February's Childrens Chess - an opportunity for fun.
The children come in from about 12:30pm help setup the room and sit and play friendly games of chess. We register the players hoping that we get enough to have a least two sections. In the past we have had as many as 80 pupils of all age groups. These tournaments have now been running for some 10 years. The top players at the end of the series being invited to Stormont for an Elite Tournament and prize giving together with the Principals of their schools.
With five primary pupils we ran an all-play-all tournament. Followed by some coaching and a competitive series of battle chess - a game where each player has a King and 4 pawns. The players use a piece of card/or chess board to hide their side of the board from their opponents and places in secret their pawns and King - the rule being the King cant go on the fourth row (as could be in check) and the pawns cant go on the first row. Then the players say 'ready' and the separator is removed to reveal the whole board. White plays first and the game continues with the normal rules of chess. Apart from definition of a win. The winner is the first to Queen a pawn safely. This is a brilliant way of practicing and improving your endgame techniques. Especially as pawn endgames aren't common for people new to the game.
With Eighteen secondary pupils we managed a swiss tournament with 7 rounds of chess. Thanks go to Andrew Todd from Bangor Grammar School who has run the school chess club and encouraged players from the school to attend these tournaments. He also shares his love of the game with his two Brothers Samuel and Peter both very good players. In fact the younger Peter has won his way already to Stormont with top points of 3 x 10 = 30 points for the Secondary Lower school section. For standings in the Stormont Grandprix see end of this article.
Thanks also to Gerry Tate who brings a contingent of pupils up from St Patricks, Downpatrick. Thanks also to the volunteers: Gerry Tate, Geoff Hindley, James Fairley and Andrew Dawson.
The quality of the chess was brilliant with sharp positions. Quick play endings. Stalemates the whole spectrum of exciting chess.
Present were the current Ulster Champions - Under12 Champion: Calvin Patterson, Under14 Champion Peter Todd and Under16 Champion Raghav Gupta.
The winners of the puzzle solving competition: Secondary: Raghav Gupta (F3), Primary: Phoebe Patterson (P6).
Results and photos follow.
Primary Competition
Round 1
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Isaac Yong P6 [0.0] 1.0:0.0 Jonah Power P3 [0.0] 2 Calvin Patterson P3 [0.0] 1.0:0.0 Pheobe Patterson P6 [0.0] 3 Heidi Dawson P7 [0.0] : BYE
by Swiss Perfect (TM) www.swissperfect.com
Round 2
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Jonah Power P3 [0.0] 0.0:1.0 Calvin Patterson P3 [1.0] 2 Heidi Dawson P7 [0.0] 1.0:0.0 Isaac Yong P6 [1.0] 3 Pheobe Patterson P6 [0.0] : BYE
Round 3
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Calvin Patterson P3 [2.0] 1.0:0.0 Heidi Dawson P7 [1.0] 2 Pheobe Patterson P6 [0.0] 1.0:0.0 Jonah Power P3 [0.0] 3 Isaac Yong P6 [1.0] : BYE
Round 4
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Heidi Dawson P7 [1.0] 0.0:1.0 Pheobe Patterson P6 [1.0] 2 Isaac Yong P6 [1.0] 0.0:1.0 Calvin Patterson P3 [3.0] 3 Jonah Power P3 [0.0] : BYE
Round 5
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Pheobe Patterson P6 [2.0] 1.0:0.0 Isaac Yong P6 [1.0] 2 Jonah Power P3 [0.0] .5:.5 Heidi Dawson P7 [1.0] 3 Calvin Patterson P3 [4.0] : BYE
Standings
Place Name Feder Score 1 Calvin Patterson P3 4 2 Pheobe Patterson P6 3 3 Heidi Dawson P7 1.5 4 Isaac Yong P6 1 5 Jonah Power P3 0.5
