In such a strong field Stephen Scannell's 100% score was impressive, though it was not achieved without some luck. In Round 3, he was 28 minutes late arriving and therefore only 2 minutes away from receiving a default. Ironically, his opponent actually arrived 35 minutes late and so Scannell received a walover victory. In Round 5, Scannell had another escape, when his co-champion from 2006, Michael Waters, missed a mate in three in a time scramble.
The final round saw Scannell and Eamonn Walls both on 5.0. A draw would not lead to a shared title, after the change in regulations introduced in 2007, so both players had to go for the win, as it was impossible to tell in advance who would be favoured by the tie-breaks. Scannell scored the win to land his 8th Senior title.
Despite his final round loss, Walls took 2nd prize and the second qualifying place for the British Championship on tie-break.
In other Round 6 results John Cairns beat Mark Newman to claim 3rd, again on tie-break. Gareth Annesley beat former champion Michael Holmes in an heroic effort by checkmating his opponent with seconds remaining [The advantage of the UCU's new digital clocks was apparent here as Gareth would have known exactly how much time he had left]. Unfortunately, this was only enough for 4th on tie-break. A final score of 5 points was sufficient to win the title for the last two years, but now it appeared Gareth's score of 5 this year would not even gain him a prize, until the Tournament Director added a 4th Prize from UCU funds.
Despite his round 6 loss to Cairns, Mark Newman won the Intermediate title on tie-break ahead of Ian Woodfield and Chris Kelly, the latter signing off with a fine attacking game over Danny Mallagan. Newman's 5th round victory over two-time Senior Champion James McDonnell with a king-side attack from his trademark King's Indian attack was the highlight of his performance.
4 players - Pearse O'Brien, Ben McCusker, Cathal Murphy and Raymond Smith - were in contention for the Junior title going in to the final round. Murphy and Smith were paired against each other, while McCusker and O'Brien faced players rated just over the 1400 Junior limit. McCusker, a 17 year-old schoolboy making his debut in UCU competition had to face wily veteran, Martin Kelly, the 2008-2009 UCU Junior Grand Prix winner. O'Brien's opponent was Carrickfergus schoolgirl, Karina Kruk. She was O'Brien's third Intermediate opponent in succession; he had scored 1.5 points out of 2 against them in Rounds 4 and 5 but this time it was the Intermediate player who scored the full-point in a very tight endgame. Murphy defeated Smith in a careful, controlled performance, typical of his 3 wins in the event and now all eyes turned to the McCusker-Kelly game. For a long time this game was very equal and a draw might have been agreed in other circumstances, but of course McCusker needed a win and in the end it was Kelly who prevailed. Still this was an impressive first appearance from McCusker, who beat John Phillips and drew with Chris Kelly during the tournament.
Murphy had laid the foundation for his Junior title with a first round win over Brian McComb, rated over 600 points higher than him. But even this rating performance was surpassed by Kruk, who had scored a shock success over Michael Waters, also in the first round. Kruk is the best female player to appear in Northern Ireland in 15 years and clearly has the temperament to make further progress.
Moving the Senior Championship to the August Bank Holiday weekend and combining it with the Intermediate and Junior Championships has clearly been a success. However with the increase in numbers this has produced, comes an issue the UCU may have to consider. Should the Championship Congress now have two or three events played simultaneously over the weekend which would cater for the different strengths of the competitiors.
Finally, it was a pleasure for the third successive year to play in the prestigious surroundings of the Europa Hotel .
