Citi Hosts their annual Charity Chess Tournament 1st August 2024

Players gathered at the Citi Offices on Thursday 1st August to enjoy chess and raise £400 in funds for Air Ambulance Northern Ireland.

With a brilliant turnout of some 48 players. The canteen at Citi Bank Belfast was full of enthusiastic players, all ages and skills. The time limit for each game was set to 12mins per player and the number of rounds set at 5. The time was amended from last years 15mins as we ended latter than expected last year. Entry was free, a voluntary donation of £10 to the Citi's selected charity was encouraged - Air Ambulance Northern Ireland on the web page https://www.justgiving.com/page/citi-belfast-chess2024 the event raised some £400 - a brilliant amount to a worthy cause. Thanks to Michael Devine for organising the event and Citi Security Staff for enabling the smooth entry in and out of the offices. More info on the Air Ambulance NI can be found at : https://airambulanceni.org/

Below I have listed the results of each of the rounds and included photos of the event.

The room setup and waiting for the chess to start

Citi Belfast Charity Rapidplay 2024
	Round 1.

Table		Score		Score	Result

1	Quinn, Ronan	0	Tahmankar, Mandar	0	0-1
2	Esteve, Sergio	0	Corr, Jonah	0	1-0
3	McCroskery, Max	0	Zelenchuk, Daniil	0	0-1
4	Campbell, Andrew	0	Cinnsealach, Oisin	0	1-0
5	Majury, Henry	0	McKee, Declan	0	0-1
6	Kelly, Chris	0	Corr, Freddie	0	1-0
7	Banerjee, Aharshi	0	Kher, Ashay R	0	0-1
8	Wong, James	0	McKeown, Alex	0	1-0
9	Colm Donnelly	0	Salin, Rohan	0	0-1
10	Khanzharov, Edward	0	Naujokaitis, Dominykas	0	1-0
11	Naujokaitis, Egidijus	0	Corr, David	0	0-1
12	McCracken, David	0	Caulfield, Ellan-Rose	0	1-0
13	Boyle, Grant	0	Micheal, Alwin	0	0-1
14	Garvin, David	0	Kotha, Jonah	0	1-0
15	Caulfield, Kris	0	Neill, Christopher John	0	0-1
16	O'Connor, Paul	0	Gracey, Matthew	0	0-1
17	Keenan, Matthew	0	Devine, Michael	0	0-1
18	Crothers, Toby	0	Cullen, Michael	0	1-0
19	Deekonda, Rithvik	0	Gunning, Joe	0	1-0
20	Campbell, Peter	0	Connelly, Ryan	0	1-0
21	Shilakar, Samit	0	Tahmankar, Advait	0	0-1
22	Rodriguez, John Neill	0	Premkumar, Soundharya	0	1-0
23	VR, Vivekanandan	0	Aziz, Awsam	0	0-1
24	Thoke, Amol	0	Oleksyk, Wiktor	0	1-0

0	Shambharkar, Ashish	0			0 bye

The first 15 boards went to rating. In the first round the lower rated players get a very tough opponent. Our 4 top players are Mandar Tahmankar, Sergio Esteve, Daniil Zelenchuk and Andrew Campbell. Board 16 Matthew Gracey won against Paul O'Connor. Also on board 19 Rithvik Deekonda beats Joe Gunning. Its brilliant to see new faces and returning players. The play was good and very few incidents requiring the intervention of the arbiter.

