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