We entered 7 teams again this season. Here is a summary of how they are doing so far.

Gambit 1.

Any hope of challenging for the 1st division title disappeared once Florian informed us he was moving away from Nottingham, meaning he might only be able to play in occasional away matches. Even had he been a regular it would have been a difficult task as champions Mansfield 1 had the same line up as last season and three 2100 players joined or returned to Grantham 1.

The team won their 1st two matches, in which Florian won and drew, but lost the next 5 matches without him, although 3 have been to Mansfield 1 and Grantham 1 (twice). The team lies second bottom but the good news is that the fixtures look easier in the second half of the season.

Captain Mike N-E has found it tough going on board 1 with just 2 draws from 6 games. John, unusually for him, has lost two of his 4 games, drawing the other two. Onos has just 1 win and 2 draws from 6 games. The silver lining has been Mike B’s 4 wins and 3 draws. Mike has been unbeaten in the league for 14 months with 9 wins and 7 draws. Us mere mortals can only dream of such consistency.

Gambit 2.

The 2nd team began strongly with 4 wins versus inferior opposition before the inevitable banana skin result against the 3rd team in their return match. They followed this up with a win against Ashfield 2 and a loss to leaders Nomads 1 and are second in the table, 3 points behind Nomads 1 and 1 ahead of West Nottingham 1 who have a game in hand. These two teams are very strong on paper so it will be quite an achievement if our second team manage to finish in the top two.

Nikolai has been in fine form with 5 wins and 2 draws, albeit against weaker opponents, showing what a solid player he is (and last week he drew with a 2100 for our 1st team at Grantham). Captain Felipe has found the jump from division 3 to division 2 a little more difficult as he has managed just 2 wins from 7 games. Vinod has won 1 and drawn 2 from 3 games, while Steve has 2 wins and a loss from his 3 games. The 5 subs have scored 2 – 4 – 2 between them, most notably 3 solid draws by Onos on board 1.

Gambit 3.

The 3rd team have performed roughly to grade, winning 3 and losing 3, and lie in 5th place, 4 points clear of the relegation places. They have not yet played two of the teams below them so should not be in any danger of going down. After losing narrowly to the 2nd team and then getting thrashed by Nomads 1 they won 3 in a row, including revenge over the 2nd team, before losing to a very strong West Nottingham 1 team which included ex Gambit member Tony Wright, making a welcome return to chess after two decades.

Our best performer has been captain Paul with 2 wins and 2 draws from 5 games, including a nice win over the 2nd team captain Felipe. New member Mike S has also done well with 2 wins and a draw from 5 games. Less successful has been Drag with just 1 win and 2 draws from 5 games. John H has had the misfortune of being heavily out graded in all 5 games and has yet to score any points. The subs, Florian, Nikolai & Marian, have scored 2 – 2 – 1 between them.

Gambit 4.

The 4th team suffered a blow just before the season began when Peter G-M had to withdraw. Having picked up 3 points from the 1st 3 matches they managed just 2 more points from their next 4 matches and now are just above the relegation places.

None of the 3 regulars, captain Graham, Ronnie & John H, have reached 50%. It could be a tricky 2nd half to the season but they will probably have just enough to stay up.

Gambit 5.

Our 5th team began with a great win over our 4th team and then drew their 2nd match. That’s as good as it got as they have lost 4 out of their next 5 matches. They are bottom, 4 points adrift of safety. All 4 defeats have been to much stronger opponents.

New member Tom H has done well with 3 wins from 4 games. Tom P has 3 wins and a draw from 6. Captain Marian has just 2 wins from 5 games but has faced two players rated over 1800. Keith has just a solitary win from 6 games, a victory over Graham.

Gambit 6.

The 6th team were 2nd bottom last season and were only spared relegation due to extra teams entering the league so this season was always going to be difficult against what appears to be a stronger set of teams. They lie bottom on 1 point from 6 matches, 4 points adrift of safety. They have been heavily out graded in several matches.

Captain Andy has done well with 2 wins and 2 draws from 6 games, often against higher rated players. Leo has fought bravely against much stronger opponents and has managed a win and a draw from 6 games. New member Ben began well with a win and a draw but has been heavily out graded in his last 4 games. Dennis has also found this division tough going with 3 losses. Marshall has subbed in 3 times, drawing once.

Gambit 7.

Our 7th team are currently 2nd with 8 points from 7 matches, level on points with 3rd place and just 1 point above 4th & 5th, but a massive 7 points behind runaway leaders West Nottingham 3.

Marshall has done a great job so far in his debut season as captain and has a 50% record so far. Ken has returned to form after a couple of poor seasons and has won 4 out of 6 games. Alastair has 1 win from 3 games while Nathaniel hasn’t got going yet, with 3 defeats so far. Dick has lost his only game. The two subs, Ben & Dennis, have found this division much easier. Ben has won all 4 of his games while Dennis has 2 wins and a draw from his 4 games.