Post by arf on Feb 22, 2009 11:39:54 GMT
Middlesex record 10.5 - 5.5 win!
Middlesex scored a successive win with a 10.5-5.5 defeat of Essex. In part this made up for the u175's loss to the same county the previous week.
The tone was set as Middlesex scored a quick win when Colin Crouch attained victory over Robert Parker. Soon after that it was a procession with Essex only achieving 2 further draws as Middlesex establish a 5-2 lead. The succession of collecting points was then ended when junior debutant Dominic Foord lost the first game. It transpires this was a blip as normal service was resumed with Carsten's win stretching the lead to 6.5-3.5 Two wins later it was all over - Rick securing the final point to get Middlesex over the winning line with 4 games to play. All in all a pretty comprehensive victory. www.sccu.ndo.co.uk/match1.htm)
Usually highlights of the match are given however with the foundation for victory being laid at such an early stage it is felt that this time around it is better to publish the 7 winning games (these will be published in due course).
The only match highlight to be covered is the debuts of Richard Bates (Board1); Alexey Slavin (Board 3) and as aforementioned Dominic Foord (Board 9).
[Note some of you may wish to skip this next part but I feel it is a valid comment].
The presence of Dominic is refreshing as he is the 1st junior in some time to represent Middlesex's 1st team. Why is that? What exactly is happening with the junior scene within the County? Why is a county of our size not replicating the success of other SCCU counties such as Kent, Surrey and especially Sussex in getting juniors to represent the county? The same questions I suppose could be asked of female players - certainly until the departure of Helen Milligan Middlesex had a female presence. Although Meri Lyell and Yaoyao Zhu played in the 07-08 u175 Essex v Middlesex match, there has been difficulty getting both juniors and female players into the Middlesex county scene - I am specifically discussing here the 1st and 2nd teams. Now I know that Meri Lyell has taken on the role of developing women's chess and it is rumoured that the County Championship will have to embrace the 4NCL rule of having a member of the opposite sex in the team, but I digress as my query relates to Middlesex juniors.
Where is the infrastructure within the county to feed talent to county captains so that promising juniors are on the radar for selection? Junior clubs / Trainers / Coaches certainly exist within the county but these details are not escalating up the pyramid (School --> Club --> County). Is not county chess a valid option for aiding the development of junior chess? Is it a question of getting the coaches etc within Middlesex to work together? How is this to happen? What about schools? What activities are MCCA undertaking to get involved with schools in the boroughs? I can go on but the point is if you consider our match against Essex they have few young people in the 1st and 2nd XVI. Middlesex are fortunate enough not to be in this position as there is a youthful look to the side - starting with the handsome captain of the Open and u175 teams ;D
These questions need seriously addressing so it would be useful if the powers that be - namely the MCCA committee - coordinate a summit meeting. I would expect the following attendees to be present at the very least:
Junior coaches - Meri Lyell, Dave Rumens,
Junior club representative for these clubs - Barnet Knights; Pinner; Harrow; Willesden & Brent
MCCA committee members - Junior Organiser; Schools Liaison Officer(?)
Am I being too optimistic? I wouldn't have thought so. I'm sure those of you who have a longer association with Middlesex could identify a number of juniors who represented Middlesex at all levels but especially at the top.
Having voiced my dissatisfaction with the junior set-up back to the matter at hand. With Kent recording a win over Surrey (and with it the SCCU title) our victory puts us in second by virtue of board count. As an aside it must be noted than in the last three years Kent have proven to be a little bit unpredictable in that they were champions / wooden sthingyers and champions again. Congratulations on their achievement. Wonder when I'm going to get my hands on the trophy?!
League table:
Kent 4/4 }Champions
Middlesex 2.5/4}
Surrey 2.5/4 } Mx 2nd on tie break
Sussex 2/4
Herts 1/4
Essex 1/4 } Wooden Spoon
The final round of matches mean that Surrey, Sussex and Middlesex all have an opportunity of qualifying but 3 into 2 won't go.
The permutations for Middlesex to gain one of the two places are:
Middlesex guaranteed to finish 2nd if:
Middlesex beat Herts
Middlesex draw with Herts and Surrey draw/lose against Essex and Sussex draw/lose against Kent
Middlesex/Surrey and Sussex all lose to Herts/Essex and Kent respectively
Middlesex guaranteed to finish 3rd if:
Middlesex draw with Herts and Surrey beat Essex and Sussex draw/lose with Kent
Middlesex lose to Herts and Surrey draw/defeat Essex and Sussex draw/lose to Kent
Middlesex fail to qualify if they lose to Herts and Surrey win/draw and Sussex win.
Of all the options it would be better if the 2nd qualifying spot were secured as this would mean not playing a preliminary match in April. In short though qualification for the ECF stage is still on track. (ECF draw www.sccu.ndo.co.uk/matchbcf.htm)
Next game is the away match to Herts on the 14th March 2009.