Chess WITH THE KNIGHT
THE Northumberland Chess League 2018/19 has reached the last two rounds for many teams. In the First Division things are more clear-cut than the other two divisions.
The champions will be either Forest Hall A, who have played seven games and have amassed 13 points, or Durham City (played seven, with 12 points). With two games to play, including one against each other, it is going to be very close.
If they ended with the same match points Durham would win because they have accumulated more board points.
With both teams having young players involved in end of school/ university exams it may come down to which team can field their strongest team.
At the other end of the division newly promoted Morpeth B are going to be relegated again. Chess is a testing game and all of the Morpeth players have played some good games and they have not been an easy team to beat; most of the players can look back on the sometimes tiny margins by which they lost. It is a good learning experience playing topnotch players.
Who will go down with them? It will be either Jesmond Knights or Forest Hall B. Both have four points, but FHB have played two fewer games.
One of these games in hand is against Durham, and in the unlikely event of them winning, it would guarantee their survival and also make it very likely that their A-team would win the division. The Second Division is much more open. Tynemouth B are the likely winners and currently have 12 points from seven games. Who will be second? It’s anybody’s guess.
Forest Hall C (played seven, with nine points) and Gosforth Ivy (played seven, eight points) are among the potential runners-up, and with a number of matches to be played between the leading teams it is very open. At the bottom end Gosforth Salters and Forest Hall D look likely to be relegated.
The Second Division is particularly difficult to assess because the teams have the greatest flexibility in selection and can use some of the players from their First Division and Third Division teams on occasions.
The Third Division is also tricky to assess. Any of the top six teams in a division of 10 teams could win the league and another get promoted from second place. In the strongest position at the minute are Morpeth C, who have played eight games and amassed 10 points.
My experiences in playing competitive chess, cricket, football, hockey, and table tennis have all been enjoyable, frustrating, exciting, depressing and uplifting at different times. However, I often remind myself of my mother’s philosophy: “There are only two results; you either win or have a learning experience.” This applies particularly well to chess. You really can learn something from every game you play.