Rounds 9-11, 1-3 May 1999 by John Richards
Bristol 1 entered the final weekend in eighth place on six points in Division One. Although six points had been enough to stay up last year, this time it was by no means safe and we knew we were going to need some more points from somewhere. Meanwhile, Bristol 2 was in third place in Division Two and going for promotion. There was no Karl Mah and no David Moskovic (both doing exams at Cambridge University), so David Buckley and Duncan Grossett were brought in, and Robert McFarland moved to the first team.
Bristol 1 Wood Green 1 1 b S Ansell 2400 0-1 J Emms 2573 2 w G Buckley 2285 0-1 J Speelman 2601 3 b C Beaumont 2298 =.= C Ward 2482 4 w G Burgess 2290 1-0 J Levitt 2427 5 b C Cobb 2275 =.= P Littlewood 2430 6 w D Collier 2245 0-1 M Pein 2425 7 b R McFarland 2257 0-1 P Sowray 2336 8 w M Buckley 2055 =.= S Jackson 2168 2.5-5.5
Bad news after just an hour when three Eagles failed to arrive for the NW Eagles v BCM match. This practically gave the BCM two points on a plate and increased our relegation worries. It didn't look too optimistic for us in the match either, with four GMs lined up against us. Graham Burgess got a good win after defending hard for a long time and Chris Beaumont , Charles Cobb, and Melanie Buckley all obtained creditable draws against much higher-rated opposition. Dave Collier had a nightmare game, missing a win of Malcolm Pein's queen. All in all, it was just good to get this match out of the way so we could concentrate on matches that we had real chances of winning.
The other Division 1 matches did not help us at all: Barbican 2 took a match point off Invicta Knights, and BCM demolished the Eagles that bothered to turn up. As a result, we slipped into the relegation zone. Bottom positions: Barbican 2, 7 points; BCM, Bristol 6; Wessex 5; Home House 3.
Bristol 2 Guildford 1 w N Jakubovics 2210 =.= A Kinsman 2369 2 b A Easton 2160 0-1 N Povah 2325 3 w S Buckley 2144 1-0 M Anderton 2236 4 b S Dilleigh 2215 =.= I Thompson 2278 5 w C Hanley 2110 =.= R Granat 2255 6 b D Buckley 2143 =.= K Norman 2172 7 w D Grossett 181 1-0 R James 2155 8 b S Tidman 144 0-1 D Norman 2064 4-4
Nick Jakubovics got us off to a good start, drawing against Kinsman. Duncan put us in the lead but Sophie's loss levelled it up again. Simon impressively crushed his opponent in a knight and pawn ending, and if Craig could have won, the match would have been in the bag. Regrettably, a perpetual enabled Granat to salvage a draw. Alex Easton was the last to finish. He dropped a pawn on move 8, and he was still a pawn down going into a complex queen, rook and pawns ending. Povah ground out a win to save some of Guildford's blushes. In the other top match White Rose beat Coulsdon. Top positions: White Rose, Bristol 2, Guildford 14; Coulsdon 13; Wood Green 2 12.
Bristol 1 Barbican 1 1 b S Ansell 2400 =.= N Pert 2443 2 w C Beaumont 2298 =.= D Kopec 2392 3 b G Buckley 2285 1-0 C Hansen 2310 4 w C Cobb 2275 =.= S Dishman 2365 5 b G Burgess 2290 =.= S Pritchett 2325 6 w R McFarland 2257 1-0 J Rogers 2358 7 b D Collier 2245 =.= P Williamson 2170 8 w M Buckley 2055 0-1 I Lauterbach 2171 4.5-3.5
It's strange how our opponents always seem to get their best teams out against Bristol. In this case, Barbican 1 added Danny Kopec to the side that played the previous day, thus shifting most of the players down one. This was a long match, but both Graeme Buckley and Robert McFarland had good wins that took us to 4-2. Melanie hung on grimly before accepting defeat. Chris Beaumont was the last to finish, trying to grind out a win in a bishop and two pawns v rook ending.
Two vital points, but still not enough for safety. The bottom of the table read: BCM, Bristol, Richmond 8; Barbican 2 7; Home House 5; Wessex 4. So Home House and Wessex were down and one place left to be decided. On the final day, we would play NW Eagles, and Richmond would play Barbican 2. BCM were safe on game points. Mathematically, a Richmond win would leave us up. Alternatively, we needed to get at least 2.5 game points.
