4NCL

The 4NCL, or Four Nations Chess League, is a chess league named for having four constituent nations: England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.

4NCL Original Brochure (Front Page)

Original 4NCL Logo & Letter Heading

In part, it is modeled on the (former) rugby union event of similar name.

It was founded in 1993 by Chris Dunworth, who served as the League's Managing Director for the first decade of its existence.

4NCL Season 1

4NCL's original logo was designed by Arthur Dunworth, the father of Chris Dunworth. He was previously marketing director for Boots plc.

4NCL's inaugural weekend took place on October 2nd and 3rd, 1993 at the Barbican Centre in London. This was held at the same time as the World Chess Championship 1993 match between Kasparov and Short at the Savoy Theatre, about 2 miles away.

4NCL was founded on the following core principles:

• Teams consist of 8 players, with a minimum one female and one male player.
• Rating flexibility in board order; usually by 100 Fide rating points.
• Matches are spread over a season, normally five weekends, usually from October to May each year.
• All teams meet at the same venue on the same weekend.

For example, in the final weekend of the 2022/23 season, a total of 35 teams met at a training and conference venue in central England, comprising around 300+ players representing 50+ different countries.

4NCL is one of Europe's prominent chess leagues, operating independently as a limited company outside the control of any individual nation's chess governing bodies.

Although there is prize money available, the leading teams aim to secure sponsorship from external sources. This occasionally enables them to hire the world's top grandmasters for critical end-of-season matches. Well-known players such as Michael Adams, Nigel Short, Viktor Korchnoi, Alexander Morozevich, Alexei Shirov, and Peter Svidler have participated in the past.

At one point, John Richards was Bristol 4NCL Manager.[1]