Citi Belfast Charity Rapidplay 2024					2
	Round 2

Table		Score		Score	Result

1	Tahmankar, Mandar	1	Garvin, David	1	1-0
2	Micheal, Alwin	1	Esteve, Sergio	1	1/2
3	Zelenchuk, Daniil	1	Crothers, Toby	1	1-0
4	Neill, Christopher John	1	Campbell, Andrew	1	0-1
5	McKee, Declan	1	Campbell, Peter	1	1-0
6	Devine, Michael	1	Kelly, Chris	1	1/2
7	Kher, Ashay R	1	Rodriguez, John Neill	1	1-0
8	Tahmankar, Advait	1	Wong, James	1	1-0
9	Salin, Rohan	1	Thoke, Amol	1	1-0
10	Aziz, Awsam	1	Khanzharov, Edward	1	0-1
11	Corr, David	1	Deekonda, Rithvik	1	1-0
12	Gracey, Matthew	1	McCracken, David	1	0-1
13	Naujokaitis, Dominykas	0	O'Connor, Paul	0	0-1
14	Gunning, Joe	0	Naujokaitis, Egidijus	0	0-1
15	Caulfield, Ellan-Rose	0	Quinn, Ronan	0	0-1
16	Corr, Jonah	0	Boyle, Grant	0	1-0
17	Kotha, Jonah	0	Shambharkar, Ashish	0	0-1
18	Cullen, Michael	0	McCroskery, Max	0	1-0
19	Cinnsealach, Oisin	0	Caulfield, Kris	0	1-0
20	Connelly, Ryan	0	Majury, Henry	0	1-0
21	Corr, Freddie	0	Keenan, Matthew	0	1-0
22	Premkumar, Soundharya	0	Banerjee, Aharshi	0	0-1
23	McKeown, Alex	0	Shilakar, Samit	0	0-1
24	Oleksyk, Wiktor	0	Colm Donnelly	0	1-0

0	VR, Vivekanandan	0			1 bye(PA)

The young Alwin Michael gets an excellent draw against Sergio Esteve. Micheal Devine gets a good result against Chris Kelly and the young Advait Tahmankar wins against James Wong.

Citi Belfast Charity Rapidplay 2024					3
	Round 3

Table		Score		Score	Result

1	Salin, Rohan	2	Tahmankar, Mandar	2	0-1
2	Khanzharov, Edward	2	Zelenchuk, Daniil	2	0-1
3	Campbell, Andrew	2	Corr, David	2	1-0
4	McCracken, David	2	McKee, Declan	2	0-1
5	Tahmankar, Advait	2	Kher, Ashay R	2	0-1
6	Esteve, Sergio	1.5	Devine, Michael	1.5	1-0
7	Kelly, Chris	1.5	Micheal, Alwin	1.5	0-1
8	Shambharkar, Ashish	1	Wong, James	1	0-1
9	Garvin, David	1	Cinnsealach, Oisin	1	0-1
10	Banerjee, Aharshi	1	Neill, Christopher John	1	1/2
11	O'Connor, Paul	1	Corr, Freddie	1	1-0
12	Crothers, Toby	1	Gracey, Matthew	1	1-0
13	Campbell, Peter	1	Cullen, Michael	1	1-0
14	Rodriguez, John Neill	1	Connelly, Ryan	1	1-0
15	Naujokaitis, Egidijus	1	Aziz, Awsam	1	1-0
16	Thoke, Amol	1	VR, Vivekanandan	1	1-0
17	Quinn, Ronan	1	Oleksyk, Wiktor	1	1/2
18	Deekonda, Rithvik	1	Corr, Jonah	1	1-0
19	Shilakar, Samit	1	Gunning, Joe	0	1-0
20	McCroskery, Max	0	Caulfield, Ellan-Rose	0	0-1
21	Majury, Henry	0	Kotha, Jonah	0	1-0
22	Boyle, Grant	0	McKeown, Alex	0	0-1
23	Colm Donnelly	0	Premkumar, Soundharya	0	1-0
24	Caulfield, Kris	0	Naujokaitis, Dominykas	0	0-1

0	Keenan, Matthew	0			1 bye(PA)

Mandar, Daniil and Andrew continue to win on the top boards.

