Last week’s only match saw a great win for Richmond C against Maidenhead B. Although our opponents had a very strong top board, we ran out winners by the convincing score of 4½-1½.
- Otto Weidner (-) 0:1 Steve James (2050)
- Victor Bluett (-) 1:0 Stephen Briggs (1607)
- Levente Lencses (1525) 1:0 Yuri Rylow (-)
- Yann Sydow (-) 1:0 Dariusz Sikora (-)
- Ron Bilkhu (-) ½:½ Keith Trower (1518)
- Julian Bedale (1098) 1:0 Default
Congratulations to Victor, Levente and Yann on their wins and well played everyone!
Now seems a good time to look at the current state of play in the Thames Valley League.
Here’s Division 1. Hammersmith are clearly much the strongest team in the league at the moment, but we’re currently in second place and, if we can field strong teams for our remaining matches, might expect to stay there. We play Ealing Juniors next Tuesday and have yet to play either match against Surbiton. These matches will be critical so let’s hope we can field strong teams.
| Team | Matches played | Won | Drawn | Lost | TBD | Games for | Games against | Games diff. | Adjourn. | Adjud. | Match points | Double defaults | Penalty points | Penalty Match points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hammersmith A | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 10 | +22 | – | – | 7 | – | – | – |
| Richmond A | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 22.5 | 13.5 | +9 | – | – | 4 | – | – | – |
| Surbiton A | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 15.5 | 14.5 | +1 | – | – | 3 | – | – | – |
| Wimbledon A | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 16.5 | 31.5 | -15 | – | – | 2 | – | – | – |
| Ealing Jun A | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 18 | -6 | – | – | 2 | – | – | – |
| Ealing A | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 15.5 | 26.5 | -11 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – |
Here’s Division 2. As you’ll see from the Games Difference column this is very close and competitive. At present we’re strongly placed level on points with Maidenhead A but with a match in hand. However, Kingston, potentially the strongest team in the division, might be expected to overtake us if they’re at full strength in their most important matches. The remainder of the season will be interesting. At their strongest, Kingston and Maidenhead are fielding teams stronger than those of several Division 1 teams.
| Team | Matches played | Won | Drawn | Lost | TBD | Games for | Games against | Games diff. | Adjourn. | Adjud. | Match points | Double defaults | Penalty points | Penalty Match points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maidenhead A | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 26.5 | 21.5 | +5 | – | – | 4.5 | – | – | – |
| Richmond B | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 21 | 0 | – | – | 4.5 | – | – | – |
| Surbiton B | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 27.5 | 20.5 | +7 | – | – | 3.5 | – | – | – |
| Kingston A | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 9 | +6 | – | – | 3 | – | – | – |
| Ealing Jun B | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 19 | -8 | – | – | 2 | – | – | – |
| Hounslow A | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 13 | 23 | -10 | – | – | 1.5 | – | – | – |
Here’s Division 3. There’s a clear split between the top four teams and the bottom three teams. Richmond C, just half a point behind Maidenhead B and with three matches in hand, are in a strong position to win the division at present, but there’s still everything to play for.
| Team | Matches played | Won | Drawn | Lost | TBD | Games for | Games against | Games diff. | Adjourn. | Adjud. | Match points | Double defaults | Penalty points | Penalty Match points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maidenhead B | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 35 | 25 | +10 | – | – | 6.5 | – | – | – |
| Richmond C | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 29.5 | 12.5 | +17 | – | – | 6 | – | – | – |
| Hounslow B | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 28.5 | 19.5 | +9 | – | – | 5.5 | – | – | – |
| Surbiton C | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 13 | +10 | – | – | 4 | – | – | – |
| Richmond D | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 21 | 27 | -6 | – | – | 2 | – | – | – |
| Ealing B | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 13 | 35 | -22 | – | – | 1.5 | – | – | – |
| Harrow B | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 12 | 30 | -18 | – | – | 1.5 | – | – | – |