The final Childrens Chess afternoon took place on April 1st 2023
Pupils and parents arrived at Methodist College to sign in. They recieved puzzle sheets with 22 puzzles on them and pencils to write the solutions. Geoff Hindley assisted by Karina Campbell put out arrows to direct players to the rooms. The sets were placed out and the rooms setup.
The series of five Childrens Chess tournaments allows us to run a Grandprix point system. Points get given to players for each of the tournament and their top 3 are taken from the 5 and added together. With the top 4 players being invited to a special award ceremony and tournament in June - this year we are being invited to Stormont by MLA Naomi Long.
With everyone arriving we started the first round at about 13:00. As usual a hush fell over the rooms. We run these tournaments once a month during school term. With a view to allowing players to play competitive chess with pupils from other schools. We run it as one section to allow for top primary players to have an opportunity to play older secondary pupils and give them a good game and maybe beat them. Our top player this year has been Ethan Cole P6 who has recently travelled to Greece to represent Ireland and was playing at the Irish Championships this weekend. We still had attending some top players and a brilliant mix of age groups from P2 and above.
The puzzles are a brilliant way to talk about chess and solve problems - its one of my favourite parts of the day.
Secondary School Puzzle Champion: James Huang.
| Name | Year | Points | Cert |
| Huang, James | F4 | 18 | Gold |
| Murphy, Peter | F2 | 13 | Silver |
| Karpagavinayagam, Karthikeya | F2 | 12.5 | Silver |
| Douglas, Justin | F3 | 11 | Silver |
| Kirkland, Isaac | F3 | 11 | Silver |
| Rippon, Saoirse | F2 | 10 | Silver |
| Davison, Eli | F3 | 9 | Bronze |
| Quinn, Martin | F1 | 8 | Bronze |
| Finnegan, Skyla | F1 | 2 | Bronze |
Primary School Puzzle Champion: Lorcan Rippon
| Name | Year | Points | Cert |
| Rippon, Lorcan | P6 | 18 | Gold |
| Selkh-Burgess, Zachary | P7 | 17 | Gold |
| McKeown, Alex | P3 | 13 | Silver |
| Coakley, Jackson | P5 | 9 | Silver |
| Brown, Eli | P6 | 7 | Bronze |
| Clarke , Cillian | P7 | 6 | Bronze |
| Spence, Aidan | P7 | 6 | Bronze |
| lagan, Anthony | P7 | 5 | Bronze |
| Guerrero, Ben | P7 | 4 | Bronze |
| Leonard, Paul | P7 | 4 | Bronze |
Below are some examples of the puzzles - for you to try - the solutions are at the bottom of the page.
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Round 1
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Lorcan Rippon P6 [0] 1:0 Joshua Kennedy F1 [0] 2 Conor Murphy F1 [0] 1:0 Ben Guerrero P7 [0] 3 Saoirse Rippon F2 [0] 1:0 Martin Quinn F1 [0] 4 Jacob Doherty P7 [0] 0:1 Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam F2 [0] 5 Aidan Spence P7 [0] 1:0 Peter Riddell P6 [0] 6 Cillian Clarke P7 [0] 0:1 Eli Davison F3 [0] 7 Zachary Selkh-Burgess P7 [0] 1:0 Anthony lagan P7 [0] 8 Paul Leonard P7 [0] 0:1 Justin Douglas F3 [0] 9 Isaac Kirkland F3 [0] 1:0 Matthew Mulhern P7 [0] 10 Eli Brown P6 [0] 1:0 Marko Kysellov F3 [0] 11 Alex McKeown P3 [0] 1:0 Malachy Duffin P6 [0] 12 Jackson Coakley P5 [0] 0:1 Peter Murphy F2 [0] 13 Skyla Finnegan F1 [0] 1:0 Alexander Davis P2 [0] 14 Cillian O’Hara P6 [0] 1:0 Daniel O'Niel F2 [0] 15 James Huang F4 [0] 1:0 BYE
by Swiss Perfect (TM) www.swissperfect.com
Round 2
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Justin Douglas F3 [1] 0:1 James Huang F4 [1] 2 Isaac Kirkland F3 [1] 0:1 Lorcan Rippon P6 [1] 3 Alex McKeown P3 [1] 0:1 Saoirse Rippon F2 [1] 4 Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam F2 [1] 1:0 Skyla Finnegan F1 [1] 5 Peter Murphy F2 [1] 1:0 Aidan Spence P7 [1] 6 Eli Davison F3 [1] 0:1 Conor Murphy F1 [1] 7 Eli Brown P6 [1] 1:0 Zachary Selkh-Burgess P7 [1] 8 Ben Guerrero P7 [0] 0:1 Cillian O’Hara P6 [1] 9 Marko Kysellov F3 [0] 1:0 Anthony lagan P7 [0] 10 Joshua Kennedy F1 [0] 0:1 Paul Leonard P7 [0] 11 Martin Quinn F1 [0] 1:0 Matthew Mulhern P7 [0] 12 Malachy Duffin P6 [0] 0:1 Jacob Doherty P7 [0] 13 Peter Riddell P6 [0] 0:1 Jackson Coakley P5 [0] 14 Alexander Davis P2 [0] .5:.5 Cillian Clarke P7 [0] 15 Daniel O'Niel F2 [0] 1:0 BYE
Alexander Davis only P2 draws against Cillian Clarke P7.