Place Name Rtg Score M-Buch Buch Wins Progr Prize
TB-1 TB-2 TB-3 TB-4
1 Stephen Scannell 2119 6 15.5 24.0 5 21.0 Senior]]>
2-4 Eamonn Walls 1834 5 15.5 23.5 5 20.0 2nd
John Cairns 2020 5 14.5 22.5 5 18.0 3rd
Gareth Annesley 1939 5 14.5 21.5 5 19.0 4th
5-9 Michael Holmes 2051 4 16.5 23.5 4 16.0
Mark Newman 1758 4 13.5 21.0 4 15.0 Intermediate
Ian Woodfield 1648 4 12.0 18.5 4 13.0
Michael Waters 2083 4 11.0 18.5 4 13.0
Christopher Kelly 1620 4 10.5 14.5 3 12.5
10-16 James McDonnell 1989 3.5 15.0 23.5 3 15.5
John Masterson 1873 3.5 13.0 21.0 3 14.5
Stewart McConaghy 1526 3.5 13.0 20.5 3 13.0
Calum Leitch 1779 3.5 13.0 20.0 3 14.5
Cathal Murphy 1030 3.5 11.0 16.5 3 11.0 Junior
Cecil Sloan 1663 3.5 10.5 16.0 3 11.5
Martin Kelly 1440 3.5 9.5 16.0 3 9.0
17-21 Danny Mallaghan 1819 3 15.5 21.5 3 13.0
Karina Kruk 1415 3 15.0 22.5 3 12.0
Alexander Beckett 1365 3 10.0 15.5 3 8.0
William Storey 1364 3 9.5 14.5 3 9.0
John Phillips 1535 3 9.0 14.0 3 9.0
22-27 Ben McCusker 2.5 13.5 20.0 2 10.5
William McGrattan 1588 2.5 12.5 18.5 2 11.0
Brian McComb 1669 2.5 12.5 18.5 2 9.5
Pearse O'Brien 1116 2.5 12.0 19.5 2 8.0
Raymond Smith 2.5 11.5 17.0 2 10.0
Kevin Agnew 1244 2.5 11.5 16.0 2 7.5
28-35 Aaron McCully 1318 2 14.5 21.5 2 9.0
Geoff Hindley 976 2 11.5 16.0 1 3.0
Alan Burns 1404 2 11.0 17.0 2 7.0
Garry Johnston 1066 2 11.0 15.0 2 7.0
Peter Ratcliffe 936 2 10.5 16.5 1 4.0
John Monaghan 1094 2 9.5 15.0 1 5.5
Phillip Morrison 1048 2 7.5 12.0 1 4.0
Stephen McCloskey 2 7.5 11.5 1 5.5
36-37 Peter Storey 730 1 10.5 16.5 0 3.0
David Seaby 1104 1 10.5 15.5 1 5.0
38 Ryan Garland 0 4.0 8.5 0 0.0
Kevin Robbin won the Belfast Scholastic Shield Primary School Championship for the second year running.
Karina Kruk started late in the season but consistently scored brilliantly to win the Belfast Scholasic Shield Lower Secondary School Championship.
Ben Buchanan one of the youngest players a P3 from Greenisland Primary School won the Exceptional Young Player of 2009.
Some sixty people were invited to the event hosted by Green MLA Brian Wilson. The 13 children recieving awards their parents and school representatives, volunteers who helped throughout the year and the Founders of the Childrens Chess Tournaments - Graham Murphy (Chairman of Ulster Schools Chess Council), David McAlister (Chairman of Ulster Chess Union) and Mark Newman.
The event consisted of a tour of Stormont followed by the Stormont Elite Chess Competitions where each group played an all play all 3 round tournament. This was followed by an award ceremony.
|
|
Name |
Year |
School |
Score |
|
1st |
Kevin Robbin |
P7 |
St Bride’s PS |
29 |
|
2nd |
Harshith Murthireddy |
P7 |
Fullerton House |
28 |
|
3rd |
John Dawson |
P7 |
Maralin Village PS |
25 |
|
4th |
Raghav Gupta |
P4 |
Dromore PS |
23 |
Belfast Scholastic Shield
Secondary School Championship
|
|
Name |
Year |
School |
Score |
|
1st |
Karina Kruk |
F3 |
Ulidia Integrated College |
28 |
|
2nd |
Luke Taylor |
F3 |
BRA |
27 |
|
3rd |
Radhika Gupta |
F1 |
Banbridge Academy |
23 |
|
3rd |
Matthew Chapman |
F2 |
Grosvener |
23 |
We opened the Championships to forms 4 to 6 to include all years in secondary school but unfortunately numbers were lower than expected so we invited players who played this year and from previous years to represent this age group.
The Belfast Scholastic Shield.
Senior School Chess Representatives
|
Name |
Year |
School |
|
Belbi Jacob |
F4 |
Malone College |
|
Conall Newman |
F4 |
Bangor Grammar |
|
Sam Chan Ying Choi |
L6 |
Malone College |
|
Anandagopal Srinivasan |
L6 |
Methody College |
Stormont Elite Chess Tournament - Primary
|
Place |
Name |
Points |
|
1st |
Kevin Robbin |
3 |
|
2nd |
Harshith Murthireddy |
1 |
|
2nd |
John Dawson |
1 |
|
2nd |
Raghav Gupta |
1 |
Stormont Elite Chess Tournament – Secondary Lower
|
Place |
Name |
Points |
|
1st |
Kiran Robbin |
2 |
|
2nd |
Luke Taylor |
1.5 |
|
2nd |
Radhika Gupta |
1.5 |
|
4th |
Matthew Chapman |
1 |
Stormont Elite Chess Tournament – Secondary Upper
|
Place |
Name |
Points |
|
1st |
Anandagopal Srinivasan |
3 |
|
2nd |
Ying Choi Sam Chan |
2 |
|
3rd |
Belbi Jacob |
1 |
|
4th |
Conall Newman |
0 |
Thanks to the volunteers who helped throughout the year and without whom the Childrens Chess Tournaments wouldnt be possible - Dr Grahame Murphy, Geoff Hindley, Stewart McConaghy, Dr Rahul Gupta and Dr Nidhi Gupta, Stella Newman.
