The London Chess League fixtures for the upcoming season have been released today, plus details of changes to the league – here is everything you need to know.
Battersea Chess Club has a total of 65 matches scheduled in the 2019/20 season starting with Battersea 1 Vs Wimbledon 1 on October 1.
Next up it is our division 5 derby between the newly-named Battersea DOGS and the Battersea CATS.
Where are all the fixtures?
All the fixtures have now been imported into the club calendar here.
However, captains should cross-check with the London League site as changes are bound to be made at some point and one or other of the sites may briefly be out-of-date.
How many teams are Battersea fielding?
We have a total of six teams competing from the top of the league structure to the bottom – our biggest number for many years.
They are: Battersea 1 in division 1; Battersea 2 in division 2; then Battersea 3 in division 4; Battersea CATS and Battersea DOGS in division 5; and finally, Battersea POWER in division 6.
The captains are:
– Midhun Unnikrishnan (LL1)
– Malcolm Dancy (LL2)
– Bill Drennan (LL3)
– Tim Valentine (DOGS)
– Chris Rebbeck (CATS + POWER)
Battersea will also field a team in the Eastman Cup, the league’s knockout competition, captained by Ali Hill.
If you want to play in any of these teams, please contact the respective captains.
Are there any new clubs this year?
After the collapse of the London Commercial Chess League last year, a team representing the remnants of the league will compete in division 4. It is based at the Golden Lane Community Centre.
London Commercial brings the total number of clubs playing in the London Chess League to 31.
What else is different about the league this year?
Some big changes have been made to the league this year. They are:
- An earlier starting time of 6.45pm at Citadines – with 1 hour now for default time.
- Incremental chess (via electronic clocks) now on all boards 75mins+15secs – 10pm (at Citadines) for finish + adjudication.
- If players prefer – they can agree QuickPlay – 30 moves in 75 mins – with all remaining moves in 20mins (9.55pm finish at Citadines)
- SlowPlay (36 in 90 mins then adj) can still be played – but only if agreed in advance by captains.
