The first six rounds took place on January 11th and 12th, February 8th, 9th and 29th and March 1st, 2020 and were held in Daventry . On February 29 and March 1, 2020, the first and second round competitions were played, which were originally planned for November 9 and 10, 2019, but were postponed due to the overlap with the European Club Cup . Rounds 7-11 were scheduled to take place in Daventry on March 28 and 29 and Telford on May 8-10 , but have been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The 4NCL announced that the competition should be ended regularly in any case, rounds 7 to 9 are to be played from August 29 to 31 in Telford, the last two rounds in October or November 2020.
Preliminary round
Grouping
The 16 teams were divided into the two preliminary rounds as follows:
Pool A
Pool B
Guildford A&DC I (1)
Chess.com Manx Liberty (2)
Chessable White Rose (4)
Cheddleton (3)
Wood Green (6)
Guildford A&DC II (5)
Barbican Chess Club I (7)
Blackthorne Russia (8)
3Cs (9)
Wood Green Monarchs (10)
Celtic Tigers (12)
Grantham Sharks (11)
Cambridge University (A2)
Barbican Chess Club II (A1)
Spirit of Atticus (A3)
Gonzaga (A4)
Note : The previous year's position is given in brackets; if it is preceded by an "A", it is the previous year's position of a climber in Division 2.
While the first three places are already taken after six rounds, the decision on the last starting place in the championship pool will only be made in the final round.