]]>Going into the final round on Wednesday 30th September, three players - Stephen Scannell, Eamonn Walls and Raymond Smith - were still in contention for the overall first prize. Smith's chance went when he lost to Alex Beckett, but his overall total was still sufficient to win the Junior section prize. The other two were paired against each other, with Walls needing a win to overtake Scannell. In their decisive final round game in the recently finished Ulster Championship Scannell had won with the white pieces. This time Walls had the advantage of the first move and he gained his revenge - defeat for Scannell ended his successive wins of the Hammel Cup at 4. Although Eamonn now plays for QUB, he had started his career at North Belfast, so he was a very appropriate winner.
Scannell's total score was still good enough for second place overall, and the other prizewinner was Martin Kelly (Intermediate section).
Final standings
|
Played |
Points |
% |
|
|
Seniors |
|
|
|
|
Stephen Scannell |
10 |
7.5 |
75.00 |
|
Eamon Walls |
16 |
12.5 |
78.13 |
|
Mark Newman |
10 |
7 |
70.00 |
|
Ian Woodfield |
13 |
6 |
46.15 |
|
Christopher Kelly |
4 |
1 |
25.00 |
|
Gerald Harvey |
3 |
1 |
33.33 |
|
William McGrattan |
10 |
2 |
20.00 |
|
David Baras |
3 |
3 |
100.00 |
|
Sylwek Furman |
12 |
5.5 |
45.83 |
|
Stewart McConaghy |
10 |
4 |
40.00 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Intermediates |
|
|
|
|
Ron Henderson |
15 |
7.5 |
50.00 |
|
Martin Kelly |
13 |
8 |
61.54 |
|
Karina Kruk |
15 |
9 |
60.00 |
|
John Bryars |
9 |
5.5 |
61.11 |
|
Alexander Beckett |
14 |
4 |
28.57 |
|
William Storey |
14 |
5 |
35.71 |
|
Kevin Agnew |
4 |
1.5 |
37.50 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Juniors |
|
|
|
|
David Seaby |
17 |
9 |
52.94 |
|
John Monaghan |
12 |
5.5 |
45.83 |
|
Cathal Murphy |
14 |
8.5 |
60.71 |
|
Geoff Hindley |
11 |
4.5 |
40.91 |
|
James Fairley |
15 |
6 |
40.00 |
|
Raymond Smith |
15 |
11 |
73.33 |
|
Kevin O'Neill |
10 |
1.5 |
15.00 |
|
Philip Morrison |
14 |
7 |
50.00 |
|
Nick Earl |
2 |
1 |
50.00 |
|
Stephen Clarke |
1 |
0 |
0.00 |
|
Craig Kelly |
6 |
2.5 |
41.67 |
|
Gary Johnson |
6 |
3.5 |
58.33 |
|
Conall Newman |
1 |
0 |
0.00 |
|
Brian Belshaw |
1 |
0 |
0.00 |
Damien Lavery won his first four games and a draw in the final round against Michael Holmes (who had earlier dropped a half-point to Martin Kelly) was enough to secure overall victory. Holmes was joined on 4 points by Cathal Murphy, whose only loss came in the first round to Lavery.
