We are greatly saddened
to have to report the
untimely and unexpected
death of Tim Dickinson.
Tim was a good friend to
the 4NCL, organising and
captaining teams in the
4NCL, arbiting at 4NCL
weekends and being
responsible for a
significant amount of
the 4NCL�s essential
back office
administrative work, as
well as being a strong
player in his own right.
Tim was also
gentlemanly, patient,
polite, and well-liked
by everyone he came into
contact with in the
chess world. He will be
greatly missed.
Tim, game
inputting to
generate the
PGNs
Photo �
Brendan
O'Gorman
Tim at the
2nd Michael
Uriely
Memorial,
2017
Photo � John
Upham
Main 4NCL 2025-2026 -
Dates
Weekend 1: Rounds 1-2
Weekend 2: Rounds 3-4
Weekend 3: Rounds 5-6
18-19 October 2025
10-11 January 2026
7-8 February 2026
1-2 November 2025
17-18 January 2026
7-8
February
2026
Weekend 4: Rounds 7-8
Weekend 5: Rounds 9-11
21-22 March 2026
2-4 May 2026
21-22 March 2026
2-4 May 2026
Note:
Venue and accommodation booking
details should follow in a week
or so once contracts have been
signed.
Note: New
teams
will be
eligible
to play
in the
round
following
receipt
of the
entry
form if
the
entry
form is
received
at least
three
days in
advance
of the
round in
question.
Dates
for each
round
are
shown
here.
Note:New
teams
will be
eligible
to play
in the
round
following
receipt
of the
entry
form if
the
entry
form is
received
at least
three
days in
advance
of the
round in
question.
Dates
for each
round
are
shown
here.
Online Fair Play Form
- Season 12
All
players involved in
new registrations
will need to sign the
Fair Play Form for
Season 12. Please note
that players will not be
available for selection
until the fair play form
has been signed and
received. Previous/old
registrations roll over.
Manx Liberty�s wildcards
deliver in style to
regain British team
chess crown
The Isle of Man team
enlisted two young English
stars to help regain the
4NCL title that they won in
2022 and 2023.
The Four Nations
Chess League (4NCL) is a
bedrock of British chess.
Staged over 11 rounds and
five weekends from October
to May at Midlands hotels,
with teams of eight in the
top division and six in
divisions two to four, it
attracts players from club
level to grandmaster, many
of whom do not compete in
any other national event.
Its organisation, by the
English Chess Federation
chief executive, Mike
Truran, and a hardworking
team of arbiters, is
consistently excellent.
As expected, the 2024-25
season ended last Monday
with a close 11th round
match between the favourites
and defending champions,
Wood Green, and the winners
for the two previous years,
Manx Liberty. The outcome
was a rarity. All eight
games were drawn for a 4-4
scoreline, although most
were hard fought and Manx
missed a winning endgame
chance.
Contrary to predictions, the
title was already decided in
the previous round when The
Sharks, who had tied 4-4
with Manx in round nine,
defeated Wood Green 4.5-3.5.
Final leading scores were
Manx Liberty 20/22 match
points, Wood Green 17, Wood
Green Youth 16, Chessable
White Rose 16, Cheddleton
Savills Catering 13, The
Sharks 13, CSC/Kingston 11.
In previous seasons the top
teams often brought in a
world-class wildcard for the
final weekend. This time
Wood Green added the
eight-time British champion
Michael Adams, who duly
delivered one of the best
games of the weekend in
round 10, complete with
bishop and knight
sacrifices, but was held to
draws in the crunch matches
of rounds nine and 11.
1 - Manx Liberty (20/22, W9
D2, won with a round to
spare)
2 - Wood Green (17/22)
3 - Wood Green Youth (16/22,
54� GP)
4 - Chessable White Rose 1
(16/22, 48� GP)
Top 3 in Division 2
(promoted to Div.1)
1 - Warwickshire Select 1
(18/22, W9 L2)
2 - Celtic Tigers 1 (17/22)
3 - Oxford 1 (14/22)
Celtic Tigers 1 and Oxford 1
bounce back from relegation
from Div.1 last season.
Positions 7-10 all
finished on 10 MP, two teams
of which were relegated to
Div.3 on game points.
Top 2 in Division 3 Bishops
(promoted to Div.2)
1 - She Plays To Win
Lionesses (17/22, 46� GP,
all female team captained by
Lorin D'Costa)
2 - Barnet Knights B (17/22,
44� GP)
Top 2 in Division 3
Knights (promoted to Div.2)
1 - Sussex Martlets 1
(22/22, bounce back from
relegation last season)
2 - ToBeDecided (20/22,
second successive promotion)
Top 4 in Div.4 (promoted to
Div.3)
1 - Barnet Knights C (18/22,
W7 D4)
2 - Golden Cockerels (17/22,
43 GP, defeated War and
Piece A 4-2 in Rd.8)
3 - War and Piece A (17/22,
43 GP, team consisting of
current and former armed
forces/MOD employees)
4 - Warrington Mates (17/22,
40 GP)
Barnet Knights will have a
team in all 4 divisions next
season (provided they enter
four teams again).
Norm achievers:
Team
Fed
Player
Norm
Blackthorne
Zoe Varney
WIM (2nd norm)
Cheddleton Savills
Catering
Richard Pert
GM (2nd norm)
The Sharks 1
Tom O'Gorman
GM (1st norm)
Wood Green Youth
Svyatoslav Bazakutsa
GM (2nd norm)
Some notes on norms:
All
norms were for 9 rounds
total and were achieved
in Division 1.
Zoe's round 10 and 11
games did not form part
of her norm, it was
achieved after her Rd.9
draw.
Richard achieved his
norm in Rd.10 which was
banked, his Rd.11 game
was an attempt to gain a
slightly improved norm
(he needed to win but
could only achieve a
draw).
All these players
reached the target score
exactly (i.e. the GM
norms were all must
wins, and Zoe only
needed a draw).
Those looking at the games
of norm achievers may want
to look at Richard's round
10 game against Samuel Chow,
in particular 20.Bxe6!
offering a queen sacrifice,
and Svyatoslav's final game
against Nicholas Pert which
featured a rather dramatic
twist at the end - their
other games may also be
interesting but I haven't
checked them.
In the next day or two
cleaned PGNs from the final
weekend
will appear here, in the
meantime the games can be
found on
lichessand
Chess.com.
Thomas Evans
4NCL Chief Arbiter
Online - Season
11
Winners
Congratulations to the teams
below for their achievements in
the season 11 online event.