The Year of Schools Tournaments kicked off with the LJCC Belfast Qualifier 2023
Geoff Hindley and Karina Campbell setup the rooms with sets and posters directing players to the rooms. Players registered and were ticked off our list of pre-registered pupils. Their dates of birth were confirmed and we ensured no nuts in packed lunches. We were expecting 4 players in the Under 8 and Under 10 combined sections - this meant we could have one section and play all play all with each player playing each other twice. This was the recommended format from the London Organisers. With the Under 12's we had 7 players so played a swiss to see how many rounds we could get before we had todo a manual round. This meant all the players above U12 (those who dont need to qualify) could play in one section.
We were also fortunate to get some new players registering on the day. So in total we had 28 players. The younger sections U12 playing in one room looked after by me and the older pupils in the second room with Karina and Geoff in charge.
We set to play the young players to have one round played immediately after the previous round so we didnt keep them unnecessarily waiting and warned the parents that we would end these sections early if they played quickly. I do like to encourage slow play but you cant enforce it. The older section were to keep more to our set timetable.
The qualifying points:
Under 8 - 4 points or more out of 6 qualifies for the final.
Under 10 Major - 4.5 points or more out of 6 qualifies for the final.
Under 10 Minor - 3.5 points or 4 points out of 6 qualifies for the final.
Under 12 Major - 4.5 points or more out of 6 qualifies for the final.
Under 12 Minor - 3.5 points or 4 points out of 6 qualifies for the final.
All other players are able to play in the LJCC finals. Who will qualify? - we will watch our players with keen interest at the December finals : details of these can be found at : https://www.ljcc.co.uk/index.html
The tournament was kindly sponsored by Errigal.
The puzzle Competition was run, pupils solving them between rounds - using arrows to show solutions or annotating the moves. We collect these after round 4 or when we feel we have time to mark them prior to the end of the competition - players get their puzzles sheets returned marked and with a certificate - Gold / Silver or Bronze depending on the no of correct answers. We give a trophy to the top Secondary School puzzle solver and the top Primary School solver. There is a blank position for solvers to their own problem - we use this to determine the winner if there is a draw on points. Its brilliant to see youngesters concentrating on the puzzles, discussing them and occasionally asking us for a hint. A brilliant opportunity to chat about chess. Of course discussing a friendly game or analysing the last game played is always good and encouraged.
The Primary School Puzzles
Champion : Lorcan Rippon
| Name | Score |
| Rippon, Lorcan | 18 |
| Cole, Ethan | 18 |
| Davis, Alexander | 3 |
| Coakley, Jackson | 2 |
| Gardner, Alex | 1 |
The Secondary School Puzzle Solving
Champion: Zachary Selkh-Burgess
| Name | Score |
| Selkh-Burgess, Zachary | 17 |
| Campbell, Andrew | 15 |
| Murphy, Peter | 14 |
| Karpagavinayagam, Karthikeya | 10 |
| Zaniel, Diego | 7 |
| Bendo, Jyuan Miguel G | 7 |
| Rippon, Saoirse | 7 |
| Serafino Grande, Alessandro | 7 |
| Bande, Sohil Sai | 5 |
| Marshall, Jacob | 3 |
| Spence, Aidan | 3 |
An example of the puzzles - solutions shown at bottom of the page.
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Below are results and photos from the day/
LJCC Belfast U10 - Round 1 & 4
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Jackson Coakley U10 [0.0] 1.5:.5 Alex Gardner U10 [0.0] 2 Alexander Davis U8 [0.0] 1.5:.5 Joseph Gardner U8 [0.0]
by Swiss Perfect (TM) www.swissperfect.com
Rounds 1 and 4 sees the grouping of players by their age groups. Jackson leads the U10 with 1.5 points and likewise Alexander leads the U8. Each with one win and one draw.
LJCC Belfast U10 - Round 2 & 5
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Alex Gardner U10 [.5] 1.5:.5 Joseph Gardner U8 [.5] 2 Jackson Coakley U10 [1.5] 2.0:0.0 Alexander Davis U8 [1.5]
The Under 10s win against the younger players. Joseph gets 1/2 point off Alex his older brother.
LJCC Belfast U10 - Round 3 & 6
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Alexander Davis U8 [1.5] 0.0:2.0 Alex Gardner U10 [2.0] 2 Joseph Gardner U8 [1.0] 0.0:2.0 Jackson Coakley U10 [3.5]
Rounds 3 and 6 sees Jackson unbeaten on 5.5 points followed by Alex on 4 points.
