News
The Empire Strikes Back
The QUB Galacticos entered this season's final league showdown with rivals Fisherwick in mercurial form, recording perfect back-to-back 5-0 victories over this week's opponents and Clifton House.
QUB Clinch Consecutive 5-0 to Crush Clifton
As if to emphasise that last week's whitewashing of title rivals Fisherwick was by no means a fluke, QUB decided to pulverise second-placed Clifton House in identical fashion to storm further ahead at the summit of Division 1. Between them, Fisherwick and Clifton House have dominated the highest level of Ulster Chess since 2003. In the past two weeks, however, both have been completely blown away by Queen's and in as emphatic a fashion imaginable. Clifton House may be champions for the last 3 years, but the fresh-faced QUB are setting new standards which have left the best of the rest struggling to cope.
French FM Maxime Sorin Wins QUB Rapid 2008
The QUB Rapid 2008 proved a huge success, with the increased prize fund drawing the largest, strongest and most nationality diverse array of competitors tournament chess in Belfast has seen for some time.
Flawless Queen's Annihilate Fisherwick
Having marked their return to league chess in 2006 with an away fixture at Fisherwick - the infamous "Evil Empire" of Ulster Chess - the 2007/08 team of QUB Galacticos chose the same venue for the scene of their finest league performance since the club's 2005 reformation.
Scannell Superb in Simul Success
A fine February evening saw the Ulster Champion, Steve Scannell, take on all-comers and all at once in Queen's University Belfast. Room 208 of the Peter Froggatt Centre, packed to full capacity, hosted QUB Chess Club's first major event of 2008. It was a hugely successful night for both the club and Scannell, with the impressive turnout only outdone on the evening by Steve's performance, as he remarkably recorded 11 wins and just one draw from the 12 games.
Super Tuesday at QUB as Galacticos win Battle of PFC
Having previously defeated the QUB Galacticos on a rain soaked December evening in North Belfast, Stephen Wood's side this time made the return journey south to play the University men on their own patch - the fortress-like Peter Froggatt Centre.
Strong Lagan lose to lucky Queen's
The Belfast Boat Club - or more specifically the smallest and most cramped room within it - provided the venue for what will quite possibly prove the most peculiar match Ulster League Chess succeeds in producing this season.
Williamson Shield 2008
As is tradition, the final weekend of January marked the first major Ulster Chess competition of the new year - the Williamson Shield 2008. The prestigious Williamson saw a new year and new faces but a familiar winner, as QUB's Steve Scannell lifted the famous shield for a remarkable seventh time. Scannell now lies just one victory short of the late great Tom Clarke's total of eight wins. Steve was delighted to be taking home the magnificient trophy for another year, not to mention the £100 winner's cheque along with it.
League Chess, Back for 2008
Although the QUB Galacticos have to wait until January 30th for a return to league action, both Divisions 1 and 2 of the Belfast & District League are very much back in the swing of things already after the Christmas break. There are certainly no signs of the winter frost enveloping Division 1 especially, which is boiling up into potentially the most intriguing and hard-fought battle for the Silver King in many years.
Ulster Rapidplay Championship December 2007
QUB's Steve Scannell retained his title as Ulster's best rapidplay player, finishing clear first with a perfect 6 points from 6 at the Belfast Boat Club.
Queen's Lead League at Christmas
The final Division 1 fixture of 2007 saw reigning champions Clifton House host QUB. Each team's first round of matches produced a disappointing tally of two wins and two defeats, leaving neither side able to afford any festive generosity to their opponents if they planned to find title-winning form.
North Belfast Move Top
The final game in the first round of Division 1 fixtures saw QUB, off the back of two impressive 3.5-1.5 wins at home to Fisherwick and Lagan, travel to North Belfast. North Belfast have been in superb form having already defeated both Fisherwick and Clifton House, but a recent loss against Lagan has provided a blemish to their excellent record. With neither Clifton nor Fisherwick able to do better than two wins and two defeats from their opening matches, each of this game's teams had the opportunity to take the league by the scruff of the neck with a positive result.
Fisherwick Winter Tournament 2007
The first of 2007/08’s Fisherwick Monday night tournaments finished on the 26th of November. Dominating the seven-rounder from start to finish was a newcomer to the competition, RVH player Joseph Mordeno.
QUB Sink Lagan
After putting title contenders Fisherwick to the sword last round, QUB were looking to add this week's visitors to the PFC, Lagan, to their list of victims. Lagan haven't enjoyed much luck since their relocation and renaming at the start of the season, not least when beaten royally 4.5-0.5 by Fisherwick in week 1. This time they were hoping the return of their board 1, Queen's student Jonathan Brown, would provide the catalyst to a reversal in their fortune. This was not altogether unlikely, considering the unavailability of four QUB players rated above 1750. Gone from the previous fixture's line-up were Karl McPhillips and John Masterson, while in came Damien Lavery and Andrew Higgins.
Fisherwick Flattened in Demolition Derby
Week 3 of the Belfast & District League season saw QUB host neighbours Fisherwick in a south Belfast derby.
UCU Autumn Congress 2007
The newly-established UCU Autumn Congress was held over the penultimate weekend of October in the QUB Students’ Union. The event was created to comprise both an Ulster Under 21 Championships and an under 1600 “Stars Barred” weekender.
Champions Clifton Claim League Opener
The Belfast & District League sprang back into life this week for the much-anticipated 2007/08 season, with the fixture list drawing together Division 1 Champions Clifton House and Division 2 winners Queen’s University Belfast to kick-off another year of league chess.
UCU Division 1 2007/08 Preview
With the 2007/08 Belfast & District League now imminent, Chris Millar offers a pre-season outlook on the landscape of Division 1 from a Queen's perspective.
City of Dublin Championships 2007
The 2007 City of Dublin Chess Championships were held over the weekend of Friday 31st August to Sunday 2nd September in An Oige, Dublin, home of the Phibsborough Chess Club. Seven Belfast players made the trip south - Gareth Annesley, Nicholas Pilkiewicz and Danny Mallaghan of Clifton House; Calum Leitch and Chris Millar of QUB and Joseph Mordeno plus Cathal Murphy from the RVH club.
Irish Junior & Intermediate Championships 2007
QUB players Chris Millar and Calum Leitch enjoyed success in the Irish Championships 2007, held in O'Connell Street's Royal Dublin Hotel during the last weekend in June. Millar finished clear first in his field to become Irish Junior Champion, while Leitch's performance in the Intermediate section earned him a Glorney Cup invite. Queen's Steve Scannell enters the Irish Open next weekend as one of the leading seeds.
