By our London League 4 Captain, David Lambert
I’ve only been playing competitive chess for a few years – one season for Denton whilst in Manchester before joining Hammersmith in early 2012. Back then I wasn’t thinking about captaining a team. I was happy to just turn up and play.
I remember having a conversation with my captain one day in the usual post-match post-mortem – I think he may have slipped to a disappointing draw. “Captaining a team takes 10 points off your grade” he chuckled to himself. How could that be? It didn’t seem that hard – you just send an e-mail a few days before the match asking who wants to play? Then you toss a coin as the match kicks-off to decide colours. Easy…
I’ve been a captain now for approaching two full-seasons so thought it might be interesting to double-back on that throwaway comment and see if it carries any weight.
I finished the 2014 season on a grade of 127, and at that time took on the mantle of captaining our team in London League Division 4. It’d be a challenge: our team was likely to be graded in the 140-80 range and yet we’d regularly come up against teams with a 120-130 on bottom-board; a 175 on Top Board wasn’t altogether surprising either. Still, it was about getting games and ensuring that we were able to follow-through on providing league chess for our newer members.
The season was a difficult one – even factoring-in the other matches outside the league, I ended the season on 34%. My Jan’15 grade was 117 and my final-year grade was 121 – a total of 6 points lost like-for-like. But fast-forward a few months and I was back up to 126. All things considered, I’m not sure there’s much in it. The more cynical amongst you may argue I didn’t have that many grading points to lose in the first place!
Still, I wouldn’t say captaining a side is without its challenges. Even in my short tenure, I’ve had to deal with:
- Team-mates not turning up / travelling to the wrong venue / pulling out with an hour’s notice
- Team-mates arguing with each other / other teams
- Opposition captains complaining about one of my players
- Multiple wrangles with the league over player eligibility
- Disputes over time controls / weird once-in-a-lifetime rules
Once I’m in the midst of a match, I tend to knuckle down and concentrate on my game – I’m not sure it’s much of a burden. The biggest stress I have is wondering whether my 8 players are going to turn up! That broad smile you see at 6:59pm in Golden Lane, when the last player rolls through the door, that’s a real one!!
Interesting points here Dave. Never really considered that it might affect your grade as captain, great that it doesn’t seem to have done! Does sound like a bit of added stress/hassle tho.
Carpe diem!!