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LJCC Belfast U10 - Standings
Place Name Feder Score Berg. Wins 1 Jackson Coakley U10 5.5 11.00 3 2 Alex Gardner U10 4 7.25 2 3 Alexander Davis U8 1.5 1.50 1 4 Joseph Gardner U8 1 2.75 0
LJCC Belfast U12 - Round 1
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Ethan Cole U12 [0] 1:0 Johan Kotha U12 [0] 2 Jacob Marshall U12 [0] 0:1 Lorcan Rippon U12 [0] 3 Zachary Selkh-Burgess U12 [0] 0:1 Aidan Spence U12 [0] 4 Diego Zaniel U12 [0] 1:0 BYE
All the photos for this group I have placed under the Round 6 results. We have our top player in the U12 section current Schools Ulster Champion Ethan Cole.
LJCC Belfast U12 - Round 2
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Aidan Spence U12 [1] 0:1 Ethan Cole U12 [1] 2 Lorcan Rippon U12 [1] 1:0 Diego Zaniel U12 [1] 3 Johan Kotha U12 [0] 0:1 Zachary Selkh-Burgess U12 [0] 4 Jacob Marshall U12 [0] 1:0 BYE
LJCC Belfast U12 - Round 3
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Ethan Cole U12 [2] 1:0 Lorcan Rippon U12 [2] 2 Zachary Selkh-Burgess U12 [1] 1:0 Jacob Marshall U12 [1] 3 Diego Zaniel U12 [1] 1:0 Aidan Spence U12 [1] 4 Johan Kotha U12 [0] 1:0 BYE
LJCC Belfast U12 - Round 4
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Diego Zaniel U12 [2] 0:1 Ethan Cole U12 [3] 2 Lorcan Rippon U12 [2] 0:1 Zachary Selkh-Burgess U12 [2] 3 Jacob Marshall U12 [1] 0:1 Johan Kotha U12 [1] 4 Aidan Spence U12 [1] 1:0 BYE
LJCC Belfast U12 - Round 5
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Ethan Cole U12 [4] 1:0 Zachary Selkh-Burgess U12 [3] 2 Johan Kotha U12 [2] 1:0 Diego Zaniel U12 [2] 3 Aidan Spence U12 [2] 1:0 Jacob Marshall U12 [1] 4 Lorcan Rippon U12 [2] 1:0 BYE
LJCC Belfast U12 - Round 6
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Diego Zaniel U12 [2] 0:1 Jacob Marshall U12 [1] 2 Lorcan Rippon U12 [3] .5:.5 Johan Kotha U12 [3] 3 Aidan Spence U12 [3] 1:0 Zachary Selkh-Burgess U12 [3] 4 Ethan Cole U12 [5] 1:0 BYE
Round 6 had to be manually drawn. With several players on 3 and the qualifying points being 3.5 and 4 for the Minor finals and 4.5 or more for the Major finals. Who would qualify? Ethan Cole already qualified for the Major U12. Johan and Lorcan draw and both qualify with 3.5 for the Minor finals. Aidan wins and also qualifies. What was also interesting was that Zachary won the Secondary Puzzle Solving Championship. Beating the players in the higher age groups - excellent.
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LJCC Belfast U12 - Standings
Place Name Feder Score M-Buch. Buch. Progr.
1 Ethan Cole U12 6 12.0 17.0 21.0
2 Aidan Spence U12 4 10.5 17.5 12.0
3-4 Lorcan Rippon U12 3.5 10.5 17.5 13.5
Johan Kotha U12 3.5 10.5 17.5 9.5
5 Zachary Selkh-Burgess U12 3 13.0 20.0 12.0
6-7 Diego Zaniel U12 2 12.5 19.5 10.0
Jacob Marshall U12 2 12.0 17.0 6.0
The qualifiers for the finals in London.
| Name | Age | Score | Qualifiers |
| Jackson Coakley | U10 | 5.5 | U10 Major Qualifier |
| Alex Gardner | U10 | 4 | U10 Minor Qualifier |
| Ethan Cole | U12 | 6 | U12 Major Qualifier |
| Aidan Spence | U12 | 4 | U12 Minor Qualifier |
| Lorcan Rippon | U12 | 3.5 | U12 Minor Qualifier |
| Johan Kotha | U12 | 3.5 | U12 Minor Qualifier |
For details of the LJCC finals : https://www.ljcc.co.uk/
Under 8
Champion: Alexander Davis
2nd: Joseph Gardner
Under 10
Champion: Jackson Coakley
2nd: Alex Gardner
Under 12
Champion: Ethan Cole
2nd: Aidan Spence
3rd: Lorcan Rippon
refreshments provided by Lidl.
