4 NATIONS CHESS LEAGUE - DIVISION 4

Rounds 7-11 of this year's 4NCL will no longer take place on the original dates in April and May due to the present pandemic.   Tentative plan at present is reschedule these for later in the year with a knock-on effect on the 2020-21 4NCL which will accordingly not get under way until early 2021.    That could change - up-to-date information should be available on the 4NCL website although it is planned to summarise this here.

Main points to note are that 4NCL entails one round each day, with the rate of play 40 moves in 100 minutes (plus 30 second increments from move 1) followed by the rest of the game in 50 minutes (again with 30 second increments). That means a 60-move game could conceivably take as long as 6 hours, far longer than local league chess.  All games are ECF-graded and, subject to meeting the usual conditions, FIDE-rated.

Division 4 [34 teams] summary after round 6:  

			P		W	D	L		GP		MPts
1		Sussex Martlets 2	6		6	0	0		27		12
2		Fischer's Catch	6		5	0	1		21½		10
3		Wood Green Youth	6		5	0	1		20		10
4		Watford A	6		4	1	1		23½		9
5-20
21		Watford B	6		3	0	3		14½		6
22-34

 

 

 

HERTFORDSHIRE CHESS LEAGUE

 

The 2019-20 competition, which began on 30 September, has been suspended as a result of the present pandemic.  See 'Fixtures' page for a list of fixtures and 'Results' page for reported results.    No recent results reported here for Watford 1.

Watford 2 are well-placed in Division 2 and promotion back to Division 1 is not out of the question.

 

		P		W	D	L		MPs		For	Agst
1	Watford 2	8		6	1	1		13		26.5	13.5
2	B Stortford 1	8		5	2	1		12		24.5	15.5
3	H Hempstead 2	8		3	2	3		8		19.5	20.5
4	Borehamwood 1	8		3	0	5		6		17	23
5	Stevenage 1	8		2	3	3		7		21	19
6	Welwyn H'f'd 1	8		0	4	4		4		14.5	21.5
7	St Albans 2	8		2	2	4		6		17	23

 

In Division 3, Watford 3 is also doing well with four wins, three draws and one defeat, from its first eight completed matches.   Watford 4, in the next division, is in mid-table with three wins, two draws and four losses from its nine matches to date.    In the separate under-120 league, the Watford u-120 team has won five, drawn one and lost two of its first eight matches.

 

ARCHIVE:

Article in Watford Observer, 19 February: https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sport/18247132.watford-chess-club-looking-sponsors-ahead-international-tournament

Club rapidplay, 30 December 2019, results at  http://chess-results.com/Tnr501649.aspx?lan=1

3rd Watford Junior (u-12) Rapidplay, 29 July 2019, results at http://chess-results.com/tnr457143.aspx?lan=1

Club rapidplay, 8 July 2019, results at http://chess-results.info/tnr453784.aspx?lan=1

Price Cup (2018-9 club championship), October 2018 to June 2019, results at  http://chess-results.com/tnr382758.aspx?lan=1

2nd Watford Junior (u-12) Rapidplay, 27 May 2019, results at http://chess-results.com/tnr435032.aspx?lan=1

Club rapidplay, 13 August 2018, results at http://chess-results.com/tnr374277.aspx?lan=1

1st Watford Junior (u-12) Rapidplay, 30 July 2018, results at http://chess-results.com/tnr373197.aspx?lan=1

 

 

JUNIOR CLUB NEWS - JUNE 2021:

 

NEWSFLASH:   The under-12 section of the Western Hemisphere [Europe, the Americas, etc] Inter-Continental ChessKid FIDE Challenge was won [19 June] by Avy Dasgupta with 6.5/7.

 

OTHER NEWS:  On Monday 14 June, Watford Juniors played Uxbridge Juniors in what we believe was the first over-the-board club match in England in 2021. The match was double-round rapidplay over 12 boards.  Uxbridge came with a strong team, out-rating the Watford players on 10 of those boards, and went on to win the match 18-6, a reversal of three pre-pandemic encounters all won by Watford, but all enjoyed being able to play "real" chess.

BBC Three Counties Radio presenter Robert Perrone interviewed Roger Lancaster about the match, among much else, on Wednesday evening  - replay their talk at https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p09k9swn starting at approximately 3.41 on the recording.  Also see https://www.hillingdontimes.co.uk/news/19377956.uxbridge-young-chess-players-make-first-move/, picked up at https://www.dailyadvent.com/gb/news/0f29464313336706a91c1b5edd0be4b2-Uxbridge-young-chess-players-make-first-move

 

OVER-THE-BOARD CHESS:

Watford juniors are meeting over-the-board.   Activities restarted with a 'Chess in the Park' afternoon on 29 March [but future outdoor meetings are weather-dependent] and, from 26 April onwards, indoor meetings have taken place from 6 until 9 on Monday evenings.

