We had a very exciting season - a tough start (first match against the eventual winners of the League) and halfway through I was nearly ready to chuck in the towel, and accept the inevitable fact that we were headed back down to the Second Division.

We lost a couple of very frustrating close matches. Then the team rallied round (thanks for cheering me up, Dan) we hit a good patch and scored three draws, two wins and yet ANOTHER narrow loss! That was enough to preserve our place in the Premier League of chess.

You can see from the crosstable above that everyone who played for the First Team contributed to the season, but a special note should be made of Gary Senior's superb performance, and Helge's dedication to the club - he turned out for important games even when decidedly unwell, and his games were always guaranteed to be rock solid.

My thanks also to Tomer Eden for stoutly defending the honour of the club, mainly on Board One.

Sreten used to be 180 strength but took a decade or so off from playing chess and found time-trouble a (new) challenge! He had a rough ride all year, but when he finally gets his new grade in August we can field him on board eight - and his opponents will get a shock!

Thanks also to local player International Master Gavin Crawley for turning out in a crucial match, and hopefully for playing regularly on top board next season.

Final League Standings: here. Just to remind you - the bottom two teams go down.

King's Head 13.5 (out of 14)
Hackney 10.5
Ealing 8.0
Athenaeum 7.0
West London 6.0
Hendon 5.5
Imperial 5.0
Metropolitan 0.5

CHRIS ROGAL REPORTS: The second team ended up coming fourth (out of eight) in Division 2, equal on points with the fifth and sixth clubs on match points (6 out of 14), but with a much better game score.

Well done everyone who contributed.

Player of the season award (I just made this prestigious award up) goes to Jonathan Landau, who came in with a grade of 125, worked his way quickly up to Board 1 and then continued dispatching Board 1 opponents.

This won't, I imagine, have escaped the attention of our first team captain as the transfer window approaches. Anyway, what odds on another second team promotion next year?