An afternoon of brilliant chess and puzzle solving was held at Methodist College on 1st Nov 2025
Unfortunately Geoff Hindley was unwell so unable to attend - we hope to see him next month. This is one of the few he has missed since these tournaments began. Many thanks to Amol Shloke without whom we couldnt have run the tournament - he thankfully assisted and looked after the second room and marked the puzzles,
Our players included some top young players, including Ethan Cole (has played for Ireland in internationals), Michael Alwin ( plays board 2 for Bangor first team).
We had a good number of younger players in year/form P4. As we play the tournament in one section it will be interesting how the younger players fair.
With registration we give out puzzles and pencils. The players almost immediately set their minds to solving the problems. These sheets are handed in at about 3:00pm or just before round 4, to give us time to mark them. Everyone handing a sheet in recieves it back with a certificate.
The Primary Puzzle Solving Champion: Abhiram Ganja (P6)
| Position | Name | Year | Puzzles | Cert |
| 1 | Ganja, Abhiram | P6 | 12.5 | Gold |
| 2 | Jahandizi, Kia | P7 | 12 | Gold |
| 3 | Micheal, Aarin | P4 | 11.5 | Gold |
| 4 | Arshed, Rizwan | P4 | 11 | Gold |
| 5 | Marrivada, Shreyas Chandra | P6 | 11 | Gold |
| 6 | Premkumar, Soundharya | P6 | 11 | Gold |
| 7 | Grande, Matteo | P7 | 10 | Silver |
| 8 | McConkey, Oliver | P7 | 10 | Silver |
| 9 | Shambharkar, Samvi | P4 | 8 | Silver |
| 10 | Simpson, Daniel | P4 | 8 | Silver |
| 11 | Marsh, Darragh | P7 | 8 | Silver |
| 12 | Castillo, Corey | P4 | 7 | Silver |
| 13 | Coakley, Erin | P4 | 5 | Bronze |
| 14 | Horn, Anna | P4 | 5 | Bronze |
| 15 | De Silva, Senanya | P5 | 5 | Bronze |
| 16 | Johnston, Nathan | P7 | 5 | Bronze |
| 17 | Thoke, Tanish | P5 | 4 | Bronze |
The Secondary Puzzle Solving Champion: Ethan Cole
| Position | Name | Year | Puzzles | Cert |
| 1 | Cole, Ethan | F2 | 21.5 | Gold |
| 2 | Banerjee, Aharshi | F4 | 21 | Gold |
| 3 | Micheal, Alwin | F2 | 18.5 | Silver |
| 4 | Slebioda, Jakub | U6 | 17 | Silver |
| 5 | Karpagavinayagam, Karthikeya | F5 | 15 | Silver |
| 6 | McClenahan, Timothy | U6 | 14 | Silver |
| 7 | Tahmankar, Advait | F1 | 12 | Bronze |
| 8 | Thoke, Shlok | F2 | 12 | Bronze |
| 9 | Saha, Shubham | F2 | 12 | Bronze |
| 10 | Molina, Paula López | F4 | 11 | Bronze |
| 11 | Coakley, Jackson | F1 | 8 | Bronze |
| 12 | Corr, Jonah | L6 | 8 | Bronze |
| 13 | Slebioda, Szymon | F3 | 4 | Bronze |
Here are the puzzles of the back of the sheets. These are find the best moves and are quite challenging - have a go - answers at the bottom of this page.
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The games started a little late. The draw was done and the room fell silent with thought.
