NCCL Team 2018-19

North Circular League Div 2

Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
12	11	1	0	23

To see match report, click on score, or scroll down.

Day	Date	Venue	0pponents	Result
Tue	02-Oct-18	Away	Enfield I	W 3½-1½
Wed	07-Nov-18	Home	Wanstead III	W 3-2
Wed	14-Nov-18	Home	Chingford II	W 3-2
Wed	09-Jan-19	Home	Barnet Elizabethans II	W 3½-1½
Wed	16-Jan-19	Home	Enfield I	W 3-2
Thu	24-Jan-19	Away	Wanstead III	W 3-2
Wed	20-Feb-19	Home	Enfield II	W 3-2
Mon	25-Feb-19 7.45pm	Away	Chingford II	D 2½-2½
Tue	02-Apr-19	Away	Enfield II	W 3½-1½
Wed	17-Apr-19	Home	Barking II	W 3-2
Thu	09-May-19 7.40pm	Away	Barking II	W 3½-1½
Wed	15-May-19 7.45 pm	Away	Barnet Elizabethans II	W 5-d

Match reports

St Stephen's Church Hall, Enfield Tue 2^nd Oct 2018

	Enfield I			Loughton
1	Olulode, Olu	160	0-1	van Tol, Martin	142
2	Maher, Matthew	135	0-1	Stiffell, Lyn
3	McNish, David	125	½-½	Moth, Simon C	138
4	Newby, Jonathan	123	½-½	Groce, Ken	131
5	Tsentides, Mike	103	½-½	Jones, Barry E	120
			1½-3½

Loughton opened their NCCL campaign with a great away win over Enfield I.

Martin had a magnificent win over his higher rated opponent on board 1 – he finished off with a fantastic combination.
Lyn gave an excellent debut performance and ground down his opponent in a long game.
Simon and David quickly cancelled each other out in a short draw.
Ken and Jonathan had an entertaining game that featured a record number of draw offers from Jonathan. Ironically, the game ended in a book draw with Jonathan having a queen against Ken’s pawn on a2!
Barry pressed hard for the win but his opponent held on.

Loughton Bowls Club Wed 7^th Nov 2018

	Loughton			Wanstead III
1	Faulkner, David J	157	½-½	Murrell, Mark RA	164
2	van Tol, Martin	142	1-0	Bui, Kyan	158
3	Stiffell, Lyn		0-1	Barclay, Paul R	149
4	Kershaw, Graham J	141	1-0	Siddo, Charlton	144
5	Groce, Ken	131	½-½	Smith, David	131
			3-2

Our excellent start to the season (5/5 wins across all of the teams) continued with a close 3-2 victory over a higher graded Wanstead team.

Lyn fell behind in opening development, lost a piece and resigned shortly afterwards. Lyn should not be too disappointed as he was on 3/3 prior to this.
Martin was the star of show with a fantastic win over a talented junior. He achieved f5 in the closed Sicilian and then after his opponent had moved a knight to the queen side, won with a brutal kingside attack.
Dave was two pieces up, but short of time, had to agree to a perpetual check and a dangerous passed pawn.
Graham had more space and a lot of pressure against his opponent’s backward d6 pawn. He won with an excellent attack. A very well-played game.
Ken was last to finish and had a really interesting game. In true Ken style, he speculatively sacrificed a knight for two pawns. In a complex position his central pawn majority advanced. He won the piece back with a better rook and pawn ending. A draw was good enough to win the team the match.

Loughton Bowls Club Wed 14^th Nov 2018

	Loughton			Chingford II
1	Bowmer, Kevin	185	1-0	Hughes, Gavin James	157
2	Faulkner, David J	157	½-½	Rose, Peter W	158
3	Kershaw, Graham J	141	0-1	Brady, David A	156
4	Moth, Simon C	138	½-½	Spear, Brian J	146
5	Groce, Ken	131	1-0	Neogy, A Robbie	113
			3-2

We maintained our excellent start to the season with a victory over last season's division champions.
Simon Guardiola rotated the squad and ...

Ken won after his opponent lost a rook in a playable position.
Kevin won an opposite coloured bishop ending with extra pawns on both flanks.
Dave drew and Simon, last to finish, agreed a draw in a better position to win us the match.

We have started the season with three wins against the division's top three teams last season.

Loughton Bowls Club Wed 9^th Jan 2019

	Loughton			Barnet Elizabethans II
1	van Tol, Martin	142	½-½	Myers, Philip	165
2	Stiffell, Lyn	136	½-½	Bowie, Brian S	133
3	Kershaw, Graham J	136	½-½	Jones, Michael N	121
4	Moth, Simon C	139	1-0	Jones, Martin C
5	Groce, Ken	132	1-0	Riddoch, Ian A	75
			3½-1½

Note - New January grades.