Final standings
Place Name Rtg Score 1 Damien Lavery 1721 4.5 2-3 Michael Holmes 2034 4 Cathal Murphy 1079 4 4 Stephen Scannell 2113 3.5 5-7 Eamonn Walls 1893 3 William Storey 1367 3 Ciaran Holmes 1377 3 8-13 Martin Kelly 1443 2.5 Raymond Smith 1223 2.5 Craig Kelly 778 2.5 Karina Kruk 1483 2.5 Ian Woodfield 1660 2.5 Ron Henderson 1423 2.5 14-15 John Monaghan 1082 2 Mark Newman 1791 2 16-17 Alexander Beckett 1327 1.5 Peter Ratcliffe 940 1.5 18-20 Geoff Hindley 996 1 David Seaby 1071 1 Sylwek Furman 1775 1
Crosstable (players given in handicap order)
No Name Rtg Total 1 2 3 4 5 1. Stephen Scannell 2113 3.5 11:W 8:D 15:W 2:L 9:W 2. Michael Holmes 2034 4 12:W 9:D 7:W 1:W 6:D 3. Eamonn Walls 1893 3 13:W 14:W 6:L 15:W 16:L 4. Mark Newman 1791 2 14:L 13:W 16:L 12:L 17:W 5. Sylwek Furman 1775 1 15:L 17:L 19:D 10:L 18:D 6. Damien Lavery 1721 4.5 16:W 20:W 3:W 9:W 2:D 7. Ian Woodfield 1660 2.5 17:W 15:L 2:L 13:D 19:W 8. Karina Kruk 1483 2.5 18:W 1:D 9:L 20:W 11:L 9. Martin Kelly 1443 2.5 19:W 2:D 8:W 6:L 1:L 10. Ron Henderson 1423 2.5 20:L 16:L 18:D 5:W 13:W 11. Ciaran Holmes 1377 3 1:L 18:W 20:L 17:W 8:W 12. William Storey 1367 3 2:L 19:W 14:L 4:W 15:W 13. Alexander Beckett 1327 1.5 3:L 4:L 17:W 7:D 10:L 14. Raymond Smith 1223 2.5 4:W 3:L 12:W 16:L 20:D 15. John Monaghan 1082 2 5:W 7:W 1:L 3:L 12:L 16. Cathal Murphy 1079 4 6:L 10:W 4:W 14:W 3:W 17. David Seaby 1071 1 7:L 5:W 13:L 11:L 4:L 18. Geoff Hindley 996 1 8:L 11:L 10:D 19:L 5:D 19. Peter Ratcliffe 940 1.5 9:L 12:L 5:D 18:W 7:L 20. Craig Kelly 778 2.5 10:W 6:L 11:W 8:L 14:D
]]>
The first round largely went with seedings, though Damien Lavery had a lucky escape against Stephen McCloskey, while newcomer Sinclair Dowey got the better of veteran Alan Burns. Round 2 provided a minor surprise when 2008-9 Junior Grand Prix winner Martin Kelly beat 4th seed Sylwek Furman.
Round 3 saw the top three seeds, Stephen Scannell, Michael Waters and Gareth Annesley all move a full-point ahead of the rest of the field. In round 4 Scannell won the top board clash against Waters, while Annesley matched Scannell’s 4 straight wins by beating John Bradley.
In round 5 Annesley had White against Scannell, with the two players aware that victory in their individual encounter would also guarantee them at least a share of first prize. It was Annesley who won after sustained pressure, in what was possibly the best game of the tournament. Waters got back on track with a win over Richard Gould, while Lavery also reached 4 points after beating Mark Newman.
Two schools’ players were also to be found near the top of the standings after the end of the penultimate round. Karina Kruk followed up a Round 4 victory over Furman with a win against Ian Woodfield, where her advanced pawns caused him too many problems and he lost on time. The only player on 3.5 points was Stormont Elite Under 14 Schools champion Kiran Robbin after scoring 2.5 out of 3 against the experienced trio of Burns, Woodfield and William Storey in Rounds 3-5.
The top pairings for the final round were:
Karina Kruk [4.0] –v- Gareth
Annesley [5.0]
Stephen Scannell [4.0] -v- Damien Lavery [4.0]
Kiran Robbin [3.5] -v- Michael
Waters [4.0]
Annesley would normally be a big favourite against Kruk, but she has already shown her ability and potential against strong players, and so Gareth chose the well-known drawing weapon Petroff’s Defence. In an even position the players agreed to share the point guaranteeing outright tournament victory for Annesley and the Under 1600 Grading prize for Kruk.
Waters won quickly against Robbin, but the latter had the consolation of knowing that he could not be overtaken in the race for the Under 1200 Grading Prize, which in the end he shared with Cathal Murphy, who made a late surge by winning all his last 3 games. Meanwhile Scannell beat Lavery to join Waters in a tie for second overall.
Final standings Place Name Rtg Club Score 1 Gareth Annesley 1864 RVH 5.5 2-3 Stephen Scannell 2075 QUB 5 Michael Waters 2058 Fisherwick 5 4 Karina Kruk 1405 QUB 4.5 5-8 Damien Lavery 1663 TAT 4 John Bradley 1738 Fisherwick 4 Richard Gould 1529 TAT 4 Alan Burns 1412 CIYMS 4 9-10 Kiran Robbin 3.5 Cathal Murphy 1065 RVH 3.5 11-17 Mark Newman 1648 Bombardier 3 Martin Kelly 1425 Fisherwick 3 Sylwek Furman 1775 3 Sean Linton 1324 RVH 3 Alexander Beckett 1378 Fisherwick 3 Radhika Gupta 1203 Fisherwick 3 Phillip Morrison 1305 RVH 3 18-19 Ian Woodfield 1630 Fisherwick 2.5 William Storey 1355 Lagan 2.5 20-26 Raghav Gupta 1273 Fisherwick 2 Sinclair Dowey 2 Garry Johnston 1163 Bangor 2 Kevin Robbin 2 Matthew Chapman QUB 2 Peter Ratcliffe 940 North Belfast 2 Geoff Hindley 977 Lagan 2 27 Stephen McCloskey 1081 1 28 Peter Storey 1125 0
Leon Hulleman and Utkarsh Joshi both finished on 5 points, and Hulleman was awarded the title on tie-break. He had previously won the under 12 title in 2004, the under 14 in 2006, the under 16 in 2008 and is the first player to win all four titles. Joshi won his individual encounter with Hulleman in round 4 but had earlier lost to Fabian Doherty, who took the bronze medal on tie-break. Ciara Pugh won the Ulster Schoolgirls title.
