The League season officially started on Monday 2nd Sept with the habitual Lightning Tournament. Eleven entrants turned up at the Coopers Arms in Plasmarl and took part in five rounds of "move on the buzzer" chess. In this competition players are given 10 seconds to reply to their opponents move and are expected to make their move when the buzzer sounds. Failure to do so results in an immediate loss.

Philippe Rodgers, one of last year's runners-up and the youngest player taking part, won the event overall on 4 out of 5 with Daniel Wilmot and Peter Bevan following close behind on 3½. Among the lower ranked players Eric Blackwell came out on top after a tie break round against Norman Speak.

Rearrangements seem to be the order of the day in the League with Nidum bringing forward one of their internal matches so as to make full use of IM Richard Jones before he goes off to Australia. A clear win for Nidum A over their B team ensures that they go straight to the top of the Division 1 table and it will no doubt be a case of "catch us if you can".

07/09/2013