Leagues

Leagues come in all shapes and sizes. The first division of the London league consists of twelve board matches, though most leagues seem to run on 6, 5 or 4 boards. Promotion and relegation is common, though some organisations prefer to arrange their leagues on a grade (or average grade) limited basis. Kent has an open league, plus competitions limited to average grades of 160, 140, 120, 100, 80, 60.

Some leagues insist on quickplay finishes to ensure that games are finished on the day, others believe that they encourage better chess by having adjournments or adjudications.

There are also many summer leagues, a handicap league in Huddersfield, and probably elsewhere, whilst the Sheffield Commercial League runs most of its competitions for teams of three.

The page Snapshot 07 gives more information about some of the leagues in season 06/07