4NCL Division 3 2023-24: 1st Weekend

The Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) Division 3 Bishops season started in the past weekend on 18-19 November. The matches were held at the Mercure Hotel, Telford, England.

Written by Trisha:

I was looking forward to making my debut for the She Plays To Win (SPTW) Lioness team. Previously I played for an Irish chess club, Gonzaga in Division 1, this season I wanted to play for SPTW because I loved the concept of an all-girls team and I got the chance to lead the team by playing on board 1.

Round 1, Saturday 02 pm: SPTW Lionesses – Ashfield 1

		She Plays To Win Lionesses		1846		Ashfield 1		2010
361	w	Kanyamarala, Trisha	wi	2181	1 – 0	Madden, Paul		2125 e
362	b	Weersing, Abigail Riis	wf	2090	0 – 1	Mossong, Hubert	f	2046 e
363	w	Rida, Ruqayyah		1707	0 – 1	Mercs, Peter J		1998 e
364	b	Latypova, Olga L		1741	½ – ½	Truman, Richard G		1979 e
365	w	Chan, Michelle (Ngo Yu)		1638	½ – ½	Naylor-Eade, Michael A		1967 e
366	b	Ashton, Alannah		1721	0 – 1	Garnett, John S		1950 e
					2 – 4

The first match was a close battle, we lost by a close margin. Although it was a decent start for the season.

Round 2, Sunday 11 am: Brown Jack – SPTW Lionesses

		Brown Jack		1838		She Plays To Win Lionesses		1846
341	w	Ogunshola, Ben		2020	½ – ½	Kanyamarala, Trisha	wi	2181
342	b	Gordon, Sean		1952	½ – ½	Weersing, Abigail Riis	wf	2090
343	w	Tomboline, David		1933	½ – ½	Rida, Ruqayyah		1707
344	b	Conterno, Dominique		1861	0 – 1	Latypova, Olga L		1741
345	w	Jones, Mark A		1756	½ – ½	Chan, Michelle (Ngo Yu)		1638
346	b	Fernando, Manel		1507	0 – 1	Ashton, Alannah		1721
					2 – 4

Round 2, we showed our potential! We won against a slightly lower-rated average team than us. Shoutout to Olga and Alannah for important wins with the Black pieces!

After 2 rounds, we are currently on 7th rank out of 12 teams with 2 Match points and 6 Game points. Rounds 3-4 will take place early next year on January 6 – 7 2024!

She Plays to Win consists of four teams! That’s 24 players, this wouldn’t have been possible without the efforts of our captain and founder of SPTW IM Lorin D’Costa. These are the teams as follows:

• SPTW Lionesses (the team that I play in – Division 3)
• SPTW Young Stars A
• SPTW Young Stars B
• SPTW Uni

By Tarun:

I was playing for Greater Woodpushers. My good friend Aidan Rawilson who also is the captain, brought me on board. Just like Trisha, I too was previously playing for Gonzaga in the previous seasons. Going into this league my main goal is to help the team to secure the top 2 spots which would promote the team to Division 2 by scoring on the 1st board. Having that said, I would try to enjoy the long classical-time control games and the team-tournament atmosphere. Greater Manchester Woodpushers consists of three teams:

• Greater Woodpushers (which I play in)
• Average Woodpushers (division 4)
• Apprentice Woodpushers (division 4)

The team is very diverse ranging from young junior players to experienced players.

Round 1, Saturday 02 pm: Warwickshire Select 2 – Greater Woodpushers

		Warwickshire Select 2		1993		Greater Woodpushers		2172
331	w	Paterson, Andrew I		2108 e	½ – ½	Kanyamarala, Tarun	i	2312
332	b	Sandhu, Manvith		2031 e	½ – ½	Rawlinson, Aidan M		2198 e
333	w	Pal, Rohan		2061 e	½ – ½	Smith, Alan A		2179 e
334	b	Dicen, Imogen		1984 e	0 – 1	Norris, Ethan		2204 e
335	w	Green, Anthony J		1913	½ – ½	Wong, Chun Hei		2076 e
336	b	Cundy, Mark A		1864	0 – 1	Zhu, Yaoyao		2068 e
					2 – 4

On Friday I predicted that I might play against Andrew so I was able to use my home preparation. Even though the opening was a “successful” I quickly realized the bishop pair was quite annoying. I wasn’t able to convert my material advantage into a decisive advantage:

Round 2, Saturday 11 am: Greater Woodpushers – The MASceters

		Greater Woodpushers		2172		The MASCeteers		1925
351	w	Kanyamarala, Tarun	i	2312	1 – 0	Hazlehurst, Cory S		2124 e
352	b	Rawlinson, Aidan M		2198 e	½ – ½	Duncan, Patrick C M		2072 e
353	w	Smith, Alan A		2179 e	1 – 0	Hurney, Kevin		2035 e
354	b	Norris, Ethan		2204 e	1 – 0	Isik, Muhammed Oguz		1873 e
355	w	Wong, Chun Hei		2076 e	1 – 0	Drugan, Mark A		1752 e
356	b	Zhu, Yaoyao		2068 e	½ – ½	Vaidyanathan, Sathya		1695 e
					5 – 1

I wasn’t pleased with my result yesterday, so I was eager to score today. I got a good IQP probably my opponent could have considered active options to slow down my initiative though over the board it was hard to play them.