Ulster Schools Chess Championships were held at Methodist College on Dec 10th 2022
We had our largest contingent of players in the Ulster Championship for some years. With entrants including the defending Champion primary school player Ethan Coles. Also there was a good contingent of players from Ballymena Academy - many thanks to their teacher Patrick Scullion.
As usual in our tournaments and I still think one of the best parts of the day was the puzzle solving competition 22 challenging and elegent puzzles. Solved between rounds with the encouragement to discuss, we also give hints for the hardest of the puzzles. A good way of improving your chess. Here are 9 of the puzzles with solutions at the end of the page.
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Primary Schools Puzzle Ulster Champion 2022 : Lorcan Rippon
| Points | Name | Cert. |
| 18 | Lorcan Rippon | Gold |
| 16.5 | Ethan Cole | Gold |
| 12 | Jackson Coakley | Silver |
Secondary Schools Puzzle Ulster Champion 2022 : James Huang
| Points | Name | Cert |
| 16.5 | James Huang | Gold |
| 16 | Calum Glendinning | Gold |
| 14 | Saoirse Rippon | Gold |
| 13.5 | Aaditya Singh | Gold |
| 12.5 | Anjali Singh | Silver |
| 11 | Caleb McClean | Silver |
| 11 | Michael Callaghan | Silver |
| 11 | Ferdia McAnespy | Silver |
| 10.5 | Peter Murphy | Silver |
| 10 | Andrew Campbell | Silver |
| 10 | Daniel Hill | Silver |
| 9 | Michael McCormick | Silver |
| 9 | Skyla McConkey | Silver |
| 6.5 | Zach Webster | Bronze |
Ulster Chess Schools Championships - Round 1
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Ethan Cole U12 [0] 1:0 Peter Gamble U19 [0] 2 Kevin Magill U19 [0] 0:1 Calum Glendinning U19 [0] 3 Andrew Campbell U19 [0] 1:0 Morgan Nicolls U19 [0] 4 Alex Pittam U19 [0] 0:1 James Huang U16 [0] 5 Aaditya Singh U14 [0] 1:0 Josh Webster U19 [0] 6 Peter Murphy U14 [0] 0:1 Louison Fuchs U14 [0] 7 Caleb McClean U16 [0] 1:0 Nicky Cummings U16 [0] 8 Anish Anand U14 [0] 0:1 Lorcan Rippon U12 [0] 9 Anjali Singh U16 [0] 1:0 Teddy Cummings U14 [0] 10 Max Makaveckas U14 [0] 0:1 Calvin Patterson U16 [0] 11 Daniel Hill U19 [0] 1:0 Skyla McConkey U14 [0] 12 Ross Mckendry U14 [0] 0:1 Ferdia McAnespy U19 [0] 13 Michael McCormick U19 [0] 1:0 Peter McNab U14 [0] 14 Julia McNab U14 [0] 0:1 Achyut Shyamsunder U19 [0] 15 Ryan Anderson U19 [0] 1:0 Zach Webster U14 [0] 16 Gaspard Fuchs U12 [0] 0:1 Alex Buchanan U19 [0] 17 Michael Callaghan U19 [0] 1:0 Timothy Gouk U16 [0] 18 Saoirse Rippon U14 [0] 1:0 Benji Cummings U19 [0] 19 Jackson Coakley U9 [0] 1:0 BYE
by Swiss Perfect (TM) www.swissperfect.com
The players were given approximate ratings where I had no indication I based it on age. The first round went mostly to rating. No major upsets. With the nos of players being high it was still a little disappointing to see lower numbers from Primary Schools. The players were warned in advance just before the start of round one that we had one section as some of the younger players could challenge and defeat the older ones and not to be disappointed if you were beaten by a younger player. After all Ethan Cole U12 is the current champion fighting to retain his title. What follows are the results of each round and photos telling the story of the tournament.
