The last minute alteration of venue caused some confusion amongst Ulster Chess's faithful on the morning of the 20th January. The venue itself was a small hut based in the grounds of Civil Service, yet it proved to be a very cosy venue for all involved. There were some big names on show to compete for the coveted Williamson Shield, Messrs Scannell, Waters and Clarke were the 3 feared competitors.

The event was very competitive and the open swiss format allowed supposed easy pairings for some - (well, on paper anyway!) But there proved to be no shortage of upsets throughout the 6 rounds.

Scannell, despite dropping half a point to young David Grzymek in the 1st round went on to win the Williamson Shield with an impressive 5.5/6. The key win came in round 5 over Michael Waters, who finished 2nd.

Stewart McConaghy and Ciaran Marron both picked up grading prizes and came 3rd and 4th respectively, which is very impressive given their ratings.  McConaghy's most notable victories came over Ulster youth starlets Calum Leitch and David Grzymek, while Marron's most impressive win came against Mark Newman. The 3rd Grading prize was won by Przemyslaw Grzymacz who played above his suggested 878 rating with victories over respected UCU players such as Richard Proctor and Sam Moore.

The tournament proved to be a success in terms of numbers and matchplay, but will perhaps be remembered for Scannell's 6th victory which further proves the player's recent good form as he lifted the Ulster Rapidplay Championship last month.

Williamson Shield
20th-21st January 2007 at Civil Service Chess Club

Final Cross Table

No Name                   Rtg  Club          Total  1    2    3    4    5    6  

1  Stephen Scannell       2122 Bangor        5.5   14:D 12:W 25:W  9:W  2:W  5:W
2  Michael Waters         2061 Fisherwick    5      7:W 18:W  8:W  5:W  1:L 10:W
3  Ciaran Marron          1601 RVH           4.5   27:W  5:L 20:W 15:W 11:D  8:W
4  Stewart McConaghy      1528 Bombardier    4.5   21:W  9:L  7:W  0:D 14:W 12:W
5  Nicholas Pilkiewicz    1899 Clifton House 4     10:W  3:W 17:W  2:L  6:W  1:L
6  Gareth Annesley        1882 Clifton House 4     13:D 19:D 11:W 16:W  5:L 15:W
7  Calum Leitch           1751 QUB           4      2:L 13:W  4:L 20:W 18:W 16:W
8  Mark Newman            1825 Bombardier    3.5   33:W 16:W  2:L 17:W 10:D  3:L
9  Richard Gould          1494 Fisherwick    3.5   28:W  4:W  0:D  1:L 12:L 21:W
10 Damien Cunningham      1621 Clifton House 3.5    5:L 20:W 27:W 24:W  8:D  2:L
11 Desmond Moreland       1804 Clifton House 3.5   12:D 14:W  6:L 25:W  3:D 13:D
12 William McGrattan      1611 Bangor        3.5   11:D  1:L 31:W 30:W  9:W  4:L
13 Christopher Kelly      1645 Civil Service 3.5    6:D  7:L 22:W  0:D 24:W 11:D
14 David Grzymek          1796 Bangor        3.5    1:D 11:L 21:W 23:W  4:L 22:W
15 Przemyslaw Grzymacz    878  RVH           3     22:W 17:L 18:W  3:L 19:W  6:L
16 Joseph Mordeno         1550 RVH           3     32:W  8:L 26:W  6:L 17:W  7:L
17 Anandagopal Srinivasan 1502 Fisherwick    3     26:W 15:W  5:L  8:L 16:L 29:W
18 Richard Proctor        1545 Bangor        3     24:W  2:L 15:L 28:W  7:L 25:W
19 Samuel Moore           1713 Civil Service 3      0:D  6:D 24:L 27:W 15:L 26:W
20 Alexander Beckett      1403 Fisherwick    2.5   29:W 10:L  3:L  7:L 25:D 30:W
21 Geoff Hindley          1011 Civil Service 2.5    4:L 22:D 14:L 32:+ 30:W  9:L
22 Alan Burns             1425 Bangor        2.5   15:L 21:D 13:L 26:W 23:W 14:L
23 Kevin Agnew            1243 Bangor        2.5    0:   0:   0:  14:L 22:L 24:W
24 William Storey         1298 unattached    2     18:L 28:W 19:W 10:L 13:L 23:L
25 John Monaghan          1032 RVH           2      0:  31:W  1:L 11:L 20:D 18:L
26 Brian Grzymek          925  Bangor        2     17:L 32:W 16:L 22:L  0:W 19:L
27 David Seaby            1047 Fisherwick    2      3:L 29:W 10:L 19:L 28:L 31:W
28 Owen Wilson            940  Bangor        2      9:L 24:L 29:W 18:L 27:W  0:L
29 Aaron McCully               Civil Service 2     20:L 27:L 28:L  0:W 31:W 17:L
30 Pearse O'Brien         1061 RVH           1.5    0:   0:   0:  12:L 21:L 20:L
31 Cathal J. Murphy       774  RVH           1      0:D 25:L 12:L  0:D 29:L 27:L
32 Patrick McKillen       1299 North Belfast .5    16:L 26:L  0:D 21:-  0:   0: 
33 Tom Clarke             2180 Clifton House 0      8:L  0:   0:   0:   0:   0: