P8 W4 D3 L1 Pts11) played just one match in January, a 2-2 draw against Beeston 1 in which all four games ended in draws. RB1 lead Division 2 by a single point – in fact, just 2 points cover the top 5 teams, so the battle for promotion is hotting up.
Second team (Division 3)
The second team followed up a 2-2 draw against West Nottingham 2 with a
convincing 3.5-0.5 win away against Newark 2. RB2 (P9 W6 D1 L2 Pts13) are currently in a three-way tie at the top of Division 3 and so promotion continues to be a “dizzying possibility” (to quote team captain, Nick London).
Third team (Division 5)
The third team (P7 W6 L1 Pts12) had just one outing in January, the “grudge” match against our fourth team. Last season a 2-2 draw in the same fixture denied RB3 promotion. This time round they squeaked a narrow 2.5-1.5 victory to maintain their lead at the top of Division 5.
Fourth team (Division 5)
Reality hit for the fourth team: their 4-match winning run was ended by an unlucky defeat to RB3 and this was followed by a 3-1 defeat against Beeston 2. Although an unlikely promotion now looks out of reach (P8 W3 D1 L4 Pts7), solid mid-table respectability beckons.
Rockets (Minor League)
Radcliffe Rockets (P4 W2 L2 Pts 4) compete in the Minor League against three other teams of beginners and improvers, mostly junior players. Matches are played to shorter time controls than the main league, with each person playing his or her opponent twice, once with the white pieces, once with black. In January the Rockets were beaten by the youngsters from West Bridgford Bishops.
The club’s overall results are now:
Played 32, Won 19, Drawn 5, Lost 8, Match points 43 (2 points for a win, 1 for a draw).
Individual game points (1 point for a win, 0.5 for a draw) are 79.5 for, 48.5 against, producing a ‘goal difference’ of +31.
All match results can be viewed via the ‘League’ link on the RBCC website’s main menu.