Mxu1825 vs Surrey match report

Amynstor

Aug 2, 2020, 1:26 AM | 0

The match report for the final round is in part a delayed one as it should have been published on 14th June. However as is well known the first round of group matches was aborted due to problems on the chess.com platform. In order to maintain integrity your author makes no changes to the preamble the only additions are comment on respective teams line-ups, how the match developed and post match commentary.

Ever since the 1880's Mx begin to lose its status as an administrative centre as London continually encroached on its area. When by 1965 Mx and London were coterminous many would joke that Mx does not exist. This may be true in administrative terms but certainly not in other areas postal and sporting to name but two! Consequently, Mx will never be forgotten. This is also assured in the ECF's new competition as Mx have entered three teams their 3rd being the u1825 team. Mx are not unusual in fielding an u1825 as other counties have also done so thus the real plaudits will go to MxB, no county but Mx have 2 teams in one division and that's pretty hard to beat. However despite their thunder being stolen what must be noted is that Mxu1825 is effectively Mx's 3rd team so apart from the praise heaped on MxB, Mx can gain even more praise as the sole county to have 3 teams participating in the ECF's new venture. By entering so many teams it shows that Mx has a real appetite for COUNTY CHESS. Who wants to continue with the jibe and say they do not exist!

Mx have been placed in the smaller of the two groups and will face familiar foes in Essex and Surrey. Mx's third opponent Oxfordshire have not been faced at this level since 1975 when they left to play in the Chiltern League. So all told the group is effectively one of friends if in Oxfordshire's case former! However when playing neighbours, beginning with the match against Surrey, what matters friendship! Typically when Surrey and Mx meet there is very little difference in the relative strengths of the two which invariably means a tight encounter. Unfortunately the online version was not going to be as although Surrey started the competition well over time they have haemorrhaged players culminating with only being able to field of 10 players. Surrey would be challenged anyway when facing the runaway leaders of the group so starting 0-2 was no help to their cause (Mx Ave. 119 Surrey Ave.107 Par Score 10.5-1.5). If the match were played over 10 boards the respective averages (Mx Ave. 122, Surrey Ave, 107) suggested . (Par score 6.5-3.5). Either way Mx en route to comprehensive victory!

With your author on unsuccessful duty for MxB it is left to his Match Situation Adviser Steve Coles to give the reader an idea how the match unfolded:

1. Board 8 Julie Oh - win - first to finish, a very quick game

2. Board 6 Roshan - win

3. Board 3 Keith Jones - draw

4. Board 5 Mike Price - win

5. Board 10 Habibur Rahaman – win

6. Board 9 Siena – win

7. Board 2 Nigel Colter – loss

8. Board 7 Evan Beachley - win

9. Board 1 Laith Hayali – win

10. Board 4 David McNish – win - last to finish.

You’ll be able to see the games on chess.com. We had a bit of luck in one or two of these (Mike Price and David McNish were in difficulties at times, but won in the end).

Well done guys on another stonking victory defaults excluded. A real warning sign is being sent to the remaining counties and the thing is Mx have yet to field their strongest team! If their so-called weaker teams are achieving performances of this kind it makes you wonder what will happen when the first is team is out!

See full results here

The games links are given here for your perusal

Other result

Essex vs. Oxfordshire

Final Standing:

Position	County	MP	GP
1	Middlesex	3	31
2	Essex	2	19.5
3	Oxfordshire	1	12.5
4	Surrey	0	9

Mxu1825 had won the group with a match to spare so if there was an outstanding question at the group stage it was whether they would go through it undefeated. Their crushing defeat of Oxfordshire followed by another over Surrey answered that question in no uncertain terms! Mxu1825 are one of four teams to have an undefeated record the others being Northumberland (Open Division 1B), MxB (Open Division 2A) and Northumberland u1825 Group A). A team that has an undefeated record must be a serious contender for the overall championship that the u1825 have two means that all hands must be rubbing at the prospects of a Mx vs. Northumberland final as it will mean one or other will eventually lose their 100% record. However, before contemplating the prospects of a Mx vs. Northumberland final both first need to negotiate their respective SF's. Mxu1825's SF opponent were known prior to the completion of the group stage as Lincolnshire were guaranteed runner-up slot in the other division. Lincolnshire could be a genuine threat to Mx's hopes as they have averaged 127 throughout the competition however if fielding a team with this average sees them finish in second to Northumberland then either they had an off day at the office or more realistically it is the make-up of their team namely top heavy with u140's but falling away at some stage. The contest will be a fascinating one as will the Essex vs. Northumberland match. Four teams who ought to averaging 120+ will possibly mean that of all KO competitions this one is the most balanced!

Next fixture 8th August u1825 Championship KO SF

Mx vs. Lincolnshire

Essex vs. Northumberland

Player Performance (min 3games)

Now that 3 games have been played we can turn our attention to which u1825 player is performing the best. As would be expected with so few games for the u1825 and an undefeated campaign so far there are a number of individuals tied for the lead, this also applies to the chasers:

1st= Laith, David, Roshan, 3/3

4th= Steve, Kian, Keith, Habibur, Nadim, Siena, Michael (2/3)

It must be noted that Steve and Nadim were denied opportunity to join the leaders as they were awarded defaults. Steve particularly must be credited as being one of the stronger players he would be expected to be in with a chance of being crowned top performer.

Mxu1825 vs Surrey match report

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