Notts Correspondence Chess Team 2017-18 Mid-Term Report
Report by Phil Morgan
Notts last team entry in the Counties Competition was in 2013-14. Teams have 8 players and we have 4 survivors of the last campaign. We are in the third, lowest division of County play. There are 11 competing teams - Notts, Lincolnshire, Durham, Staffs, Worcs A and B, Essex D, Yorkshire D, Surrey D and East Wales B.
We are doing rather well, with 8 points from 9 completed games. On the top board SIM Jon Tait 2420 drew his 2 games with IM David Anderton, 2418, a pretty special pairing, which outshadows the Division 1 top board pairing between 2341 and 2256 graded players.
We’ve won our other 7 completed games. Our Boards 2 and 4, Gordon Anderson and Glenn Halfpenny won both their games. Alex Combie on Board 3 won his completed game, and Bob Taylor on Board 8 won both his games on time!
Winning the division is by no means assured. We have 2 close rivals. Essex D stand on 8/11 and Worcestershire A on 6.5/10 stand well in their remaining games. These two teams look set to attain 11.5 points. Our remaining games are tight affairs, and 12/16 might be a realistic target.
I hope this hasn’t aroused your interest too much, as from now on things are likely to move very slowly. Play is scheduled to continue until 31.8.18. 68 games are completed but 20 remain. I am surmising that some, not all of these players may be using computer assistance , as is allowed in this competition. It follows that players who have an edge in games may need to convert against the best defensive play. Alex Combie is a piece up in his remaining game, but it will take time and accurate play to convert to a win.
Our boards 5,6 and 7, John Shaw, myself and Simon Scott still have 2 games in play. Simon is likely to suffer our first defeat in his game as White, but has done very well to achieve a small, maybe not winning, plus in his game as Black. The games of John and myself look as though they could go the full distance, possibly even to adjudication. I can’t remember when I last had a game referred for adjudication.
If this report has at all whetted your appetite for playing correspondence chess, let me know . We may look to entering two teams next season..
For the latest results please visit the ICCF website.
| Team | Bd 1 | Bd 2 | Bd 3 | Bd 4 | Bd 5 | Bd 6 | Bd 7 | Bd 8 | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lincolnshire | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.5 |
| Worcestershire A | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8.5 | ||||
| Essex D | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |||||
| Nottinghamshire | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |||||||
| Yorkshire D | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6.5 | ||
| Durham | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| East Wales B | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 6 | |||
| Worcestershire B | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5.5 | ||||
| Surrey | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |||
| Staffordshire | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| Warwickshire B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Board | 1st player | Grade | Team | Game 1 | Game 2 | 2nd player | Grade | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jonathan Tait | 2420 | Nottinghamshire | ½-½ | ½-½ | David Anderton | 2418 | Staffordshire |
| 2 | Gordon Anderson | 2329 | Nottinghamshire | 1-0 | 1-0 | Jon Turner | 1800 | Warwickshire B |
| 3 | Alexander Combie | 1800 | Nottinghamshire | 1-0 | Timothy Cutter | 1800 | Surrey D | |
| 4 | Glenn Halfpenny | 1800 | Nottinghamshire | 1-0 | 1-0 | Eddie Czestochowski | 1553 | Durham |
| 5 | John Shaw | 1800 | Nottinghamshire | John Knee | 1788 | Worcestershire A | ||
| 6 | Philip Morgan | 1800 | Nottinghamshire | Michael Butcher | 1800 | Worcestershire B | ||
| 7 | Simon Scott | 1800 | Nottinghamshire | John Keehner | 1800 | Essex D | ||
| 8 | Robert Taylor | 1800 | Nottinghamshire | 1-0 | 1-0 | James Gaughan | 1433 | Yorkshire D |