New Grades - KCC Report Card

The January 2017 ECF grades have just been published. While team selection and board orders will continue to be based on the July 2016 grades, it's obviously interesting to see who the star pupils have been over the first six months of the 2016-17 season - and who hasn't been doing their homework! So here is the KCC Report Card:

Top of the Form

Dave +8
Andrew P +6
Rod +5
Andy B +3
Nick M +3
The Club Organiser +3
Phil +2
Stuart +2
Mike D +1
Roy +1

See Me After Class

Bruce -2
Steve -2
Ben -2
Tony -3
Paul -3
Mike J -4
Chris -6
Carl -7
Bernard C -12

New Entrant and Star Pupil

Nick F at 162!!

So from our 20 active players we had 10 risers and 9 fallers, plus the startling arrival of Nick Fesenko who has burst onto the list as the club's fifth highest graded player- though the ECF Grading List does think that he's actually called N. Fesenko Nickolai. Let's see what Ben, Carl and Phil can do about that disruption of the natural order - and they've all responded by starting 2017 in red hot form! Excluding Nick's block-buster of a performance, we lost 41 grading points and won 34, for a net club loss of 7 points. Less than last time, but still indicating that we are collectively getting worse! That's ageing for you, I guess.

Despite hardly ever seeing a chess board, let alone playing a game, Andy has further cemented his position as club number one. He now has a 9 point cushion back to the trailing pack, where no less than 3 of us can be found huddled together at 190. Is this the first time in club history that we could field an entire team of 190+ rated players?? (Not that its ever likely to happen, of course!) Just one more point required now for Andy to get back to 200 - bet he thought those days had gone forever!

But as for Bernard C ...... well, I recommend that he puts a very thick book down the back of his trousers the next time he comes to Kenilworth, as I think he needs some serious "encouragement" to do better in his lessons. And I think I can promise you, Bernard, that its going to hurt you more than me!