Secondary
Round 1
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Cameron Brown F2 [0] 0:1 Eoghan McElroy F3 [0] 2 Patrick Mcgurnaghan F4 [0] 1:0 Nathan Bryne F1 [0] 3 Jervis Conor F3 [0] 1:0 Lewis Murphy F3 [0] 4 Jake Patterson F5 [0] 1:0 John Dawson L6 [0] 5 Joel Dawson F4 [0] 1:0 Murray Scott F5 [0] 6 Andrew Todd L6 [0] 1:0 Matthew Gray F5 [0] 7 Raghav Gupta F3 [0] 0:1 Samuel Todd F3 [0] 8 Peter Todd F1 [0] 1:0 Edward Hanzharov F4 [0] 9 Eoin McCorkindale F5 [0] 1:0 Samuel Trimble L6 [0]
Round 2
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Patrick Mcgurnaghan F4 [1] 1:0 Jervis Conor F3 [1] 2 Jake Patterson F5 [1] 1:0 Joel Dawson F4 [1] 3 Samuel Todd F3 [1] 0:1 Eoin McCorkindale F5 [1] 4 Eoghan McElroy F3 [1] 0:1 Andrew Todd L6 [1] 5 Nathan Bryne F1 [0] 0:1 Peter Todd F1 [1] 6 Edward Hanzharov F4 [0] 1:0 Cameron Brown F2 [0] 7 John Dawson L6 [0] 1:0 Lewis Murphy F3 [0] 8 Matthew Gray F5 [0] 1:0 Murray Scott F5 [0] 9 Samuel Trimble L6 [0] 0:1 Raghav Gupta F3 [0]
Round 3
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Eoin McCorkindale F5 [2] 1:0 Jake Patterson F5 [2] 2 Peter Todd F1 [2] 1:0 Patrick Mcgurnaghan F4 [2] 3 Andrew Todd L6 [2] 1:0 John Dawson L6 [1] 4 Jervis Conor F3 [1] 0:1 Edward Hanzharov F4 [1] 5 Joel Dawson F4 [1] 1:0 Eoghan McElroy F3 [1] 6 Raghav Gupta F3 [1] 1:0 Matthew Gray F5 [1] 7 Cameron Brown F2 [0] .5:.5 Samuel Todd F3 [1] 8 Murray Scott F5 [0] 1:0 Nathan Bryne F1 [0] 9 Lewis Murphy F3 [0] 0:1 Samuel Trimble L6 [0]
Round 4
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Peter Todd F1 [3] 0:1 Andrew Todd L6 [3] 2 Joel Dawson F4 [2] 0:1 Eoin McCorkindale F5 [3] 3 Patrick Mcgurnaghan F4 [2] 0:1 Raghav Gupta F3 [2] 4 Edward Hanzharov F4 [2] 0:1 Jake Patterson F5 [2] 5 Samuel Todd F3 [1.5] 1:0 Jervis Conor F3 [1] 6 John Dawson L6 [1] 1:0 Eoghan McElroy F3 [1] 7 Matthew Gray F5 [1] 0:1 Samuel Trimble L6 [1] 8 Murray Scott F5 [1] 0:1 Cameron Brown F2 [.5] 9 Nathan Bryne F1 [0] 0:1 Lewis Murphy F3 [0]
Round 5
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Eoin McCorkindale F5 [4] .5:.5 Andrew Todd L6 [4] 2 Raghav Gupta F3 [3] 1:0 Peter Todd F1 [3] 3 Jake Patterson F5 [3] 1:0 Samuel Todd F3 [2.5] 4 Edward Hanzharov F4 [2] 0:1 John Dawson L6 [2] 5 Samuel Trimble L6 [2] 1:0 Joel Dawson F4 [2] 6 Cameron Brown F2 [1.5] 0:1 Patrick Mcgurnaghan F4 [2] 7 Jervis Conor F3 [1] 1:0 Murray Scott F5 [1] 8 Lewis Murphy F3 [1] 0:1 Matthew Gray F5 [1] 9 Eoghan McElroy F3 [1] 1:0 Nathan Bryne F1 [0]
Round 6
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Raghav Gupta F3 [4] 0:1 Eoin McCorkindale F5 [4.5] 2 Andrew Todd L6 [4.5] .5:.5 Jake Patterson F5 [4] 3 John Dawson L6 [3] 1:0 Peter Todd F1 [3] 4 Samuel Trimble L6 [3] .5:.5 Patrick Mcgurnaghan F4 [3] 5 Samuel Todd F3 [2.5] 1:0 Edward Hanzharov F4 [2] 6 Eoghan McElroy F3 [2] 1:0 Jervis Conor F3 [2] 7 Matthew Gray F5 [2] .5:.5 Joel Dawson F4 [2] 8 Nathan Bryne F1 [0] 0:1 Cameron Brown F2 [1.5] 9 Murray Scott F5 [1] 1:0 Lewis Murphy F3 [1]
Round 7
Results
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Eoin McCorkindale F5 [5.5] 1:0 John Dawson L6 [4] 2 Patrick Mcgurnaghan F4 [3.5] 0:1 Andrew Todd L6 [5] 3 Jake Patterson F5 [4.5] 1:0 Raghav Gupta F3 [4] 4 Samuel Todd F3 [3.5] 0:1 Samuel Trimble L6 [3.5] 5 Peter Todd F1 [3] 1:0 Eoghan McElroy F3 [3] 6 Jervis Conor F3 [2] 0:1 Matthew Gray F5 [2.5] 7 Lewis Murphy F3 [1] 0:1 Cameron Brown F2 [2.5] 8 Joel Dawson F4 [2.5] 1:0 Nathan Bryne F1 [0] 9 Edward Hanzharov F4 [2] 1:0 Murray Scott F5 [2]
Standings
Place Name Feder Score
1 Eoin McCorkindale F5 6.5
2 Andrew Todd L6 6
3 Jake Patterson F5 5.5