Bristol 2 Coulsdon & Purley
1 b N Jakubovics 2210 =.= M Houska 2370
2 w A Easton 2160 0-1 T Wall 2367
3 b S Buckley 2144 0-1 J Pigott 2372
4 w S Dilleigh 2215 =.= C Dunworth 2305
5 b C Hanley 2110 =.= A Harley 2305
6 w D Buckley 2143 0-1 D Rosen 2228
7 b D Grossett 181 1-0 D Ledger 2208
8 w S Tidman 144 =.= S Turvey 121
3-5
The opponents just get tougher. Outrated by an average 118 points per board (161 if we ignore board 8), we still managed to give Coulsdon a scare. Duncan Grossett ("super sub") pulled out his second win of the weekend when I'd written him off and with Sophie Tidman cruising to victory it was looking very promising. Then, disaster, Sophie, a knight and two pawns up, allowed her opponent to force a stalemate. Poor Sophie was inconsolable and the match was going away from us. Craig hung on superbly for a half and Nick almost won his ending (bizarrely both were rook and two pawns v rook and one endings, and so was Melanie's in the first team match).
This effectively ended our promotion challenge, but it was a good result against an extremely strong side, almost as strong as the opponents of the first team in Division One.
Bristol 1 North West Eagles 1 w S Ansell 2400 =.= J Littlewood 2295 2 b C Cobb 2275 =.= G Quillan 2335 3 w G Buckley 2285 =.= D James 2225 4 b D Collier 2245 0-1 C Kennaugh 2283 5 w C Beaumont 2298 =.= B Lund 2295 6 b R McFarland 2257 =.= R Sheldon 2265 7 w G Burgess 2290 =.= A A Smith 2240 8 b M Buckley 2055 0-1 D Tebb 2256 3-5
The crunch match. The snazzy new board order was designed to give our "big hitters" the White bits in an attempt to make sure of the vital game points. But the Eagles are our bogey team; we always think we have a chance of beating them and then lose heavily. The cunning plan failed miserably, with the "big hitters" scoring four draws between them. It was still good enough to get us past the 2.5 game points needed for survival, but then Richmond beat Barbican 2 to make it irrelevant. So, Barbican 2 are relegated and we finished in ninth place for the second year running.
Bristol 2 White Rose 1 w N Jakubovics 2210 0-1 H Gretarsson 2459 2 b S Dilleigh 2215 0-1 G Lane 2411 3 w S Buckley 2144 1-0 A Dunnington 2358 4 b A Easton 2160 =.= A Potts 2270 5 w C Hanley 2110 =.= P Gayson 2250 6 b D Buckley 2143 =.= S J Barrett 2202 7 w D Grossett 181 =.= P Townsend 2225 8 b M Howard 109 =.= C Forbes 2104 3.5-4.5
They get tougher; this time we were outgraded by 222 points per board as White Rose fielded a GM, two IMs, and a WIM! Marieanne Howard delighted us all, and herself, with a draw against Cathy Forbes; definitely a player to watch for the future and I hope she stays in the squad. Craig Hanley had chances and it looked like we might cause an upset. But defeats on the top two against the Yorkshire side's Icelandic GM and West Country IM swung things back to White Rose. Apparently, White Rose were content to draw their way to promotion, showing the amount of respect they gave Bristol 2. Simon Buckley was the second star of the day, beating IM Angus Dunnington. It was close; a 4-4 draw would have given us an outside chance of promotion.
Bristol 2 never expected to be in this position. We started as the tenth or eleventh seeds out of the 14 teams, and confounded everybody by being up with the leaders most of the way. Wins against South Wales Dragons and Bigwood 2, and the Guildford draw were major highlights. In the end we lost three matches: to the teams finishing 1st, 2nd and 4th, but it was only in the Wood Green match that we were outclassed and never in with a chance. Fifth place was an excellent result and promises great things for the future if the team sticks together.
Bristol 1 survived again. It was not as thrilling an escape as last year, but surely that would be almost impossible to recreate. Instead it seemed more of an anticlimax in comparison with last year's high. Six points were enough last season (3 wins, 8 defeats). This season we started better, but it took eight points to stay up. We should take some satisfaction that we were harder to beat, managing 2 wins, 4 draws, and just 5 defeats. Draws with Invicta Knights 1 and Bigwood 1, and the victory over Barbican 1 were the highlights. We can also count ourselves unfortunate to have played (and lost to) BCM and Home House on the January weekend when both had strong sides; almost any other weekend we would have been looking for two victories.
Bristol 1 really needs at least another 2400 player if we are to avoid another relegation battle next season. Simon Ansell battled away on board one with great determination, but could have done with a rest from time to time. It was far too easy for our opponents to know that Simon had to be top board and could prepare accordingly, while Simon had to guess which of several players he would face.
