The penultimate round of the season proved to be a tough one for Dorset Juniors 1 who came up against very highly rated opposition in Chess Rising Stars 1, but there was a good win for Dorset Juniors 2.
Dorset Juniors 1: lost 2.5 – 5.5
This was the teams’ first loss this season but the team battled well against extremely strong opposition. The published ratings gave no indication of the strength of the opposition whose lowest rated player was rated 1999 online and Anuhas’ opponent was rated 2416 on Lichess! In fairness, our DJ1 online ratings are also higher than those published, but the opponents were exceptional.
So don’t be too hard on yourselves; you put up a strong fight and will have gained a great deal of experience.
There were wins for both Michal and Hugo and a draw for Zander. Michal was further frustrated by a mouse slip in his second game.
This result drops us down the table to 4th place but only 1 point below the leaders. For our first season in Division 1 this is definitely something to be proud of.
Mathematically, we could still come second and qualify for the playoffs but it depends on us winning the last round very well, and the results of the other teams! Not surprising to see Chess Rising Stars 1 at the top of the table.
Dorset Juniors 2: won 4.5 to 3.5
Another solid result for DJ2 after the win last week, with Sam scoring 1.5 points, drawing his second match, and Jack, Karla and Jadan each scoring a point.
Very excitingly, this result moves the team up into third place in the table. Well done DJ2!
It’s very tight at the top, although Bad Bishops have a 2 point advantage over us. Bad Bishops have already played Crowthorne (and drew) so it’s possible that we may be paired against one of these teams. It could be a grande finale!
Next Round
The last round of this Season 10 is next week, Thursday 21st November (excluding play-offs on 5th December for Divisions 1 and 2).
Please let me know as soon as possible if you are available to play.
Season 11
Season 11 kicks off on 23rd January 2025. Please let me know if you would like to play in Season 11 – I hope so!!
Nikki Forster, 15/11/2024