4 Samuel Trimble L6 4.5
5-7 John Dawson L6 4
Raghav Gupta F3 4
Peter Todd F1 4
8-12 Samuel Todd F3 3.5
Joel Dawson F4 3.5
Patrick Mcgurnaghan F4 3.5
Matthew Gray F5 3.5
Cameron Brown F2 3.5
13-14 Edward Hanzharov F4 3
Eoghan McElroy F3 3
15-16 Jervis Conor F3 2
Murray Scott F5 2
17 Lewis Murphy F3 1
18 Nathan Bryne F1 0
Hannah Patterson was awarded the Hilder Chater Silver Shield for best placed Girl at the Ulster Championships which had been held on 6th December 2014. Where Hannah came joint winner of the under 14 Ulster Championships.
Standings in the years Grandprix. The points are allocated for being placed in one of the three sections. Primary, Lower Secondary, Upper Secondary.
| Place | Points |
| 1 | 10 |
| 2 | 8 |
| 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 5 |
| 5 | 4 |
| 6 | 3 |
| 7 | 2 |
| 8 | 1 |
The players best three tournaments are added together. The top four players from each section are invited to Stormont for an award ceremony and Elite Tournament.
Belfast Scholastic Shield 2015
Primary School Championship
| Year__ | Oct___ | Nov___ | Jan___ | Feb___ | Mar___ | Apr___ | total__ | Best 3.__ | |
| Pheobe Patterson | P5 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 36 | 28 | ||
| Calvin Patterson | P3 | 6.33 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 34.33 | 28 | ||
| Pirathesan, Muthisan | P7 | 6.33 | 3.5 | 9.83 | 9.83 | ||||
| Isaac McIlwrath | P6 | 6.33 | 6.33 | 6.33 | |||||
| Avery, Fiachra | P6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | |||||
| Heidi Dawson | P7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | |||||
| Geraghty, Leon | P6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Isaac Yong | P6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Jack McWilliams | P7 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |||||
| Jonah Power | P3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |||||
| Duffy, Johnny | P7 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | |||||
| Matthew McWilliams | P7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |||||
| Glendinning, Calum | P6 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | |||||
| Duffy, Eoghan | P5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
Belfast Scholastic Shield 2015
Lower Secondary School Championship
| Oct | Nov | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | Total | Best 3 | ||
| Todd, Peter | F1 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 39 | 30 | ||
| Todd, Samuel | F3 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 5.5 | 23.5 | 19.5 | ||
| Patterson, Hannah | F3 | 8 | 4 | 5.5 | 17.5 | 17.5 | |||
| Gupta, Raghav | F3 | 4.5 | 4 | 9 | 17.5 | 17.5 | |||
| Duffy, Matt | F2 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |||||
| Kane, James | F1 | 2 | 5.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | ||||
| McElroy, Eoghan | F3 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | ||||
| Jervis, Conor | F3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | ||||
| Edwards, Owen | F3 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | |||||
| Ferguson, Darragh | F1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |||||
| Brown, Cameron | F2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |||||
| Breen, Dylan | F1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |||||
| Quigley, Caleb | F2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |||||
| Lewis Murphy | F3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |||||
| Rowan, Ciaran | F2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Bryne, Nathan | F1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Belfast Scholastic Shield 2015
