Schools Chess at continues at Methodist College March 8th.
Geoff Hindley and myself arrived early to setup. We had some 34 registered players and set out. 18 boards. just in case we had players arriving on the day. The carpark was busy so we had to park a little way from the rooms and had a little extra distance to walk with the equipment. It took 3 trips to get all the items into the Rooms - but the weather was beautiful and sunny. While I setup the rooms with the boards and the computer Geoff placed posters with arrows to show the way to the rooms. Players started to arrive and we realised we had 40 players due to players turning up without registering. So we had to add some boards and make space. In the end we started slightly late, and the rounds ran there full length so we used the full time leaving about 5:10pm after the awards. Whilst we had 6 extra players we also had some 4 players who didnt turnup so our total players were 36. The puzzles were handed out, players played friendlys and worked on the sheets. Then the round was drawn, players seated and a hush of concentration filled the air. Geoff Hindley looked after one room with half the players and I looked after the other Room. We were off for some brilliant chess.
Next tournament - April 12th 12:30pm at Methodist College : https://www.ulsterchess.org/Members/ucu00450/2024-2025/childrens-chess-2024-25/april-12th-2025-childrens-chess-12-30-2013-5-00
Primary Puzzle Solving Champion : Alex McKeown P5.
| No | Name | Year | Points | Cert. |
| 1 | McKeown, Alex | P5 | 20 | Gold |
| 2 | Micheal, Aarin | P3 | 17.5 | Gold |
| 3 | Loughrey, Stefan | P4 | 16 | Gold |
| 4 | Tahmankar, Advait | P7 | 15.5 | Gold |
| 5 | Jahandizi, Kia | P6 | 13 | Silver |
| 6 | Ganja, Abhiram | P5 | 12.5 | Silver |
| 7 | Premkumar, Soundharya | P5 | 12.5 | Silver |
| 8 | Coakley, Jackson | P7 | 12 | Silver |
| 9 | Loughrey, Matthew | P6 | 12 | Silver |
| 10 | Jaishree | P3 | 11.5 | Silver |
| 11 | Hall, Ryan | P7 | 9 | Bronze |
| 12 | Davis, Alexander | P4 | 8.5 | Bronze |
| 13 | Marsh, Darragh | P6 | 8 | Bronze |
| 14 | McConkey, Ollie | P6 | 7 | Bronze |
| 15 | Simpson, Daniel | P3 | 7 | Bronze |
Secondary Puzzle Solving Champion : Ethan Cole F1.
| No | Name | Year | Points | Cert. |
| 1 | Cole, Ethan | F1 | 21 | Gold |
| 2 | Campbell, Andrew | U6 | 20 | Gold |
| 3 | Crothers, Toby | F5 | 19 | Gold |
| 4 | McClenahan, Timothy | L6 | 18.5 | Gold |
| 5 | Banerjee, Aharshi | F3 | 17 | Gold |
| 6 | Micheal, Alwin | F1 | 17 | Gold |
| 7 | Murphy, Peter | F4 | 16 | Gold |
| 8 | Ke, Enoch | F2 | 12.5 | Silver |
| 9 | Karpagavinayagam, Karthikeya | F4 | 11 | Silver |
| 10 | Robinson, Parker | F1 | 11 | Silver |
| 11 | Corr, Freddie | F2 | 8 | Bronze |
| 12 | Thoke, Shlok | F1 | 7 | Bronze |
| 13 | Corr, Jonah | F5 | 5 | Bronze |
| 14 | McClelland, George | F2 | 2 | Bronze |
Examples from the problem sheets. There are 2 sets of sheets one for Primary and one for Secondary Pupils. The front sheets are different. The Primary sheets have mate in 1 on the first row whilst the Secondary have the 3rd row as mate in 3. However the back sheet is the same for all. These are shown below. Try solving them - the solutions are at the end of this article.