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Round 3
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 James Huang F4 [2] 1:0 Peter Murphy F2 [2] 2 Lorcan Rippon P6 [2] .5:.5 Conor Murphy F1 [2] 3 Saoirse Rippon F2 [2] 0:1 Eli Brown P6 [2] 4 Cillian O’Hara P6 [2] 0:1 Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam F2 [2] 5 Aidan Spence P7 [1] 0:1 Alex McKeown P3 [1] 6 Skyla Finnegan F1 [1] 0:1 Eli Davison F3 [1] 7 Zachary Selkh-Burgess P7 [1] 1:0 Martin Quinn F1 [1] 8 Jacob Doherty P7 [1] 1:0 Justin Douglas F3 [1] 9 Paul Leonard P7 [1] 0:1 Isaac Kirkland F3 [1] 10 Daniel O'Niel F2 [1] 0:1 Marko Kysellov F3 [1] 11 Jackson Coakley P5 [1] 1:0 Alexander Davis P2 [.5] 12 Cillian Clarke P7 [.5] 0:1 Joshua Kennedy F1 [0] 13 Anthony lagan P7 [0] 0:1 Ben Guerrero P7 [0] 14 Matthew Mulhern P7 [0] 1:0 Peter Riddell P6 [0] 15 Malachy Duffin P6 [0] 1:0 BYE
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Round 4
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam F2 [3] 0:1 James Huang F4 [3] 2 Conor Murphy F1 [2.5] 1:0 Eli Brown P6 [3] 3 Saoirse Rippon F2 [2] 0:1 Lorcan Rippon P6 [2.5] 4 Eli Davison F3 [2] 1:0 Alex McKeown P3 [2] 5 Peter Murphy F2 [2] 1:0 Zachary Selkh-Burgess P7 [2] 6 Isaac Kirkland F3 [2] 1:0 Jackson Coakley P5 [2] 7 Marko Kysellov F3 [2] 1:0 Cillian O’Hara P6 [2] 8 Martin Quinn F1 [1] 1:0 Jacob Doherty P7 [2] 9 Ben Guerrero P7 [1] 1:0 Malachy Duffin P6 [1] 10 Joshua Kennedy F1 [1] 0:1 Aidan Spence P7 [1] 11 Justin Douglas F3 [1] 1:0 Daniel O'Niel F2 [1] 12 Matthew Mulhern P7 [1] .5:.5 Skyla Finnegan F1 [1] 13 Alexander Davis P2 [.5] 0:1 Paul Leonard P7 [1] 14 Peter Riddell P6 [0] 0:1 Cillian Clarke P7 [.5] 15 Anthony lagan P7 [0] 1:0 BYE
James Huang wins against Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam and leads the tournament with a full 4 out of 4 going into round 5.
