NICS at Belfast South

On only their second outing, NICS trekked to Belfast South and nearly caused a major upset. Building on their performance from the previous week, NICS piled on the pressure.
NICS at Belfast South

Belfast South vs NICS

On paper, Belfast South were the stronger team - by a long chalk. With home-team advantage and a promising result the previous week, Belfast South were formidable opposition. For NICS, their performance last week showed they have potential - but perhaps that was just a flash-in-the-pan.

Board 2: Sam Flanagan vs David McAlisterTop board Mark Newman played a tight game to hold Ray Devenney to a draw; this augered well for the visitors. David McAlister was outgunned by Sam Flannagan on board 2 but on board 3 a stellar result from Alan Burns against John McKenna evened the match.

This left the bottom boards to fight it out. NICS were seriously outrated giving up 300 to 400 points on each board.

Boards 6 & 7: John Bryans vs Adrian Donford Smith and Martin Kelly vs Pete Storey fell for the home team.

On board 4 David Ruben mixed up tactical move order and dropped a piece but Drew Ferguson blundered a piece back to balance the material. The game could hBottom boards, BSouth vs NICSave gone either way but by accident or design both players agreed a draw when black's king got into bother on the a-file. The league result was still drawn.

Everything depended on the final board between Neil Green and Geoff Hindley and Geoff seemed to be in front with a strong position and time advantage. But the position was complicated and Neil did not let up; gradually he countered Geoff's position and both player's now had opportunities to win. Neil was whittling down time difference too and it was Geoff's flag that fell first to give Neil the game and Belfast South the match.

A very promising result from the NICS team against a strong Belfast South squad. Like a lot of teams at the moment, nearly getting there to get a good win.

Devenney, Ray =-= Newman, Mark
Flanagan, Sam 1-0 McAlister, David
McKenna, John 0-1 Burns, Alan
Ruben, David =-= Ferguson, Drew
Green, Neil 1-0 Hindley, Geoff
Bryars, John 1-0 Dornford-Smith, Adrian
Kelly, Martin 1-0 Storey, Peter

Final scores available in the results service

Navigation
News
UCU Tournaments: A Critical Moment for Volunteer and Arbiter Support This report, prepared by Tournament Director Karina Campbell and presented to the Ulster Chess Union Executive Board, ou... Oct 26, 2025
Exciting changes to the Sligo event in 2026. Now a multi-tournament chess festival. Save the dates in your calender Jan 30th to Feb 8th. The Sligo event is undergoing a major transformation in 2026 from a weekender to a multi-tournament festival. The Sligo ... Oct 16, 2025
The Monthly Childrens Chess Kicks off Oct 25th at Methodist College ** New date ** The LJCC Belfast Qualifier a one day 6 round tournament starts our annual series of monthly tournaments a... Oct 09, 2025
The 2025 Summer tournament ends with a fun tournament and award ceremony Weds 24th September 2025 saw 24 players gather to celebrate the end of the UCU Summer Tournament. Who won? we have the f... Sep 27, 2025
Belfast Qualifier for the British Open Blitz 2025/26 Belfast runs one of 16 tournaments that allow players to qualify for the British Open Blitz tournament. The top player a... Sep 27, 2025
More news…
« October 2025 »
October
SuMoTuWeThFrSa
1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031
Upcoming Events
November 1st Childrens Chess 12:30 – 5:00 The monthly schools chess tournaments continues at Methodist College. Nov 01, 2025 12:30 PM - 05:00 PM — Methodist College,1 Malone Rd, Belfast BT9 6BY
FIDE RATED Bangor Club Masters Rapid 2025 [10 rounds of 25+0 over two days] Open to all players. One open section with Intermediate and Junior trophies awarded for highest placed finish by players... Nov 06, 2025 07:30 PM - 10:45 PM — City of Bangor International Chess Club, Church of Ireland Parish Hall, 30 Main Street, Groomsport, County Down, Northern Ireland, BT19 6JR
FIDE RATED Bangor Club Masters Rapid 2025 [10 rounds of 25+0 over two days] Open to all players. One open section with Intermediate and Junior trophies awarded for highest placed finish by players... Nov 08, 2025 10:15 AM - 04:30 PM — City of Bangor International Chess Club, Church of Ireland Parish Hall, 30 Main Street, Groomsport, County Down, Northern Ireland, BT19 6JR
FIDE rated Ulster Masters 2025 Please note due to venue capacity, entries will be capped at 44. Nov 14, 2025 - Nov 16, 2025 — Lisburn Chess Club
National Arbiters (NA) Course and Running Live Boards Nov 15, 2025 - Nov 16, 2025 — Colaiste Wanna, Ballyroan, Co. Dublin
Upcoming events…