Munster Chess Union
Unfortunately Ennis were unable to field a Division 1 team for the 2016 - 2017 league. This meant that there would either be an odd number of teams in Division 1 or another team would have to take the place of Ennis B.
The League Controller first offered the place to Tralee in keeping with previous precedent. This is based on the fact that if a team withdraws it is not necessary to relegate any team. Initially Tralee hoped to accept the offer but eventually had to withdraw as they were having difficulty filling the team.
The place was next offered to Charleville, who were Division 2 Runners Up last season. However there were difficulties contacting the captain directly. By the time the club was contacted it was less than a week before Round 1 and Charleville felt unable to commit to fielding a team with such limited notice.
Finally it was decided to offer the place to Limerick B but their first round matches were postponed. They were scheduled to play Ennis twice before rounds three and four in order to catch up. Cork A were expecting to have a walkover in Round 2 so they were also rescheduled to play Cork B again before Round 5. This left Limerick A a match behind so they were rescheduled to play Limerick B before Round 5.
So coming in to Round 7 Cork B and Limerick B have both completed 7 matches and are not scheduled to play in Round 7. The remaining six teams will complete the first half of the league in Round 7.
Match results and Leaderboard are here. Complete game results are listed here.