NICS June Rapidplay

Civil Service Chess Club yesterday staged the fourth and final event in its 2013-2014 rapidplay series at the Maynard Sinclair Pavilion. There's already a full report up at the UCU website; you'll also find links there to the results and the final Grand Prix standings over the four events. To that, I'll add here the final crosstable.

No Name                  Rtg  Total  1    2    3    4    5    6  

1  Nicholas Pilkiewicz   1862 5      8:W  7:W  2:W  4:W  5:W  3:L
2  Damien Lavery         1749 4.5   11:W  4:W  1:L  6:W  7:W  5:D
3  Robert Lavery         1481 4     10:W  6:L  4:L 11:W  8:W  1:W
4  David McAlister       1218 3.5    5:W  2:L  3:W  1:L  6:W  9:D
5  Mark Newman           1627 3.5    4:L  9:W  6:W  7:W  1:L  2:D
6  Steven Eachus         1645 3      9:W  3:W  5:L  2:L  4:L 12:W
7  Richard Gould         1555 3     12:W  1:L  8:W  5:L  2:L 10:W
8  Alan Burns            1339 3      1:L 10:W  7:L 12:W  3:L 11:W
9  Peter Wilson          1246 2.5    6:L  5:L 12:W 10:W 11:L  4:D
10 Adrian Dornford-Smith 962  2      3:L  8:L 11:W  9:L 12:W  7:L
11 Drew Ferguson         1251 1      2:L 12:L 10:L  3:L  9:W  8:L
12 Geoff Hindley         1010 1      7:L 11:W  9:L  8:L 10:L  6:L

As part of the organising team for these events, thanks to all those who competed throughout the series and we hope to do the whole thing again next season.

League retrospective and suggestions for the future

Belated congratulations to Fisherwick for winning the Silver King for the fourth time in a row and to Bangor for lifting the Strawbridge Cup. The general consensus is that this has been the most interesting League campaign in some time. I agree with that sentiment - everyone will have their own views about exactly why this was so, but for me the reasons were:

• the exciting tussle for the Division 1 title (despite - or maybe even enhanced by the bizarre events of the last two weeks);
• the arrival of a new powerhouse in the East (Lindores) and an enhanced and rebadged stalwart (Muldoon's) putting extra pressure on the imperious Fisherwick;
• the general increase in strength on the top boards of a number of teams, with a number of strong local players tempted out of retirement and an influx of foreign talent;
• the extraordinary and continuing ability of Ballynafeigh to add extra numbers to the overall equation (some of the other clubs are catching on here too);
• the revival of second teams at the coaxing of the League Controller.

The temptation might be to leave things exactly the same, but there is a danger that the success of this season means that we have outgrown the current format. The League season consisted of 25 weeks of play, which might well make it into the Guinness Book of Records. There was talk early in the New Year of having some extra team events in the Spring but, not surprisingly, these never eventuated. It was therefore not that surprising either that there were a few defaults late in the season.

So here, for what they're worth, is a set of proposals for the Belfast and District Leagues 2014-2015: 

• League competition again to be between all the Belfast and District clubs, but over a single round and with no split into two Divisions for the rest of the season. Each club would have to list five designated players. 
•  Therefore this competition would end about the end of January and the winner would receive the Silver King (Division 1 Championship). 
• Alongside the competition for the Silver King would be a revamped Strawbridge Cup which would be contested between reserve teams. As some clubs would not be able to field a team in this, the format would probably be a double rounder but whatever format was used, this also would finish approximately end-January. A club could play all but its five designated players in this subsidiary event. 

OK, we all know that, due to the way many of our clubs are organised, there is a considerable appetite for a lengthy League season. So what happens when February arrives? Here's part two of NI Chess News' prospectus. 

• The top four teams in the Silver King would take part in a new competition - let's call it the "Top 4" or maybe the "Premiership" - in a double rounder over 6 weeks of competition. Not dissimilar to the part 2 of the League as presently organised, but with all the teams starting from scratch. Maybe we could make this over 4 or 6 boards just to change the dynamic a little bit. 
• The remaining clubs (plus perhaps any second teams from the Top 4) would compete in a separate competition. We could perhaps revive the "UCU Plate" name and trophy, last played for about a decade ago, for this. 
• Finally, to accommodate the increasing numbers of newbie adult players and also to help existing lower-rated "reserve" players, we could add a second subsidiary event for all clubs - an under 1500 Cup, limited naturally enough to players rated under 1500 (and unrated ones). 
• So that clubs would be encouraged to enter these new competitions without worrying about having the numbers to fulfill fixtures, players would be able to compete without restriction in all three competitions (except - with the aim of creating a reasonably level playing field - for the designated players in the Premiership). Also, we might arrange these "sub-Premiership" competitions into 4 player events to assist with numbers. 
• Finally - as I've probably cut off at least 6 weeks of the season - if there's sufficient appetite for it, we could make good use of the remaining time by reviving some sort of province-wide Cup competition.

So, if you haven't lost your way, or the will to live, through all these suggestions, I encourage the UCU universe to have a look at these ideas. Any improvements or alternatives are welcomed.