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Ulster Chess Schools Championships - Round 2
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Calvin Patterson U16 [1] 1:0 Ethan Cole U12 [1] 2 Calum Glendinning U19 [1] 1:0 Daniel Hill U19 [1] 3 Ferdia McAnespy U19 [1] 0:1 Andrew Campbell U19 [1] 4 James Huang U16 [1] 1:0 Michael McCormick U19 [1] 5 Achyut Shyamsunder U19 [1] 0:1 Aaditya Singh U14 [1] 6 Louison Fuchs U14 [1] 0:1 Ryan Anderson U19 [1] 7 Alex Buchanan U19 [1] 1:0 Caleb McClean U16 [1] 8 Lorcan Rippon U12 [1] 0:1 Michael Callaghan U19 [1] 9 Jackson Coakley U9 [1] 0:1 Anjali Singh U16 [1] 10 Peter Gamble U19 [0] 1:0 Saoirse Rippon U14 [1] 11 Benji Cummings U19 [0] 1:0 Anish Anand U14 [0] 12 Teddy Cummings U14 [0] 0:1 Kevin Magill U19 [0] 13 Morgan Nicolls U19 [0] .5:.5 Max Makaveckas U14 [0] 14 Skyla McConkey U14 [0] 0:1 Alex Pittam U19 [0] 15 Josh Webster U19 [0] 1:0 Ross Mckendry U14 [0] 16 Peter McNab U14 [0] 0:1 Peter Murphy U14 [0] 17 Nicky Cummings U16 [0] 1:0 Julia McNab U14 [0] 18 Timothy Gouk U16 [0] 0:1 Zach Webster U14 [0] 19 Gaspard Fuchs U12 [0] 1:0 BYE
Calvin Patterson takes a point off Ethan Cole. Whilst Calum Glendinning wins against Daniel Hill. Ryan Anderson takes a point of Louison Fuchs. So excellent games of chess are played.
The players are spread over two rooms. Geoff Hindley looks after the second room and plays friendlys against the players who have a bye.
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Ulster Chess Schools Championships - Round 3
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Anjali Singh U16 [2] 0:1 Calum Glendinning U19 [2] 2 Andrew Campbell U19 [2] 0:1 Calvin Patterson U16 [2] 3 Ryan Anderson U19 [2] 0:1 James Huang U16 [2] 4 Aaditya Singh U14 [2] .5:.5 Alex Buchanan U19 [2] 5 Michael Callaghan U19 [2] 0:1 Louison Fuchs U14 [1] 6 Ethan Cole U12 [1] 1:0 Josh Webster U19 [1] 7 Caleb McClean U16 [1] 1:0 Gaspard Fuchs U12 [1] 8 Kevin Magill U19 [1] 0:1 Lorcan Rippon U12 [1] 9 Daniel Hill U19 [1] 1:0 Nicky Cummings U16 [1] 10 Alex Pittam U19 [1] 1:0 Ferdia McAnespy U19 [1] 11 Michael McCormick U19 [1] 1:0 Jackson Coakley U9 [1] 12 Saoirse Rippon U14 [1] 1:0 Achyut Shyamsunder U19 [1] 13 Peter Murphy U14 [1] 1:0 Benji Cummings U19 [1] 14 Zach Webster U14 [1] 0:1 Peter Gamble U19 [1] 15 Timothy Gouk U16 [0] 0:1 Morgan Nicolls U19 [.5] 16 Max Makaveckas U14 [.5] 1:0 Teddy Cummings U14 [0] 17 Anish Anand U14 [0] 0:1 Peter McNab U14 [0] 18 Ross Mckendry U14 [0] 0:1 Skyla McConkey U14 [0] 19 Julia McNab U14 [0] 1:0 BYE
We have 3 players on full points leaving this round - Calum Glendinning, Calvin Patterson, James Huang. Chased by on 2 1/2 Alex Buchanan and Aaditya Singh.
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Ulster Chess Schools Championships - Round 4
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Calum Glendinning U19 [3] 1:0 James Huang U16 [3] 2 Calvin Patterson U16 [3] 1:0 Aaditya Singh U14 [2.5] 3 Alex Buchanan U19 [2.5] 0:1 Ethan Cole U12 [2] 4 Michael McCormick U19 [2] 0:1 Andrew Campbell U19 [2] 5 Louison Fuchs U14 [2] 1:0 Alex Pittam U19 [2] 6 Ryan Anderson U19 [2] 0:1 Caleb McClean U16 [2] 7 Lorcan Rippon U12 [2] 1:0 Saoirse Rippon U14 [2] 8 Michael Callaghan U19 [2] 1:0 Anjali Singh U16 [2] 9 Peter Gamble U19 [2] 1:0 Daniel Hill U19 [2] 10 Morgan Nicolls U19 [1.5] 0:1 Peter Murphy U14 [2] 11 Ferdia McAnespy U19 [1] 1:0 Max Makaveckas U14 [1.5] 12 Achyut Shyamsunder U19 [1] .5:.5 Skyla McConkey U14 [1] 13 Benji Cummings U19 [1] 0:1 Peter McNab U14 [1] 14 Julia McNab U14 [1] 0:1 Kevin Magill U19 [1] 15 Josh Webster U19 [1] 1:0 Zach Webster U14 [1] 16 Nicky Cummings U16 [1] 0:1 Gaspard Fuchs U12 [1] 17 Jackson Coakley U9 [1] 1:0 Anish Anand U14 [0] 18 Teddy Cummings U14 [0] 0:1 Timothy Gouk U16 [0] 19 Ross Mckendry U14 [0] 1:0 BYE
Calum wins against James whilst Calvin beats Aaditya. Both go into the lead. The top girls are on 2 points - Louison Fuchs, Anjali Singh, Saoirse Rippon. Louison is the only one to win her game - and leads the race to win the Girls Ulster Championship Silver Plate.