Citi Belfast Charity Rapidplay 2024					4
	Round 4

Table		Score		Score	Result

1	Tahmankar, Mandar	3	Campbell, Andrew	3	1-0
2	Zelenchuk, Daniil	3	McKee, Declan	3	1-0
3	Kher, Ashay R	3	Esteve, Sergio	2.5	1/2
4	Micheal, Alwin	2.5	Salin, Rohan	2	0-1
5	Wong, James	2	Rodriguez, John Neill	2	0-1
6	Khanzharov, Edward	2	Tahmankar, Advait	2	1-0
7	Corr, David	2	Thoke, Amol	2	1-0
8	Cinnsealach, Oisin	2	McCracken, David	2	0-1
9	Naujokaitis, Egidijus	2	O'Connor, Paul	2	0-1
10	Deekonda, Rithvik	2	Crothers, Toby	2	1-0
11	Shilakar, Samit	2	Campbell, Peter	2	0-1
12	Oleksyk, Wiktor	1.5	Kelly, Chris	1.5	1-0
13	Neill, Christopher John	1.5	Quinn, Ronan	1.5	1-0
14	Devine, Michael	1.5	Banerjee, Aharshi	1.5	1-0
15	Naujokaitis, Dominykas	1	Garvin, David	1	0-1
16	Aziz, Awsam	1	Colm Donnelly	1	1/2
17	Corr, Jonah	1	Caulfield, Ellan-Rose	1	0-1
18	Gracey, Matthew	1	Shambharkar, Ashish	1	0-1
19	Cullen, Michael	1	Majury, Henry	1	1/2
20	Corr, Freddie	1	VR, Vivekanandan	1	1-0
21	McKeown, Alex	1	Keenan, Matthew	1	1-0
22	Connelly, Ryan	1	McCroskery, Max	0	0-1
23	Gunning, Joe	0	Caulfield, Kris	0	1-0
24	Kotha, Jonah	0	Boyle, Grant	0	0-1

0	Premkumar, Soundharya	0			1 bye(PA)

Citi Belfast Charity Rapidplay 2024					5
	Round 5

Table		Score		Score	Result

1	Zelenchuk, Daniil	4	Tahmankar, Mandar	4	0-1
2	Campbell, Andrew	3	Kher, Ashay R	3.5	0-1
3	Esteve, Sergio	3	McCracken, David	3	1-0
4	McKee, Declan	3	O'Connor, Paul	3	1-0
5	Salin, Rohan	3	Deekonda, Rithvik	3	1-0
6	Campbell, Peter	3	Khanzharov, Edward	3	0-1
7	Rodriguez, John Neill	3	Corr, David	3	1-0
8	Devine, Michael	2.5	Micheal, Alwin	2.5	0-1
9	Oleksyk, Wiktor	2.5	Neill, Christopher John	2.5	0-1
10	Caulfield, Ellan-Rose	2	Wong, James	2	0-1
11	Garvin, David	2	Corr, Freddie	2	1-0
12	Crothers, Toby	2	Cinnsealach, Oisin	2	1-0
13	Tahmankar, Advait	2	McKeown, Alex	2	0-1
14	Thoke, Amol	2	Naujokaitis, Egidijus	2	1-0
15	Shambharkar, Ashish	2	Shilakar, Samit	2	1-0
16	Kelly, Chris	1.5	Majury, Henry	1.5	1-0
17	Banerjee, Aharshi	1.5	Aziz, Awsam	1.5	1/2
18	Quinn, Ronan	1.5	Cullen, Michael	1.5	0-1
19	Colm Donnelly	1.5	Corr, Jonah	1	1-0
20	Keenan, Matthew	1	Gunning, Joe	1	0-1
21	McCroskery, Max	1	Gracey, Matthew	1	1-0
22	Premkumar, Soundharya	1	Naujokaitis, Dominykas	1	1-0
23	Boyle, Grant	1	Connelly, Ryan	1	0-1
24	VR, Vivekanandan	1	Kotha, Jonah	0	0-1

0	Caulfield, Kris	0			1 bye(PA)

The top players Daniil and Mandar have an exciting play off the winner winning the tournament. Mandar wins. We end with 4 players on 4 points. Lead by Mandar undefeated on 5 out of 5 followed by Ashay R Kher on 4.5 out of 5 (also undefeated with one draw).