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Round 1
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Ethan Cole F1 [0] 1:0 Anthony Pratt F4 [0] 2 Ben Russell F4 [0] 0:1 Andrew Campbell U6 [0] 3 Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam F4 [0] 1:0 Matthew Loughrey P6 [0] 4 Abhiram Ganja P5 [0] 0:1 Alwin Micheal F1 [0] 5 Toby Crothers F5 [0] 0:1 Darragh Marsh P6 [0] 6 Enoch Ke F2 [0] 0:1 Timothy McClenahan L6 [0] 7 Aharshi Banerjee F3 [0] 1:0 George McClelland F2 [0] 8 Parker Robinson F1 [0] 0:1 Kia Jahandizi P6 [0] 9 Jonah Corr F5 [0] .5:.5 Jackson Coakley P7 [0] 10 Ryan Hall P7 [0] 0:1 Simon Murphy F3 [0] 11 Alex McKeown P5 [0] 1:0 Nathan Johnston P6 [0] 12 Ollie McConkey P6 [0] 0:1 Advait Tahmankar P7 [0] 13 Freddie Corr F2 [0] 1:0 Soundharya Premkumar P5 [0] 14 Tanish Amol Thoke P4 [0] 0:1 Peter Murphy F4 [0] 15 Shlok Thoke F1 [0] 1:0 Alexander Davis P4 [0] 16 Stefan Loughrey P4 [0] 0:1 Jack Ellis U6 [0] 17 Shayan Pourjalali U6 [0] 0:1 Aarin Micheal P3 [0] 18 Daniel Simpson P3 [0] 1:0 Rory Brown F4 [0]
by Swiss Perfect (TM) www.swissperfect.com
Players are given an approx rating. When none is available I set one based on the form. The first round we should see games go approx to rating with wins on White board 1, Black board 2, White board 3, Black board 4 ..... This pattern was broken by Darragh Marsh who got a good win against Toby Crothers (ceded 5). and Jackson Coakley got a good draw against Jonah Corr.
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Round 2
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Advait Tahmankar P7 [1] .5:.5 Ethan Cole F1 [1] 2 Andrew Campbell U6 [1] 1:0 Alex McKeown P5 [1] 3 Peter Murphy F4 [1] .5:.5 Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam F4 [1] 4 Alwin Micheal F1 [1] 1:0 Freddie Corr F2 [1] 5 Timothy McClenahan L6 [1] 1:0 Shlok Thoke F1 [1] 6 Jack Ellis U6 [1] 0:1 Aharshi Banerjee F3 [1] 7 Kia Jahandizi P6 [1] 1:0 Darragh Marsh P6 [1] 8 Simon Murphy F3 [1] 1:0 Daniel Simpson P3 [1] 9 Aarin Micheal P3 [1] 0:1 Jonah Corr F5 [.5] 10 Jackson Coakley P7 [.5] 0:1 Toby Crothers F5 [0] 11 Parker Robinson F1 [0] 1:0 Shayan Pourjalali U6 [0] 12 Rory Brown F4 [0] 1:0 Ryan Hall P7 [0] 13 Anthony Pratt F4 [0] 1:0 Ollie McConkey P6 [0] 14 Nathan Johnston P6 [0] 0:1 Ben Russell F4 [0] 15 Matthew Loughrey P6 [0] 1:0 Tanish Amol Thoke P4 [0] 16 Soundharya Premkumar P5 [0] 1:0 Abhiram Ganja P5 [0] 17 Alexander Davis P4 [0] 0:1 Enoch Ke F2 [0] 18 George McClelland F2 [0] 1:0 Stefan Loughrey P4 [0]
Two unexpected results. Advait Tahmankar gets a good draw against Ethan Cole and Peter Murphy gets a good draw against Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam.
