News
This years Ulster Championship postponed to February 2021
The UCU board would like this to be a face to face tournament. With that in mind we have postponed this years Championships. We are targeting Friday Evening to Sunday February 5th - 7th.
Lockdown Summer Tournament: weeks 12 - 14
How are the standings after 14 weeks of the Summer Tournament and some 70 games of slow chess.
Lockdown Summer Tournament: weeks 10 - 11
Another two weeks and some 10 games. We are almost half way through the tournament. Players are still welcome even if they wish just to play a couple of games to get into the practice of long focused chess.
Dexter Harris helps Ireland gain 3rd place at the Glorney Gilbert International 2020
Junior international teams from England, Belgium, Wales, Netherlands, Scotland and Ireland. Competed online in different age group sections for cups in the Glorney Gilbert International 2020.
Ulster Youngster selected to play for Ireland in Glorney Gilbert International
Youngster Dexter Harris has been selected for the Irish International Under 12 Team to play at the Glorney Gilbert International
Irish Championships to be held 1st - 9th August 2020.
The Irish Championships will run from 1-9 August in Coláiste Éanna; entries close on July 25th.
July 20th Today is International Chess Day
The International Chess Day is celebrated annually on July 20, the day the International Chess Federation (FIDE) was founded, in 1924. The UN have organised a Zoom meeting and invited chess players to join see below for details - starts at 3:00pm (BST).
Lockdown Summer Tournament: weeks 7 - 9
The weekly Summer tournament continues with slow chess of 90mins each on lichess. We welcome new players - some fun and exciting endgames with time being a factor.
New National Abiters
BREAKING NEWS: Northern Ireland has two new FIDE licensed National Arbiters - Mark Newman and Adrian Dornford-Smith. Report from Brendan Jamison - who has been the main driver for getting National Arbiters and training of Arbiters in Northern Ireland.
Lockdown Summer Tournament: weeks 4 - 6
The Summer drop in tournament continues. With a couple of new players and plenty of good chess. Read on for results and current scores.
Final Standings for the 2020 Childrens Chess Grandprix
With the March Childrens Chess completed we have the final standings for the 2020 Grandprix. The top four of each section usually get invited to Stormont for an award ceremony and Elite Chess Tournament.
Farewell from Ross and Brendan
As of 25th May 2020 Ross Harris (Chairperson) and Brendan Jamison (Secretary / tournament director/ league controller) have stepped down from their roles on the UCU Committee. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time helping to run and develop chess in Ulster. But we feel the time is right for some fresh faces and some fresh ideas! Mark Newman will be taking over as interim Chairperson until the next AGM. - A letter from Ross Harris.
Lockdown Summer Tournament: week3
The competition continues - with a few more players and some challenging chess games. Email me if you wish to join this drop-in competition.
The UK Chess Challenge this year is being held online
I include the details from Email from the UK Chess Challenge organisers. The first Megafinal weekend is 20th/21st May. There are also opportunities to learn and improve your game.
Lockdown Summer Tournament: week2
The Summer drop-in tournament continued on weds 13th May - with a few more players joining the fun and some good chess played.
Lockdown Summer Tournament: week1
Week1 started with a small but enthusiastic team of chess players.Keen to get a slow game of chess. The format is the same as our usual Summer tournament but moved online.
Summer Tournament 2020 in lock-down
Using the same rules as our usual Summer Tournament we will be running a Weds evening drop in tournament. With time limit of 1:30mins each. Read below for more details.
The Hibernian Online Chess League
The Hibernian Online Chess League is accepting applications from all Irish clubs to join a new online league being set up to give chess players the opportunity to play with their teammates again during these very difficult times for everyone.
It was incredible. Review of the Season 2019-2020
Even though the 2019/2020 season ended a little earlier than planned (with the lockdown commencing on Monday 23 March), it was still one of the most successful years in the history of the Ulster Chess Union. Watch the 2 minute video of all the highlights over the past 10 months - and I am sure everyone will join me in a big thankyou to Brendan whos done so much this and previous years for UCU chess.
QUIZ WINNERS + SUPPORTING EACH OTHER + INVENTORY OF ONLINE USERNAMES
Congratulations to John Bradley (Omagh CC) and Gary Johnston (Bangor CC), joint champions of the UCU End of Season Quiz.
