You are here: Home Archives Ulster Chronicles 2014-2015 season UCU Web 2014 "Kelly's Heroes" keep their noses in front in Strawbridge chase

"Kelly's Heroes" keep their noses in front in Strawbridge chase

(B&D Leagues 2014/15 Week 13) The big story of the week was in Division 2, where Belfast South 2 left Ballynafeigh Community House on Tuesday night with their five-point lead (and match in hand) intact, but it could have been different as Ballynafeigh 3 squandered opportunities to close the gap.

Division 1

Fruithill 0-5 Lindores 1

After a couple of promising results in the previous two weeks, Fruithill (Marron/Carrothers/Linton/Collins/Monaghan) were brought back down to earth as Lindores 1 (Horvath/Leitch/Harris/MacDonald/Gould) took maximum points.

Belfast South 1 2.5-2.5 Ballynafeigh 1

Ballynafeigh 1 were missing a couple of key players, and the hosts, while not exactly fielding their strongest lineup themselves, took full advantage to hold the leaders to a draw. David Houston and Brendan Jamison beat Ray Devenney and Bruce MacLean respectively, while Sam Flanagan beat Soren Jensen for the home side. Alan Thomason, making his first appearance of the season, drew with John Bryars while Cathal Murphy defeated Owen McEvoy.

Bangor 3-2 Ballynafeigh 2

Bangor pulled away from Fruithill at the bottom with this win over Ballynafeigh 2. Thomas Donaldson suffered a rare league defeat at the hands of Alan McConnell, while Walter Wilson and Ken Browne chalked up victories over Tyrone Winter and James Barbour respectively. Ian Woodfield and John O'Doherty won for the visitors.

Standings

PlayedPoints
Ballynafeigh 1 11 62.5
Lindores 1 11 49
Muldoons 1 10 43
Belfast South 1 11 36.5
Ballynafeigh 2 10 29
Bangor 11 23.5
Fruithill 10 14.5

Division 2

Muldoons 2 1.5-3.5 NI Civil Service

NICS beat Muldoons 2 after Peter May and Mark Newman, as expected, beat Bernard McCaughey and Peter Wilson respectively, while there was a minor upset on board 5 as Adrian Dornford-Smith (1056) defeated Rodney Orr (1256). Stephen Downes drew with David Jackson, while Pat McKillen won for the home side against Drew Ferguson.

Ballynafeigh 3 2.5-2.5 Belfast South 2

"Kelly's Heroes" were in trouble at times in this encounter with second-placed Ballynafeigh 3, but their greater experience showed as they escaped with a draw to maintain their lead at the top of Division 2. Gerard Bannon and William Storey played out a quiet draw on board 5. On board 2, Robert Lavery was a knight up and had a completely winning position against Bernard Jaffa until a blunder allowed Jaffa to force a draw. Then Stephen Rush, despite having two pieces for John McKenna's rook, allowed the rook to infiltrate his position with devastating effect. Eoin Carey levelled the score with a well-executed attack on Neil Green. This left Chris Black and Chris Armstrong on board 3 as the deciding game; Black had three pawns for a piece and a large time advantage, but with over 15 minutes on the clock against Armstrong's two minutes, he made a rather generous-looking draw offer which was duly accepted by Armstrong.

Ballynafeigh 4 4.5-0.5 QUB

Ballynafeigh 4 easily defeated QUB after racing to an early 4-0 lead thanks to wins from Mark Hewitt, Suraj Tirupati, Liam Ferris and Paul Anderson, the first two coming in spite of nearly-200-point rating disadvantages. To add insult to injury, Chris Roe had a nailed-on win against Barney McGahan (a rook and pawn to the good) before squandering a half-point in a manner that made the aforementioned Lavery-Jaffa game look like a masterful display of endgame technique in comparison.

Ballynafeigh 5 0-5 Lindores 2

Lindores 2 (Kilpatrick/Barr/Bujak/Aboelsoud/Hughes) moved level with Ballynafeigh 3 in second place by consigning Ballynafeigh 5 (Seaby/Rainey/Jackson/Weir) to their eighth consecutive 0-5 result.

Standings

PlayedPoints
Belfast South 2 12 63.5
Ballynafeigh 3 13 58.5
Lindores 2 13 58.5
NI Civil Service 13 50.5
Muldoons 2 13 46
Ballynafeigh 4 13 38.5
QUB 12 33.5
Ballynafeigh 5 13 2
Navigation
News
City Of Bangor Chess Club hosted the Ulster Team Rapidplay Championship 2024/25 The Ulster Chess Team Rapidplay Championships are run every two years. Top players and team travelled to the fantastic B... Apr 16, 2025
Aprils Monthly Childrens Chess Tournament at Methodist College On April 12th 2025 Children from all over Ulster meet at Methodist College to play brilliant chess at the Ulster Chess U... Apr 16, 2025
The Belfast Scholastic Grandprix 2025 standings with one last tournament to go. The Ulster Chess Union runs monthly tournaments open to all pupils. At the end of the series we have a special Awards Ce... Apr 06, 2025
One week left the league is coming to a finish. The Summer Tournament will begin in May. Easter is coming and the chess continues. With FIDE rated tournaments organised by Brendan Jamison. The League is coming... Apr 06, 2025
NI FIDE Rating Report: 1st April 2025 By FIDE National Arbiter Brendan Jamison Apr 01, 2025
More news…
« April 2025 »
April
SuMoTuWeThFrSa
12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
27282930
Upcoming Events
FIDE RATED King Charles iii Rapid Championship 2025 An end of season special event run and hosted by City of Bangor International Chess Club. Thurs 24 April 2025 7:30pm to ... Apr 24, 2025 07:15 PM - 10:30 PM — City of Bangor International Chess Club, Church of Ireland Parish Hall, 30 Main Street, Groomsport, County Down, BT19 6JR
Delancey Schools UK Chess Challenge Belfast Megafinal May 10th Our Monthly Children's Chess Tournaments continues with the UK Chess Challenge Belfast Megafinal Sat 10th May - an oppor... May 10, 2025 09:45 AM - 05:00 PM — Methodist College,1 Malone Rd, Belfast BT9 6BY
GM Simul with Alex Baburin May 23, 2025 06:30 PM - 11:00 PM — Maynard Sinclair Pavilion, Belfast
FIDE RATED City of Belfast Classic Championship 2025 Sat 24th May, Sun 25th May, Mon 26th May Venue: Castleview Suite, Maynard Sinclair Sports Pavilion, Upper Newtownards R... May 24, 2025 - May 26, 2025 — NICS,Maynard Sinclair Pavilion, Stormont, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast, BT4 3TA
FIDE RATED Belfast Blitz Championship 2025 May 24, 2025 07:15 PM - 10:00 PM — Castleview Suite, Maynard Sinclair Sports Pavilion, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Upcoming events…