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Round 3
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Aharshi Banerjee F3 [2] 0:1 Andrew Campbell U6 [2] 2 Kia Jahandizi P6 [2] 0:1 Alwin Micheal F1 [2] 3 Simon Murphy F3 [2] .5:.5 Timothy McClenahan L6 [2] 4 Ethan Cole F1 [1.5] 1:0 Peter Murphy F4 [1.5] 5 Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam F4 [1.5] 1:0 Advait Tahmankar P7 [1.5] 6 Jonah Corr F5 [1.5] 1:0 Jack Ellis U6 [1] 7 Toby Crothers F5 [1] 1:0 Matthew Loughrey P6 [1] 8 Alex McKeown P5 [1] 0:1 George McClelland F2 [1] 9 Freddie Corr F2 [1] 1:0 Parker Robinson F1 [1] 10 Shlok Thoke F1 [1] 1:0 Soundharya Premkumar P5 [1] 11 Darragh Marsh P6 [1] 1:0 Rory Brown F4 [1] 12 Enoch Ke F2 [1] .5:.5 Anthony Pratt F4 [1] 13 Ben Russell F4 [1] 0:1 Aarin Micheal P3 [1] 14 Daniel Simpson P3 [1] 0:1 Jackson Coakley P7 [.5] 15 Shayan Pourjalali U6 [0] 1:0 Ollie McConkey P6 [0] 16 Abhiram Ganja P5 [0] 1:0 Tanish Amol Thoke P4 [0] 17 Ryan Hall P7 [0] 1:0 Alexander Davis P4 [0] 18 Stefan Loughrey P4 [0] 0:1 Nathan Johnston P6 [0]
We usually get helpers - both in the rooms and with the puzzles. I think due to various other activities and also the Rugby 6 nations Ireland v France, these were lacking so I didnt get to take photos for every round ( my usual aim ) so I have placed photos in this article for every round but these dont necessarily match the rounds they are next to. It was brilliant to see players working on the puzzles. Some groups worked together, other players worked on their own. I am trying to stop parents from solving them and passing on the solutions as its not fair on those who work them out on their own. But its brilliant to see chess being discussed. Primary school players Kia Jahandizi and Advait Tahmankar are on the top boards. Always good to see the younger players in the top half of the draw. The young Aarin Michael gets a good win against Ben Russell.
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Round 4
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Andrew Campbell U6 [3] 0:1 Alwin Micheal F1 [3] 2 Timothy McClenahan L6 [2.5] 0:1 Ethan Cole F1 [2.5] 3 Jonah Corr F5 [2.5] 0:1 Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam F4 [2.5] 4 Aharshi Banerjee F3 [2] 1:0 Simon Murphy F3 [2.5] 5 George McClelland F2 [2] 0:1 Toby Crothers F5 [2] 6 Aarin Micheal P3 [2] 0:1 Kia Jahandizi P6 [2] 7 Darragh Marsh P6 [2] 1:0 Freddie Corr F2 [2] 8 Advait Tahmankar P7 [1.5] 1:0 Shlok Thoke F1 [2] 9 Peter Murphy F4 [1.5] 1:0 Enoch Ke F2 [1.5] 10 Anthony Pratt F4 [1.5] 1:0 Jackson Coakley P7 [1.5] 11 Abhiram Ganja P5 [1] 0:1 Alex McKeown P5 [1] 12 Jack Ellis U6 [1] 1:0 Ryan Hall P7 [1] 13 Nathan Johnston P6 [1] 0:1 Shayan Pourjalali U6 [1] 14 Rory Brown F4 [1] 1:0 Parker Robinson F1 [1] 15 Soundharya Premkumar P5 [1] 0:1 Ben Russell F4 [1] 16 Matthew Loughrey P6 [1] 1:0 Daniel Simpson P3 [1] 17 Ollie McConkey P6 [0] 1:0 Alexander Davis P4 [0] 18 Tanish Amol Thoke P4 [0] 0:1 Stefan Loughrey P4 [0]
Two of the top players meet on board 1 - Alwin Michael wins against Andrew Campbell. Both these players are brilliant - they play in the Chess league and in FIDE tournaments during the year. Ethan Cole (seed 1 and part of the Irish Team ) continues to gain points.