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Round 5
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 James Huang F4 [4] 1:0 Conor Murphy F1 [3.5] 2 Lorcan Rippon P6 [3.5] 1:0 Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam F2 [3] 3 Marko Kysellov F3 [3] 0:1 Eli Davison F3 [3] 4 Eli Brown P6 [3] 1:0 Isaac Kirkland F3 [3] 5 Alex McKeown P3 [2] 0:1 Peter Murphy F2 [3] 6 Jacob Doherty P7 [2] 0:1 Ben Guerrero P7 [2] 7 Paul Leonard P7 [2] 1:0 Saoirse Rippon F2 [2] 8 Aidan Spence P7 [2] 0:1 Martin Quinn F1 [2] 9 Zachary Selkh-Burgess P7 [2] 1:0 Jackson Coakley P5 [2] 10 Cillian O’Hara P6 [2] 0:1 Justin Douglas F3 [2] 11 Cillian Clarke P7 [1.5] .5:.5 Matthew Mulhern P7 [1.5] 12 Anthony lagan P7 [1] 0:1 Skyla Finnegan F1 [1.5] 13 Malachy Duffin P6 [1] 0:1 Joshua Kennedy F1 [1] 14 Daniel O'Niel F2 [1] 0:1 Tom Woolsey-Jensen F3 [.5] 15 Flynn Woolsey-Jensen P7 [.5] 1:0 Alexander Davis P2 [.5] 16 Peter Riddell P6 [0] 1:0 BYE
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Round 6
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 James Huang F4 [5] 1:0 Lorcan Rippon P6 [4.5] 2 Peter Murphy F2 [4] 1:0 Eli Brown P6 [4] 3 Eli Davison F3 [4] 1:0 Ben Guerrero P7 [3] 4 Conor Murphy F1 [3.5] 1:0 Zachary Selkh-Burgess P7 [3] 5 Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam F2 [3] 1:0 Paul Leonard P7 [3] 6 Justin Douglas F3 [3] 1:0 Marko Kysellov F3 [3] 7 Martin Quinn F1 [3] 1:0 Isaac Kirkland F3 [3] 8 Skyla Finnegan F1 [2.5] 1:0 Aidan Spence P7 [2] 9 Saoirse Rippon F2 [2] 1:0 Cillian Clarke P7 [2] 10 Matthew Mulhern P7 [2] 1:0 Alex McKeown P3 [2] 11 Joshua Kennedy F1 [2] 1:0 Cillian O’Hara P6 [2] 12 Jackson Coakley P5 [2] 0:1 Jacob Doherty P7 [2] 13 Tom Woolsey-Jensen F3 [1.5] 1:0 Flynn Woolsey-Jensen P7 [1.5] 14 Malachy Duffin P6 [1] 1:0 Peter Riddell P6 [1] 15 Daniel O'Niel F2 [1] 1:0 Anthony lagan P7 [1] 16 Alexander Davis P2 [.5] 1:0 BYE
Round 6 sees young Lorcan Rippon (P6) on the top table playing the lead player James Huang. James continues to win and led the tournament, Its also good to see Eli Brown playng on board 2.
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Round 7
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Eli Davison F3 [5] 0:1 James Huang F4 [6] 2 Lorcan Rippon P6 [4.5] 1:0 Peter Murphy F2 [5] 3 Conor Murphy F1 [4.5] 0:1 Justin Douglas F3 [4] 4 Eli Brown P6 [4] 1:0 Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam F2 [4] 5 Skyla Finnegan F1 [3.5] 0:1 Martin Quinn F1 [4] 6 Ben Guerrero P7 [3] 1:0 Marko Kysellov F3 [3] 7 Jacob Doherty P7 [3] 0:1 Saoirse Rippon F2 [3] 8 Zachary Selkh-Burgess P7 [3] 1:0 Matthew Mulhern P7 [3] 9 Isaac Kirkland F3 [3] 1:0 Joshua Kennedy F1 [3] 10 Paul Leonard P7 [3] 1:0 Tom Woolsey-Jensen F3 [2.5] 11 Aidan Spence P7 [2] 1:0 Malachy Duffin P6 [2] 12 Alex McKeown P3 [2] 1:0 Jackson Coakley P5 [2] 13 Cillian Clarke P7 [2] 1:0 Daniel O'Niel F2 [2] 14 Alexander Davis P2 [1.5] 0:1 Peter Riddell P6 [1] 15 Anthony lagan P7 [1] 0:1 Flynn Woolsey-Jensen P7 [1.5] 16 Cillian O’Hara P6 [2] 1:0 BYE
Due to the quick playing of the rounds we managed to fit a 7th round into the day. James wins the tournament. Lorcan and Eli win their last round games.
Standings
Place Name Feder Score M-Buch. Buch. Progr.