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LJCC U18/U16/U14 - Round 1
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Andrew Campbell U18 [0] 1:0 Marko Kyselov U16 [0] 2 David Gavrylov U16 [0] 0:1 Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam U14 [0] 3 Peter Murphy U14 [0] 1:0 Saoirse Rippon U14 [0] 4 Sohil Sai Bande U14 [0] 0:1 Jyuan Miguel G. Bendo U18 [0] 5 Peter Gamble. U18 [0] 1:0 Aharshi Banerjee U14 [0] 6 Kamren Barnes U14 [0] 0:1 Achyut Shyamsunder U18 [0] 7 Eli Davison U16 [0] 1:0 George McClelland U14 [0] 8 Paul McElhinney U14 [0] 0:1 Isaac Kirkland U16 [0] 9 Alessandro Serafino Grande U14 [0] 1:0 BYE
Each player was given an approx rating and the games matched this. With top rated player Andrew Campbell winning on board 1. Brilliant to see some new faces.
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LJCC U18/U16/U14 - Round 2
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Achyut Shyamsunder U18 [1] 0:1 Andrew Campbell U18 [1] 2 Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam U14 [1] 1:0 Peter Gamble. U18 [1] 3 Isaac Kirkland U16 [1] 0:1 Peter Murphy U14 [1] 4 Jyuan Miguel G. Bendo U18 [1] 1:0 Alessandro Serafino Grande U14 [1] 5 Marko Kyselov U16 [0] 0:1 Eli Davison U16 [1] 6 Aharshi Banerjee U14 [0] 1:0 David Gavrylov U16 [0] 7 Saoirse Rippon U14 [0] 1:0 Kamren Barnes U14 [0] 8 George McClelland U14 [0] 0:1 Sohil Sai Bande U14 [0] 9 Paul McElhinney U14 [0] 1:0 BYE
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LJCC U18/U16/U14 - Round 3
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Andrew Campbell U18 [2] 0:1 Jyuan Miguel G. Bendo U18 [2] 2 Eli Davison U16 [2] 0:1 Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam U14 [2] 3 Peter Murphy U14 [2] 1:0 Achyut Shyamsunder U18 [1] 4 Peter Gamble. U18 [1] 1:0 Paul McElhinney U14 [1] 5 Sohil Sai Bande U14 [1] 1:0 Isaac Kirkland U16 [1] 6 Alessandro Serafino Grande U14 [1] 1:0 Saoirse Rippon U14 [1] 7 Kamren Barnes U14 [0] 0:1 Aharshi Banerjee U14 [1] 8 David Gavrylov U16 [0] 1:0 Marko Kyselov U16 [0] 9 George McClelland U14 [0] 1:0 BYE
New player Jyuan Miguel beats Andrew Campbell and jointly leads with Karthikeya and Peter on 3 points.
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LJCC U18/U16/U14 - Round 4
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam U14 [3] 0:1 Peter Murphy U14 [3] 2 Jyuan Miguel G. Bendo U18 [3] 1:0 Peter Gamble. U18 [2] 3 Sohil Sai Bande U14 [2] 0:1 Andrew Campbell U18 [2] 4 Aharshi Banerjee U14 [2] .5:.5 Eli Davison U16 [2] 5 Isaac Kirkland U16 [1] 0:1 Alessandro Serafino Grande U14 [2] 6 Achyut Shyamsunder U18 [1] 0:1 George McClelland U14 [1] 7 Paul McElhinney U14 [1] 1:0 David Gavrylov U16 [1] 8 Saoirse Rippon U14 [1] 1:0 Marko Kyselov U16 [0] 9 Kamren Barnes U14 [0] 1:0 BYE
Peter Murphy gets a point of Karthikeya and Jyuan Miguel wins against Peter Gamble so both go into the lead unbeaten to meet in the next round.
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LJCC U18/U16/U14 - Round 5
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Peter Murphy U14 [4] 0:1 Jyuan Miguel G. Bendo U18 [4] 2 Alessandro Serafino Grande U14 [3] 0:1 Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam U14 [3] 3 Andrew Campbell U18 [3] 1:0 Aharshi Banerjee U14 [2.5] 4 Eli Davison U16 [2.5] 0:1 Saoirse Rippon U14 [2] 5 Peter Gamble. U18 [2] 0:1 Sohil Sai Bande U14 [2] 6 George McClelland U14 [2] .5:.5 Paul McElhinney U14 [2] 7 David Gavrylov U16 [1] 1:0 Achyut Shyamsunder U18 [1] 8 Isaac Kirkland U16 [1] 1:0 Kamren Barnes U14 [1] 9 Marko Kyselov U16 [0] 1:0 BYE
A single unbeaten leader - Jyuan Miguel. Chased by group on 4 points. Geoff Hindley played the players with Byes and mentioned latter how he had some excellent and tough games.
