For Season 3, the RA1 team enjoyed an unexpected promotion to Division 5 as the result of reorganisation of the lower divisions and, for all Divisions but the last, having all-play-all groups of eight. There is a new Division 7.
Division 5 comprises four groups all-play-all, with the top two in each group going into a play-off for the Division championship. RA1 are in Group C.
Odd scores can crop up, usually caused by application of penalty points. e.g. a defaulted game apart from the score as a win for the opponent, also attracts a half-point penalty.
The other teams in Division 5 are: Bishop Knights; Chessable White Rose 3; Braunstone 1; Warley and Quinborne; St Benildus C; Enfield 1
RA1 finish 2nd in Division 5, Group C, with 11/14, to achieve promotion without needing to go through the extra play-off matches to decide the Division Championship, a trial reserved for Group winners. Chessable White Rose 3 won Group C with a 100% score.
Division 5 table
Team navigation: RA1 | RA2 | RA3 | RA4
| Round |
Date |
Team White on odds |
v |
Team Black on odds |
| 1 |
26 Jan |
RA1 |
4-0 |
Bishop Knights |
| 2 |
9 Feb |
Chessable White Rose 3 |
2½-1½ |
RA1 |
| 3 |
23 Feb |
RA1 |
2-2 |
Braunstone 1 |
| 4 |
9 Mar |
RA1 |
*2½-½ |
Warley and Quinborne |
| 5 |
23 Mar |
BCC Foxes |
0-4 |
RA1 |
| 6 |
6 Apr |
RA1 |
3-1 |
St Benildus C |
| 7 |
20 Apr |
Enfield 1 |
1-3 |
RA1 |
*after ½ point penalty applied to each side for defaulted games.
Played 26 January 2021
| |
RA1 |
v |
Bishop Knights
|
| 1 |
Ian Reynolds 2011 |
1-0 |
Michael Siddle 1477c |
| 2 |
Ian Hunnable 1939c |
1-0 |
Chris Clynes 1398c |
| 3 |
Istvan Karacsony 1945 |
1-0 |
John Burnett 1191c |
| 4 |
Tom Barton 1909 |
1-0 |
Jamie Clynes 874u |
| |
Average 1951 |
4-0 |
Average 1235 |
With a rating advantage of an average 716 points a board, RA1 start off with 4-0 and go straight to the top of the Group C table.
The Round 1 Games
Played 9 February 2021
| |
Chessable White Rose 3
|
v |
RA1
|
| 1 |
Graeme Oswald 2199 (W) |
1-0 |
Ian Reynolds 2011 (B) |
| 2 |
Connor Clarke 1953 |
0-1 |
Martin McCall 2000c |
| 3 |
Tom Wills 1989c |
1-0 |
Ian Hunnable 1939c |
| 4 |
Rayelynn Posadas 1924 |
½-½ |
Tom Barton 1909 |
| |
Average 2016 |
2½-1½ |
Average 1964
|
Played 23 February 2021
| |
RA1
|
v |
Braunstone 1
|
| 1 |
Ian Reynolds 2011 (W) |
0-1 |
Tom Brown 2068 (B) |
| 2 |
Martin McCall 2000 |
0-1 |
David Bray 2036 |
| 3 |
Ian Hunnable 1939 |
1-0 |
Julian Tang 1834 |
| 4 |
Jack Sheard 1856 |
1-0 |
Graham Booley 1799 |
| |
Average 1951 |
2-2 |
Average 1934
|
Pretty simple: all games went with the ratings. However, Ian H dodged a bullet on Board 3, or it would have been 1-3 – game annotated below.
RA1 are 4th of 8 in Group C.
Played 9 March 2021
| |
RA1
|
v |
Warley and Quinborne
|
| 1 |
Ian Reynolds 2011 (W) |
1-0 |
David Jeffs 1695c (B) |
| 2 |
Martin McCall 2000c |
1-0d |
Martin Draper 1576 |
| 3 |
Istvan Karacsony 1945 |
d0-1 |
Steve Berry 1473c |
| 4 |
Michael Spurr 1860 |
1-0 |
Pauline Woodward 1239c |
| |
Penalty points |
-½ -½ |
Penalty points |
| |
Average 1954 |
2½-½ |
Average 1495
|
The opposing captain notified the night before that his Board 2 player was indisposed, so W&Q defaulted Board 2. As we had a game by Martin which he won, we thought the 4NCL website was in error; just happens the game in question was against someone else! On Board 3, Istvan was the RA3 player, who had emailed Peter late the night before to say that he had found that he was double booked with another game (the Online Club Championship Play-off series) but unfortunately Peter did not see this message – an own goal this, as we knew the play-off game was arranged for the same evening. 4NCL Online defaults defaults each attract a ½ point penalty, making the match score 2½-½.
RA1 move up a spot to 3rd of 8 in Group C.
Played 23 March 2021
| |
BCC Foxes
|
v |
RA1
|
| 1 |
Pranav Karthikeyan 722 (W) |
0-1 |
Ian Reynolds 2011 (B) |
| 2 |
Le Gia Khuong Tran 726 |
0-1 |
Ian Hunnable 1939 |
| 3 |
Jacopo Panunzio 695 |
0-1 |
Istvan Karacsony 1945 |
| 4 |
Mark Wang 704 |
0-1 |
Tom Barton 1909 |
| |
Average 711 |
0-4 |
Average 1951
|
I bizarre match in which RA1 outrated the opposition by an average 1240 points a board, but not without its dangers. For instance, the initial challenges by the Foxes Boards 1 and 3 were illegal – made as “Casual” games rather than “Rated”. Had Mark not spotted these errors, those two games could each have been scored as 0-0. Instead, they were replayed with the correct settings and duly won again.
Played 6 April 2021
| |
RA1
|
v |
St Benildus C
|
| 1 |
Ian Reynolds 2011 (W) |
1-0 |
Brendan Cooney 1864 (B) |
| 2 |
Ashley Freeman 1962 |
1-0 |
William Kenny 1726 |
| 3 |
Ian Hunnable 1939 |
1-0 |
David Willow 1684 |
| 4 |
Martin McCall 2000 |
0-1 |
Slavko Putar 1676 |
| |
Average 1978 |
3-1 |
Average 1737
|
Commentary from Mark Murrell
At start of play, RA1 were in second place (a play-off and promotion spot) so this was a must win match, drawn as we were against our nearest challenger. A “six pointer” so to speak in football parlance. A win would leave matters in our hands in the final group match.
So 3-1 is job done. That was a tricky match and the opponents’ lichess ratings were much higher than the 4NCL official ratings given above. Thanks to Ashley for stepping in to add some extra firepower and to help Team 3 who had the toughest opponents this round.
Enfield 1 are the opposition in two weeks’ time.
Played 20 April 2021
| |
Enfield 1
|
v |
RA1
|
| 1 |
Ashraf Hossain Mohammed 1821 (W) |
0-1 |
Ian Reynolds 2011 (B) |
| 2 |
David McNish 1776 |
0-1 |
Ian Hunnable 1939 |
| 3 |
Cormac O’Caolaidhe |
1-0 |
Tom Barton 1909 |
| 4 |
Gul Kapur 1466 |
0-1 |
Istvan Karacsony 1945 |
| |
Average 1656 |
1-3 |
Average 1951
|