Round 1
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Ethan Cole F2 [0] 1:0 Conal Caughey P7 [0] 2 Matteo Grande P7 [0] 1:0 Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam F5 [0] 3 Alwin Micheal F2 [0] 1:0 Nathan Johnston P7 [0] 4 Darragh Marsh P7 [0] 1:0 Timothy McClenahan U6 [0] 5 Aharshi Banerjee F4 [0] 1:0 Oliver McConkey P7 [0] 6 Szymon Slebioda F3 [0] 0:1 Jonah Corr L6 [0] 7 Paula López Molina F4 [0] 1:0 Abhiram Ganja P6 [0] 8 Rizwan Arshed P4 [0] 0:1 Kyan Muradali F3 [0] 9 Advait Tahmankar F1 [0] 1:0 Shreyas Chandra Marrivada P6 [0] 10 Soundharya Premkumar P6 [0] 0:1 Benjamin Rainey F4 [0] 11 Shlok Thoke F2 [0] 1:0 Corey Castillo P4 [0] 12 Erin Coakley P4 [0] 0:1 Jakub Slebioda U6 [0] 13 Shubham Saha F2 [0] 1:0 Senanya De Silva P5 [0] 14 Anna Horn P4 [0] 0:1 Joshua Farina Bhuruth F1 [0] 15 Jackson Coakley F1 [0] 1:0 Aarin Micheal P4 [0] 16 Samvi Shambharkar P4 [0] 0:1 Ayush Shambharkar F2 [0] 17 Kia Jahandizi P7 [0] 1:0 Daniel Simpson P4 [0] 18 Tanish Thoke P5 [0] 1:0 BYE
by Swiss Perfect (TM) www.swissperfect.com
I give the players ratings, approximating those I cant find. The first round and the top player, Ethan Cole is White on Board 1. Then the next Karthikeya is Black on board 2 followed by Alwin White on Board 3. This pattern proceeds down the draw. To we can see some upsets in round 1 ( or possibly my wrong allocation of ratings!). With Matteo winning against Karthikeya and Darragh Marsh winning against Timothy.
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Round 2
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Jakub Slebioda U6 [1] 0:1 Ethan Cole F2 [1] 2 Shubham Saha F2 [1] 0:1 Alwin Micheal F2 [1] 3 Joshua Farina Bhuruth F1 [1] 0:1 Aharshi Banerjee F4 [1] 4 Jonah Corr L6 [1] 1:0 Jackson Coakley F1 [1] 5 Ayush Shambharkar F2 [1] 0:1 Paula López Molina F4 [1] 6 Kyan Muradali F3 [1] 1:0 Kia Jahandizi P7 [1] 7 Matteo Grande P7 [1] 0:1 Advait Tahmankar F1 [1] 8 Benjamin Rainey F4 [1] 0:1 Darragh Marsh P7 [1] 9 Tanish Thoke P5 [1] 0:1 Shlok Thoke F2 [1] 10 Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam F5 [0] 1:0 Shreyas Chandra Marrivada P6 [0] 11 Timothy McClenahan U6 [0] 1:0 Soundharya Premkumar P6 [0] 12 Conal Caughey P7 [0] 0:1 Corey Castillo P4 [0] 13 Nathan Johnston P7 [0] 1:0 Erin Coakley P4 [0] 14 Oliver McConkey P7 [0] 1:0 Anna Horn P4 [0] 15 Senanya De Silva P5 [0] 0:1 Szymon Slebioda F3 [0] 16 Abhiram Ganja P6 [0] 1:0 Samvi Shambharkar P4 [0] 17 Aarin Micheal P4 [0] 1:0 Rizwan Arshed P4 [0] 18 Daniel Simpson P4 [0] 1:0 BYE
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Round 3
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Ethan Cole F2 [2] .5:.5 Paula López Molina F4 [2] 2 Alwin Micheal F2 [2] 1:0 Kyan Muradali F3 [2] 3 Aharshi Banerjee F4 [2] 1:0 Advait Tahmankar F1 [2] 4 Shlok Thoke F2 [2] 1:0 Jonah Corr L6 [2] 5 Darragh Marsh P7 [2] 0:1 Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam F5 [1] 6 Timothy McClenahan U6 [1] 1:0 Matteo Grande P7 [1] 7 Nathan Johnston P7 [1] 0:1 Benjamin Rainey F4 [1] 8 Oliver McConkey P7 [1] 0:1 Jakub Slebioda U6 [1] 9 Szymon Slebioda F3 [1] 0:1 Shubham Saha F2 [1] 10 Corey Castillo P4 [1] .5:.5 Joshua Farina Bhuruth F1 [1] 11 Jackson Coakley F1 [1] 0:1 Abhiram Ganja P6 [1] 12 Daniel Simpson P4 [1] 1:0 Ayush Shambharkar F2 [1] 13 Kia Jahandizi P7 [1] 1:0 Tanish Thoke P5 [1] 14 Shreyas Chandra Marrivada P6 [0] 1:0 Aarin Micheal P4 [1] 15 Erin Coakley P4 [0] 0:1 Conal Caughey P7 [0] 16 Rizwan Arshed P4 [0] 1:0 Senanya De Silva P5 [0] 17 Soundharya Premkumar P6 [0] 1:0 Anna Horn P4 [0] 18 Samvi Shambharkar P4 [0] 1:0 BYE
A new top player from Spain got an excellent draw against top player Ethan Cole on board 1. The game was exciting and with sacrifices Ethan had the attack but defending and also threatening to attack Paula stayed in the game with Ethan forcing a repeat of moves. One of many brilliant games played this afternoon. Only 3 players are left on full points 3 out of 3 going into the next round. Alwin, Aharshi and Shlok.