Ken won an exchange then nullified his opponent's king side attack to give us a winning start.
Graham was slightly worse but comfortably held a double bishops and pawns ending.
Martin won a pawn but allowed his opponent queen in for a perpetual.
Simon won his second game in two days with a brutal kingside attack against his inexperienced opponent.
Lyn had the better position with a dangerous advanced pawn on e6. He agreed a draw when we were winning the match.

Well done to the three who played two games on consecutive nights.

Loughton Bowls Club Wed 16^th Jan 2019

	Loughton			Enfield I
1	Faulkner, David J	157	0-1	Olulode, Olu	164
2	van Tol, Martin	142	½-½	Efthymiou, Demetris	139
3	Stiffell, Lyn	136	½-½	McNish, David	134
4	Moth, Simon C	139	1-0	Kyriacou, Kyriacos	123
5	Groce, Ken	132	1-0	Gilberg, Paul	135
			3-2

Ken broke through on the queen side and gave us a winning start yet again. Ken's fourth consecutive win.
Lyn had a good position with his opponent's pieces blocked in the queen side. However, his opponent managed to untangle and a draw was agreed.
Dave lost a pawn and after that was always in difficulties.
Martin's opponent had a queen side attack which was nullified by exchanging all the rooks. A draw was agreed.
Simon was last to finish with an extra pawn in a rook and pawn ending. In a tense finish, his opponent allowed a rook exchange and Simon's pawn queened first to win the match. Simon's third consecutive win and a captain's innings.

A crucial win as Enfield I had won all their previous matches in this league, except against us.

Wanstead House Thur 24^th Jan 2019

	Wanstead III			Loughton
1	Bui, Kyan	165J	0-1	Bowmer, Kevin	189
2	Siddo, Charlton	145	½-½	Faulkner, David J	157
3	Collyer, Alex	141	½-½	van Tol, Martin	142
4	McCarron, Peter DJ	135	1-0	Stiffell, Lyn	136
5	Smith, David	132	0-1	Moth, Simon C	139
			2-3

Martin had a good position but one inaccurate move and the game petered out to a draw.
Dave also had a decent position but low on time, took no risks and agreed a draw.
Kevin won a good central pawn. His young opponent defended a difficult position resourcefully and will be a very good player in a few years' time. However, Kevin eventually broke through and equalised the match after Lyn's earlier loss.
Once again Simon was last to finish in a deciding game and a rook and pawns ending. With both players low on time, Simon's two passed pawns won the game and the team the match. Simon's fourth consecutive win.

At the half way point of the season, we have the perfect score of six wins from six matches. All the other teams have lost two or more matches.

Loughton Bowls Club Wed 20^th Feb 2019

	Loughton			Enfield II
1	Faulkner, David J	157	½-½	Gilberg, Paul	134
2	van Tol, Martin	142	1-0	Kyriacou, Kyriacos	123
3	Moth, Simon C	139	½-½	Athulathmudali, Oshada	111
4	Kershaw, Graham J	136	1-0	Cole, Phil
5	Groce, Ken	132	0-1	Tsentides, Mike	101
			3-2

After draws with the black pieces for Dave and Simon, Ken lost a knight and pawn ending to an outside passed rook pawn. The ending was very well played by his opponent with a crucial zugzwang.
Graham had a rook and pawn ending which was better, then worse before his passed queen pawn won the game.
Martin had a good king side attack, but then lost a piece. With his opponent low on time, he managed to win the piece back and then win a rook and pawn ending.

An up and down match which we were very lucky to win and could easily have lost.

British Legion Club, Chingford Mon 25^th Feb 2019

	Chingford II			Loughton
1	Brady, David A	161	½-½	Bowmer, Kevin	189
2	Hughes, Gavin James	158	1-0	Faulkner, David J	157
3	Rose, Peter W	152	0-1	van Tol, Martin	142
4	Oakley, Robin J	145	½-½	Moth, Simon C	139
5	Spear, Brian J	142	½-½	Stiffell, Lyn	136
			2½-2½

Simon misplayed the opening and found himself under immense pressure in the middle game. But his opponent did not make the most of his position and Simon escaped with a draw.
Dave blundered and was soon lost.
Lyn and Brian reached a totally blocked position and a draw was agreed.
Martin had an excellent win and smoothly converted a Rook and Pawns ending.
In the final game to finish, Kevin let an advantage slip and agreed a draw to tie the match with four !! queens on the board and perpetual checks for either side likely.

