Each year, the chess season rarely follows the same
pattern as in previous years. The 2009/10 season once again did not
disappoint
and provided some new challenges. The first
challenge was
faced by Atticus when most of their second team withdrew from
this years
competitions. The impact of this was that many Atticus players moved up a
team,
and the question was, would the new Atticus 2 team be able to hold their
own in
division 1. The next question was whether Prescot would also perform given they finished bottom last year but requested
not to be
relegated following the early withdrawal of
The pattern of the season wasn’t
properly established until November. By this stage it was apparent that
three
teams were the likely contenders for the Championship. However
it was far less certain how things would develop in the lower half. By Xmas however the position had got a bit muddled
due to the
increasing number of postponed matches. This was compounded in the new Year with all the bad weather, and it was a
bit of a
struggle to try and ensure that all fixtures would be completed by the
end of
April. However by February, it was becoming
clear that
the three leading teams would be the ones aiming for the top position,
but no
clear leader had yet been established. Lower down 2
teams were looking increasingly vulnerable. However
it
was Formby that managed to pull
themselves clear of the bottom leaving Prescot
unable to improve on their position last year and in the relegation
slot. At
varying times during the season, each of Atticus
2, Wallasey and
The Player of the Year competition started
off as usual with a large number of contenders leading the way.
As the
first half of the season passed, all the contenders dropped away until
there
was just one person leading. As the second half of the season developed
this
person managed to retain and increase his lead until well before the
final
rounds he was unbeatable. At this point a new
challenge emerged. Could he maintain a perfect record? In the event Enayet Hossain of Atticus 1 did indeed
achieve a maximum 14/14 score. This has not occurred in the first
division
before to my recollection during my years as Controller.
Best of the rest were also Atticus 1 players David
Lawson and John Redmond on 10½. Other unbeaten
players were Roger Williamson
and Andreas Vogt of Aigburth. Top Drawer was Bob Platt of Formby with 9 draws. Unusually despite Aigburth
winning the Championship it was the Atticus 1 players that dominated the
top
positions of the POTY table.
This has been an unusual year in that I have been
directly involved in getting the results onto the Web site, and again I
would
like to thank all the Captains for the speed in getting the results in.
This
has, I think, been a very successful introduction to the new reporting
mechanisms on the web site and no doubt there
will be
further improvements in future years.
Finally I would like to
congratulate Aigburth 1 on becoming Merseyside Champions and to Enayet
Hossain
for his remarkable performance in becoming Division 1 Player of the
Year.
Dave Whitby – Division 1 Controller.
|
Team |
Played |
Won |
Drawn |
Lost |
For |
Against |
Difference |
Points |
|
AIGBURTH 1 |
14 |
13 |
0 |
1 |
73 |
39 |
34 |
26 |
|
ATTICUS 1 |
14 |
12 |
0 |
2 |
84 |
28 |
56 |
24 |
|
|
14 |
10 |
0 |
4 |
66 |
46 |
20 |
20 |
|
ATTICUS 2 |
14 |
6 |
1 |
7 |
47 |
65 |
-18 |
13 |
|
WALLASEY A |
14 |
4 |
1 |
9 |
51 |
61 |
-10 |
9 |
|
FORMBY 1 |
14 |
4 |
1 |
9 |
44½ |
67½ |
-23 |
9 |
|
|
14 |
4 |
1 |
9 |
44½ |
67½ |
-23 |
9 |
|
PRESCOT 1 |
14 |
1 |
0 |
13 |
38 |
74 |
-36 |
2 |
|
Player |
Team |
Points |
|
Enayet
Hossain |
Atticus 1 |
14 |
|
David Lawson |
Atticus 1 |
10½ |
|
John Redmond |
Atticus 1 |
10½ |
|
Frank Boyd |
Atticus 1 |
10 |
|
Nick Wall |
Atticus 1 |
10 |
|
Brian Ewart |
Atticus 1 |
9 |
|
Rob Frith |
Aigburth 1 |
9 |
|
David James |
Atticus 1 |
9 |
|
Martin Cooksey |
Aigburth 1 |
8½ |
|
Phil Davies |
Wallasey A |
8½ |
|
Brendan Kane |
Aigburth 1 |
8½ |
|
Graham Lilley |
Aigburth 1 |
8 |
© Merseyside Chess Association 2010.