Overall, it has been an exciting season with the usual ups and downs. Bristol 1 has maintained its unbroken record in the top flight, and Bristol 2 scared several strong teams and their players with their guts, determination and ability. It's been a privilege to manage these teams.
|
4NCL Division 1, 1998/9 |
P |
W |
D |
L |
GPts |
MPts |
|
|
1 |
Slough |
11 |
9 |
1 |
1 |
63 |
19 |
|
2 |
Wood Green |
11 |
8 |
2 |
1 |
57 |
18 |
|
3 |
Bigwood |
11 |
6 |
2 |
3 |
51 |
14 |
|
4 |
Invicta Kts |
11 |
5 |
3 |
3 |
43 |
13 |
|
5 |
NW Eagles |
11 |
6 |
0 |
5 |
42.5 |
12 |
|
6 |
Barbican 1 |
11 |
5 |
1 |
5 |
41 |
11 |
|
7 |
Richmond |
11 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
38.5 |
10 |
|
8 |
BCM |
11 |
4 |
1 |
6 |
45.5 |
9 |
|
9 |
Bristol |
11 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
38 |
8 |
|
10 |
Home House |
11 |
3 |
1 |
7 |
37 |
7 |
|
11 |
Barbican 2 |
11 |
3 |
1 |
7 |
36.5 |
7 |
|
12 |
Wessex |
11 |
1 |
2 |
8 |
35 |
4 |
|
4NCL Div 2, 1998/9 |
P |
W |
D |
L |
GPts |
MPts |
|
|
1 |
White Rose |
11 |
9 |
0 |
2 |
51 |
18 |
|
2 |
Wood Green 2 |
11 |
8 |
0 |
3 |
51.5 |
16 |
|
3 |
Guildford |
11 |
6 |
3 |
2 |
54 |
15 |
|
4 |
Coulsdon & P |
11 |
7 |
1 |
3 |
51 |
15 |
|
5 |
Bristol 2nds |
11 |
6 |
2 |
3 |
45 |
14 |
|
6 |
Bigwood 2nds |
11 |
5 |
1 |
5 |
47 |
11 |
|
7 |
Kings Head |
11 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
45.5 |
11 |
|
8 |
Witney |
11 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
46.5 |
10 |
|
9 |
S Wales Dragons |
11 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
45 |
10 |
|
10 |
BCCA |
11 |
4 |
1 |
6 |
36 |
9 |
|
11 |
Nidum Knights |
11 |
3 |
2 |
6 |
40 |
8 |
|
12 |
Gwent Dragons |
11 |
3 |
2 |
6 |
36 |
8 |
|
13 |
Slough 2nds |
11 |
2 |
3 |
6 |
38 |
7 |
|
14 |
Invicta Kts 2nds |
11 |
1 |
0 |
10 |
29.5 |
2 |
|
1 |
Oct 24 |
Bristol 1 |
4-4 |
Invicta Knights 1 |
Invicta Knights 2 |
3½-4½ |
Bristol 2 |
|
2 |
Oct 25 |
Barbican 2 |
2-6 |
Bristol 1 |
Bristol 2 |
5-3 |
Slough 2 |
|
3 |
Nov 21 |
Slough 1 |
7-1 |
Bristol 1 |
Gwent Dragons |
3-5 |
Bristol 2 |
|
4 |
Nov 22 |
Bristol 1 |
4-4 |
Wessex |
Bristol 2 |
4½-3½ |
SWDragons |
|
5 |
Jan 23 |
Bristol 1 |
3-5 |
B.C.M. |
Wood Green 2 |
6½-1½ |
Bristol 2 |
|
6 |
Jan 24 |
Home House |
6-2 |
Bristol 1 |
Bristol 2 |
4-4 |
Witney & Swindon |
|
7 |
Mar 20 |
Bigwood 1 |
4-4 |
Bristol 1 |
Bigwood 2 |
3½-4½ |
Bristol 2 |
|
8 |
Mar 21 |
Bristol 1 |
4-4 |
Richmond |
Bristol 2 |
5½-2½ |
B.C.C.A |
|
9 |
May 1 |
Wood Green 1 |
5½-2½ |
Bristol 1 |
Bristol 2 |
4-4 |
Guildford |
|
10 |
May 2 |
Barbican 1 |
3½-4½ |
Bristol 1 |
Coulsdon & Purley |
5-3 |
Bristol 2 |
|
11 |
May 3 |
Bristol 1 |
3-5 |
NW Eagles |
Bristol 2 |
3½-4½ |
White Rose |
The last three rounds in Division 2 were decided on a Swiss pairing basis after round 8.
Rounds 7 and 8
Rounds 5 and 6
Rounds 3 and 4
Rounds 1 and 2
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