Tie-breaks Place Name School Score M-Buch Buch Progr Prize 1-2 Leon Hulleman St Columbs 5 14.5 21.0 18.0 Champion Utkarsh Joshi Friends - Lisburn 5 12.5 18.5 16.0 Second 3-4 Fabian Doherty St Patricks 4 15.0 20.0 14.0 Third Leroy Harris St Josephs 4 13.5 19.5 14.0 5 Michael Cowan St Columbs College 3.5 8.5 13.5 12.0 6-7 Fergus O'Neill St Patricks 3 12.5 17.5 10.0 Ciara Pugh MCB 3 10.0 15.0 9.0 Schoolgirls Champion 8 Gary McDaid St Columbs 1.5 15.5 20.5 8.0 9 Philip Sage St Patricks 1 13.5 18.5 4.0 10 Adam Mullan St Patricks 0 11.0 16.0 0.0
Carrickfergus schoolgirl Karina Kruk took the under 16 title after winning all six of her games. James Baker finished second and Marcos McBurney was awarded the bronze medal on tie-break.
Tie-breaks Place Name School Score M-Buch Buch Progr Prize 1 Karina Kruk Ulidia Integrated 6 10.5 15.0 21.0 Champion 2 James Baker St Columbs College 4 10.5 17.0 14.0 Second 3-4 Marcos McBurney Sullivan Upper 3.5 12.5 19.0 13.5 Third Adam Henning Methodist College 3.5 12.5 19.0 11.5 5 Cuan Bell Sullivan Upper 3 13.0 21.0 11.0 6 Conor Kemp Ulidia Integrated 2 9.0 15.5 6.0 7 Sean Gough St Columbs College 1 13.0 21.0 4.0
Kiran Robbin equalled Kruk's feat by winning all his games on the way to the under 14 title.
Tie-breaks Place Name School Score M-Buch Buch Progr Prize 1 Kiran Robbin RBAI 6 12.5 19.0 21.0 Champion 2 Radhika Gupta Banbridge Academy 4.5 14.0 22.5 16.5 Second 3 Bebito Jacob Malone 4 11.0 16.5 13.0 Third 4-8 Harshith Marthirreddy MCB 3.5 14.5 23.0 13.5 Matthew Chapman Grosvenor 3.5 13.5 21.5 13.5 Arash Eghbali MCB 3.5 13.5 21.0 12.5 Ashley McWhinney Home Ed. 3.5 13.0 19.0 11.5 Matthew Venon Banbridge Academy 3.5 12.0 18.0 10.5 9 Thomas Donaldson RBAI 3 10.0 15.5 7.0 10-11 Eoghan McLaughlin St Patricks 2.5 14.0 21.0 10.5 Padraig Delargy St Columbs College 2.5 11.0 15.0 6.5 12-16 Mark Frazer MCB 2 12.5 19.0 8.0 Andrew Forsyth MCB 2 11.5 15.5 5.0 Ciaran Murray St Patricks 2 11.0 18.5 11.0 Samuel Fieneburg 2 10.5 14.0 3.0 Matthew Heath St Patricks 2 10.0 14.0 8.0 17 Oisin Carlin St Patricks 1 8.0 12.5 3.0
Kevin Robbin, brother of under 14 winner Kiran, won the under 12 title for the second successive year. Second-placed Daniel Heraghty drew his individual encounter with Kevin, but also dropped a half-point to 2007 under 12 winner, John Dawson. Raghav Gupta, whose sister Radhika finished secind in the under 14 section, won the bronze medal on tie-break.
