For more details see the 4NCL website.

There were no major surprises in the first Round however an unfamiliar Slough team were beaten convincingly 2½-5½ by Bristol. The Bristolians held the top boards and cleaned up on the lower boards - it proved an excellent weekend for Cobb who won both games. See the Bristol website for more details and games.

Both the first teams of Beeson Gregory and Barbican 4NCL overcame their second teams; but in both cases the second teams inflicted one defeat on their higher graded partners. Guildford-ADC had a strong team and beat Midland Monarchs 6-2, but were holding back some og their fire for the big match against Beeson Gregory the following day.

Wood Green were particularly impressive in beating Thistle White Rose 7½-½, with only Arkell saving a whitewash. Wood Green 2 picked up some useful points with a solid victory over Wessex; there was an entertaining game on Board 8 reported on by the Wessex website.

Play through the Adams-Hennigan¹ game in Palview. For PGN game files visit the BCM 4NCL website or the 4NCL website.

The heavyweight encounter between Guildford-ADC and Beeson Gregory started well for Guildford with a win for Plaskett (ENG) and a draw for Kosten (ENG) but Beeson's stronger lower boards were impressive and they won 5½-2½. Beeson's second team came close to beating Midland Monarchs but wins from the Pert brothers secured the necessary 4½ points for victory. However, Richards (ENG) had an excellent weekend winning both her games.

The internal Wood Green match resulted in a 5-3 win for the first team, with Tan (ENG) inflicting a defeat on Hunt (ENG). Bristol managed a tight victory over Barbican 4NCL 2, but they all count, and will be very pleased with their two wins from the weekend. See the Bristol website for more details and games.

Slough came back after their first Round loss to beat a higher rated Barbican 4NCL where they were outrated on six of the eight boards. Wessex just lost to Thistle White Rose by 3½-4½ which was even closer that it looked and reported on by the Wessex website.

For PGN game files visit the BCM 4NCL website or the 4NCL website.

Of course any chess this weekend was overshadowed by the tragic death of Tony Miles; in fact Slough were so moved they defaulted their Board 1 as a mark of respect. The many tributes that have been made show what a massive loss it has been to chess in losing Tony at such a young age. Another 4NCL player who also died recently was Robin Pearce, again at a young age and he will also be deeply missed.

Barbican 4NCL 1 put up a fight against the slightly weakened Beeson Gregory 1 but lost 3-5; with Summerscale on 100% with 3/3. Beeson Gregory 2 also lost 3-5 to Thistle White Rose. Wood Green 1 took Barbican 4NCL to the cleaners with a 7½-½ drubbing, with Neil Berry the player managing to avoid the whitewash; for other occurences of the 'weakest link' see an article at the 4NCL website.

Wood Green 2 lost 3-5 to Guildford-ADC who are now looking very solid with an interesting selection of attacking GMs. Slough also lost their match against Wessex although in the games played they obtained a draw - see the Wessex website for more details. The Midland Monarchs defaulted on bottom board which proved costly as they lost 3½-4½ to Bristol 1 - see the Bristol website for further reporting.

PGN Game downloads can be found at the 4NCL website.

Beeson Gregory 1 was able to maintain its top position by just beating Midland Monarchs; for the Monarchs the Pert twins managed 1½/2 but the best result was Sophie Tidman (ENG ) beating Ruth Sheldon (ENG). For Beeson Gregory, Hebden (ENG) is as usual carving up the opposition with 3½/4 but Summerscale (ENG) lost to bring his 100% record to an end; Cherniaev had a good weekend with 2/2. But probably the luckiest player was Gallagher (SUI) who, according to Malcolm Pein in the Daily Telegraph, preferred to play in the 4NCL rather than the German Bundesliga and thus missed a Berlin-Zurich flight which subsequently tragically crashed.

Barbican 4NCL 2 bounced back from their big defeat against Wood Green 1 to beat Wessex to give them their first points - see the Wessex website for more details. For Wessex,Webb (ENG) is consistent with four draws from four games while their Webmaster, Yeo (ENG) is playing solidly with 2½/4.

Wood Green 1 had a solid win against Slough, however Wohl (AUS) will be pleased with 2/2 and a good weekends work. emms (ENG) is clinical with 4/4, the only player winning all four Rounds so far, closely followed by baburin (IRL) with 3½/4 although he has two default wins.

Guildford-ADC 1 with three GMs were too strong for Thistle White Rose with Kosten (ENG) scoring 2/2 during the weekend and remains their top-scorer with 3½/4. For Thistle White Rose, Arkell (ENG) is very solid on top board and young Gawain Jones (ENG) had a good first weekend with 1½/2.

Barbican 4NCL 1 beat Bristol 1 (see the Bristol website for a match report) with Parker (ENG) and Kelly (IRL) bringing the bacon home amongst a lot of draws. In fact Parker (ENG) has an impressive 3/4 on top board. For Bristol Cobb (ENG) is top scorer with 3/4 with G Buckley (ENG) and beaumont (ENG) both also unbeaten.

