Omagh Rapidplay 2016

The Omagh Rapidplay is fast becoming a favourite in the UCU calendar with it's excellent venue, friendly atmosphere and exciting chess. It was great to see players from all over Ulster competing in the event with people travelling from Enniskillen, Derry, Portadown, Bangor and Belfast to name but a few. Both Senior and Junior sections had 14 players in them, slugging it out for the title.

The senior section was always going to be competitive and difficult to predict but the addition of two Polish players of unknown rating made it almost impossible to call. Last years senior champion, Brendan Jamison, had a tough start to the competition and lost his first two games to Richard Morrow and Robert Lavery. With other players scoring strongly this effectively ended his challenge for the title and he eventually finished on 3 / 6. It soon became clear that the two main protagonists for the senior section would be Damian Marchlewicz and Omagh's very own John Bradley. They played in round three in a closely fought game that was eventually won by Marchlewicz. Damian Marchlewicz eventually won the title with an impressive 5.5 / 6. His accurate opening play, quick calculation and coolness under pressure made him a very worthy champion. John Bradley finished in second place scoring 5 / 6 with his only loss in round three to Marchlewicz.

The grading prize went to Omagh's John Harding who finished 4th overall with a score of 3.5 / 6. This was a great performance by John, who played in the Junior section last year, and finished the day with notable wins against Sam Moore, Ram Rajan and Iwona Schmeichel. Mention must be made of the excellent play from Iwona Schmeichel who could have finished much higher had she managed her time better.

The Junior section was convincingly won by Peter McGirr who was rarely troubled throughout the tournament and finished with an unbeaten score of 6 / 6. This was particularly impressive as it was his first ever tournament and he now qualifies by right to play in the senior section next year. The early front runner for the tournament was Paul Anderson who won his first three games, including a win against top seed Adrian Dornford-Smith in round 3. Unfortunately this was as good as it got for Paul and he lost his next three games!

Second place went Marcin Marchlewicz, brother of the winner of the senior section Damian Marchlewicz. Marcin was still in with a chance of the title until round 5 when he ran into the unstoppable juggernaut of Peter McGirr. The grading prize went to James White who finished a very impressive fourth overall. James scored 4 / 6 only losing to top seed Adrian Dornford-Smith and the eventual winner Peter McGirr.

Many thanks must go to Anthony White and John Bradley for helping to organise such a successful and fun event, which I hope will continue to go from strength to strength in the coming years.