St Stephen's Church Hall, Enfield Tue 2^nd Apr 2019

	Enfield II			Loughton
1	Maher, Matthew	138	0-1	Faulkner, David J	157
2	McNish, David	135	½-½	van Tol, Martin	142
3	Kyriacou, Kyriacos	123	½-½	Moth, Simon C	139
4	Newby, Jonathan	120	0-1	Kershaw, Graham J	136
5	Tsentides, Mike	101	½-½	Groce, Ken	132
			1½-3½

Loughton recorded their record 8^th NCCL B division win in a season last night and now require only 2 points from their last 3 matches to win the title.

Dave was first to finish and was relieved to record his first win for the team this season.
Graham survived Jonathan’s early draw offers and won with a crushing kingside attack.
Simon then accepted a draw offer to ensure that the match was at least tied.
Soon after, Martin agreed a draw in a complex looking position to secure the match for Loughton.
Ken was a pawn down in a rook and pawns ending, but gained enough activity with his rook to draw.

It was a good night for the team with no defeats and we are now within touching distance of winning the league !

Loughton Bowls Club Wed 17^th Apr 2019

	Loughton			Barking II
1	Bowmer, Kevin	189	½-½	Ramage, Colin R	169
2	Faulkner, David J	157	1-0	Clow, Kenneth W	139
3	Van Tol, Martin	142	½-½	Polak, Karol
4	Kershaw, Graham J	136	1-0	Chtym, Vladimir	109
5	Stiffell, Lyn	136	0-1	Blagianu, Mihaita	81
			3-2

Loughton are North Circular Division B champions!! 🏆
We have already won nine matches this season and sealed the championship with two matches to spare.
It was a great night for the club who have not won a league title for a very long time.

Dave’s good run of form continued. He trapped his opponent’s queen after just 24 moves.
Graham made his opponent pay for making too many queen moves in the opening.
Kevin achieved a winning position, but went wrong in time trouble and agreed a draw.
Lyn blundered a pawn in his French Defence but did well to transpose into an opposite coloured bishops ending that should have been drawn. Unfortunately, he made further errors under time pressure and his opponent made the most of them.
Martin had a long hard fought battle and seemed to have winning chances but the game eventually dwindled out to a draw.

St Margaret's Church Centre, Barking Thur 9^th Nov 2019

	Barking II			Loughton I
1	Ramage, Colin R	169	0-1	Bowmer, Kevin	189
2	Clow, Kenneth W	139	½-½	Faulkner, David J	157
3	Dee, Fault		d-1	Moth, Simon C	130
4	Monk, George H	120	½-½	Stiffell, Lyn	136
5	Chtym, Vladimir	109	½-½	Smith, Michael	86
			1½-3½

Loughton were treated to a bizarre welcome from a gospel choir at Barking on Thursday night! Unfortunately, the Barking venue had also taken a booking for a birthday party on the evening of the match and there was loud music being played throughout. No fault of Barking chess club. They had booked the venue first and well in advance.

Colin seemed particularly affected by the noise and blundered early. Kevin was pleased to get home early for the football.
Clow-Faulkner had draw written all over it before the outset and this proved to be the case particularly as both players were clearly being disturbed by the noise - less than 20 moves were played.
Simon’s opponent did not turn up. Home defaults are always disappointing for the travelling player.
Mick on his NCCL debut this season did well to hold his higher rated opponent to a draw.
Lyn and George had a tense game - Lyn pushed for a win and seemed to go into a losing queen and pawns endgame. However, his opponent misplayed it and a draw was eventually agreed.

Wed 15^th May 2019

	Barnet II		Loughton
		d-5

Barnet had difficulties raising a team and decided to default entire match. Thanks to them for letting us know in good time.

We finished the season undefeated with eleven wins and one drawn match. However, six of the wins were by the 3-2 narrow margin.

Player	Games	Win	Draw	Loss	Score	%

Bowmer, Kevin	5	3	2	0	4	80%
Faulkner, David J	9	2	5	2	4½	50%
Groce, Ken	7	3	3	1	4½	64%
Jones, Barry E	1	0	1	0	½	50%
Kershaw, Graham J	6	4	1	1	4½	75%
Moth, Simon C	8	3	5	0	5½	69%
Smith, Michael	1	0	1	0	½	50%
Stiffell, Lyn	8	1	4	3	3	38%
van Tol, Martin	9	4	5	0	6½	72%
Default	6	6	0	0	6	100%

	Matches				Points	Position

Team	12	11	1	0	23	1^st/7

Player of the Season - Martin

Final League Table

	P	W	D	L	Def	Pts
Loughton	12	11	1	0		23
Chingford II	12	7	2	3	2	16
Wanstead III	12	7	2	3		16
Enfield I	12	7	1	4	1	15
Barking II	12	2	2	8		6
Barnet II	12	2	2	8	4	6
Enfield II	12	0	2	10		2