Colchester A have won the NECL knockout competition for the first time in 12 years. In the first round there was an edgy start as they only beat Brentwood B, a Division 3 side, 2.5-1.5 despite being significantly higher graded on every board. This result was followed by a bye in round 2.
The quarter-finals saw a comfortable 3.5-0.5 win against Witham A, though the individual games were closer than the final score suggests. In the semi-final, Brentwood A played an IM, Richard Pert, on board 1 but wins on the middle boards for Colchester saw them go through on tie break (bottom board elimination).
Writtle A, who had won the competition three times since Colchester's most recent win, were the other team to reach the final. Norbert won his game quite quickly and Matt was definitely better in his game. The last three games went close to time with Matt converting his advantage, on board 1 Ian also won with Nathan drawing on board 4 in a game where the advantage fluctuated throughout.
Overall four matches were played by the A team in the knockout. The team won every game on boards 2 and 3 - meaning they would have won the competition even if they had lost every game on boards 1 and 4. The player statistics (by board) for the five players who played in the matches are:
| Board 1 (Total 2/4) | |
|---|---|
| Ian Gooding | 2/3 |
| Matt Stemp | 0/1 |
| Board 2 (Total 4/4) | |
|---|---|
| Matt Stemp | 2/2 |
| Norbert Voelker | 2/2 |
| Board 3 (Total 4/4) | |
|---|---|
| Norbert Voelker | 2/2 |
| Nathan Barnes | 2/2 |
| Board 4 (Total 1.5/4) | |
|---|---|
| Nathan Barnes | 0.5/1 |
| Felix Schnell | 1/3 |