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Round 5
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Alwin Micheal F1 [4] 0:1 Ethan Cole F1 [3.5] 2 Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam F4 [3.5] 0:1 Darragh Marsh P6 [3] 3 Kia Jahandizi P6 [3] 0:1 Andrew Campbell U6 [3] 4 Toby Crothers F5 [3] 1:0 Aharshi Banerjee F3 [3] 5 Advait Tahmankar P7 [2.5] .5:.5 Timothy McClenahan L6 [2.5] 6 Peter Murphy F4 [2.5] 1:0 Jonah Corr F5 [2.5] 7 Simon Murphy F3 [2.5] 1:0 Anthony Pratt F4 [2.5] 8 Alex McKeown P5 [2] .5:.5 Rory Brown F4 [2] 9 Freddie Corr F2 [2] 1:0 Matthew Loughrey P6 [2] 10 Shlok Thoke F1 [2] 1:0 Aarin Micheal P3 [2] 11 Ben Russell F4 [2] 1:0 Jack Ellis U6 [2] 12 Shayan Pourjalali U6 [2] 0:1 George McClelland F2 [2] 13 Jackson Coakley P7 [1.5] 0:1 Enoch Ke F2 [1.5] 14 Stefan Loughrey P4 [1] 0:1 Abhiram Ganja P5 [1] 15 Parker Robinson F1 [1] 1:0 Ollie McConkey P6 [1] 16 Ryan Hall P7 [1] 0:1 Soundharya Premkumar P5 [1] 17 Daniel Simpson P3 [1] 0:1 Nathan Johnston P6 [1] 18 Alexander Davis P4 [0] 0:1 Tanish Amol Thoke P4 [0]
Ethan upsets the leaders wins by beating Alwin Michael and goes into the next round leading the competition. Darragh Marsh (P6) gets a win against Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam. We have some younger players. P3 Aarrin Michael looses to Shlok Thoke and Daniel Simpson has a good game against Nathan Johnston but looses.
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Round 6
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Ethan Cole F1 [4.5] 1:0 Andrew Campbell U6 [4] 2 Alwin Micheal F1 [4] 1:0 Toby Crothers F5 [4] 3 Darragh Marsh P6 [4] 0:1 Peter Murphy F4 [3.5] 4 Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam F4 [3.5] 1:0 Simon Murphy F3 [3.5] 5 Timothy McClenahan L6 [3] 1:0 Freddie Corr F2 [3] 6 Aharshi Banerjee F3 [3] 1:0 Shlok Thoke F1 [3] 7 Ben Russell F4 [3] 0:1 Kia Jahandizi P6 [3] 8 George McClelland F2 [3] 0:1 Advait Tahmankar P7 [3] 9 Rory Brown F4 [2.5] 0:1 Jonah Corr F5 [2.5] 10 Anthony Pratt F4 [2.5] 0:1 Alex McKeown P5 [2.5] 11 Enoch Ke F2 [2.5] 1:0 Jack Ellis U6 [2] 12 Soundharya Premkumar P5 [2] 0:1 Shayan Pourjalali U6 [2] 13 Matthew Loughrey P6 [2] 1:0 Parker Robinson F1 [2] 14 Nathan Johnston P6 [2] 1:0 Abhiram Ganja P5 [2] 15 Aarin Micheal P3 [2] .5:.5 Jackson Coakley P7 [1.5] 16 Tanish Amol Thoke P4 [1] 0:1 Ryan Hall P7 [1] 17 Ollie McConkey P6 [1] 0:1 Stefan Loughrey P4 [1] 18 Alexander Davis P4 [0] 0:1 Daniel Simpson P3 [1]
On the top board the top seeds play each other. Ethan wins the tournament by beating Andrew. Their are 4 players on 4 and Ethan on 4.5 so a battle to see who wins. Its brilliant to see P6 player Darragh Marsh on board 3 with 4 points - a player to watch in the future.
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Standings
Place Name Feder Score M-Buch. Buch. Progr.
