Primary Schools Chess Challenge
Last year the Ulster Chess Union held the first ever competitions it had put on for primary schools. Both attracted about 60 competitors and thanks to the hard work of Chief Organiser Adrian Skelton (who put in an enormous amount of work into setting the events up for the UCU), Tournament Director David Houston, the teachers in charge of chess at the various schools competing and volunteers from amongst the ranks of Ulster chess-players - together with the help of Belfast City Council and the Waterfront Hall - these were extremely successful events. This year there are again two events, both at the Waterfront Hall. The five Belfast primary schools sending teams to the first of the two events were Cairnshill, Edmund Rice, Our Lady of Lourdes, St. Bernards and Strandtown, and there were also 5 individual entrants from. Friends Lisburn, Holy Cross, Holy Family, St. Joseph's Antrim, and St. Mary's on the Hill.
PRIZEWINNERS (ALL OF WHOM RECEIVED MEDALS):
FIRST PRIZE ON 5.0 POINTS NICOLA HOOD (Friends) and EAMON WALLS (Our Lady of Lourdes). Eamon was awarded the special medal for the most points because he was the younger of the two on 5 points and Nicola had already won a first prize medal in a previous competition;
SECOND PRIZE ON 4.5 POINTS SIMON DOHERTY (Our Lady of Lourdes)
THIRD PRIZE ON 4.0 POINTS MATTHEW SHERRARD (Strandtown), AIDAN MCGOWAN (Our Lady of Lourdes) ANTHONY DORNAN (Our Lady of Lourdes), and JAMES SKELTON (St, Mary's on the Hill)
FINAL STANDINGS: 5 ROUND SWISS: 60 COMPETITORS:
1-2. Nicola Hood and Eamon Walls 5.0
3. Simon Doherty 4.5
4-7. Matthew Sherrard, Aidan McGowan, Anthony Dornan and James Skelton 4.0
8-12. Christopher Rooney, Peter Grier, Niamh Logan, Declan Murray and Kathryn Murray 3.5
13-29. James Parish, Barry O'Kelly, John Madden, David Corrie, David Robinson, Christopher Lynn, Michael McClusky, Ciaran McVeigh, Grant Abernethy, John Meighan, Paul Hills, Matthew Turkington, Pearse McGlinchey, Michael Woods, Declan Hughes, Mark McCamley and Kara White 3.0
30-31. Alan Kennedy and Calum Mitchell 2.5
32-47. Adele McCurdy, Daniel Simpson, Calum Leitch, Matthew McCaughey, Finbarr McGovern, Gavin Rodgers, Paul Rafferty, Martin Moreland, Oonagh Conway, Blain McGuickin, Frankie Smyth, Scott Daw, Francis Hughes, Steven Sparks, Jennifer Clarke and Christopher McClure 2.0
48-52. James Williams, Allen McDowell, Eamon McCambridge, Louise Watson and Carl King 1.5
53-58. Amy Green, Cormac Curran, Padraig Austin, Jonathon Boyd, Liam Griffon and Chris Torbitt 1.0
59. Adam Seawright 0.5
60. Laura Ross 0.0