Tie-breaks Place Name School Score M-Buch Buch Progr Prize 1 Kevin Robbin RBAI 5.5 15.5 22.5 20.0 Champion 2 Daniel Heraghty Downey House 5 12.5 19.5 17.5 Second 3-5 Raghav Gupta Dromore Central 4 14.5 21.5 14.0 Third Joel Dawson Maralin 4 13.0 19.0 16.0 Niall Marsh St Columbs 4 12.5 19.5 14.0 6 John Dawson Friends 3.5 16.0 23.0 12.5 7-10 Jack Buchanan-Rolleston 3 12.5 19.0 13.0 Dylan O'Driscoll St Columbs 3 12.5 18.0 7.0 Sneyes Kodiyat St Malachys 3 11.0 15.5 11.0 Donal O'Toole 3 10.0 13.5 6.0 11-14 Brendon Gowdy RBAI 2 12.5 18.5 7.0 Finn Tyler 2 12.0 19.0 8.0 Christopher Poland St Patricks 2 9.5 14.0 7.0 Sierra Gowdy 2 9.0 12.5 3.0 15-16 Caelan Tyler RBAI 1 10.5 16.5 6.0 Jonathan Frazer RBAI 1 7.5 14.5 4.0
]]>
Prizewinners:
Joint champions: John Cairns, Gareth Annesley
Third: Michael Waters
Under 1500 Grading Prize: Niall Troughton
Under 1000 Grading Prize: Kiran Robbin
Joint winners: John Cairns, Michael Waters
Third: Ryszard Kaczorowski
Under 1700 Grading Prize: John Phillips
Under 1400 Grading Prize: Alan Burns
Under 1100 Grading Prize: Phillip Morrison
Last year's co-winner Gareth Annesley blogs about the tournament at NI Chess News:
http://nichess.blogspot.com/2010/02/gareth-annesley-on-2010-williamson.html
Former Irish News chess columnist 'Rookie' also provides his inimitable take on the tourney:
http://nichess.blogspot.com/2010/02/return-of-legend.html
There is a further selection of games:
http://nichess.blogspot.com/2010/02/final-installment-of-williamson-shield.html
Report by Rookie at Ulster Chess Chronicle: http://ulsterchesschronicle.blogspot.com/2010/03/rookie-goes-to-pub.html
No Name Rtg Total 1 2 3 4 5 1 Eamonn Walls 1882 4.5 17:W 14:W 5:D 7:W 2:W 2 Jonathan Woodfield 1463 4 26:W 6:W 9:W 3:W 1:L 3 Gareth Annesley 1965 4 11:W 9:W 15:W 2:L 7:W 4 Stephen Scannell 2105 4 12:W 13:W 7:L 5:W 8:W 5 Damien Lavery 1720 3.5 20:W 10:W 1:D 4:L 15:W 6 Mark Newman 1781 3.5 19:W 2:L 17:W 14:D 13:W 7 Lukasz Kwiatek 1830 3 18:W 8:W 4:W 1:L 3:L 8 Damien Cunningham 1633 3 25:W 7:L 21:W 12:W 4:L 9 Andrew Higgins 1674 3 27:W 3:L 2:L 22:W 17:W 10 Karina Kruk 1483 3 21:W 5:L 19:W 11:L 14:W 11 Cathal Murphy 1076 3 3:L 27:W 13:L 10:W 20:W 12 Chris Armstrong 1385 3 4:L 22:W 24:W 8:L 18:W 13 Ian Woodfield 1660 2.5 22:W 4:L 11:W 15:D 6:L 14 Shane Keers 1551 2.5 23:W 1:L 18:W 6:D 10:L 15 Martin Kelly 1442 2.5 24:W 16:W 3:L 13:D 5:L 16 Steve MacCullough 2.5 0: 15:L 20:L 27:W 19:W 17 Robert Lavery 1040 2 1:L 23:W 6:L 24:W 9:L 18 William Ashenhurst 2 7:L 25:W 14:L 21:W 12:L 19 Richard Burns 2 6:L 26:W 10:L 23:W 16:L 20 Owen Carleton 2 5:L 21:L 16:W 26:W 11:L 21 Paddy Magee 2 10:L 20:W 8:L 18:L 25:W 22 Neil Fitzgerald 2 13:L 12:L 25:W 9:L 24:W 23 Thej Kodiyat 2 14:L 17:L 27:W 19:L 27:W 24 Maria Murray 1 15:L 0:W 12:L 17:L 22:L 25 Gary Keers 1 8:L 18:L 22:L 0:W 21:L 26 Nicola McAtarsney 1 2:L 19:L 0:W 20:L 0: 27 Caroline Coffey 0 9:L 11:L 23:L 16:L 23:L]]>
Becoming the first ever player to win back-to-back Rapid titles in Queen’s was Irish Champion and Fide Master Colm Daly. Daly produced a perfect score with 5 wins from 5 games, thus enjoying another highly successful and profitable day in Belfast as he finished on top by a clear point.
For the full story, video and crosstable visit:
http://chess.club.qub.ac.uk/tourneys.htm#qubrapid
or from the results service
Rookie also reports on the event:
http://nichess.blogspot.com/2010/03/daly-retains-qub-rapidplay-open-title.html
The next QUB Chess event is a Bar Blitz in The Parlour on Sunday night April 25th:
http://chess.club.qub.ac.uk/qubblitz.htm
]]>
In the race for first place, most recent Blitz form suggested that the man to beat would be Eamonn Walls. He shared the point with Gareth Annesley in round 3, but came unstuck against QUB team mate Lukasz Kwiatek in round 4. Walls’ was deposed of his Blitz King title inside 20 minutes of Kwiatek patience and accuracy.
