2016 Bangor Blitz

It was a fantastic fun-filled night with lots of exciting chess, upsets, high tension, and the occasional blunder to spice up the proceedings! We also had a new unrated player from Lithuania, Modestas Razbadauskas, who had an excellent debut in Ulster Chess.

The tournament was run over 8 rounds and we didn't have to wait for too long before our first upset, with young Michael Sheerin defeating the experienced and much higher rated James O'Fee in the first round. Round 3 saw the first of the big clashes with Ross Harris defeating John Bradley and defending champion Mikhail Pavlov defeating the young star Daniil Zelenchuk. It also produced another upset with Alan York defeating the much higher rated Alan McConnell. Alan York is one of the most improved players in Ulster Chess and was showing the form that led him to only just miss out on winning the Ulster Junior Championships.

Round 5 saw the emergence of Modestas Razbadauskas as a potential tournament winner as he won his 4th game in a row when he defeated Mikhail Pavlov. This set up an exciting 6th round match up against Ross Harris. This game turned out to be a real humdinger. Early on Ross miscalculated a combination and went a piece for a pawn down. The game then turned as Ross mopped up 2 more pawns and then went the exchange up. The frantic finishing exchanges led to more blunders and an eventual agreed draw with both players critically low on time.

The title and all the prizes were decided in an exciting final round. Ross Harris drew with Michael Sheerin, winning the title on tie break from John Bradley who defeated Modestas Razbadauskas. Modestas was pushed down into 3rd place, only half a point behind, but picked up the grading prize.

Thanks to all at Bangor Chess Club for staging an excellent event that is sure to go from strength to strength.