Wood Green 2 continue to impress with a good win over the Beeson Gregory 2 team, who have yet to score a point. However, Heather Richards (ENG) is unbeaten with 3/4 and has in fact more wins than all the other players put together!

The stage is now set for big match in Round 6 between Beeson Gregory 1 and Wood Green 1 which is likely to be the league decided, however Guildford-ADC may have a say in things if the wind blows their way.

PGN Game downloads can be found at the 4NCL website.

No major surprises this round with the top teams winning - full individual results can be found at the BCM - Results Rd 5 and all games in PGN at the BCM - PGN Downloads. There is a report and games from the Bristol website of their match against Beeson Gregory, although heavily outgunned they managed three draws. The Wessex website gives analysis of their loss against the strong Guildford team.

Some photos from the 4NCL - Photos and 4NCL - Report.

The 'battle of the titans' resulted in Beeson Gregory just beating Wood Green which looks like it will decide the title. Two new players were wheeled out to play on top board with the legendary Korchnoi (SWZ) beating Bologan (MDA), see also the Bristol website for more details and photos.

There is a report and games from the Bristol website of their match against Beeson Gregory 2 which boasted four (sic) GMs! A disappointing result for Wessex: 'A match we could and should have won' is reported on at their website.

Some photos from the 4NCL - Photos and 4NCL - Report.

Full individual results can be found at the BCM - Results Rd 6 and all games in PGN at the BCM - PGN Downloads.

Round 7 saw Beeson Gregory 1 drop their first points of the season, unexpectedly to Wood Green 2 who played Hillarp Persson (SWE) beating McShane (ENG) on top board.

Wood Green 1 maintained the pressure at the top with a win gainst Bristol - for a match report see the Bristol website. Wessex went down to Barbican 4NCL 1 with a report at their website.

Full individual results can be found at the BCM - Results Rd 7 and all games in PGN at the BCM - PGN Downloads, with a report at the official 4NCL website.

Beeson Gregory 1 made up for their previous Rounds mishap by thrashing Thistle White Rose, who drop into the relegation zone; while Guidlford-ADC wrapped up a pleasant weekend by beating Beeson Gregory 2. Wood Green had an impressive win against Barbican 4NCl 1 bringing in Agdestein (NOR) on Board 3.

The big winner for the weekend was Midland Monarchs who jumped from 10th to 5th place after winning both their matches but with 10th place having 5 points none of the teams are really safe apart from the top four. Both Beeson Gregory 2 and Wessex are doomed with 2 points each.

Bristol beat Wessex fairly comfortably by 6-2, with reports from the Bristol website and the Wessex website. Slough picked up two useful points against Barbican 4NCL to push them away from the relegation places.

Full individual results can be found at the BCM - Results Rd 8 and all games in PGN at the BCM - PGN Downloads, with a report at the official 4NCL website.

The table leaders, Beeson Gregory 1 and Wood Green 1, both won easily with their array of GMs. Bristol lost 1-7 to Wood Green 1 with some background at the Wessex website.

Bristol had an excellent result in beating Guildford-ADC 4½-3½, with their bottom boards playing well, for a report see the Bristol website. Thistle White Rose lost to Wood Green which proved to be the start of a very bad weekend, resulting in relegation.

Full individual results can be found at the BCM - Results Rd 9 and all games in PGN at the BCM - PGN Downloads, with a report at the official 4NCL website.

¹ Source: BCM 4NCL website and 4NCL website.

Wood Green won 7-1 but that was equalled by Beeson Gregory 1, so they were unable to make up any ground on the leaders. A rough weekend for Wessex having to play both Wood Green 1 and now Beeson Gregory 1, losing both 1-7 with a report at the Wessex website.

Bristol had a solid draw with Wood Green 2, with a report from the Bristol website.

Full individual results can be found at the BCM - Results Rd 10 and all games in PGN at the BCM - PGN Downloads, with a report at the official 4NCL website.

Beeson Gregory 1 retain the title after comfortably beating Slough 1 - congratulations! Wood Green 1 came second (but had a higher game point total) and Guildford-ADC managed to hang on to third place.

Wood Green 1 pushed Beeson Gregory hard until the end with a massive 7-1 win over Guildford-ADC, one consolation for Guildford was Rowson (SCO) drawing against super-GM Morozevich (RUS). Bristol put the final nail in the coffin of Thistle White Rose with a report at the Bristol website, pushing them to an excellent fifth place. Wessex finished on a low note losing to Beeson Gregory 2 - see their website for a report.

Full individual results can be found at the BCM - Results Rd 11 and all games in PGN at the BCM - PGN Downloads, with a report at the official 4NCL 4NCL website.

¹ Source: BCM 4NCL website and 4NCL website.