Only 7 weeks left
The Summer tournament hasn't missed a week since it started in 21st May. Players meet at 7:30pm and a draw is made, matching if possible strengths and sharing colours. The controller always ensures there's an odd no. This year the bands are above 1500, above 1200. We have some 36 players having played 116 games.
Special thanks to Neil Green for controlling the tournament last week when I was on holidays. This year we aim to have an uninterrupted 18 weeks of chess. With the 19th week being a quick play tournament and prize giving - the last weds in September. We have 7 weeks left for players to get there 10 games to qualify for a position in the tournament.
With plenty of brilliant chess and some upsets. Chris Armstrong with a strong 55% has played up a few games and done well, beating and drawing with David Ruben. The intermediate section is too close to call with Neil Green being chased by Pat McKillen and a bevy of challengers not to mention Mathew Chapman who, if he can reach the minimum game count, could just sneak in and claim the section.
In all sections we have players competing excellently. The lower section looks like a fight between David Seaby who is leading the section and Adrian Dornford-Smith. But there are a few challengers not far behind; plenty of room for the lead to change.
 |  |
|---|---|
 |
 |
Overall Gareth Annesley looks on track to win (if he completes the necessary 10 games) with an unbeaten record only dropping .5 to John Masterson. John is using the tournament to get practice for the Ulster Seniors this month and also hasn't lost a game but did provide a surprise draw against Ian Woodfield. Ian is in that difficult position where he gets paired with the top players and no easy matches; despite this Ian has scored a very respectable 50%. John Bryars started with some brilliant results soundly beating Mark Newman and winning against Ian Woodfield but has since fallen back with three loses in a row - however, the results don't always reflect the games which can be very close.
Mark Newman suprised everyone in week 11 by beating Nicholas Pilkiewicz playing the two knights as black, breaking through the centre and weakening Whites King. Putting it through Fritz shows some of what Mark thought were good moves as dubious! perhaps dubious but fun....play the game
The players to watch are Gareth Annesley, Matthew Chapman, Neil Green, Patrick McKillen, David Seaby and Adrain Dornford-Smith.
Follow the Current Standings: at the end of week 11, sections line up like this:
| name | Rating | Played | Points |
% |
| Karina Kruk | 1542 | 1 | 1 | 100.00 |
| Gareth Annesley | 1954 | 6 | 5.5 | 91.67 |
| John Masterson | 1881 | 3 | 2 | 66.67 |
| Ray Devenney | 1838 | 1 | 0.5 | 50.00 |
| Coleman, Pat | 1669 | 1 | 0.5 | 50.00 |
| Ian Woodfield | 1645 | 7 | 3.5 | 50.00 |
| David Ruben | 1512 | 10 | 4.5 | 45.00 |
| Mark Newman | 1784 | 5 | 2 | 40.00 |
| John Bryars | 1567 | 8 | 3 | 37.50 |
| Nicholas Pilkiewicz | 1871 | 5 | 1.5 | 30.00 |
| John McKenna | 1508 | 2 | 0.5 | 25.00 |
| Stephen Scannell | 2005 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Eoin McCorkindale | 1250 | 1 | 1 | 100.00 |
| Mathew Chapman | 1393 | 4 | 3 | 75.00 |
| Neil Green | 1413 | 7 | 5 | 71.43 |
| McKillen, Patrick | 1234 | 10 | 6.5 | 65.00 |
| Martin Kelly | 1295 | 4 | 2.5 | 62.50 |
| William Storey | 1289 | 8 | 5 | 62.50 |
| Robert Lavery | 1479 | 11 | 6.5 | 59.09 |
| CJ Murphy | 1311 | 8 | 4.5 | 56.25 |
| Chris Armstrong | 1431 | 11 | 6 | 54.55 |
| George Jackson | 1259 | 7 | 3.5 | 50.00 |
| Roy Stafford | 1210 | 11 | 4.5 | 40.91 |
| Bernard Jaffa | 1434 | 4 | 1.5 | 37.50 |
| Burns, Alan | 1303 | 3 | 1 | 33.33 |
| Stewart McConaghy | 1420 | 10 | 3 | 30.00 |
| David Seaby | 1119 | 11 | 7.5 | 68.18 |
| Adrian Dornford-Smith | 1001 | 10 | 6 | 60.00 |
| Phillip Morrison | 1122 | 9 | 5 | 55.56 |
| Robert McDonald | 1200 | 9 | 4.5 | 50.00 |
| Patrick Magee | 1097 | 5 | 2.5 | 50.00 |
| Craig Kelly | 885 | 7 | 3 | 42.86 |
| Geoff Hindley | 1047 | 9 | 3.5 | 38.89 |
| Truesdale, Derek | 1154 | 10 | 3.5 | 35.00 |
| Kevin O'Neill | 924 | 6 | 1.5 | 25.00 |
| James Fairley | 879 | 7 | 1 | 14.29 |
Hope you are all enjoying a good summer. Enjoy your chess.....
