The 4NCL is a significant part of the UK chess scene. It has become the premier teams event in this country (surpassing the county championships) and now runs over 4 divisions. In fact it is so large that divisions 3&4 are split into North and South zones.
I'm currently at the Div 1&2 weekend at Northampton. There 32 teams of 8 players playing here, with 16 teams in each division. The top teams range from almost all GM outfits, to a more mixed GM+IM+2200 outfits. The format is 1 round per day, with the Saturday evening given over to socialising. Most of the players are staying at the venue and when I left the bar around 11pm the chess and conversation was still going strong.
I ended up on board 7 for the White Rose 2nd team, but let the team down with a fairly dismal game. We lost to 'Spirit of Atticus' 5.5-2.5 (+0=5-3) although Harry Press continues his torment of UK 2100's, picking up a draw after his opponent miscalculated a winning ending. Today doesn't get any easier, as we play Alba, a Scottish team that contains a number of former Scottish champions.
Apart from the Press's, there were a few other Australian players in attendance, including Murray Smith (a strong Australian player of the 1970's and 80's) who had been lured out of retirement for the weekend, and is now thinking of making a proper comeback.
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