by Saul Marks

 

The restructuring of the internal league from three divisions into four this season has proven a success, with 86 players having taken part so far and the competition fiercer than ever.

 

Championship

 

The running in the top flight is being made by two-time club champion Ed Taylor, whose policy of trying to rack up enough points to secure safety as early as possible has resulted in a fine run of form. He leads the division by six clear points going into Christmas, albeit having played quite a few more games than his nearest rivals.

Ed is followed by Chris Latham – another two-time club champion who has also had a strong autumn – and Sanjoy Banerjee, whose recent statistical analysis revealed a significant improvement in his results since quitting smoking in May!

On their shoulders are the two big guns of Mike Coffey and Dave Clark, who may well find themselves in a straight fight for the title for the second year in succession. This year it’s Mike with the advantage, turning in a frightening eight wins from ten games, while Dave has had to settle for more draws than perhaps he would have wished. If Mike can get his games in during the second half of the season, perhaps title number 13 will be elusive no longer!

The bottom of the table is a strange place, with three of the club’s very strongest players, Paul Evans, Luke Maher and Rick Purcell, taking up most of the relegation spots at the midway point in the season! This is simply because they’ve played fewer games between them than Ed has played on his own! We can expect all three to turn their attentions to the Championship a little more in the New Year and surely pull themselves to safety.

Jon Booth, the lowest rated player in the division by far, has had a torrid season to date, collecting just 9 points, although this included an impressive win over Rick early on. Above him, Joe Butterworth, Ken Jones and Graham Carr might be anxiously looking over their shoulders when Paul, Luke and Rick come past, while Titas Vdovycia will no doubt keep himself out of danger as he enjoys a more relaxed season.

 

Premiership

 

The second division, currently halfway through a two-season reduction in numbers, has been dominated so far by Paul Jesse, who leads by 14 points and is looking likely to achieve his stated goal of promotion to the top flight.

Behind him is a very exciting peloton of five players, all constantly jostling for position: Gordon Sommerville, Alan Jackson, Harry McLeod, Jeff Povall & Adam Miller. Harry, who ran away with the Major last season, has proven he can mix it with the 1600s and has traded second position in the table with Gordon & Alan throughout the autumn. At still only 15, he’s an exciting prospect for the future and may well get his chance in the Championship before much longer. Gordon, Alan, Jeff & Adam were the four relegatees from the top flight last season and have, predictably, found themselves at the top end of the Prem. Adam, having played the fewest games in the chasing pack, very nearly made it to Christmas undefeated, only succumbing to Gordon on the final club night before the break.

It’s going to be exciting to see these five players continue to scrap it out for the second automatic promotion spot in the second half of the season, and those who don’t make will give us a nail-biting playoff series in May! Sure to join them in the playoffs is Brian Wiggett, who has recently dropped off the tail of the group, but remains one of the strongest players in the division.

As with the Championship, the bottom of the table includes strong players who have played very little, namely Tony Roberts and Uvindu Adimali, the latter of whom has suspended his campaign for the time being. The protocol for what would happen if these two fail to reach safety by the end of April may be up for discussion in due course.

Another very capable player who has played relatively few games is Phil Taylor, who will need to rectify this throughout the winter in order to avoid relegation.

Wildcard promotions from the Major, Chris Clemenson & Dave Simm, sit astride the drop with identical records while, around them, Graham Heath, Ron Champion & Martin Hargreaves have struggled throughout the autumn. Graham & Ron may survive by sheer numbers of games played, but could be in serious danger if those below play more regularly.

Sadly, club legend Leon Wolszczak looks certain to be playing in the Major next season.

 

Major

 

Like last season, the Major has a runaway leader, this time being its 2023 winner, Joe Ledgerton. Having taken voluntary relegation after a difficult season in the Premiership, Joe has sailed into the distance with an impressive 54 points from 25 games. His confidence and the quality of his chess have both improved rapidly, and his captaincy of Wallasey F in the Merseyside league has been another factor in his revival. He is now growing into the potential he showed when he joined the club as an 11-year-old, nearly three years ago, and will find the Premiership an easier place next season than last. He was also a joint winner of the Lightning Tournament

Heading the race for second place is Lee Whitford-Stark, the only unbeaten (regular) player in all four divisions, and he has Paul Greenway, Felix Lefeuvre & Terrence Jiang for very close company. We can expect all these players to play more games over the coming months, as they battle it out for promotion. For the first time, there will be playoffs in this division, too.

In sixth place sits 11-year-old Thomas Moran, who impressed in the summer junior tournament and has emerged as the club’s most exciting prospect. He turned heads with a string of incredible match performances against players rated 1700 and 1800 in November & December, and was another of the joint winners of the Lightning Tournament. He’s been snapped up by several of the match teams & it’s safe to say he won’t be playing in the Major next season.

The bottom of the table is, again, populated by players who have played less regularly but, with six relegation places, they may find themselves in an almighty scrap with each other to survive, if indeed they want to. Sam Clark, Steve Prendergast, Amanda Adimali, Connor Washington, Liam Davies, Will Madeley and Viv Oldham are all in serious danger, although Harry Squire and Ben Kelly, just above them, should continue to pull away as they play more regularly. Sam and Viv, in particular, have played more games than the others and will need their fortunes to improve in 2025.

 

First Class

 

The new fourth division has proved exceedingly popular entry point for many of the new entrants to the club, and a proving ground for those who struggled in the Major last season.

The division has been dominated by the incredibly active and competitive Kirsten Rowe, who sits at the summit with 59 points from 30 games. Stuart Rowe is second, some 15 points behind, and these two may well remain in these positions largely through volume of games played, particularly against younger opposition. John Quirk has performed well and is in clear third place, so should secure a playoff spot. Seb Chesworth & Charlie Ren have put together some good results, and they’re chased by a large pack of players who play at different frequencies.

It’s interesting that many of the strongest players on paper in this division have played very few games. Partha Bompally, Cayden Barker, Tom Wood & Luca Sorrentino-Ryan could all have a real chance of promotion if they chose to do so.

We should add that this division contains some of our youngest members, including Seb (aged 7), Christopher Pavloski (aged 6) and Sami Alwindi (aged 5) who, rather scarily, played the Scandinavian Defence with great confidence in the Lightning Tournament!

This all goes to show that the club is ever more healthy and the future is bright for players of all ages and strengths. Bring on 2025!