Only 7 weeks left

The Summer Tournament is into the home straight with only 7 weeks left to go. Over the past 11 weeks there has been some fine, competitive chess and plenty of upsets and turnarounds with plenty more to come no doubt.

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.

Summer Players1Summer players2
Summer the room3 Summer the room2

 

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.....

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The Summer Tournament (Now FIDE rated) Weds 11th June at Civil Service Pavilion Weds 11th June and the 6th Week. The aim is to start each round at 7.45 pm. Please arrive at least by 7:30pm and if arri... Jun 11, 2025 07:30 PM - 10:30 PM — NICS,Maynard Sinclair Pavilion, Stormont, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast, BT4 3TA
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