You are here: Home Archives Ulster Chronicles 2013-2014 season UCU Web 2014 Lavery Grabs Honours

Lavery Grabs Honours

Sunday's final NICS Rapidplay was competing with the World Cup and some of the best weather we have had in quite a while. Still, a dozen stalwarts turned out to make Nick Pilkiewicz and Robert Lavery work for their prizes.
Lavery Grabs Honours

Geoff Aghast at Robert's Audacity

Rapidplay

For some, the competition was a little too soon after an early summer holiday but for most it was game on. The field may have been short on numbers but it was a relatively high average rating.

Not surprisingly, round 1 played out more or less by rating as top half of players faced the bottom half. Shock of the day was a resounding loss by Mark Newman to a 1200 player; admittedly it was David McAlister who evidently has been working at his game.

Round 2 was more of the same except at the bottom of the pile with Drew Ferguson blundering to Geoff Hindley. Matches were a tight 15 minutes with no increments; it was do or die and plenty of flags were falling in the sluggish atmosphere.

Next round 3 saw a few more wobblies: Top boards of the competition played off very early with Nick Pilkiewicz besting Damien Lavery. Mark Newman got the better of Steve Eachus while David McAlister scored another win scalping Robert Lavery. And again at the bottom, Drew Ferguson crashed & burned to Adrian Donford.Smith. It looked like Nick was in for a clean sweep while Drew chased the wooden spoon.

Nothing changed in round 4 with all games playing out to ratings. Round 5 saw a few balanced matches raise the odd eyebrow. David McAlister continued his return from the doldrums by winning against Steve Eachus. Adrain Donford-Smith took a good win against Geoff Hindley while Drew Ferguson spoiled his duck with an unexpected win against Peter Wilson.

The final round finished the competition with a spectacular win from Robert Lavery against leader Nick Pilkiewicz. Mark Newman held Damien Lavery to a draw on board 2. On board 3, Peter Wilson drew in a fluctuating encounter with David McAlister. Bottom board Drew Ferguson had Alan Burns under the cosh angling for a mate till a horrible blunder gifted the game to Alan.

All in all, a fine afternoon's chess.

Rapidplay Winner: Nick PilkiewiczRapidplay Runner-Up: Damien LaveryRapidplay Grading Prize: Robert Lavery

Winner:

Nick Pilkiewicz

Runner-up:

Damien Lavery

Grading prize:

Robert Lavery

  1. Nick Pilkiewicz (winner)
  2. Damien Lavery (runner-up)
  3. Robert Lavery (grading prize)

Grand Prix

Robert Lavery may have had little competition at the start of this final event, but the senior position could have been anyones. On the day, with Mike Redman unavailable and Cal Leitch a no show, it was down to Nick Pilkiewicz to show his worth which he did in fine style boosting his ranking by 10 full points. And not far behind him was NICS own veteran campaigner, Alan Burns who claimed the "best NICS player" prize.

Grand Prix Outright Winner: Rober LaveryGrand Prix Senior Winner: Nick PilkiewiczGrand Prix - Best Placed NICS Player: Alan Burns
Robert Lavery Nick Pilkiewicz Alan Burns
  1. Robert Lavery (junior & outright winner)
  2. Nick Pilkiewicz (senior winner)
  3. Alan Burns (best placed NICS player)

Links

Navigation
News
21 local players make a FIDE debut in the December 2023 rating list December FIDE NI Rating Report by Brendan Jamison Nov 30, 2023
2245 Adrian Gillen headlines Ulster Blitz 2023 Ulster Blitz hosted by Greenisland FC Chess Nov 27, 2023
Divison 2 Results and table We have been unable to give you div 2 results. Michael Devine has emailed them to team captains and here they are. Nov 19, 2023
November 4th Childrens Chess at Methodist College, Belfast The UCU monthly Schools Chess tournaments continued with the Childrens Chess: Hindley-Newman Tournaments. An afternoon o... Nov 19, 2023
Reminder to pay your UCU fees for the 2023/2024 season Nov 03, 2023
More news…
« December 2023 »
December
SuMoTuWeThFrSa
12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31
Upcoming Events
FIDE-RATED Groomsport Winter Blitz 2023 Dec 07, 2023 07:30 PM - 10:30 PM — Church of Ireland Parish Hall, Groomsport
FIDE-RATED City of Bangor End of Year Rapid 2023 Dec 21, 2023 07:30 PM - 10:30 PM
Ulster Blitz Championship 2023 FIDE Dec 28, 2023 10:00 AM - 05:05 PM — Greenisland FC Chess
FIDE-RATED Bangor New Year Blitz Championship 2024 Jan 04, 2024 07:30 PM - 10:00 PM — Church of Ireland Parish Hall, 30 Main Street, Groomsport, County Down, BT19 6JR, Northern Ireland
Newman Hindley Series : Childrens Chess Fun afternoon with a chess tournament and puzzle competition. Jan 13, 2024 12:15 PM - 05:00 PM — Methodist College,1 Malone Rd, Belfast BT9 6BY
Upcoming events…