Weekend 5

Tim writes:

All, the final three rounds of 4NCL for 2016-17 have completed. Oxford’s teams scored these results:

• Oxford 1 lost 3-5 & 2-6 to Kings’ Head & Blackthorne Russia, then bashed Celtic Tigers 6½-1½;
• Oxford 2 drew 3-3 with both Brown Jack 2 & Wood Green Midland Monarchs 2, then beat Milton Keynes Phoenix 2 4-2;
• Oxford 3 had only one match v Sussex Martlets 3 and lost that ½-5½.

Oxford 1 flirted dangerously with relegation as we lost the Saturday match to Kings’ Head on a day when all four teams in the bottom half of the relegation pool beat the four teams in the top half to blow the pool open. Happily we were able to win today’s match v Celtic Tigers. One of the players was confident enough to assert pre-match “we’re not going to lose, let alone by 6-2” (which might have seen us go down). Thankfully, he was right!

Oxford 2 were not as strong as previously this season but the players we put out did very well indeed to maintain our unbeaten record (+8 =3 -0 in the end) – particular mentions for Ian & Ross who scored bottom-board wins on their second-team debuts. Unfortunately that left the door ajar for Barnet Knights 1 to overtake us and they took the title by the narrow whisker of 1 game-point. Still, Oxford 2 are promoted [“for the first time in 14 years” – Kieran] and we take a cash prize of £200. Well done to everyone who who contributed this season. One of you suggests we spend the prize on a team kit of “yellow & blue onesies” … hmm. Perhaps not?

Our player of the weekend was undoubtedly Zoe: after requiring arbiter intervention to salvage a 3-fold repetition on Saturday, she scored back-to-back wins on Sunday & Monday for 2½/3. Yes, yes, skip scored 2½ as well but his best game was his 14-move draw on Sunday: his Lopez wins were streaky. Oddly, skip’s last three 1. e4 games have all been Ruys after many years of not having a single one of the things.

So ends another season – my thanks to all 43 players who played for us during the course of it, particularly to Phil N, Aidan, Zoe & David Z who played all 11 matches, and to Pavel, Graham C & David M for their ten appearances. Nick & Zoe were our highest-scoring players with 7½/9 & 7/11 respectively. Zoe splits as 6/9 in Div 1 and 1/2 in Div 4s; if we add in Francesca’s Div1 1½/2 , board 8 contributed 7½/11 to Ox1, so kudos to both Zoe & Francesca. Mike T had the highest percentage of players playing more than one game with 4½/5 – spoiling his 100% record today!