I am the captain of Holywell Knights chess team. Newly established this year, and suprisingly we are top of our division in the chester league with a 100% record as we approach the half way stage of the season.
This poses a problem, there is a real danger we might win promotion. Matches in the higher divisions are across more boards and we are likely to lose one of our team for next season too. So I would need to attract 2 or 3 new players to our club by September 2014 IF we topped the division and chose to accept promotion. And I really hate teams not accepting promotion.
If anybody fancies coming along on one of our club nights or sending me an email at nwalesratings(at)gmail.com I'd love to hear from you. There must be tonnes of players who play online but are not members of clubs. I guess you'd want to be a 1200 player on here to be of a standard that you are likely to win occasionally in the league but everyone has to start somewhere. And we really need to add one player who'd be at around 1700+ on this site so that we can all play down a board in the higher division. I'm going to get stuffed on top board in division 2!
You won't get stuffed on Board One in Division Two.
You will if you think that way.
What was it you said:
"...you are likely to win occasionally in the league but everyone has to start somewhere."
So apply that to yourself.
Start by getting better and being a a feared board one player in Div II.
Also, just suppose you unearth or poach a 1700 player from another team.
That means you are going to have to drop one of the guys who turned up for all
those Div III matches to make room for this prima donna.
That is not fair and the dropped player will sulk and may even give up chess.
Lead your team into Div II full of confidence, if these other Div II saps
are really any good they would be playing in Division One.
Tell your team to attack them, the attacker always wins in these divisions.
I know all about Chess in North Wales
I spent two years in the 60's lving in Tywyn, Merioneth.
Some good/reasonable chess players there. I whacked them all.
Get a club advert up in your local library and after you have won Divison III,
get a team picture taken with the trophies, send it with a brief article to your
local newspaper making sure you add where you meet and what time.
They will run it.
That will boost membership and maybe even give you another team.
Well. I improved last season from 70 to 115. This season I'm playing players in the 100 - 140 range and am beating the weaker ones, and competing, maybe 25% drawn, 25% win 50% defeat against the strongest. I'll do what I can to improve to give me a chance against the 140 - 170's on top board in division 2, but we really do need to recruit at least one player over 130 ECF to give us the chance of winning the occasional match. Otherwise, it's going to be a case of winning the occasional game. I have recruited another 115. So now we'd line up something like 115, 115, 114, 95, 90. Giving us a sporting chance on bottom boards. But what we really need is an influx of players who don't currently play league chess and want to have a go. That will help us develop as a club and one or two of those might go on to become spectacular club players 😀
Here are my results this season.
1 Glenn Chalk (132) Division 2 4 White 0
2 David Parker-Williams (107) Division 3 2 White 1
3 Celeste McCrann (112) Knock Out 4 Black 0
4 Roy Julian (131) Division 2 4 Black 1
5 James Babington (94) Division 3 2 Black 1
6 Celeste McCrann (112) Division 2 4 White ½
7 Phil Crew (96) Division 3 1 Black ½
8 David Aldridge (134) Division 2 4 Black ½
9 Syringa Camp (133) Division 3 1 White ½
10 Peter Fisher (139) Division 2 4 White 1
11 Roy Julian (131) BD Cup 3 White 0
12 Ian Clayton (100) Division 3 1 White 1
13 Peter Ashley (120) Division 2 4 White 0
14 Steve Bardell (114) Division 3 2 White 1
Originally posted by Dewi Jones Well. I improved last season from 70 to 115. This season I'm playing players in the 100 - 140 range and am beating the weaker ones, and competing, maybe 25% drawn, 25% win 50% defeat against the strongest. I'll do what I can to improve to give me a chance against the 140 - 170's on top board in division 2, but we really do need to recruit at least one pla ...[text shortened]... Division 3 2 White 1
Ratings are dynamic, not static. By the end of the new season, you will be over 125, and the other guys currently at 145 will have dropped a bit. Good hunting!
"Dewi will get stuffed on Bd 1 in Div 2, I fear. He plays off 115; top boards will be 145+"
That is because Dewi's 115 has been calculated against 3rd div players.
He can use his false low grade to lull these 145 player's into thinking
they have a won game before a pawn is pushed.
Oh Boy are they in for a surprsie.
In the English grading system 200 = good player.
145 is run of the mill, a 2nd Divison player. A Chess Bum.
Dewi take a day off work on a match day so you are nice and fresh for that evenings match.
Don't worry about numbers, they don't get an extra piece if they have a higher grade.
Attack them and refuse their 'please save my grade' offers of a draw.
I reckon halfway through the season these board 1 players will be crying off
for fear of losing to this 115 player who kicking their butts all over the board.
From bae colwyn to chester to whitchurch and back. All sof dlintshirw, denbighshire, cheshire qnd a bit of shropshire. But happy to have you for a gane or two ib the stanford gate, holywell. Email or pm me. 🙂
gambit05 looks like a good catch Dewi, sign him up.
(you can bet you good eye that someone else will see this thread and approach him.)
He's German, never met a weak German chess player.
German players are privvy to all the Tarrasch books that have never been
translated into English, that is why they so good.
They had Tarrasch, we got Reinfield.
I had a German student (an IM) as board 1 for two seasons at Bells, great player.
And they never let you down. Rock solid team member.
One other thing.
Drop the captaincy.
Designate the weakest player as Captain so he can handle all the
red tape that preceeds a league match.
I always found this a pain and I know I play much better just turning up,
sitting at my board and getting on with things.
Or you can use a non-playing captain to do all the paper work.
A girlfriend, wife, son, daughter, friend....
North Wales Chess Players.
28 Nov '13 20:03
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