Upper Secondary School Championship
| Oct | Nov | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | Total | Best 3 | ||
| McCorkindale, Eoin | F5 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 29 | 29 | |||
| Dawson, John | L6 | 10 | 5.5 | 9 | 4 | 28.5 | 24.5 | ||
| Todd, Andrew | L6 | 8 | 5.5 | 6 | 8 | 27.5 | 22 | ||
| Patterson, Jake | F5 | 5.5 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 24.5 | 19.5 | ||
| Dawson, Joel | F4 | 5.5 | 2 | 2 | 9.5 | 9.5 | |||
| Mcgurnaghan, Patrick | F4 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 6 | ||||
| Gray, Matthew | F5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 | ||||
| Samuel Trimble | L6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Hanzharov, Edward | F4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |||||
| Geary, Josh | F7 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |||||
| Finlay, Kelly | F5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |||||
| Murray, Scott | F5 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Belfast Scholastic Shield 2015
The Belfast Scholastic Edward Whiteside Shield:
Primary Puzzle Solving Chess Champion
|
Primary Puzzles |
Total | Best 3 | ||||||||
| Pheobe Patterson | P6 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 49 | 30 | ||
| Calvin Patterson | P3 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 19 | 19 | ||||
| Avery, Fiachra | P6 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 16 | |||||
| Isaac McIlwrath | P6 | 9 | 9 | 9 | ||||||
| Dawson, Heidi | P7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | ||||||
| Pirathesan, Muthisan | P7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | ||||||
| Yong, Isaac | P6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | ||||||
| Geraghty, Leon | P6 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | ||||||
| McWilliams, Jack | P7 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | ||||||
| Power, Jonah | P3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | ||||||
| Glendinning, Calum | P6 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | ||||||
| McWilliams, Matthew | P7 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
Belfast Scholastic Shield 2015
The Belfast Scholastic Fergus O’Neill Shield:
Secondary Puzzle Solving Chess Champion
| Secondary Puzzles |
Oct | Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | Total | Best 3 | |
| John Dawson | L6 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 5.5 | 24.5 | 22.5 | |||
| Todd, Samuel | F3 | 1.5 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 21.5 | 20 | |||
| Todd, Andrew | L6 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 19 | 19 | ||||
| McCorkindale, Eoin | F5 | 10 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 4 | 21 | 17.5 | |||
| Todd, Peter | F1 | 3.5 | 5 | 5.5 | 4 | 18 | 14.5 | |||
| Owen Edwards | F3 | 8 | 3.5 | 11.5 | 11.5 | |||||
| Joel Dawson | F4 | 6 | 3.5 | 1 | 10.5 | 10.5 | ||||
| Matt Duffy | F2 | 10 | 10 | 10 | ||||||
| Matthew Gray | F5 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 10 | |||||
| Gupta, Raghav | F3 | 10 | 10 | 10 | ||||||
| Scott, Murray | F5 | 8 | 8 | 8 | ||||||
| Rowan, Ciaran | F2 | 7 | 7 | 7 | ||||||
| Patterson, Jake | F5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | ||||||
| Breen, Dylan | F1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Brown, Cameron | F2 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | ||||||
| Kane, James | F1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Edward Hanzharov | F4 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
