5th 4NCL Weekend, 4 May 2013, Rd10 - Lawrence Cooper

Division 1C

Guildford and Wood Green swatted aside their latest victims with some ease setting up the title decider tomorrow. Guildford had a most impressive 8-0 victory against Cheddleton who had two grandmasters and six international masters in their team. Only Aleksandar Colovic on board two and Robert Bellin on board seven put up any real resistance before succumbing to defeat against Laurent Fressinet and Mark Hebden. Wood Green also scored heavily scoring 7½ against Barbican 2 with only Simon Knott, against Alex Baburin, troubling the scorers for Barbican.

Jutes of Kent had an impressive 5-3 win against Barbican 1 with wins for Simon Williams, Anthony Stebbings and Arlette van Weersel. Jonathan Rogers scored a consolation point against Alexis Harakis.

White Rose powered to victory against Cambridge with Sabrina Chevannes (who secured her first WIM norm yesterday) scoring the latter’s solitary victory with a win against WIM Tereza Olsarova from the Czech Republic. Peter Wells, Richard Palliser, Colin McNab and Jan Van de Griendt won for White Rose.

The European Club Cup places for the top three remain unclear, mainly because it is unlikely that the top two will take their place which would leave Barbican, Cheddleton, Jutes of Kent and White Rose fighting it out tomorrow.

Match points: Guildford 12, Wood Green 11, Barbican 1 6, Cheddleton, Jutes of Kent & White Rose 5, Barbican 2 4, Cambridge 0.

Round eleven pairings:

Guildford 1 (12) - Wood Green Hilsmark 1 (11)

Barbican 4NCL 2 (4) - Cheddleton 1 (5)

White Rose 1 (5) - Barbican 4NCL 1 (6)

Jutes of Kent (5) - Cambridge University 1 (0)

Division 1D

Wins for Lawrence Trent, Juan Bellon, Malcolm Pein and Benjamin Arvola was enough to see Wood Green 2 home against e2e4.org.uk but an early win for Andrew Bird followed by wins from Peter Sowray and Rasa Norinkeviciute gained what may turn out to be very useful game points as the relegation battle goes into its final day.

Sambuca Sharks and Warwickshire Select had a very exciting match that seemed to be going Sambuca’s way as they took a 4-2 lead with wins for Sam Williams, Ben Purton and Hugh Murphy on the bottom three boards. However, wins for Chris Shepherd and finally John Pitcher added to Ameet Ghasi’s earlier win was sufficient to save the match.

Blackthorne Russia’s commanding 6½-1½ victory against BCM Dragons gives them a real chance of surviving. Despite a loss for Simon Ansell against Paul Cooksey they won the bottom four boards to sadly condemn BCM to Division 2 next season.

Guildford 2 had a comfortable 7-1 win against South Wales Dragons but even victory against Wood Green 2 in round eleven may not be enough to save them.

Match points: Wood Green 2 10, Sambuca Sharks 7, Blackthorne, e2e4.org.uk & Warwickshire 6, G/ford 2 & SW Dragons 5, BCM Dragons 3.

Round eleven pairings:

Guildford 2 (5) - Wood Green Hilsmark 2 (10)

e2e4.org.uk 1 (6) - South Wales Dragons (5)

Sambuca Sharks (7) - Blackthorne Russia (6)

BCM Dragons (3) - Warwickshire Select 1 (6)

Division 2C

Kings Head one hundred per cent record finally came to an end against Pandora’s Box. IM Jerzy Slaby and Chris Ross both won to clinch the match and leave them well placed for promotion.

3Cs joined them on eight match points after a tense 4½-3½ win against Oxford. Victory for Glenn House and Alan Walton more than made up for David Zakarian’s scoring Oxford’s only win against Adam Ashton on board one.

White Rose 2 beat Wessex 6-2 and Anglian Avengers won 4½-3½ against Bristol to keep their promotion chances alive. They will now play in round eleven with the winner having a chance of being promoted depending on the results in the other two matches.

Match points: Kings Head 10, 3Cs and Pandora’s Box 8, Oxford 7, White Rose 2 6, Anglian Avengers 5, Bristol & Wessex 2.

Kings Head (10) - Oxford 1 (7) 3Cs 1 (8) - Pandora's Box Grantham (8) White Rose 2 (6) - Anglian Avengers 1 (5) Bristol 1 (2) – Wessex (2).

Division 2D

Rhyfelwyr Essyllwg 1 beat The ADs 5-3 to confirm their place in Division 2 next season with wins from Tom Brown, John Trevelyan and Alex Bullen. Ian Snape scored the win for ADs who were already safe.

Barbican Youth & Poisoned Pawns drew their match 4-4 with wins for Peter Poobalasingam and Kanwal Bhatia for Barbican being cancelled out by wins for Ken McEwan and Paul McMahon.

Spirit of Atticus moved closer to safety with a 5-3 win over North East England. Martin Mitchell, Andrew Smith and David Robertson won for Atticus whilst Sue Maroroa beat WGM Sheila Jackson for the North East’s one win.

KJCA Kings kept their hopes alive with a 5-3 victory over e2e4.org.uk 2 with Victor Jones, Laurence Ball and Matthew Lunn winning whilst John Garnett won for e2e4.

Match points: ADs 10, Rhyfelwyr Essyllwg 1 9, Poisoned Pawns & Spirit of Atticus 8, Barbican Youth 7, KJCA Kings 6, e2e4.org.uk 2 & NE England 0.

Poisoned Pawns (8) The AD's (10) Rhyfelwyr Essyllwg 1 (9) v Barbican Youth (7) Spirit of Atticus (8) - KJCA Kings (6) e2e4.org.uk 2 (0) - North East England (0)

Division Three

Congratulations to Hackney who secured promotion with a 3½-2½ victory over Anglian Avengers 2 with Adrian Ociepka and John Reid recording the vital wins. Mark Gray beat Francis Chin to score Anglian’s one victory.

Cambridge 2 caught up Bradford by beating them in round 10. Their wins came from Alistair Hill, Stuart Robertson and Andrew McClement.

Sussex Smart Survivors, The Rookies and Cheddleton 2 all won to remain amongst the many teams in contention going into the last round.

Leaders: Hackney 18, Bradford & Cambridge 16, Anglian Avengers 14.

Full results and PGNs from today’s round will be available soon on the 4NCL website as well as round 11 pairings in the Third Division.

Photos: Steve Connor 4NCL

• Download the games from round 10 in PGN