BRITISH CHESS INTO THE NINETIES

by G. C. Flear

[This article was first published in BCM, March 1990, pps 107-109. In it, Glenn Flear describes his vision of a British national league in the 1990s - one which is remarkably similar in many ways to the 4NCL, which started in October 1993 - ed.]

League Chess

EVERYONE WHO CARES ABOUT CHESS IN BRITAIN SHOULD READ THIS AND DISCUSS IT WITH THEIR FRIENDS!!

Can we in Britain learn something from the way other countries organise chess in general and league chess in particular? Let’s see.

League chess means different things to different folk but in Britain, outside of London, it is really a rather localized amateur affair. Local clubs compete for a local trophy with largely the same clubs, players and officials year after year.

Matches are played after work for most in varying conditions but, apart from hurt pride and local rivalries, it is not so serious an affair – indeed the thought of paying a strong player to play in a team would seem ridiculous to most!

Club and county chess is perceived to be rather in decline, or at best stagnant, and even the Yorkshire and strong London leagues are suffering. Professionals almost never play and the strongest regular players are busy amateurs with little time for tournaments and up-and-coming youngsters who cannot get enough chess.

England has made incredible progress in the last 10-15 years on the international front but very little has changed domestically.

It is astonishing to me that no-one has seriously tried to get a national league off the ground. We have 16 grandmasters and a host of other fine players, short travelling distances and many local clubs, but the regions are sadly starved of serious’ chess. In the regions the new scheme would give greater exposure to serious chess and would generate tremendous interest in a way that weekend tournaments did 15 years ago but which have since lost their vigour and freshness. Players outside of the South-East rarely see a grandmaster except for the occasional simultaneous display.

To start with, I suggest a National First Division of twelve teams, essentially super-clubs from all over the country, four from London, two each from the Midlands, the North of England, two from Scotland and one each from Wales and the West Country. These could be existing clubs or new, almost regional, all-star teams.

I also suggest a method of promotion and relegation to add spice to the competition, either regional second divisions or perhaps a method incorporating local leagues e.g. local leagues are unaffected except the winners of each local league (generally county-wide) qualify for a regional elimination competition, Each region then produces four teams to play-off over a weekend in a mini league (2 games Saturday, one game Sunday).

Each regional winner (six regions) then has an elimination match against another to leave three teams to be promoted for next season’s first division.

A Summary:

• Local leagues – winner to qualify for regional elimination competition.
• Regional Elimination Competition – each region has their own method to leave four teams.
• Mini league – four teams play over a weekend to leave only one.
• Six regional winners – with a play-off match to leave three.
• Three Inter-regional challengers to qualify for next year’s division one.

There are many advantages. In some areas of the country players associate themselves more with their club than county which is why county chess is poorly represented. Local leagues are insufficiently dynamic to generate much interest outside the county involved.

With a national first division, chess would be more likely to be considered a sport than it is at present – look how the league has revitalised Rugby Union!

What about finance you may ask? Financing is not as difficult as often made out to be. Once the infrastructure of the league is in place each team or region would solve the problems in their own fashion.

League results, elimination competition results, would be published in regional / local newspapers and so regional based companies could be found for attractive sponsoring deals. The national quality newspapers may find a national league simpler to understand than “an International tournament with title norm possibilities” and publication of reports and results would in my opinion be more likely than at present.

Some clubs may prefer amateurs, others may have some professional players or even go for a very professional set-up. This can lead to some excellent benefits. A club in Scotland, say, competing against English clubs is an obvious target for Scottish companies looking for sponsorship – the club could pay some local players and perhaps one or two grandmasters who might be encouraged to move to the area. It would also make it easier for Scottish players to become or remain professional. Young players in the club would get to know strong players and this would have beneficial effects on training and a suitable role model for young hopefuls to aspire to.

The competition between clubs to qualify for the prestigious First Division and for First Division Clubs to (a) remain there and (b) win the championship would OF ITSELF promote a climate where professionalism would flourish. Money would come into the game and so the league would be a very positive step in the nineties to develop our national talents.

Our game has grown on the international scene but our strong players play 80-90% of their chess abroad. This is not contributory to the national game in the regions, so it is no surprise that tournament entries are down, prizes are down and local chess is bereft of new ideas.

I think this is a dynamic solution to several problems with domestic chess in Britain.

Let’s compare my suggestion with what’s happening in France.

In 1984 I was approached by a tournament organiser in Metz to play for his club in the First Division of the national league as his club had just been promoted and needed strengthening. Before this I knew nothing of league chess in France. In my first season I played seven games (against two IMs and five others), there were only one or two foreigners there and I was the highest rated player in the league.

This season the leading clubs have the following players:

• AUXERRE: Sax, Murey, Suba, Hebden
• CANNES: Dorfman, Ivkov, Miralles
• CLICHY: Adams, Renet, Conquest. Brunner, Prie
• LYON: Salov, Andersson, Ehlvest. Belyavsky, Lautier, Kouatly
• METZ: Flear, Gallagher, Hector
• MEUDON: Kosten
• MONTPELLIER: Pinter, lliescas, Magem. Andruet
• STRASBOURG: Knaak, Koch

There are four clubs without any foreign or internationally known players, two from Paris with very homogenous teams, one from Brittany and one from Toulouse.

There is a maximum of two foreigners per team per match and a maximum of three new players in a season. The first prize for a winning team is £1000; an irrelevance as Lyon have apparently a budget of £120,000 for this season alone. Other clubs are less rich but finance their players and team from a variety of sources.

English players are popular (there are seven including subs) as they are good value, loyal and play hard and fair.

There are a total of 18 grandmasters in the French league.

The better known German league is rapidly being overtaken by the French, for which there are two obvious reasons.

(a) Playing for a German team stops one playing for even local teams in other countries by German Law – although this is probably an illegal restrictive practice. (b) The German League of 16 teams (15 games per season) is played over eight weekends which cut seriously into professional players’ tournament programs.

In France last season the twelve teams played over four “weekends”, (one game, two games, two games and a climactic six games at the end of the season over a May Bank Holiday). This season there will be only three “weekends” (three games, three games and five games in May).

The varying strengths of teams in the league enables French players to play against strong foreigners. Because only two foreigners are permitted in a match, six French are required to make up the team, there are a limited number of semi-professionals or professionals of a high standard in France so they are well paid.

All French players over 2300 are involved – how many English players over 2400 play in league chess?

I think this is an exciting and viable idea and should be discussed at all levels of British chess and I believe with very little homework the British Chess Federation and the Scottish and Welsh Chess Associations could get this off the ground in a matter of months. Any local clubs or organisers or potential sponsors who like my idea should communicate with their federation if they have any better suggestions - if everyone is talking about this, the “powers that be” must surely act!

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