Having belatedly congratulated the Division Winners of the 2022-23 Middlesex League season, belated congratulations are also issued to Middlesex's county teams!
Each year the MCCA enters teams into the county championships. The competition is run in two stages:Stage 1: Regional Stage - Middlesex participate in Southern Counties Chess Union entering teams into the following sections: Open, u2050, u1850, u1650 and u1450.
Stage 2: National Stage - the top two teams in each section qualify for the respective sections of the National competition which pitches the qualifiers of the five chess Unions (East Anglia Chess Union, Midlands Counties Chess Union, Northern Counties Union, Southern Counties Chess Union, and West of England Chess Union) against each other. On occasion the third placed team is requested to make up numbers, so 4/5 in National Stage not a bad return! The team finishing 3rd in Open section progresses onto Minor Counties Competition.
SCCU Stage
During the Regional Stage Anthony's Open and Keith's u1850 were crowned SCCU Champions; Evan's u1650 team finished runner-up, Anthony's u2050 finished 3rd and Dilu's u1450 collected the wooden spoon. Consequently, Open, u1850 and u1650 teams all qualified for the National Stage as of right. the u1450 also participated in the National Stage as Kent declined the invitation to make up places. For full details of respective SCCU performance see here.
National Stage
The u1450 entered at the preliminary stage and met familar foe Surrey. The term third time lucky seemed to apply as the team scored a comprehensive 7.5-4.5 victory. Unfortunately, due to penalties for failing to request permission to play unrated players, the team lost 5.5-4.5. This was disappointing as after a challenging season the team showed their class only to be undone by the rules. Overlooking the disappointment the team score a moral a victory and are in a good place for 2023-24.
Evan's u1650 team were knocked out at the QF round by Greater Manchester A tough result to take but it was the first time in decades that the team had reached this stage. It would be hoped the team now has a taste and will qualify again next season.
Anthony's and Keith teams received byes to SF where both had hard fought wins likewise against Greater Manchester. u1850 won on board count with Open winning a close encounter 8.5-7.5
With both the Open and u1850 teams progressing to the final both teams were seeking to attain their own records: Open were seeking to set a new record of 30 National titles the most of all counties when the competition introduced in 1908; u1850 were seeking to make it a hat-trick of titles where these titles straddled the pandemic. Keith had an easier time of it defeating familar foe Yorkshire 10-6.The Open had another tough match this time against Surrey and after a match that had enough swings and roundabouts ended up winning on board count 37-38 as the two teams could not be separated. A detailed account of the Open match is available in July's Chess Moves.
Congratulations to both Keith and Anthony, both will look forward to defending their doubles in 2023-24. It is hoped that the County will be able to get all teams through to the National Stage in next campaign.
Should you wish to represent any of the county teams do fill in the Play for a Middlesex County Team form or contact the respective captains directly.
