ECF North

***RESULT***

Honour restored with an emphatic win for the North of England.over the South.

North of England 60½ - 46½ South of England  (52½ - 43½ on the contested boards).

Click here for full results on the ECF LMS.   Look back at the top boards commentary by Matthew Sadler & Natasha Regan.  Full results are here.

It took 126 years for the North of England to issue the long awaited challenge to the South of England for a rematch to determine whether the supremacy established by the South in 1893 in Birmingham and re-affirmed in 1894 in London has stood the test of time.   To join this English Chess Federation Club to play in the historic North v South Challenge 2020 over multiple boards on 5th September you must be an ECF Member or Supporter for the new 2020/21 season (NB Renewals or new memberships taken out after 1st July 2020 are valid until 31t August 2021).  Non-members will not be accepted.  You can renew your 2019/20 membership/supportership here.

The summer 2020 finale to the Online County Championships is now CLOSED.   New members will not be admitted at this time.   We are looking forward to the 2021 season.

The following were conditions of entry and participation:

• Acceptance of the ECF Online Anti-Cheating & Fair Play Rules 
• Compliance with the ECF Online Safeguarding Code of Conduct 
• publication of a player’s name, title, Chess.com username, ratings/grades and associated team lists, team sheets and matchcards on the  ECF LMS, ECF Website, ECF online rating list and on Chess.com; 

Registration by a player (or parent/guardian of a junior player) was deemed to be acceptance of the conditions of entry and that the ECF shall have no liability (whether in contract, tort or otherwise) in respect of the implementation of the above fair play rules. 

The ECF reserved the right to refuse and/or revoke any player registration at its absolute discretion without explanation.

Any chess player was able to  participate in this multi-board challenge provided they are a current ECF Member or Supporter on the eve of the match,  have an active playing account on Chess.com, the host platform and have not been banned from ECF Clubs.   Allegiance was of course need to be declared and here the eligibility rule that applied in 1894 is to be followed with county of birth determining “northerner” or “southerner” status or a period of established residency of 1 year or more.   In 1894 it was counties of the North and Midlands that took on the South (then encompassing the western and eastern Unions) and so it will be today with the NCCU and MCCU combining against the EACU, SCCU and WECU.  Oxfordshire, currently unaffiliated, falls into the northern camp by virtue of its early membership of the MCCU. 

Back in 1894 there was no ranking system (other than class) and a 4½ hr playing session (with adjudication).   In 2020 board orders were determined firstly by July 2020 grades (as revised) and secondly alphabetically.   Players without a July 2020 grade were assigned a competition grade by the Controller.  The time control was  60 + 15 (all moves in 60 minutes plus 15 second increments from the start).  All games were ECF online standard rated.   Match start 6:30pm  Saturday 5th September 2020.  Pairings and results are available on the ECF LMS interactive matchcards..