4NCL OTB League – Weekend #5 => 3^rd – 5^th May 2025

For Weekend 5—the final showdown—our Wessex A team headed for Daventry while our Wessex B team travelled to (relatively) nearby Coventry.

Here’s how the weekend unfolded, match by match. If anyone has an interesting position or game analysis to share, please do—I’ll be happy to augment this report

Round 9 (Saturday 3^rd May 2025)

Division 3 Knights – Wessex A

What looked like a tough match—outgraded on every board—turned out to be exactly that. We went down to a 5–1 battering, with draws from Jaimie and Christian sparing us from a whitewash.

Division 4 – Wessex B

A match of two halves: our top three boards were higher-graded, but we were out-graded on boards 4 to 6. Fortunately, excellent wins from Tim, Jamie, and George, plus draws from Meet and Arjun, gave us a fairly comfortable 4–2 victory.

Round 10 (Sunday 4^th May 2025)

Division 3 Knights – Wessex A

This was a “double-pointer,” with both teams hovering near the relegation zone. Despite close grade comparisons, we stormed to a 4.5–1.5 win—Olli, Jaimie, Roger, and Bill all won, and Mircea added a draw. With that result, we were mathematically safe from relegation and could go into Round 11 with lower stress levels.

Division 4 – Wessex B

Despite our Round 9 win, the Swiss pairings landed us lower-rated but certainly not weaker opposition—another one of the many SPTW teams. Wins from Jamie (his second of the weekend) and Ashraf weren’t enough, and we went down 4–2. George played a now slightly older, taller ex-Wessex-ite—nine-year-old Anvi—on board 6. She can now reach the pieces without kneeling on her chair, unlike last year!

Round 11 (Monday May 5th 2025)

Division 3 Knights – Wessex A

In our final match, we saved the best for last. Sussex Martlets came in with a perfect 10/10 record—so, no pressure
In a potential upset, we led 2–1 with a win from Bill and draws from Olli and Jaimie. They fought back, eventually edging the match, despite another draw from Christian. Still, we’re one of only three teams to hold them to such a narrow margin of victory—a small but satisfying consolation.

Division 4 – Wessex B

We faced a strong Shropshire & Friends team but rose to the occasion. Wins from Arjun and Tim, draws from Jamie and Ashraf, plus a default win for George saw us through 4–2 (later reduced to 4–1 due to a penalty point).

Final Tables

Wessex A finished safely mid-table in Division 3 Knights. The section was top-heavy, with five dominant teams creating a five-point gulf between 5th and 6th place. Coventry, unfortunately, ended up with the wooden spoon and 11 losses.

Wessex B finished comfortably in the top half of Division 4—11th out of 32 teams. Despite Barnet Knights C remaining unbeaten, every other team lost at least two matches. The promotion spots weren’t confirmed until Round 11, with Guildford Young Guns 1 just missing out.

So, the season is now complete, and we can enjoy a well-earned break before battle resumes in November

Keith Gregory – 4NCL Wessex Captain – May 6^th 2025