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Ulster Rapidplay Championship

With the Ulster Senior Championship no longer played over the Christmas vacation period, the UCU Committee considered there was still a market for a tournament at that time of year.

With New Year's Day falling on a Sunday, Monday 2nd January was a public holiday so this seemed the ideal day to stage a one-day tournament. It was given the title of Ulster Rapidplay Championship, and it is hoped that this might become a regular fixture in the Ulster chess calendar. It was encouraging for the future to see that of the 27 players competing, 12 were schoolchildren.

Final standings

Place Name                Rtg  Club          Score Prize

 1-3  John Cairns         2028 Fisherwick    5     Joint winner 
      Gareth Annesley     1892 RVH           5     Joint winner
      Nicholas Pilkiewicz 1796 Clifton House 5     Joint winner
 4-5  Tom Clarke          2196 Clifton House 4.5  
      Ian Woodfield       1652 Fisherwick    4.5   U1800 Grading  
 6-9  Utkarsh Joshi       1400               4     U1600 Grading  
      Stephen Scannell    2154 Bangor        4    
      Michael Waters      2011 Fisherwick    4    
      Samuel Moore        1717 Civil Service 4    
 10   Ananda Srinivasan   1429 Fisherwick    3.5  
11-17 Eamonn Walls        1744 North Belfast 3    
      Gerry Collins       1405 RVH           3    
      Leon Hulleman       1586 City of Derry 3    
      Luke McMullen       1358 Fisherwick    3    
      Simon Wright        900                3     U1200 Grading    
      Patrick McKillen    1286 Fisherwick    3    
      Drew Ferguson       1351 Bangor        3    
18-20 Eugene Medvedev     900                2.5  
      Alan Burns          1384 Bangor        2.5  
      Pearse O'Brien      1031 RVH           2.5  
21-25 William Storey      1246 RVH           2    
      Eddie Li            900                2    
      Rachel Murphy       900                2    
      Samruddhi Joshi     900                2    
      Geoff Hindley       1045 Civil Service 2    
26-27 Numair Damani       900                1    
      Neil Adamson        900                1    
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Upcoming Events
January 10th 2026 Childrens Chess 12:30 – 5:00 Monthly Chess Tournaments Continues at Methodist College. Jan 10, 2026 12:30 PM - 05:00 PM — Methodist College,1 Malone Rd, Belfast BT9 6BY
FIDE RATED West Winds Newtownards Rapid Championship 2026 Saturday 17 January 2026. Check-in at 9:45am. The 6 rounds will be played back-to-back from 10am to 1:30pm Venue: West... Jan 17, 2026 09:45 AM - 01:30 PM — West Winds Community Centre, Dakota Ave, Newtownards, BT23 AQT
FIDE-rated Williamson Shield 2026 Jan 23, 2026 - Jan 25, 2026 — Maynard Sinclair Pavilion, Upper Newtownards Road Belfast BT4 3TA
FIDE RATED Northern Ireland Youth Rapid Championships 2026 (ages 7-17) Saturday 24 January 2026. Venue: City of Bangor International Chess Club. Jan 24, 2026 10:15 AM - 01:00 PM — City of Bangor Chess Club, Church of Ireland Parish Hall, 30 Main Street Groomsport
FIDE RATED Belfast Blitz 2026 (event 1 of 10 in Festival celebrating neurodiversity in art and chess) Format: swiss, 10 rounds of 3+2. Date: 24 January 2026, Time: 19:30 to 22:00 Maynard Sinclair Sports Pavilion Jan 24, 2026 07:30 PM - 10:00 PM — Maynard Sinclair Pavilion, Stormont, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast, BT4 3TA
Upcoming events…