My last report was out of date even before it could be published, as I had carelessly overlooked Horfield's adjournments, but it is safe now to say that Horfield have 'won' the first half of the season, having dropped only three points, and go into January with a two point lead. How they perform against Clifton A (23rd Feb) and Grendel A (Grendel's last match of the season, on 6th April) will be instrumental in deciding this year's League. Meanwhile in Division 2, Nailsea and Bath University are streets ahead of the field, and the other divisions all have a small gang of front-runners with everything to play for.
For those who like these things: I have received 206 results sheets, which means ten are still to be sent in. Including the KO there have been 1247 games decided, 42 adjudications (15 still outstanding), and 32 adjournments (11 still outstanding). 55 games have been defaulted (excluding KO). 391 players have played at least one game and 61 have managed more than ten. The record so far is Jim Cattran (Grendel D) with eighteen.
Division One has proved slightly stronger than last year, and all other divisions are a little weaker. Division Five has held up well despite the abolition of Division Six this year. So the new playing down rule has not led to stronger divisions. Possibly, though, the lower divisions would be markedly weaker without this rule. There have been 79 play-downs and 182 play-ups (of registered players).
Congratulations to Dave Collier (Clifton A) on his storming performance of 217 from 7 games - an improvement of 34 on his published grade. The strongest player in the League at the moment is Chris Beaumont (Grendel A) who is posting a result of 226 from 9 matches. In the Alan Ashby competition Chris is fifth, but the leaders (just) are Alan Warne (Clifton) and Richard Lobb (Yate), who have played nearly twice as many games. The race is now on to see whether one of them will be the first Bristol player to manage more than 30 League games in a season.
The BCF are now bringing out gradings twice yearly. They have written to the League with their requirements but have not yet given details of how the grades will be calculated. They have also not yet sent us the necessary software. They have stated that the grading list published on 30th January will be based on results from 1st May 1997 to 24th December 1998. August lists will cover 1st June - 31st May (i.e. similar to the lists we are used to). Future January lists will cover 26 December - 24th December. You cannot play on Christmas Day!
The League Management Committee has decided that League Grading Thresholds will not change in January, and that the eligibility to play down will continue to be based on grades published in the August 1998 grading list. Also the League Congress will use August grades.
These issues will be discussed at the LMC meeting on 13th January.
The results of internal club tournaments can be sent for BCF grading (provided they are played to standard time limits). Simply notify the Grading Officer before the event, and send him the crosstables afterwards. The BCF has recently decided to charge 1/3 of the standard Game Fee for these matches, but the League will pay this fee if the tournament is held for the benefit of new and ungraded players. So you can give your players the chance to play matches even if they are not in a League team, and get them into the next grading list if they play sufficient games.
Apologies to South Bristol for getting the second round pairings wrong - they beat Hanham and therefore get to play Downend on 12th January.
A set of tables and individual performances was sent to clubs on 27th December. The next lot will be produced on 30th January. There will be an update on the Web site around 16th January.
Jerry Humphreys
27 December 1998