Lukasz himself had already drawn with 8 times Ulster Champion Steve Scannell before that win over Eamonn, and then proceeded to smash Shane Keers to finish with 4.5 points from 5. But of course, that wasn’t Lukasz finished. Scannell didn’t let up after his sole draw either, going on to beat Annesley and Newman to setup an Armageddon style “winner takes all” playoff with the Pole.
For exactly 10 minutes and 59 seconds chess became a spectator sport as the crowd circled around Scannell and Kwiatek. In their earlier encounter Steve had given up a pawn for play, but this time the roles were reversed. Soon Lukasz was dominating and, as he built up an unassailable material advantage, the Pole seemed unstoppable. However, down the years Scannell has built a reputation of emerging from the tightest of corners. Once again he performed a miracle of metronomic precision – claiming victory when Lukasz’s time reached zero while the American had one precious second to spare.
But the night was certainly also one for newcomers, with John Lawson, Dan Curran, Eddie McCaffrey, Chris McDonald, Nathan Carver and Michael McLarnon all débuting. In the prize for the best of the newbies, McDonald and McCaffrey also had to play-off after they each finished with 2.5/5. They had drawn earlier in the tournament, but this time Chris came out on top to get a slice of the prize money.
Third place went to Eamonn Walls, while Shane Keers and Pearse O’Brien handled their drink and punched above their weight to claim the under 1600 and under 1200 grading prizes.
All in all, another great Blitz in The Parlour. A huge thanks to Mark Newman, Andrew Wright and Eamonn Walls for their help in organising the event. Expect more of the same come June.
Video content of the event available here:
http://chess.club.qub.ac.uk/tourneys.htm#aprilblitz
]]>
1st place and trophy: Gordon Freeman
2nd place: Michael Waters
Under 1900 Grading: Mark Newman
Full standings and round-by-round results:
http://www.ulsterchess.org/Tourney/resultsservice/ucu-competition-results/comp-67/cvt_event/178
Prizewinners in the Henderson Cup
1st place and trophy: Karina Kruk
2nd place (shared): Ross Harris, Martin Kelly
Under 1200 Grading: Cathal Murphy
Full standings and round-by-round results:
http://www.ulsterchess.org/Tourney/resultsservice/ucu-competition-results/comp-68/cvt_event/179
a) at any UCU tournament; this is automatic for players who do not belong to a League club
b) via the UCU website using Paypal or a similar mechanism
c) by post or direct payment to the Treasurer
Only paid-up members will have their details and rating history published on the website.
Drew Ferguson, the Rating Officer announced a major review of the Rating System with the goal of making the system more robust:
1. All ratings will be re-calculated from the final quarter 2004 to final quarter 2010.
2. Both Glickman and traditional ELO methods will be used for these calculations.
3. The results of these calculations will be presented to the Board for review.
4. The Board will report on the Rating system at the next AGM.
The meeting approved an Executive Board proposal to change the format of the Leagues. If, as expected, less than 15 teams enter, the League season will be divided into 2 distinct parts:
1. In the period before Christmas and the start of the New Year: an all-play-all tournament where every Team plays every other Team once only (at most 13 matches).
2. Based on each teams performance in the first part of the season, teams will be grouped into Divisions according to the number of points scored (current system of game points and bonus match points retained).
a) top 4 ranking teams allocated to Division 1
b) second group of 4 teams allocated to Division 2
c) remaining teams allocated to Division 3
3. In each Division, each team plays the other teams twice i.e. 6 matches (Division 3 system may differ slightly dependant on number of teams). Points scored in the usual system of game points and bonus match points.
4. The points scored in both parts of the competition are added together to determine the outright winners of each Division.
A number of Motions proposing changes to the League Rules put forward by Damien Cunningham and Damien Lavery were passed by the AGM:
1. Teams should present their squad list 7-days before the start of the League and a team may not use a player who is not on their squad sheet if that player is not a UCU member.
2. The payment of any fee to a player to represent a team or club is forbidden with appropriate sanctions applied by the League Secretary should such an event occur.
3. Teams are not be permitted to agree not to contest a fixture.
4. The UCU will distribute duplicate score sheets to clubs and clubs must return completed scoresheets from every League match.
A number of Motions were received. The Executive Board had proposed to the meeting that these should be investigated by the Board and a decision made by it. A Motion from Michael Holmes seeking to overturn the ruling of the League Secretary in respect of a disputed result from a Board game in one of the RVH Hawks-QUB matches was pressed to a vote and the Motion was passed. The Board proposal therefore fell.
