You are here: Home Archives Ulster Chronicles 2000-2001 Season Ulster Chess News Ulster Matchplay Championship for the Alex Beckett Trophy

Ulster Matchplay Championship for the Alex Beckett Trophy

Played over three successive weekends between 22 October and 5 November 2000.

The draw gave the white pieces in the first two rounds to Stephen Scannell against his two main rivals, Tom Clarke and David Houston. He took full advantage of this and won both those games. He then went on to win his next 3 games to lead at halfway by 1.5 points. In rounds 6 and 7 he drew with Clarke and Houston to virtually ensure victory. After another draw in Round 8 against Adrian Skelton, he finished off with wins against Mark Newman and Nicholas Pilkiewicz to record a very impressive final score of 8.5.

David Houston, with White, playing against tournament winner Steve Scannell in Round 7. The game was drawn.

FIRST SERIES OF GAMES (ROUNDS 1-5)

PLAYER		RTG	1  2  3  4  5  6  PTS
S.SCANNELL	2171	X  1  1	 1  1  1  5.0
D.HOUSTON	2252	0  X  1	 1  1  =  3.5
A.SKELTON	2024	0  0  X	 1  =  0  1.5
N.PILKIEWICZ	1966	0  0  0  X  1  0  1.0
M.NEWMAN	1826	0  0  =  0  X  0  0.5
T.CLARKE	2191	0  =  1  1  1  X  3.5

SECOND SERIES OF GAMES (ROUNDS 6-10)

PLAYER		RTG	1  2  3  4  5  6  PTS
S.SCANNELL	2171	X  =  =  1  1  =  3.5
D.HOUSTON	2252	=  X  =  1  1  0  3.0
A.SKELTON	2024	=  =  X  =  0  0  1.5
N.PILKIEWICZ	1966	0  0  =  X  1  =  2.0
M.NEWMAN	1826	0  0  1  0  X  =  1.5
T.CLARKE	2191	=  1  1  =  =  X  3.5

PROGRESSIVE SCORES

PLAYER		RTG	1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10  PLACE
S.SCANNELL	2171   1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5 7.5 8.5  1st
D.HOUSTON	2252   1.0 1.0 1.5 2.5 3.5 4.5 5.0 5.0 6.0 6.5	3rd
A.SKELTON	2024   1.0 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 2.0 2.0 2.5 2.5 3.0	4th=
N.PILKIEWICZ	1966   0.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.5 2.0 3.0 3.0 3.0	4th=
M.NEWMAN	1826   0.0 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 2.0	6th
T.CLARKE	2191   0.0 1.0 1.5 2.5 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.5 6.5 7.0	2nd

 

Navigation
News
City of Belfast Chess Tournament Delivers Drama, Upsets, and Two Champions in a Thrilling 2026 Edition The May Bank Holiday weekend brought six intense rounds of competitive chess to Lisburn Chess Club, as 34 players from a... May 22, 2026
Annual General Meeting 2025/2026 2025/2026 season is rapidly coming to a close and with this comes the announcement of the UCU’s Annual General Meeting... May 22, 2026
Treasurer Role Opportunity at the Ulster Chess Union May 13, 2026
The Childrens Chess April Tournament took place on Sat 11th April hosted at Methodist College. An afternoon of fun chess. A tournament and puzzle solving competition. Almost 30 young players gathered to enjoy our mo... May 09, 2026
Bangor club celebrates its 60th anniversary 60 years in 60 minutes. A fun and playful documentary capturing the magic of Bangor Chess Club. Short interviews and eve... May 09, 2026
More news…
« May 2026 »
May
SuMoTuWeThFrSa
12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31
Upcoming Events
No Summer Tournament - Weds 27th May Due to International Cricket at the Pavilion - there will be no chess on Weds 27th May May 27, 2026 07:15 PM — NICS,Maynard Sinclair Pavilion, Stormont, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast, BT4 3TA
Ulster Fischer Random Rapidplay Championship 2026 7 rounds of Fischer Random Chess, Saturday 13th June at Loanends Presbyterian Church Hall Jun 13, 2026 10:30 AM - 06:00 PM — Loanends Presbyterian Church Hall, Loanends Rd, Loanends, Crumlin BT29 4YR
Annual General Meeting 2026 Agenda to follow post submissions to secretary Monday 8th Jun 15, 2026 07:00 PM - 09:00 PM — Fruithill Chess Club, Falls Bowling Club, 63 Andersonstown Rd, Belfast, BT11 9AH
Lisburn Bullet Championships Jul 05, 2026 10:30 AM - 04:30 PM — Lisburn Chess Club
Ulster Championships 2026 Aug 29, 2026 - Aug 31, 2026 — Blackmountain Shared Space, 280 Ballygomartin Road, Belfast, BT13 3NG
Upcoming events…