1 Ethan Cole F1 5.5 16.5 24.0 18.5
2 Alwin Micheal F1 5 15.0 22.5 19.0
3-4 Peter Murphy F4 4.5 15.5 22.0 14.5
Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam F4 4.5 15.0 22.5 16.5
5-11 Andrew Campbell U6 4 16.5 25.0 17.0
Darragh Marsh P6 4 15.5 22.5 15.0
Advait Tahmankar P7 4 14.5 21.0 13.5
Timothy McClenahan L6 4 14.0 22.5 15.0
Toby Crothers F5 4 14.0 21.0 14.0
Kia Jahandizi P6 4 13.5 20.5 15.0
Aharshi Banerjee F3 4 13.5 19.5 15.0
12-15 Simon Murphy F3 3.5 12.5 19.0 15.0
Jonah Corr F5 3.5 11.5 18.0 13.0
Alex McKeown P5 3.5 11.0 17.0 11.0
Enoch Ke F2 3.5 10.5 15.0 10.0
16-22 George McClelland F2 3 14.5 20.5 11.0
Freddie Corr F2 3 13.0 20.0 12.0
Shlok Thoke F1 3 12.5 16.5 12.0
Ben Russell F4 3 11.5 17.5 10.0
Matthew Loughrey P6 3 11.0 16.5 9.0
Nathan Johnston P6 3 10.0 15.5 7.0
Shayan Pourjalali U6 3 9.5 13.5 8.0
23-25 Anthony Pratt F4 2.5 12.5 19.0 10.0
Aarin Micheal P3 2.5 12.5 18.5 10.5
Rory Brown F4 2.5 11.0 17.0 9.0
26-33 Jack Ellis U6 2 12.0 18.0 9.0
Jackson Coakley P7 2 12.0 18.0 7.5
Parker Robinson F1 2 11.5 16.5 7.0
Soundharya Premkumar P5 2 11.0 16.0 7.0
Abhiram Ganja P5 2 10.5 16.5 6.0
Daniel Simpson P3 2 10.5 14.0 7.0
Stefan Loughrey P4 2 8.0 12.0 4.0
Ryan Hall P7 2 7.5 11.0 5.0
34-35 Ollie McConkey P6 1 9.5 13.5 3.0
Tanish Amol Thoke P4 1 9.0 13.5 2.0
36-40 Alexander Davis P4 0 8.0 12.5 0.0
Overall Positions
1st Ethan Cole F1
2nd Alwin Michael F1
3rd Peter Murphy F4
4th Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam F4
Certificates are given to players on the same points. Trophies are given to 1st Position and 2nd Position players ( on tie-breaks ).
F4 and above.
1st Trophy : Peter Murphy
2nd Trophy : Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam
| Name | Year | Score | M-Buch. | Buch. | Progr. | |
| Murphy, Peter | F4 | 1st | 4.5 | 15.5 | 22 | 14.5 |
| Karpagavinayagam, Karthikeya | F4 | 1st | 4.5 | 15 | 22.5 | 16.5 |
| Campbell, Andrew | U6 | 2nd | 4 | 16.5 | 25 | 17 |
| McClenahan, Timothy | L6 | 2nd | 4 | 14 | 22.5 | 15 |
| Crothers, Toby | F5 | 2nd | 4 | 14 | 21 | 14 |
| Corr, Jonah | F5 | 3rd | 3.5 | 11.5 | 18 | 13 |
Form 3.
