Celebrating Young Chess talent at Stormont. MLA Naomi Long invites top players.

The end of the Chess year for the Childrens Chess. To get invited to this award ceremony is quite challenging. You need to come in the top four in our Grandprix over our 5 Childrens Chess tournaments which are part of our annual monthly Schools Chess tournaments at Methodist College. Where top young chess players compete against each other and solve puzzles,

The timetable for the morning. Started as usual with myself and Geoff Hindley arriving early at 9:00am and carrying the equipment to the Long Gallery. We were assisted by the Stormont Events group. The room looked brilliant as usual. We setup all the boards and the large chess set and placed the trophies ready for the award ceremony.

10:00    Arrival

10:15    Welcome.

10:30    Tour of Stormont

11:00    Chess Tournament, coffee and tea served.

12:00     Principals alternative arrival time.

12:40    Award Ceremony

13:15    Farewells

I always like the room setup. Half for the chess boards and tables and half for the coffee, parents, principals, teachers and volunteers. With the table and trophies in the middle.

Families started to arrive. Unfortunately Naomi Long MLA was ill so unable to attend, her office was trying kindly to get a replacement. But with the local situation all the MLAs were busy. We missed Naomi's presence - she is always a pleasure to meet and is brilliant with the youngsters and does a brilliant speech and we like to thank her for enabling this event and inviting us to the Stormont buildings. I welcomed the guests and the event began with a tour of the building.

After a photo on the stairs, which has become a regular part of the event. We proceeded to the Long Gallery for coffee, Juice and biscuits. The youngsters were gathered at the other end of the gallery and started to play in the Elite Stormont Tournament. We had 4 sections. Looked after by volunteers, Geoff Hindley, Amol Thoke, Dr Graham Murphy and Mandar Tahmankar. Below are the results of the tournament with photos.

Stormont Elite Chess Tournament – Primary 2025

Round 1.

Round 2

Round 3

Stormont Elite Chess Tournament – Secondary Lower

Round 1.

Round 2

Round 3

Stormont Elite Chess Tournament – Secondary Upper

Round 1.

Round 2

Round 3

Unfortunately one of the Senior players was unavailable. So Mandar Tahmankar kindly stepped in and played a friendly against the player with the bye. It always a pleasure to get a game against such a good opponent.

The last section was only introduced in the last couple of years. In the past the tournaments were for players who had qualified through coming in the top four of the 3 chess sections. But we also invited the 4 top puzzles solvers for Primary and Secondary and together with the Exceptional Young Players we had Children who werent playing in one of the elite tournaments. So I introduced this 4th section to allow these young players to have an opportunity to play in a chess competition at Stormont. This year we had 5 players to played a round robin with 5 rounds and a shorter time set on the clocks,

Stormont Elite Chess Tournament – Exceptional Young Player

Round 1.

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

The tournament results:

Stormont Elite Chess Tournament – Primary 2025

Stormont Elite Chess Tournament – Secondary Lower

Stormont Elite Chess Tournament – Secondary Upper

Stormont Elite Chess Tournament – Exceptional Young Player

With the tournament over. We gathered the results and were ready to start the award  ceremony. We were fortunate to have Ulsters Top Player Mandar Tahmankar who agreed to handout the awards. The initials awards for all players and were for the competitions held today.

Examples of the certificates handed-out.

The Teachers and Principals and Tournament Founder formed a line of Honour. A pupil would collect their certificate and trophy and walk down the line shaking hands with each Teacher. A brilliant way of celebrating their achievement and also recognising the importance and debt we owe to our wonderful education system and educators.

The Belfast Scholastic Top Young Player (League/Other Competitions/Overseas Representation)

The last trophies were to the Top Young players - Ethan Cole who represents the Ireland Team playing tournaments around the World. Alwin Micheal and Ethan were players in the League Team - The Strand that won the Division 1 UCU League last year. Two fantastic players.

The last trophy celebrates those young players who may not have won a trophy but have played for their age very well during the year. Players who have potential todo very well.

The Belfast Scholastic Henderson and Dawson Shield.Exceptional Young Chess Player

The Belfast Scholastic James Fairley Shield. Primary Chess Champion

The Belfast Scholastic William McGrattin Shield. Lower Secondary Chess Champion

The Belfast Scholastic Shield. Senior Secondary Chess Champion

The Belfast Scholastic Edward Whiteside Shield. Primary Puzzle Solving Chess Champion

The Belfast Scholastic Fergus O’Neill Shield. Secondary Puzzle Solving Chess Champion

With the end of the event, more photos were taken and we applauded the teachers, parents, volunteers, MLA Naomi Long for inviting us and most important the young players.

See you all at our next Childrens Chess tournament in the new year. October 2025 at Methodist College. Watch this website for dates.