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Ulster Chess Schools Championships - Round 5
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Calvin Patterson U16 [4] .5:.5 Calum Glendinning U19 [4] 2 Ethan Cole U12 [3] 1:0 Louison Fuchs U14 [3] 3 Andrew Campbell U19 [3] 1:0 Michael Callaghan U19 [3] 4 James Huang U16 [3] 1:0 Peter Gamble U19 [3] 5 Peter Murphy U14 [3] 0:1 Lorcan Rippon U12 [3] 6 Caleb McClean U16 [3] 0:1 Aaditya Singh U14 [2.5] 7 Anjali Singh U16 [2] 1:0 Alex Buchanan U19 [2.5] 8 Daniel Hill U19 [2] 1:0 Josh Webster U19 [2] 9 Peter McNab U14 [2] 1:0 Ferdia McAnespy U19 [2] 10 Alex Pittam U19 [2] 1:0 Michael McCormick U19 [2] 11 Gaspard Fuchs U12 [2] 0:1 Ryan Anderson U19 [2] 12 Kevin Magill U19 [2] 1:0 Jackson Coakley U9 [2] 13 Saoirse Rippon U14 [2] 1:0 Morgan Nicolls U19 [1.5] 14 Max Makaveckas U14 [1.5] 0:1 Achyut Shyamsunder U19 [1.5] 15 Skyla McConkey U14 [1.5] 0:1 Benji Cummings U19 [1] 16 Timothy Gouk U16 [1] 1:0 Julia McNab U14 [1] 17 Zach Webster U14 [1] 1:0 Ross Mckendry U14 [1] 18 Anish Anand U14 [0] 0:1 Nicky Cummings U16 [1] 19 Teddy Cummings U14 [0] 1:0 BYE
The second to last round sees the top game being indecisive the two players at the top drawing. Its left to the last round to see who is crowned the Champion.
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Ulster Chess Schools Championships - Round 6
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Calum Glendinning U19 [4.5] 0:1 Ethan Cole U12 [4] 2 James Huang U16 [4] .5:.5 Calvin Patterson U16 [4.5] 3 Lorcan Rippon U12 [4] 0:1 Andrew Campbell U19 [4] 4 Aaditya Singh U14 [3.5] 1:0 Daniel Hill U19 [3] 5 Louison Fuchs U14 [3] 1:0 Kevin Magill U19 [3] 6 Peter Gamble U19 [3] .5:.5 Caleb McClean U16 [3] 7 Peter Murphy U14 [3] 0:1 Anjali Singh U16 [3] 8 Peter McNab U14 [3] 0:1 Ryan Anderson U19 [3] 9 Michael Callaghan U19 [3] 1:0 Saoirse Rippon U14 [3] 10 Alex Buchanan U19 [2.5] 1:0 Alex Pittam U19 [3] 11 Achyut Shyamsunder U19 [2.5] 1:0 Michael McCormick U19 [2] 12 Ferdia McAnespy U19 [2] 1:0 Timothy Gouk U16 [2] 13 Benji Cummings U19 [2] 1:0 Zach Webster U14 [2] 14 Josh Webster U19 [2] 0:1 Gaspard Fuchs U12 [2] 15 Nicky Cummings U16 [2] 0:1 Jackson Coakley U9 [2] 16 Skyla McConkey U14 [1.5] 0:1 Max Makaveckas U14 [1.5] 17 Morgan Nicolls U19 [1.5] .5:.5 Teddy Cummings U14 [1] 18 Ross Mckendry U14 [1] 1:0 Julia McNab U14 [1] 19 Anish Anand U14 [0] 1:0 BYE
Ethan Cole takes a point off the leader Calum Glendinning. Whilst Calvin draws against James. What a finish - it comes down to a tie break.For the girls Louison and Anajali both end up on 4 points.
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Standings
Place Name Feder Score M-Buch. Buch. Progr.