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Round 4
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Aharshi Banerjee F4 [3] 0:1 Alwin Micheal F2 [3] 2 Paula López Molina F4 [2.5] 1:0 Shlok Thoke F2 [3] 3 Jonah Corr L6 [2] 0:1 Ethan Cole F2 [2.5] 4 Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam F5 [2] 0:1 Shubham Saha F2 [2] 5 Jakub Slebioda U6 [2] 0:1 Timothy McClenahan U6 [2] 6 Kyan Muradali F3 [2] 1:0 Darragh Marsh P7 [2] 7 Advait Tahmankar F1 [2] 1:0 Kia Jahandizi P7 [2] 8 Benjamin Rainey F4 [2] 0:1 Daniel Simpson P4 [2] 9 Abhiram Ganja P6 [2] 0:1 Joshua Farina Bhuruth F1 [1.5] 10 Corey Castillo P4 [1.5] 0:1 Jackson Coakley F1 [1] 11 Ayush Shambharkar F2 [1] 1:0 Rizwan Arshed P4 [1] 12 Conal Caughey P7 [1] 0:1 Soundharya Premkumar P6 [1] 13 Shreyas Chandra Marrivada P6 [1] 0:1 Matteo Grande P7 [1] 14 Aarin Micheal P4 [1] 0:1 Nathan Johnston P7 [1] 15 Samvi Shambharkar P4 [1] 0:1 Oliver McConkey P7 [1] 16 Tanish Thoke P5 [1] .5:.5 Szymon Slebioda F3 [1] 17 Senanya De Silva P5 [0] 1:0 Erin Coakley P4 [0] 18 Anna Horn P4 [0] 1:0 BYE
Ethan and Paula both win and stay within the top group. However Alwin becomes the lone leader with 4 out of 4 winning against Aharshi. Meanwhile young Daniel Simpson, only P4, is winning games and goes to the next round with 3 out of 4.
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Round 5
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Alwin Micheal F2 [4] 1:0 Paula López Molina F4 [3.5] 2 Ethan Cole F2 [3.5] 1:0 Timothy McClenahan U6 [3] 3 Shlok Thoke F2 [3] 0:1 Aharshi Banerjee F4 [3] 4 Shubham Saha F2 [3] .5:.5 Kyan Muradali F3 [3] 5 Daniel Simpson P4 [3] 1:0 Advait Tahmankar F1 [3] 6 Joshua Farina Bhuruth F1 [2.5] 0:1 Benjamin Rainey F4 [2] 7 Nathan Johnston P7 [2] 0:1 Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam F5 [2] 8 Matteo Grande P7 [2] .5:.5 Jonah Corr L6 [2] 9 Darragh Marsh P7 [2] 1:0 Jakub Slebioda U6 [2] 10 Jackson Coakley F1 [2] 1:0 Oliver McConkey P7 [2] 11 Soundharya Premkumar P6 [2] 1:0 Ayush Shambharkar F2 [2] 12 Kia Jahandizi P7 [2] 0:1 Abhiram Ganja P6 [2] 13 Szymon Slebioda F3 [1.5] .5:.5 Corey Castillo P4 [1.5] 14 Conal Caughey P7 [1] 0:1 Tanish Thoke P5 [1.5] 15 Rizwan Arshed P4 [1] 1:0 Samvi Shambharkar P4 [1] 16 Anna Horn P4 [1] 0:1 Shreyas Chandra Marrivada P6 [1] 17 Aarin Micheal P4 [1] 1:0 Senanya De Silva P5 [1] 18 Erin Coakley P4 [0] 1:0 BYE
Round 5 and I am afraid due to the focus on marking puzzles we dont have any photos. Alwin and Ethan continue to win. Also young Daniel wins on one of the top boards - board 6 against Advait. Corey Castillo is also playing well with a draw against Szymon.
