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
The Monthly Childrens Chess Kicks off Oct 4th at Methodist College ** Cancelled due to Storm ** Event cancelled due to Storm ** The LJCC Belfast Qualifier a one day 6 round tournament starts our annual series of m... Oct 03, 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
The Annual UCU Summer School at Ormeau Park We had 18 young chess players for 3 days of brilliant chess activities over Weds/Thurs/Fri 6th, 7th, 8th August 2025. At... Sep 14, 2025
One more game to play in the Summer Tournament 2025 We have played 19 weeks of glorious chess. What are the standings with only one game to go. Sep 13, 2025
More news…
« October 2025 »
October
SuMoTuWeThFrSa
1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031
Upcoming Events
Bangor: FIDE RATED Blitzmania 10 Rounds 11-20 Thursday 9 October 2025 Blitzmania at Bangor - a series of exciting Blitz tournaments at City of Bangor Chess Club. Oct 09, 2025 07:15 PM - 10:00 PM — City of Bangor Chess Club, Church of Ireland Parish Hall, 30 Main Street Groomsport
FIDE RATED U1700 Groomsport Autumn Blitz Oct 10, 2025 07:30 PM - 09:45 PM — City of Bangor International Chess Club, Church of Ireland Parish Hall, 30 Main Street, Groomsport, County Down, Northern Ireland, BT19 6JR
FIDE RATED County Down Rapid Chess Championships 2025 (for adults) The event will run as one open section with age specific champions crowned at the end of the day, based on the highest p... Oct 11, 2025 09:30 AM - 05:00 PM — City of Bangor Chess Club, Church of Ireland Parish Hall, 30 Main Street Groomsport
FIDE RATED County Down Junior Chess Championships 2025 (for children aged 7-17) The event will run as one open section with age specific champions crowned at the end of the day, based on the highest p... Oct 11, 2025 10:00 AM - 05:00 PM — City of Bangor Chess Club, Church of Ireland Parish Hall, 30 Main Street Groomsport
FIDE RATED Bangor Chess Club 60th Anniversary Classic Round 1 Oct 16, 2025 07:30 PM - 10:30 PM — City of Bangor International Chess Club, Church of Ireland Parish Hall, 30 Main Street, Groomsport, County Down, Northern Ireland, BT19 6JR
Upcoming events…