1st Trophy: Aharshi Banerjee
2nd Trophy: Simon Murphy
| Name | Year | Score | M-Buch. | Buch. | Progr. | |
| Banerjee, Aharshi | F3 | 1st | 4 | 13.5 | 19.5 | 15 |
| Murphy, Simon | F3 | 2nd | 3.5 | 12.5 | 19 | 15 |
Form 2
1st Trophy : Enoch Ke
2nd Trophy : George McClelland
| Name | Year | Score | M-Buch. | Buch. | Progr. | |
| Ke, Enoch | F2 | 1st | 3.5 | 10.5 | 15 | 10 |
| McClelland, George | F2 | 2nd | 3 | 14.5 | 20.5 | 11 |
| Corr, Freddie | F2 | 2nd | 3 | 13 | 20 | 12 |
Form 1
1st Trophy : Ethan Cole
2nd Trophy : Alwin Micheal
| Name | Year | Score | M-Buch. | Buch. | Progr. | |
| Cole, Ethan | F1 | 1st | 5.5 | 16.5 | 24 | 18.5 |
| Micheal, Alwin | F1 | 2nd | 5 | 15 | 22.5 | 19 |
| Thoke, Shlok | F1 | 3rd | 3 | 12.5 | 16.5 | 12 |
Primary 7
1st Trophy : Advait Tahmankar
2nd Trophy : Jackson Coakley
| Name | Year | Score | M-Buch. | Buch. | Progr. | |
| Tahmankar, Advait | P7 | 1st | 4 | 14.5 | 21 | 13.5 |
| Coakley, Jackson | P7 | 2nd | 2 | 12 | 18 | 7.5 |
| Hall, Ryan | P7 | 2nd | 2 | 7.5 | 11 | 5 |
Primary 6
1st Trophy : Darragh Marsh
2nd Trophy : Kia Jahandizi
| Name | Year | Score | M-Buch. | Buch. | Progr. | |
| Marsh, Darragh | P6 | 1st | 4 | 15.5 | 22.5 | 15 |
| Jahandizi, Kia | P6 | 1st | 4 | 13.5 | 20.5 | 15 |
| Loughrey, Matthew | P6 | 2nd | 3 | 11 | 16.5 | 9 |
| Johnston, Nathan | P6 | 2nd | 3 | 10 | 15.5 | 7 |
| McConkey, Ollie | P6 | 3rd | 1 | 9.5 | 13.5 | 3 |
Primary 5 and below
1st Trophy : Alex McKeown
2nd Trophy : Aarin Micheal
| Name | Year | Score | M-Buch. | Buch. | Progr. | |
| McKeown, Alex | P5 | 1st | 3.5 | 11 | 17 | 11 |
| Micheal, Aarin | P3 | 2nd | 2.5 | 12.5 | 18.5 | 10.5 |
| Premkumar, Soundharya | P5 | 3rd | 2 | 11 | 16 | 7 |
| Ganja, Abhiram | P5 | 3rd | 2 | 10.5 | 16.5 | 6 |
| Simpson, Daniel | P3 | 3rd | 2 | 10.5 | 14 | 7 |
| Loughrey, Stefan | P4 | 3rd | 2 | 8 | 12 | 4 |
Many thanks to our volunteers, Methodist College, Parents for supporting the event and the brilliant young chess players who create this brilliant chess event by just playing.
Our next tournament is on April 12th Sat 12:30pm at Methodist College.
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13. White to move (1001W-833) 1. fxg6 Nc3+ 2. Qxc3 bxc3 3. Nf5+ Kg8! 4. Ne7+ Kg7 5. Nf5+ Kg7 Draw by repetition |
14. White to move. (1001W-834) 1. Rh6 Rxh6 2. h8(Q)+ Rxh8 3. b5 and Black cannot evade statemate |
15. White to move (1001W-835) 1. Qd8+ Ka7 2. Rd3 Qe1 3. Rd1 Qxd1 4. Qa5+ Kb8 5. Qd8+ Ka7 perpectual |
16. White to move (1001W-836) 1. Qf2 Qxf2 Stalemate |
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17. White to move (1001W-837) 1. Rf6+ gxf6 2. Qxf6+ Kh7 3. Qh8+ Kg6 4. Qf6+ draw by perpectual |
18. White to move (1001W-838) 1. Qf6 exf6 2. Rxe8# |
19. Black to move (1000CC-354) 1. … Rxb2 2. Kxb2 Qxc3+ 3. Kc1 Rb8 resigns. As 4. … Rb1+ 5. Kxb1 Qb2# |
20. White to move (1000CC-355) 1. Rh8+ Bxh8 2. Rxh8+ Kg7 3. Rh7+ resigns as threat of Bf6 and Qh2+ |
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21. Black to move (1000CC-356) 1. … Nxe5 2. dxe5 Qc6 Black wins a pawn |
22. Black to move (1000CC-357) 1. … Rxa3+ 2. any then mate |
