The first round of the 4 NCL division 3 North was held over the weekend of the 26th of November in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. I believe it is the first time a team from Ireland has played and we are represented by not just 1 but 2 teams! (I have just been enlightened by Eric Bennett that Bray played in 2001 any other teams I have missed please let me know!) Gonzaga and Enniscorthy. Gonzaga on paper would be considered as one of the favourites for one of the two promotion places but it is a very competitive league while Enniscorthy are one of the bottom seeds and will be hoping for a few scalps. The format is somewhat different to the Irish leagues, there are 18 teams who will play in a swiss format however teams are kept apart in the first 4 rounds using a pool system.
Both Irish teams made a great start to their 4ncl debuts by recording victories. Gonzaga got off to a quick start against Manchester Manticores 3. Killian Delaney on board 2 benefiting from an early blunder got Gonzaga off to a nice start with a quick win. Carl Jackson was soon to follow showing good technique in a rook and knight end game. David Murray was always in control and Gordon Freeman then made the score 4-0 to Gonzaga. Conor O'Donnell and Stephen Moran however were not having everything their own way and Looked like they may have to share the points, however they dug in deep and after over 7 hours of play both managed to find a win to give Gonzaga a 6-0 win on their debut.
Enniscorthy's result was arguably even more impressive however! They faced Manchester Manticores' second team and were out rated by an average of 200 points. Luke Scott got off to good start with a promising position against a 2065 with black to secure a draw! Then wins from Agustin Plaza Reino and Robbie Kildea cancelled out losses by Dovydas Pocevicius and Mercedes Plaza Reino to leave the match finely balanced at 2.5-2.5 with Tom O'Gorman on Board 1 battling against a 2000 rated opponent. The game started with an unusual opening from Tom's opponent. e4 h5, d4 a5, c4 e6, nc3 be7, nf3 h4, which gave Tom a promising position from early on however it took 90 moves before Tom could convert a Rook and pawn ending into the win completing a great result for Enniscorthy.
After a comfortable first round for Gonzaga round 2 proved somewhat more challenging. Killian Delaney found himself against a very strong Junior while Conor and Gordon got into poor positions from early on. David was the only player to have a promising position early on and converted for a win. Stephen went a pawn up early on but could only manage a draw but as Gordon's opponent's promising attack became complicated he got into time trouble and blundered giving Gordon a large advantage, which he soon converted by means of a falling flag! This gave Gonzaga a 2.5-0.5 lead, Killian then drew and with Carl in the better side of an opposite coloured bishop ending the match result looked safe. At which point Conor accepted a draw and Carl managed to grind out his ending to secure a 4.5-1.5 victory.
Enniscorthy played a team that they out-rated by 40 points so it looked like another tight match but one they felt they could win. Tom on board 1 had a tough game after his long match the day before and lost. However Tom's was the only loss! Luke had another draw, leaving him unbeaten for the weekend, and Robbie also drew leaving him on 1.5/2. Victories for Agustin, Dovydas and Mercedes wrapped up a 4-2 victory and meant all the players ended on at least 50% and Agustin on a very impressive 2/2!
The league is decided on match points with game points only used as a tie break which means both Irish teams are joint top of the league with 3 other teams. The next weekend of games will see two more pool matches before the Swiss format takes effect, hopefully both teams can continue their good form and continue bringing some English rating points home with them!
Elsewhere in the 4NCL, there were 4 other Irish playing with John Redmond scoring 1.5/2, Nick Larter scoring 1/2 while FM David Fitzsimons and Kieran O'Driscoll scored 0.5/2. If we missed any other Irish results, please let us know!
Visit the 4NCL site here for more information.