The season started with the Summer Lightning Championship, which this year attracted ten teams and was shared between Clifton and Keynsham. For the League season, however, a different team dominated Division One of the League. Horfield had recruited both Nick Jakubovics and David Moskovic to their team, though the latter is a student and could only play a few matches, and they fought hard all season, ending two points ahead of Clifton A. They lost to Clifton A and Bath A and drew with Keynsham A, finishing on 27 out of a maximum 32. The lower divisions were won by Nailsea A, South Bristol A, Clifton D and South Bristol B, while the Knockout trophies were taken by Keynsham and Nailsea.
We finished the season with 48 teams, five fewer than last season, and 437 players, a drop of 30 on last year. The number of games was 2602, an increase of 63. So the average number of games by each player was about 10% higher than last year. This is in large part due to the new playing up and down rules, which allow people to play more games in teams other than those for which they were registered. There were 395 playups and 166 playdowns - equivalent in total to five entire League teams. There were 71 adjournments. 28 out of 414 matches used Quickplay finishes, almost all of them in Divisions One and Two.
This year the League has introduced a new competition, the Alan Ashby salver. This was paid for with the money collected for the Alan Ashby Memorial Fund and held by the Bristol Chess Educational Trust. The Management Committee decided it should be awarded to the player who scores the most points in the League - this both rewards players who provide a lot of support for the League and gives lower division players a good chance of winning the trophy - a principle which we believe Alan would have approved. The inaugural winner of the trophy was Alan Warne of Clifton, who played an incredible 32 games for his 20½ points. But even this was not a record - Jim Cattran played 36 games in the League this year.
In parallel to the Alan Ashby competition I have created a league table of the most improved players in the League. Although there is no trophy for this informal competition the top player was Tomos Nitz of Bath University, who put in a grading performance of 161, 36 above his BCF grade. Contrary to rumour I have absolutely no intention of publishing a list of the worst performers in the League.
The League was very slightly weaker overall than last season. The merger of Divisions Five and Six appears to have had a knock-on effect in Division Four, though the top three divisions have been roughly the same. The average grade of Board One in Division One was 184, while Board Six of Division Five comes out with an estimate of 48.
The number of defaults this season has been less than last, though still a little higher than is desirable. Altogether there were 117 defaults from the 414 matches, including four complete matches. This does not include Bristol University A, who exceeded the limit for Default Penalty Points, and it also excludes the Knock-out. Half of the defaults (52 in total) were produced by two clubs - Bristol University and Grendel. Stripping out these clubs defaults fell from 78 to 55. I believe it should be possible by good management to reduce this figure to a target of less than one default per ten matches - i.e. a total of no more than 41 next season. In particular it is essential for clubs to take note of letters I send out with changes and corrections to the fixture book, as some teams defaulted boards and even entire matches by not being able to find the venue. There is an up to date list of club venues, as well as details of how to find them, on the League Web site.
I have not been able to form an opinion of whether the number of teams will go up or down next season, so I assume it will remain about the same. Bath University are dropping out, which will reduce us to 47 teams, but it is probable that we will try to keep five divisions even if we go as low as 45 teams. This may mean that there are fewer matches next year than there have been this year, which could create a demand for more chess than the League itself provides.
One area in which I am particularly keen to see an increase in chess activity is in the organisation of internal club competitions. These have the huge advantage that every match is a home match, so that players only have to attend their local club to play in competitive matches. In addition, clubs can set their own rules, so those clubs that are in favour of quickplay finishes or adjournments have an opportunity to prove their point. Thirdly, clubs can set their own time limits, so matches do not have to carry on until late into the evening. Matches can even be played to rapidplay time limits. All games of 30 minutes or more can be sent for grading, so this gives an excellent opportunity to give new players some match experience and get them a rough grade without having to send them all over Bristol. The Bristol Chess Educational Trust is also willing to support these tournaments, as will be reported later.
In order to start the recruitment ball rolling I have created a new set of PlayChess leaflets this season. These were originally produced by John Richards when he was Recruitment Officer, but have not been used for several years. I have placed them in the Central Library and they seem to go at the rate of about ten to fifteen a week. I have brought a number to this meeting in case any members wish to place them in their own local library, and I intend to leave a supply at local chess events for members to distribute.
Lastly may I say how pleased I am at the positive response I have received to the League tables and other information I have sent out. You should all receive a set of tables at your club at the beginning of each month, and there have been fortnightly updates on the Web site, which became weekly towards the end of the season. Many thanks to John Richards for finding time to support this. I have also made a point of posting tables at every local congress, including the excellent Grendel Rapidplays which you are all recommended to support. In order to keep these tables up to date we need support from captains in sending results sheets in - please send them on the night of the match even if there are adjudications to be considered at home. I shall provide clubs with envelopes which can be kept in their cupboards for easy despatch of results, and club treasurers should make sure they recompense captains for the cost of postage where appropriate. I hope this will help to make the season run smoothly next year.