Junior 4NCL ...
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The Junior 4NCL (Four Nations Chess League) is a national event for teams of young players throughout the country and takes place during three weekends throughout the season.
The three tournaments are actually treated as seperate events (ie: there isn't a combined league table for the entire season) and therefore teams could find themselves in different divisions depending upon the standard of the opposition on each of the weekends,
For the 2018-19 season 3Cs took another step forward and entered a team into the Junior 4NCL for the first time.
6 October 2024
3Cs entered two teams for the opening weekend of the 2024-25 Junior 4NCL event at Peterborough.
Details of the competition are available via the link below while the photographs show the players (and their support staff) at both rest and play
The next 4NCL Junior tournament is at Daventry on Saturday/Sunday 8/9 February 2025
(Click on any photograph for a larger image)
10 April 2022
3Cs Charmanders ended in 7th place (out of 12 teams) in Division 1 at the recent Junior 4NCL weekend, which was very satisfactory as all the teams above them were combinations of players from various counties whereas 3Cs was purely a one-club side.
The 3Cs' squad (pictured right) was Kyle Pelling, Alannah Ashton, Hunain Malik, along with brother and sister Edward and Rebecca Correa. Kyle remained unbeaten in his five matches with Edward also achieving that feat while playing in a separate tournament for the reserve players.
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26 September 2021
3Cs Charmanders - the club's Junior 4NCL team - won the Division 2 Championship with a 100% record from their five matches. All four members of the team contributed to the team's success with Alannah Ashton scoring 4.5/5; Rebecca Correa and Hunain Malik both gaining 4 points and Edward Correa (having played just 4 matches due to an opponent's default) scoring 2.5. The team is pictured below, showing (l to r) Edward, Hunain, Rebecca and Alannah.
Victories for 3Cs came against Edgware Gambits A (3-1), Barnet Knights B (4-0), Uxbridge (2.5-1.5), Robin Hoods (3-1) and Warwickshire Bears D (3.5 - 0.5).
The players' individual matches can be seen via this link ...
19 January 2020
Despite finishing in 7th position in Division 2 at the Junior 4NCL weekend earlier in the season, the 3Cs' Charmanders were somewhat surprisingly "promoted" into Division 1 for the January event mainly due to a considerable reduction in the number of teams having entered the tournament (21 down from 34).
This also meant that 3Cs were the least experienced of the 8 teams in the top division, especially as the club had let two of their strongest players compete for Manchester, not being aware that we would be placed in the top section.
However, against teams who far outgraded them (one of which averaged more than 350 FIDE points per player more than the 3Cs' side), our young players certainly gained valuable experience from the weekend and despite coming away with just one draw from the five matches played, they actually scored more game points in total than two of the other seven in their division.
6 February 2022
3Cs Charmanders, our junior 4NCL team who were promoted to Division 1 for this weekend's 5-round event, ended with 5 points (2 wins, 1 draw, 2 defeats).
The 3Cs' team of Edward Jackson, Rebecca Correa, Alannah Ashton and Hunain Malik played 3 matches on Saturday, losing to the top seeds JHJ1 from London before defeating another London-based side Desert Penguins and tieing their match against Warwickshire Bears A. On Sunday the team again began with a loss, this time to Oxfordshire-based Ojays A before a win against JHJ 3.
The Charmanders finished 8th (out of 14) and with their only two losses being against the teams who ended the competition as champions and runners-up.
15 February 2020
The final weekend of this season's Junior 4NCL saw the 3Cs Charmanders again in Division 1 where they were seeded fourth (according to the FIDE ratings) out of the eight teams involved.
The seedings proved to be accurate as the top four teams all finished in their predicted positions with 3Cs achieving two wins, one draw and two losses. However, it is worthy of note that if ECF grades had been used for seeding purposes then 3Cs would actually have been the bottom seeds.
Hunain Malik was 3Cs' highest scorer of the weekend being unbeaten in the four games he played, gaining two wins and two draws, while Ben Newton secured a win and two draws with both Alannah Ashton and Lucas Chan drawing two games each.
6 October 2019
The 3Cs' squad for the first weekend of the 2019-20 Junior 4NCL, coached by Crystal Ashton, is Alannah Ashton, Lucas Chan, Hunain Malik, Ben Newton and Tim Ye.
On the first day of the weekend 3Cs gained 3-1 wins against both Desert Penguins B and Chess in Schools 2 but lost 1.5 - 2.5 versus Barnet Knights 5 and with Lucas Chan winning all three of his games.
3Cs won their fourth game 3.5 - 0.5 against Barnet Knights 2 but lost their last match 1-3 versus Welsh Dragon Green and therefore have 6 points and are currently 7th (out of 24) in Division 2.
1 October 2018
3Cs are playing in Division 2 of the Junior 4NCL and are by far the least experienced of all the competing sides in the league. However, the team - named the 3Cs' Charmanders - all contributed to a worthwhile venture for the club, including an outstanding victory against a side more than 35 FIDE points on average above them.
Shown below are the first-ever 3Cs' team in the Junior 4NCL along with their Charmander mascot ...
(l-r) Tim Ye, Alannah Ashton, Ben Newton, Lucas Chan.
For the benefit of the older generation, a Charmander is one of the characters in the Pokemon series.
29 April 2019 - 2018-19 season
The first season for the 3Cs' Charmanders in the Junior 4NCL certainly proved to be another successful step forward for the club, giving several of our youngest players the opportunity to take on quality opposition from around the country and of playing in a highly competative environment.
The 3Cs' team were among the youngest in the competition yet performed with great distinction, winning 4 and drawing 5 of their 15 matches.