Round 6
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Ethan Cole F2 [4.5] 1:0 Alwin Micheal F2 [5] 2 Daniel Simpson P4 [4] 0:1 Aharshi Banerjee F4 [4] 3 Paula López Molina F4 [3.5] 0:1 Shubham Saha F2 [3.5] 4 Kyan Muradali F3 [3.5] 1:0 Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam F5 [3] 5 Timothy McClenahan U6 [3] 1:0 Shlok Thoke F2 [3] 6 Advait Tahmankar F1 [3] 1:0 Soundharya Premkumar P6 [3] 7 Benjamin Rainey F4 [3] 1:0 Jackson Coakley F1 [3] 8 Abhiram Ganja P6 [3] 1:0 Darragh Marsh P7 [3] 9 Jonah Corr L6 [2.5] 1:0 Tanish Thoke P5 [2.5] 10 Joshua Farina Bhuruth F1 [2.5] 0:1 Matteo Grande P7 [2.5] 11 Jakub Slebioda U6 [2] 1:0 Szymon Slebioda F3 [2] 12 Ayush Shambharkar F2 [2] 0:1 Aarin Micheal P4 [2] 13 Shreyas Chandra Marrivada P6 [2] 0:1 Kia Jahandizi P7 [2] 14 Corey Castillo P4 [2] 0:1 Nathan Johnston P7 [2] 15 Oliver McConkey P7 [2] .5:.5 Rizwan Arshed P4 [2] 16 Senanya De Silva P5 [1] 0:1 Conal Caughey P7 [1] 17 Erin Coakley P4 [1] 1:0 Samvi Shambharkar P4 [1]
The clash of the titans and Ethan plays Alwin. The match decides the tournament winner. Ethan tops the leader board with 5 1/2 points. Its brilliant to see such a young player on Board 2 - Daniel Simpson P4, justifying the decision to have one section. Other young players in the top tables include Soundharya P6, Abhiram P6 and Darragh P7.
A brilliant afternoon of chess and puzzle solving.
I give out prizes for the age groups but its still good to see the overall positions,
Overall winner of the tournament: Ethan Cole F2
Overall 2nd Alwin Micheal F2
Overall 3rd Aharshi Banerjee
Thanks goes to the Volunteers, Methodist College for the venue, Parents for supporting us and most importantly all the players who make this tournament possible and so enjoyable. Our next tournament is the Ulster Schools Championships on December 6th again at Methodist College : https://www.ulsterchess.org/events/ulster-schools-individual-championships-2025
Standings
Place Name Feder Score M-Buch. Buch. Progr.
