4NCL with the Celtic Tigers (Part 1)

Hi All,

It's been a while since my previous blog posts - other things got in the way, hadn't been really playing much nor working on my chess really, hence nothing to write. However, over a year ago I moved to Edinburgh, Scotland and this made it possible for me to try playing another national league competition - this time it was 4NCL or the United Kingdom's strongest league. The tournament turned out especially exciting thanks to the best team in the league - Celtic Tigers. Every match, every weekend away turned out to be a fun adventure!

My debut in 4NCL and Celtic Tigers was mid-January - this was round 3, and we were playing against a very strong team 3Cs. The league is super-tough, so every point counts, and the goal for the season was to qualify for the championship pool, so it was key to win this match.

Round 3

I was really happy to win my first game in the league and help my team to win the match 4,5-3,5  

In the next round we were paired against Guildford 2 - another strong team, but as this is the highest division, it wasn't much of a surprise.

Round 4

The opening went alright as I managed to equalize the position, but in the middle game my opponent proved to be the better player and outplayed me this time. Unfortunately our team lost the match 2,5:5,5. 

So this was my first weekend in 4NCL, I felt alright about my play. Obviously it is disappointing to lose games, but these games also are a learning opportunity, so no regrets there. I'm glad I got decent positions out of opening both with White and Black pieces, so was confident to play well the other games this season. 

Let me know if you have any questions about the games or about the 4NCL league!

Thanks,
Ritvars