New Rapidplay Ulster Champion Crowned 28th February 2026

Many thanks to Fruithill Bowling Club and Fruithill Chess Club. The Bowling Club provided complementary Tea and Coffee throughout the day. The venue was setup before I arrived. Sergio Esteve Sanchez was our assistant Arbiter for the day. He is assisting Karina Campbell and the UCU with a shortage of Abiters at our annual tournaments. Having been an arbiter in Spain hes well experienced. We setup the chess sets and clocks. Two laptops both with the swiss software were maintained with the competition results. With all players registered. The tournament began. The draw was placed on the noticeboard and players found their way to their tables. After a short introduction to the tournament and key rules, hands were shook and clocks started - we were off.

Generated by Swiss Master for Windows 5.7 build 8 on 07-03-2026 at 13:34

The results matched the ratings predictions. Quite often the results dont always represent the closeness of the games. Gerry McCartney was leading but short of time he made some mistakes and Steve Scannell won the game. The class of players is shown with Steve Scannell, Mandar Tahmankar both Ulster Champions several times over. Top youngsters Alwin Micheal and Ethan Cole ( who has played regularly for Ireland ).

A slight upset with Gatis Barbals getting a good draw against Ethan Cole. Tony Logan gets a good win against Jack Edens.

The spread of the players begins to increase. The last round before lunch. We have 5 players on 2 full points. With Alwin Micheal getting a good draw against Steve Scannell - in a brilliant battle of attacks and counter attacks. We have Mandar Tahmankar gaining first place with the only player on full 3 points.

The sad news of Damien Lavery's passing spread through the room. Damien loved to play fast games and excelled at the fastest - Bullet ( 1 minute each ). He played at several clubs in their teams including Bangor, Ballynafeigh ( where he was part of the Winning team gaining the Silver King), Lisburn, Fruithill. He will be missed.

Ethan Cole wins against the leader Mandar Tahmankar. Steve Scannell, Alwin Micheal continue to chase. Now only being 1/2 point behind - its going to be a battle.

Its brilliant to see players from Fruithill. Anthony Parker, Neil Fisher, Gerry McCartney, John Monaghan and Gatis Barlals ( apologies if I have missed anyone).

The second to last round and Ethan Cole continues his winning streak with a win against Alwin - a very tightly fought game. Gabrial Landmark continues to do well and beats Modestas Razbadauskas. Mandar Tahmankar wins against Steve Scannell. Ethan now leads by 1/2 point the players Mandar and Gabrial.

Its all to play for. On the two top boards to see who will be crowned Ulster Champion.

Ethan wins against Steve Scannell and secures the lead. Mandar beats Gabrial and Gatis gets a brilliant result against Alwin.

With all games over. The players helped put away the sets and clocks.

Gerry McCartney as representative of Fruithill was our honoured award presenter. Presenting the awards.

The bands for the sections are :

Seniors  > 1800

Intermediate > 1600

Junior <= 1600

Ulster Champion : Ethan Cole

2nd : Mandar Tahmankar

3rd : Gatis Barbals

Ulster Intermediate Champion : Toby Crothers

2nd : Anthony Parker

Ulster Junior Champion : Pat McKillen

2nd : Shlok Thoke

As part of the prize each player recieved a Simultaneous Ticket for this years UCU Simultaneous - Saturday 23rd May. We are delighted to welcome Grandmaster Keith Arkell

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Arkell

Many thanks to Fruithill Bowling Club for a brilliant venue and for Fruithill Chess Club for facilitating the event. Thanks also to our volunteer Arbiters : Mark Newman and Sergio Esteve Sanchez. Many thanks to Karina Campbell for organising this years UCU tournaments as UCU tournament director. Also to the UCU for providing these tournaments year after year. Most of all thanks to all the players. See you at our next tournament....