1 Ethan Cole F2 5.5 14.0 21.0 19.0
2-3 Alwin Micheal F2 5 17.5 26.0 20.0
Aharshi Banerjee F4 5 13.0 20.5 18.0
4-5 Kyan Muradali F3 4.5 13.5 21.0 16.0
Shubham Saha F2 4.5 13.0 19.0 15.0
6-10 Daniel Simpson P4 4 14.0 21.0 14.0
Advait Tahmankar F1 4 13.0 20.0 15.0
Timothy McClenahan U6 4 12.5 21.0 13.0
Benjamin Rainey F4 4 12.0 18.0 13.0
Abhiram Ganja P6 4 11.5 15.5 12.0
11-13 Paula López Molina F4 3.5 16.5 24.0 16.0
Matteo Grande P7 3.5 13.0 19.0 11.0
Jonah Corr L6 3.5 11.5 19.0 13.0
14-22 Darragh Marsh P7 3 15.0 22.5 13.0
Karthikeya Karpagavinayagam F5 3 14.0 20.5 11.0
Kia Jahandizi P7 3 13.5 20.0 11.0
Shlok Thoke F2 3 13.0 20.0 15.0
Jackson Coakley F1 3 13.0 19.0 11.0
Nathan Johnston P7 3 12.0 18.5 9.0
Soundharya Premkumar P6 3 12.0 17.0 9.0
Jakub Slebioda U6 3 11.5 18.5 11.0
Aarin Micheal P4 3 9.5 13.5 8.0
23-26 Joshua Farina Bhuruth F1 2.5 13.5 19.5 11.0
Tanish Thoke P5 2.5 11.0 16.5 9.5
Oliver McConkey P7 2.5 9.5 15.0 8.5
Rizwan Arshed P4 2.5 8.5 13.5 6.5
27-32 Shreyas Chandra Marrivada P6 2 12.5 17.5 6.0
Ayush Shambharkar F2 2 12.0 16.0 9.0
Szymon Slebioda F3 2 10.5 16.0 7.5
Corey Castillo P4 2 10.5 15.5 8.0
Erin Coakley P4 2 9.0 12.5 3.0
Conal Caughey P7 2 8.5 15.0 5.0
33-35 Samvi Shambharkar P4 1 10.0 15.5 4.0
Senanya De Silva P5 1 9.5 15.5 3.0
Anna Horn P4 1 7.5 12.5 2.0
P5 and Below
Champion : Daniel Simpson P4
2nd : Aarin Micheal P4
3rd : Tanish Thoke P5
3rd : Rizwan Arshed
P6 positions
Champion : Abhiram Ganja
2nd : Soundharya Premkumar
3rd : Shreyas Chandra Marrivada
P7 positions
Champion : Matteo Grande
2nd with trophy: Darragh Marsh
2nd : Kia Jahandizi
2nd : Nathan Johnston
3rd : Oliver McConkey
Form1 positions
Champion : Advait Tahmankar
2nd : Jackson Coakley
3rd : Joshua Farina Bhuruth
Form2 positions
Champion : Ethan Cole
2nd : Alwin Micheal
3rd : Shubham Saha
Form3 positions
Champion : Kyan Muradali
2nd : Szymon Slebioda
Form 4 and above positions
Champion : Aharshi Banerjee
2nd with trophy : Timothy McClenahan
2nd : Benjamin Rainey
3rd : Paula López Molina
3rd : Jonah Corr
Puzzle Solutions
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13. Black to move (1001W-857) 1. … g5 2. Bg3 h5 3. Nh2 h4 resigns |
14. Black to move. (1001W-858) 1. … g5 2. Bg3 g4 3. Ng1 Bxg2 resigns |
15. White to move (1001W-859) 1. Rb7! Resigns once all pawn moves of Black then Black must move a piece and loose. |
16. White to move (1001W-860) 1. h4 eventually Black must play Qe8 or Ke8 when b5 wins a piece |
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17. White to move (1001W-861) 1. Rg5 after Black moves his pawns then the Queen is lost. |
18. White to move (1001W-862) 1. Qe7+ Qg5 2. Qe4+ Qg4 3. Qe3 Resigns Black cannot avoid mate |
19. Black to move (1000CC-370) 1. … Nxd4 2. Qh5+ Kg8 3. Qe5 Resigns |
20. White to move (1000CC-371) 1. Bxe6 Rxd1 2. Qa8+ Kh7 3. Bxf7 cant stop mate. |
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21. White to move (1000CC-372) 1. Rxg7! Kxg7 2. Qf6+ Kf8 3. Bg6 Resigned |
22. White to move (1000CC-373) 1. … Qe1! 2. Qxa8+ Kf7 resigns Ng4+ 4. hxg4 Qh4# |
These puzzles are from the excellent books
1001 Winning Chess Sacrifices and Combinations – Fred Reinfeld
1000 Checkmate Combinations – Victor Henkin
