The 1st and 2nd teams played at the Holiday Inn, Coventry. The 3rd team played in Peterborough on the third 4NCL weekend 15 & 16 February 2025
From left: front: Nia, David Maycock, Ash Stewart; back: Viviana, Ulysse, Peter Finn, Liwia, Vlad Larkin (Photo by John Foley)
4NCL Weekend Report by John Foley
The 4NCL is the national chess league which is played one game per day over five weekends at hotels in central England. Divisions 1 and 2 comprise 12 teams of 8 players. Division 3 is split into two groups 12 teams of 6 players. Division 4 has 32 many teams of 6 players. Kingston has teams in Divisions 1, 3 and 4. The team is called CSC/Kingston to reflect the aspiration that we provide a pipeline for those learning under the Chess in Schools and Communities project.
This was the third weekend and marks the halfway point of the season. It was was make or break this weekend and we proved ourselves up to the challenge. We were short-handed because some of our players were on international duties for England at the World Senior Teams championships in Prague. Peter Large is in the 65+ first team, Clive Frostick is in the 50+ second team and his wife Helen is in the Women’s team. We were also missing players from our second team – Chris Fegan for England and Alan Scrimgour for Scotland. Nonetheless, we have a strong squad and others were drafted in.
Weekend 5
The Kingston team is newly promoted and battling to survive at the top flight of British chess. During the first two weekends we had won just one out of four matches. However, most of these opponents were from the “elite” group of first division teams. We won against Alba which although the top Scottish team, was not quite at the elite level. So we had not given up hope of survival.
Division 1 Round 5
The first match this third weekend was against the formidable Wood Green, a sponsored team which has won the title on many occasions. They outrated us on every board and the final defeat by 3-5 was within our expectations. Six of the games were drawn and we lost only two. This proved that we were able to slug it out with the elite.
One factor in our favour for the longer term is that the average age of our team is only 19 years old. We are much younger than the soi-disant “Wood Green Youth” team whose teeth are getting long. Past players for our CSC/Kingston team (the fluctuating history of the team will be told one day) were the then-teenagers Matthew Wadsworth and Harry Grieve, both of whom have now graduated to bigger teams.
Division 1 Round 6
After the loss, the team repaired to the Hungry Horse to lift our spirits. This had the desired effect because the next morning the team arrived fresh and creative to face the strong Barnet Knights A team. Barnet Knights have been a mainstay of junior coaching in north London and their talented protégés were participating including the Badacsonyi brothers. We were delighted to see Stanley who was a joint winner of the Kingston Invitational last summer.
This result marked the “coming of age” of the Kingston team according to an exultant tweet from Stephen Moss who had decamped to Florida. He loyally left aside the attractions of sun, sea and beach and hung on the live results feed from 4NCL. We were a shade outrated but by less than in the previous round. The first game to finish was from Ulysse Bottazzi who make short work of his International Master opponent as if in compensation for his quick loss the previous day. Peter Finn had two extra pawns against Ethan Pang but both sides had two rooks which made progress very slow but he got there in the end.
The league table shows we are now fourth from the bottom which crucially is just above the cutoff point for demotion back down to the second division. A decade ago, I captained a team which had just been promoted to the first division and my policy was to reward the players who had won promotion for their loyalty and devotion by retaining them in the team. They had the pleasure of playing some of the best players in the country if not Europe. Whilst this policy had ethical merits, it led to our immediate demotion. The competitive reality is that to survive after promotion, it is necessary to strengthen the team, which is what we have done this season.
Division 3 Round 5
Turning now to our second team, which was on 3/4 after two weekends, our only loss being to Sussex Martlets 1 which are the strongest team in the division and top of the table. As mentioned, we were shorthanded as some of our players were on international duties. To make matters worse, at the very last minute, after the pairings, one of our players pulled out due to illness. Defaulting a game is a serious matter in the 4NCL, losing not just the game, but also suffering a penalty point and possibly a financial penalty. Fortunately, Gerhard Bezuidenhout, the father of one of our 1st team players, stepped in to the breach and, although he lost quickly, he saved the penalties.
This was an excellent victory against a slightly higher rated team. I wondered if they were members of the Stephen Moss fan club named eponymously for The Rookie, his book ruminating on the chess world. Alas he could not be present to give a speech. After the match, the team repaired to the Hungry Horse for dinner with the first team. The social aspects of team morale cannot be underestimated.
Division 3 Round 6
The morning train from London to Coventry brought our Sunday substitute, Giampiero Amato, who eschewed the offer of a lift to take the No.9 bus from the station. One has to admire his faith in public transport but it doesn’t do much for the captain’s blood pressure. We swapped the bottom board from the first team and the top board of our second team partly to keep our opponents MK Phoenix guessing.
The team cruised to another victory. Giampiero won a piece in the early middle game and could get the next train back. Ewan Wilson notched up his second point of the weekend. Zain Patel obtained a draw on board 1 as did Viviana Cipriani on board 2. Tom Farrand was under attack for most of the game but when the smoke cleared he was the exchange up in the endgame and won.
The games have yet to be published on the 4NCL website at the time of writing so I will mention mine. I had overreached, losing a pawn. I was on the wrong side of a R+P v R ending. It looked ominous but the game ended curiously. I had been continually checking my opponent’s king from the rear, not allowing any time for the pawn to be promoted. I offered a draw and to my surprise my opponent accepted which was quite a relief. The scoresheets were signed. Our teammates on both sides subsequently queried whether the position was really drawn. They were right of course – the position was lost.
The second team’s hopes of promotion were greatly increased this weekend with two victories. We are third in the table. Our match against second placed ToBeDecided will be critical.
Division 4
The third team were playing a Peterborough which meant that I was unable to learn much more than the match results. The vibe was very positive with match wins on both days. Chris Rice and Harry Evans both scored a brace.
Division 4 Round 5
Division 4 Round 6
It was an excellent weekend with 5 match victories out of 6. Kingston are definitely contenders for promotion from Divisions 3 and 4 and to avoid demotion from Division 1.
Most credit should be given to Kate Cooke who organises the team and was there for all the crucial moments such as dropouts and replacements, logistics and transfers. It really is a team effort.