The club's usual venue, West Herts Sports & Social Club, is currently unavailable due to ongoing rebuilding work which is due to complete "towards the end of the year" so junior meetings are meantime taking place at a temporary venue off St Albans Road in north Watford.    Currently, due to HMG anti-Covid guidance, adult members of the club [coaches excepted] are unable to attend.   "Junior" means under 18.

The nature of Monday evening sessions [£5 charge to cover temporary venue costs] varies from week to week but the first 45 minutes are normally allocated to group coaching.  Starting 6.45, those juniors who are members of the English Chess Federation -  usually all, see next paragraph - should have the choice of one classical game [approximate playing time, 60 minutes per player] or two/three rapidplay games [15 minutes] where the results will be rated by the ECF.

[ECF membership is requested because the ECF charges clubs a fee for games, played by non-members, submitted by clubs for rating purposes.   Junior membership of the ECF is inexpensive and, in many cases, totally free - see https://www.englishchess.org.uk/ecf-membership-rates-and-joining-details/ for full details].

The club is open to a limited number of guests each Monday but, in order fully to comply with good anti-Covid practice and also to obtain directions etc, anyone wishing to make a guest visit is asked to clear this first with the club's juniors manager using the "Contact us" facility on this webpage - there's a limit to the number of guests we can sensibly accommodate on any one evening.   Please note also that there's presently a limit of two guest visits per person.

Once junior team over-the-board chess becomes more organised post-pandemic, Watford juniors will resume competing in regular over-the-board [as well as online] competitions.   The main team event already in the calendar is the first weekend of the Junior 4 Nations Chess League which is due to take place in Leamington Spa over the weekend of 25-26 September but, meantime, there's an over-the-board match against Uxbridge Juniors on 14 June.   We had been looking at the feasibility of an "Adults versus Juniors" match later that month but this is now postponed due to the national lockdown being extended beyond 21 June.

In all events, our teams consist of bona fide members of Watford Chess Club under age 18 .   The club is currently still accepting new junior members - use the "Contact us" link to get in touch - but this will change on 1 July, as from which date new applicants will be asked to join a waiting list.  

Finally, we're hoping to resume the series of open-to-all under-12 rapidplays, held in 2018 and 2019 but a victim of the pandemic in July 2020, on a date during the school summer holidays, with Saturday 24 July looking a likely date.

 

 

Watford Chess Club

Annual General Meeting

held at

West Herts Sports Club, Park Avenue, Watford WD18 7HP

on Monday 16th September 2019 at 7:30pm 

 AGENDA

1.  Receive apologies for absence

2.  Approve minutes of September 2018 AGM (copies are attached)

3.  Receive report from the President on the 2018-19 year, and to approve the Accounts for the financial year ending 31st July 2019

4.  Agree Club membership subscriptions for 2019-20. The Committee proposes:

Adults Full £60, Associate £40 and Social £20. 

Juniors and students Full £35 Social £20.

Full membership entitles a member to participate in all Club activity.

Associate membership: a member can take part in the Club’s inter-club competitive activities (but not the Price Cup) but not otherwise use the club’s facilities on club nights, except for designated special events.

Social membership entitles a member to full use of the Club’s facilities on club nights but not to participate in any of the club’s competitive activities (including the Price Cup), except for designated special events.

The subscriptions represent an increase on last year because the club will pay next year for all (adult and junior) 4NCL fees. There will be a £2 discount in all categories for everyone who pays by bank transfer, with the member’s name as a reference, before 1 October 2019.

5. Present trophies to winning individuals 

6.  Elect Officers, Secretaries and Committee for 2019-20:

7.  Any Other Business  

Paul Littlefair

Secretary

 

Jennifer Hurrell presents Ernest Karumazondo, joint winner with Andrew Stone, with the Price Cup

 

Watford players celebrate after beating St Albans in the season-opening Cheshire Cup match on 23 September. Above, from left, David Shaw, Chris Russell, Alistair Taylor, Omowale Nelson, Barry David, Neil Dunlop, Paul Littlefair (non-playing captain), Sandesh Tathare, Sanjay Vig.

 

If you are a member of Watford Chess Club (the "Club"), your personal data will be processed by the Club for the purposes of Club and membership administration and to facilitate your participation in club competitions and similar events.  For fuller information, click "Privacy Policy" link under "Policies and Procedures". 

 

Everyone is welcome (to access, click on pictorial below) at Geir Erik Nielsen's YouTube channel at

 

 

Below, Watford v Uxbridge, June 2021. Watford juniors wholly or partially visible are Denis, Aarav, Seb, Leo, Dhairya, Ishaan and Joel.