New Year Update: West Wales Chess League Division 1 Pool Stage

Happy New Year to all our chess players across West Wales! As we kick off 2025, I wanted to provide some clarity about the upcoming Division 1 pool stage format and scheduling.

The first phase of our Division 1 season has created an exciting finish, with Noah's Yard, White Knights C, and the Goblins all still in contention for the Championship pool. Noah's Yard faces a challenging road ahead with three matches against strong opponents, while the other contenders have a crucial head-to-head match that could determine their fate.

Once all first-round matches are completed, the league will split into two pools. The top four teams will enter the Championship pool, while the bottom four teams will compete in the Plate competition. Each team will then play three additional matches against the other teams in their respective pools.

We're currently prepared for all possible outcomes with different fixture schedules ready to go. As soon as the final first-round results are in, we'll publish the complete pool stage fixture list. The pool stage matches will commence in the week beginning January 27th, 2025, with all games scheduled to conclude by the first week of May.

Rest assured that the apparent delay in fixture announcements isn't due to oversight – we're simply waiting for those crucial final results to determine the pool placements. This approach ensures fair and accurate scheduling for all teams involved.

Thank you for your patience, and here's to an exciting second half of the season!