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LJCC U18/U16/U14 - Round 6
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Jyuan Miguel G. Bendo U18 [5] 1:0 Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam U14 [4] 2 Peter Murphy U14 [4] 0:1 Andrew Campbell U18 [4] 3 Saoirse Rippon U14 [3] 1:0 Sohil Sai Bande U14 [3] 4 Aharshi Banerjee U14 [2.5] .5:.5 Alessandro Serafino Grande U14 [3] 5 Paul McElhinney U14 [2.5] 1:0 Eli Davison U16 [2.5] 6 George McClelland U14 [2.5] 1:0 David Gavrylov U16 [2] 7 Peter Gamble. U18 [2] 0:1 Isaac Kirkland U16 [2] 8 Marko Kyselov U16 [1] 1:0 Kamren Barnes U14 [1] 9 Achyut Shyamsunder U18 [1] 1:0 BYE
Against some very tough opposition Jyuan Miguel wins his final game and leads with a full 6 out of 6. Andrew Campbell wins against Peter Murphy and ends on 5. A brilliant day of chess with a tough section and excellent games. Karina kept the rounds going and this section also finished an hour early. So we packed up the sets and worked out the winners and held an award ceremony.
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LJCC U18/U16/U14 - Standings
Place Name Feder Score M-Buch. Buch. Progr.
1 Jyuan Miguel G. Bendo U18 6 14.0 21.0 21.0
2 Andrew Campbell U18 5 11.5 19.0 17.0
3-5 Peter Murphy U14 4 16.0 23.5 18.0
Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam U14 4 11.5 19.5 17.0
Saoirse Rippon U14 4 10.0 14.5 11.0
6-8 Alessandro Serafino Grande U14 3.5 14.0 23.0 13.5
Paul McElhinney U14 3.5 10.5 15.5 10.0
George McClelland U14 3.5 10.5 15.0 9.0
9-11 Sohil Sai Bande U14 3 15.0 23.0 11.0
Isaac Kirkland U16 3 11.0 15.5 9.0
Aharshi Banerjee U14 3 9.5 15.0 11.0
12 Eli Davison U16 2.5 13.0 18.5 12.5
13-16 Peter Gamble. U18 2 13.0 22.0 10.0
Achyut Shyamsunder U18 2 12.0 17.5 7.0
Marko Kyselov U16 2 11.5 17.0 3.0
David Gavrylov U16 2 10.5 16.0 6.0
17 Kamren Barnes U14 1 10.5 16.0 3.0
Under 14
Champion: Peter Murphy (overall 3rd)
2nd: Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam
3rd: Saoirse Rippon
Under 16
Champion: Isaac Kirkland
2nd: Eli Davison
3rd Marko Kyselov
Under 18
Champion: Jyuan Miguel G. Bendo (overall winner)
2nd: Andrew Campbell (overall 2nd)
3rd: Peter Gamble
Solutions to the puzzles.
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13. Black to move (1001W-751) 1. … Qh3 2. gxh3 Nxh3# |
14. Black move. (1001W-752) 1. … Qh4+ 2. Kxh4 Bf2+ 3. Kg5 f6# |
15. Black to move (1001W-753) 1. … Qf1 2. Rxf1 Rxf1# |
16. Black to move (1001W-754) 1. … Rxd4 2. Nxd4 Qxe1+ 3. Qxe1 Bxd4+ 4. Kf1 Bc4+ 5. Be2 Nxh2# |
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17. Black to move (1001W-755) 1. … Ng4 2. Qxh3 Nf2# or . … Qxh2# |
18. Black to move (1001W-756) 1. … Qg3 2. Qxg3 Ne2+ 3. Kh1 Nxg3+ 4. Kg1 Ne2+ Black is a piece up |
19. White to move (1001W-757) 1. Rh8 Rxa7 2. Rh7+ K moves 3. Rxa7 |
20. White to move (1001W-758) 1. Rh8+ Kf7 2. Rxa8 Qxe6 3. Rxa7+ resigns |
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21. White to move after Bd6 (1000CC-305) 1. …. Bd6? 2. Qxh7+ Rxh7 3. Ng6# |
22 White to move (1000CC-306) 1. Ba6 Qxa6 2. Qe6 Nd8 3. Qf7+! Nxf7 4. Ne6# |