1 James Huang F4 7 23.5 32.5 28.0
2 Lorcan Rippon P6 5.5 21.5 31.0 23.5
3-7 Peter Murphy F2 5 20.5 29.0 22.0
Eli Brown P6 5 20.5 28.5 22.0
Eli Davison F3 5 18.0 27.5 21.0
Martin Quinn F1 5 17.5 24.5 16.0
Justin Douglas F3 5 17.0 25.0 17.0
8 Conor Murphy F1 4.5 24.5 35.0 21.5
9-14 Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam F2 4 21.0 30.0 20.0
Saoirse Rippon F2 4 20.0 28.5 16.0
Isaac Kirkland F3 4 20.0 27.5 17.0
Zachary Selkh-Burgess P7 4 19.5 25.0 16.0
Paul Leonard P7 4 17.0 23.0 14.0
Ben Guerrero P7 4 14.5 20.0 13.0
15 Skyla Finnegan F1 3.5 16.0 21.5 14.0
16-23 Jacob Doherty P7 3 19.0 25.5 13.0
Marko Kysellov F3 3 18.0 23.5 15.0
Cillian O’Hara P6 3 17.5 24.0 14.0
Matthew Mulhern P7 3 17.5 24.0 10.5
Alex McKeown P3 3 17.0 23.5 13.0
Joshua Kennedy F1 3 16.5 23.5 10.0
Aidan Spence P7 3 16.0 22.5 12.0
Cillian Clarke P7 3 13.0 19.0 9.5
24-25 Tom Woolsey-Jensen F3 2.5 16.0 21.5 6.5
Flynn Woolsey-Jensen P7 2.5 13.5 17.5 5.5
26-29 Jackson Coakley P5 2 15.5 21.5 11.0
Malachy Duffin P6 2 15.5 21.0 7.0
Daniel O'Niel F2 2 14.0 19.5 8.0
Peter Riddell P6 2 12.5 17.0 4.0
30 Alexander Davis P2 1.5 14.0 19.5 5.0
31 Anthony lagan P7 1 16.0 21.5 4.0
32 Diego Zaniel P7 0 0.5 0.5 0.0
Our policy with placing certificates is to give the players on the same points the same position. So we give out quite a few certificates. Trophies are given to 1st and 2nd place players based on the tie breaking systems.
P5 and below Champion: Alex McKeown
P5 and below 2nd: Jackson Coakley
P5 and below 3rd: Alexander Davis
P6 Champion: Lorcan Rippon
P6 2nd: Eli Brown
P6 3rd: Cillian O'Hara
P7 Champion: Zachary Selkh-Burgess, Paul Leonard, Ben Guerrero
P7 2nd: Matthew Mulhern, Aidan Spence, Cillin Clarke
P7 3rd: Flynn Woolsey-Jensen
F1 Champion: Martin Quinn
F1 2nd: Conor Murphy
F1 3rd: Skyla Finnegan
F2 Champion: Peter Murphy
F2 2nd: Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam, Saoirse Rippon
F2 3rd: Daniel O'Niel
F3 Champion: Eli Davison, Justin Douglas
F3 2nd: Isaac Kirkland
F3 3rd: Marko Kysellov
F4 and above Champion: James Huang
A big thankyou to everyone. To the regular volunteers Geoff Hindley and Karina Campbell without whom these events wouldnt be able to be run. Also to Parents and to the players for an enjoyable day of chess.
Our next event is the Belfast Megafinals on 13th May again at Methodist College.
Puzzle Solutions:
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13. White to move (1001W-743) 1. Qxh7+ Kxh7 2. Nxf6+ Kh6 3. Neg4+ Kg5 4. h4+ Kf4 5. g2+ Kf3 6. Be2+ Kg2 7. Rh2+ Kg1 8. Kd2# |
14. White move. (1001W-744) 1. Rh8+ Kf7 2. Qxg7+ Kxg7 3. R1h7# |
15. Black to move (1001W-745) 1. … Qxd5 2. exd5 Bf5+ 3. Qb2 Ra1+ 4. Kxa1 Bxb2 White cant stop 5. … Ra8# |
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16. Black to move (1001W-746) 1. Qh1+ Kxh1 2. Bf3+ Kg1 3. Rd1+ Re1 4. Rxe1# |
17. White to move (1000CC-291) 1. Qe6 dxe6 2. Ba3+ c5 3. Bxc5# |
18. White to move (1000CC-292) 1. d8(Q)+ Bxd8 2. Rxd8+ Qxd8 3. Qx3+ Qf6 4. Qxf6# |
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19. White to move (1000CC-293) 1. Qxe5+ fxe5 2. Bg5# or 1. … dxe5 2. Bc5# |
20. White to move (1000CC-294) 1. Nc7+ Qxc7 2. Bxf7+ Kd7 3. Qf5+ Nxf5 4. e6# |
21. White to move (1000CC-295) 1. Ba8! a5 2. b6 a4 3. b7 Kh1 4. b8(Q)# |