As a result of the Michael Holmes Motion being carried and the consequent points changes, RVH Hawks were declared winners of Division 1.
]]>No Name Rtg Total 1 2 3 4 5 1 Stephen Scannell 2119 4.5 9:W 8:W 6:W 4:W 2:D 2 Damien Lavery 1715 4.5 22:W 3:W 7:W 6:W 1:D 3 James McDonnell 1989 4 13:W 2:L 9:W 10:W 7:W 4 Lukasz Kwiatek 1841 4 21:W 20:W 11:W 1:L 8:W 5 Paul McLoughlin 1602 3.5 15:W 6:L 16:D 14:W 17:W 6 John Bradley 1743 3 19:W 5:W 1:L 2:L 12:W 7 Eamonn Walls 1834 3 23:W 10:W 2:L 11:W 3:L 8 Andrew Higgins 1666 3 18:W 1:L 12:W 13:W 4:L 9 Frank Wu 1489 3 1:L 18:W 3:L 16:W 15:W 10 Damien Cunningham 1629 3 14:W 7:L 15:W 3:L 20:W 11 William McGrattan 1588 3 24:W 17:W 4:L 7:L 14:W 12 Slywek Furman 3 20:W 21:W 8:L 22:W 6:L 13 Karina Kruk 1415 2.5 3:L 22:W 20:W 8:L 16:D 14 Tak Fung 2 10:L 23:W 17:W 5:L 11:L 15 Ciara Pugh 2 5:L 19:W 10:L 23:W 9:L 16 Robert Lavery 1040 2 17:L 24:W 5:D 9:L 13:D 17 Mark Newman 1758 2 16:W 11:L 14:L 19:W 5:L 18 Matthew Chapman 2 8:L 9:L 21:W 20:L 23:W 19 Paddy Magee 1039 2 6:L 15:L 24:W 17:L 21:W 20 Neil Green 1629 1 12:L 4:L 13:L 18:W 10:L 21 David Seaby 1104 1 4:L 12:L 18:L 24:W 19:L 22 PJ Mallon 1008 1 2:L 13:L 23:L 12:L 24:W 23 Gary Johnston 1066 1 7:L 14:L 22:W 15:L 18:L 24 Helena Pugh 0 11:L 16:L 19:L 21:L 22:L]]>
No Name Loc Total 1 2 3 4 5 1 Eamonn Walls 1893 4.5 8:W 11:W 12:D 6:W 4:W 2 Jan Christopher Cohrs 2131 4 3:W 17:W 4:D 12:W 7:D 3 Robert Lavery 1040 4 2:L 23:W 18:W 17:W 10:W 4 Gareth Annesley 1954 3.5 21:W 15:W 2:D 5:W 1:L 5 Jonathan Brown 1956 3.5 25:W 7:W 6:D 4:L 13:W 6 Mark Newman 1791 3.5 20:W 16:W 5:D 1:L 12:W 7 David Baras 1619 3.5 19:W 5:L 16:W 15:W 2:D 8 Matthew Chapman 3 1:L 22:W 9:W 10:L 15:W 9 William Storey 1367 3 13:W 12:L 8:L 14:W 19:W 10 Sean Linton 1327 3 16:L 20:W 19:W 8:W 3:L 11 David McAlister 1654 3 22:W 1:L 15:L 16:W 17:W 12 Stephen Morgan 1966 2.5 14:W 9:W 1:D 2:L 6:L 13 Thej Kodiyat 2.5 9:L 14:D 20:W 21:W 5:L 14 Paddy Magee 1039 2.5 12:L 13:D 25:W 9:L 18:W 15 Raymond Smith 1223 2 26:W 4:L 11:W 7:L 8:L 16 Stephen Madden 2 10:W 6:L 7:L 11:L 25:W 17 Ian Woodfield 1660 2 23:W 2:L 21:W 3:L 11:L 18 Stefan Alborzpour 2 0:D 0:D 3:L 23:W 14:L 19 Nurul Atiqah Hamid 2 7:L 25:W 10:L 22:W 9:L 20 Jayen Chondigara 2 6:L 10:L 13:L 25:W 22:W 21 Dylan Boyle 2 4:L 26:W 17:L 13:L 23:W 22 Caroline Coffey 1 11:L 8:L 0:W 19:L 20:L 23 JP Corrigan 1 17:L 3:L 26:W 18:L 21:L 24 Cathal Murphy 1079 1 0:D 0:D 0:L 0: 0: 25 William Ashenhurst 0 5:L 19:L 14:L 20:L 16:L 26 Nicola McAtarsney 0 15:L 21:L 23:L 0: 0:]]>