1-3 Calvin Patterson U16 5 18.5 26.0 19.5
Ethan Cole U12 5 15.5 22.5 16.0
Andrew Campbell U19 5 13.0 20.0 17.0
4-6 Calum Glendinning U19 4.5 16.5 24.5 19.0
James Huang U16 4.5 15.0 22.0 17.5
Aaditya Singh U14 4.5 13.5 20.5 16.0
7-11 Michael Callaghan U19 4 15.0 22.0 15.0
Louison Fuchs U14 4 14.0 22.0 14.0
Ryan Anderson U19 4 13.0 19.5 14.0
Lorcan Rippon U12 4 13.0 18.5 15.0
Anjali Singh U16 4 13.0 18.5 14.0
12-15 Alex Buchanan U19 3.5 15.0 22.5 14.0
Peter Gamble U19 3.5 14.0 21.0 12.5
Caleb McClean U16 3.5 13.5 20.0 13.5
Achyut Shyamsunder U19 3.5 9.0 14.0 10.5
16-25 Peter Murphy U14 3 14.0 20.0 12.0
Saoirse Rippon U14 3 14.0 20.0 12.0
Alex Pittam U19 3 12.5 18.5 11.0
Daniel Hill U19 3 12.0 18.0 12.0
Gaspard Fuchs U12 3 12.0 18.0 9.0
Kevin Magill U19 3 11.5 16.5 10.0
Peter McNab U14 3 11.0 15.5 9.0
Ferdia McAnespy U19 3 10.5 17.0 10.0
Jackson Coakley U9 3 10.0 14.5 10.0
Benji Cummings U19 3 9.5 13.0 8.0
26 Max Makaveckas U14 2.5 10.0 16.0 7.5
27-33 Michael McCormick U19 2 14.0 21.5 10.0
Josh Webster U19 2 12.0 18.5 8.0
Morgan Nicolls U19 2 10.5 16.5 7.0
Zach Webster U14 2 10.5 16.0 7.0
Nicky Cummings U16 2 8.5 12.5 7.0
Ross Mckendry U14 2 8.5 12.0 4.0
Timothy Gouk U16 2 8.0 12.5 5.0
34-35 Skyla McConkey U14 1.5 11.5 16.5 5.5
Teddy Cummings U14 1.5 10.5 16.5 2.5
36-37 Anish Anand U14 1 11.5 17.5 1.0
Julia McNab U14 1 10.0 15.0 4.0
I just wish to thank all the players for making this tournament possible, the Parents for their encouragment and time, Methodist College for the venue, the volunteer Geoff Hindley for his much needed assistance and the One Stop Morgage Shop for their provision of the trophies. Hope to see you next month at our afternoon event on January 2023. Wishing everyone a happy Christmas and good New Year.
The Champions
Ulster Schools Champion: Calvin Patterson
2nd: Ethan Cole, 3rd: Andrew Campbell
Ulster Schools Girls Champion: Louison Fuchs
Ulster Schools U19 Champion: Andrew Campbell
2nd: Calum Glendinning, 3rd: Michael Callaghan
Ulster Schools U16 Champion: Calvin Patterson
2nd: James Huang, 3rd: Anjali Singh
Ulster Schools U14 Champion: Aaditya Singh
2nd: Louison Fuchs, 3rd: Peter Murphy
Ulster Schools U12 Champion: Ethan Cole
2nd: Lorcan Rippon, 3rd: Gaspard Fuchs
Ulster Schools U10 Champion: Jackson Coakley
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13. White to move (1001W-727) 1. Qxh7+ Kxh7 2. Rh3+ Kg8 3. Rh8# |
14. White move. (1001W-728) 1. Qxa6 Nxa6 2. Rxc8+ Kg7 3. Ng4 Qxa3 4. Bc3+ f6 5 Bxf6+ Kf7 6. Rh8 Qb4 7. Rxh7+ Kg8 8. Rd8+ Kxh7 9. Rh8# |
15. White to move (1001W-729) 1. Qd5 e6 2, Qxe6 fxe6 3, Bxe6+ Qf7 4. Rxf6 |
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17. White to move (1000CC-264) 1. Rg5 Qxh4 2, Rg4 resigns |
18. White to move (1000CC-265) 1. Rh8+ Kf7 2. Be8!+ Nxe8 3. Kg5 resigns |
19. White to move (1000CC-266) 1. Qh7+ Kxh7 2. Nf6+ Kh8 3. Bxg7+ Kxg7 4. Rg3+ Black resigns |
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20. White to move (1000CC-268) 1. Rd7 Rb1 2. Nxf7 Bxd7 3. Nd8+ resigns |
21. White to move (BUYC-BB-20-4) 1. Kh3! avoiding g3 ( 1. Kg3? Ke3 2 h6 f4+ 3. Kg2 Ke2 4. h7 f3+ draw) 1. … f4 2. h6 f3 3. h7 f2 4. Kg2wining |
22 White to move (BUYC-BB-20-8) 1. Kc4! (or Kd4!) 1. … Kb8 2. Kd4! Kc8 3. Kd5! Kc7 4. Kc5! Kc8 5. Kb6 |
