4NCL  07/08 - Division 4

 Jun 08 - Captain's report  (Peter Richmond)

The leading scores when Division Four has operated as a single

Swiss are:-

2003/4     Cambridge Univ.    18 - 42          Oxford         17 - 45½

2005/6     Pride & Prejudice   21 - 51          Cheddleton   18 - 42½

2006/7     Jutes of Kent         18 - 41

2007/8     Brown Jack           20 - 43          Celtic Tigers  18 - 44

That Brown Jack should be a clear second in this list is testament to

our consistency as a team.

I did my bit to ensure that we did not suffer championship jitters but

it was the first half scores of Pablo (5½/6) and Dan (4/4) on which

our promotion platform was based. The artistry of Pablo's play was a

delight to watch, he seemed to be in a different class to most of his

opponents. His demolition of Athenaeum's high scorer (round 9) I rate

as certainly the most publishable and probably the best ever played

for Brown Jack. By contrast Dan scored his points by battling, setting

his opponents more problems than they could solve. His recovery from

a dubious 10th (6) being typical.

Our top six (+23 =16 -4) achieved plus scores in all our matches. I

deemed it necessary for all six to play against Celtic Tigers, only the

fourth time in five seasons that I have put out our undisputed top team.

In seven matches four of our top six participated, all of which were

relatively comfortable victories. In round 1  three was sufficient as

6-0 was possible until David and Nicola came second in mating races.

Pablo was rotated out of the fourth weekend. It can hardly be any

coincidence that, with only three first teamers, these were our two

drawn matches.

Paul changed jobs and was working excessive hours at the start of

the season. Understandably his energy levels fell in the run up to the

first time control. This was a major factor in his losses in rounds 2-4.

Significant though his positions crumbled in dead situations after our

victories had been established. Therefore I choose to evaluate his

performance on his other games where he scored +2 =3, the same as

Tim and Richard. I am always happy with scores of 70%.

Our other five (+5 =14 -4) performed admirably in support of our first

teamers. Mike (1), David (2) and Johnathan (4) recording important

early wins to settle the team nerves. Jane (4) and the championship

clincher by Mike (11) I rate as the contenders for our second best

games of the season. Eight of the draws were agreed early. The

other six were agreed when realistic winning chances has evaporated.

The avoidance of potential accidents I expect from Johnathan and

take for granted from David (two defeats in 30 4NCL games!). For

three such battlers as Jane, Mike and Nicola to demonstrate such

responsibility enabled me to have a very relaxed season.

I was delighted by the end-game proficiency displayed by the team.

Tim (2) and Dan (5) made this look easy. Dan (9) did blow his winning

chances by pushing the wrong pawn but recovered well to find a far

from obvious draw. Pablo (10) had to play several only moves. Then

there was the AMCA Dragons match (8). I was relieved to hold a

pawn down. Johnathan was not so fortunate despite a very stubborn

resistance. Richard's was the most difficult and required a monumental

effort to convert.

Selection was never a problem on Sundays. Having Jane playing meant

we consistently averaged 2160, sufficient to face unknown opposition

with confidence. Saturdays were a different matter. It was one thing to

abandon our rotation policy for Celtic Tigers (3) but not so easy to

justify against Athenaeum (9) even though they were potentially the third

best team in the division. Losing this match would have blown our title

aspirations which was acceptable. Not acceptable, however, was the

possibility of missing promotion altogether. Being required to win our last

two matches would have put us under pressure and our record under

pressure is not good. I therefore decided to field five first teamers with

Tim on top board. His withdrawal on the eve of the match was a blow.

The other selection problem was who to put on top board against

Notts. (7). With only three first teamers playing the general view was that

I had to play black against their 2260. Jane disagreed but was over-ruled.

This led to the low point of our season which was the 20 minutes following

my 15th move. The situation was made worse by Mike, who otherwise

played well all season, also blundering. I was donated the tempo I needed

to untangle which reversed my position. Instead of being all but lost I was

all but winning. My blunder was essentially the cause of my victory. This

was my first competitive game against my brother since 1975. I felt

sickened to win such a game in this fashion, it was as though I had actually

cheated.

The saddest moment of the season was Pablo's loss in our final game. This

prevented him attaining a 2200 rating and meant he only equalled my record

score of 7½/9 in 2004/5.