Rank	Name	Score	Buchholz-HiLo	Buchholz	PS	Rating
1	Tahmankar, Mandar	5	6	15.5	15	2053	Champion
2	Kher, Ashay R	4.5	5.5	15	14	1759	2nd
3	Zelenchuk, Daniil	4	6	18	14	1912	3rd
4	McKee, Declan	4	6	14.5	13	1776
5	Salin, Rohan	4	5.5	17	12	1727
6	Esteve, Sergio	4	5.5	14.5	12	1980
7	Khanzharov, Edward	4	5	12	12	1721
8	Rodriguez, John Neill	4	4	14	11	1590	Under 1650 1st
9	Micheal, Alwin	3.5	4.5	14	11	1669
10	Neill, Christopher John	3.5	3.5	9.5	9.5	1641	Under 1650 2nd
11	Campbell, Andrew	3	6	18	12	1829
12	Corr, David	3	5	15	11	1698
13	McCracken, David	3	5	13	11	1688
14	Wong, James	3	4.5	14.5	9	1728
15	Campbell, Peter	3	4	14.5	10	1604	Under 1650 3rd
16	Deekonda, Rithvik	3	4	13	10	1400 *	Under 1400 1st
17	Crothers, Toby	3	4	12.5	9	1610
18	Thoke, Amol	3	3.5	12	9	1575
19	Garvin, David	3	3	11	8	1658 *
20	O'Connor, Paul	3	3	10	9	1623
21	Shambharkar, Ashish	3	2	10	7	1517 *
22	McKeown, Alex	3	0.5	8.5	6	1400 *	Under 1400 2nd
23	Devine, Michael	2.5	4	12.5	9	1618
24	Kelly, Chris	2.5	4	12	8	1760
25	Oleksyk, Wiktor	2.5	2.5	13	7.5	1400 *	Under 1400 3rd
26	Cullen, Michael	2.5	2	11	6	1400 *
27	Colm Donnelly	2.5	1	11	5	1400 *
28	Tahmankar, Advait	2	5	16.5	9	1595
29	Naujokaitis, Egidijus	2	3	13	7	1400 *
30	Cinnsealach, Oisin	2	3	12.5	7	1497 *
31	Aziz, Awsam	2	3	11	6.5	1585
32	Banerjee, Aharshi	2	2.5	14	6	1400 *
33	Shilakar, Samit	2	2	13.5	7	1400 *
34	Corr, Freddie	2	1.5	9.5	6	1459 *
35	Connelly, Ryan	2	1	11.5	5	1400 *
36	McCroskery, Max	2	1	11.5	3	1513
37	Caulfield, Ellan-Rose	2	1	10.5	5	1400 *
38	Gunning, Joe	2	0.5	8.0	3	1608
39	Premkumar, Soundharya	2	0	10	3	1400 *
40	Quinn, Ronan	1.5	2.5	15.5	5.5	1543 *
41	Majury, Henry	1.5	1	12	4	1473 *
42	Gracey, Matthew	1	3	14.5	5	1400 *
43	Corr, Jonah	1	2	12.5	4	1532
44	Keenan, Matthew	1	1	10.5	3	1400 *
45	VR, Vivekanandan	1	1	9.5	4	1400 *
46	Naujokaitis, Dominykas	1	0.5	12	3	1400 *
47	Kotha, Jonah	1	0.5	9.5	1	1400 *
48	Boyle, Grant	1	0	10.5	2	1400 *
49	Caulfield, Kris	1	0	8.5	1	1400 *

winners

A brilliant evenings chess and all for a good cause - see you at the next tournament - and looking forward to next years Citi Charity Tournament.