Children enjoying chess at the January Childrens Tournament
Excited chatter. Then a pause of silence whilst a round of chess started. Discussions of chess problems if I do this this will happen then I can do that..... lots of logic.
Chess games are creative works of two minds fighting a battle. Each person is responsible for their move and its consequences - the wrong move and you could loose. In loosing you learn your mistakes and improve your play. Every game is a work of creation.
Calculating chess puzzles improves your game. It allows talk of chess positions. An excellent fun pasttime. Perhaps most challenging is marking the puzzles before the end of the session.
The results of the puzzle competition
Primary Section - Puzzle Winner Aaditya Singh P3
Points | Name | Year | ||
Gold | 12 | Singh, Aaditya | P3 | |
Silver | 5 | Patterson, Calvin | P5 | |
Silver | 4 | Harris, Dexter | P4 | |
Silver | 4 | Fitzsimons, Adam | P4 | |
Silver | 4 | Grady, Jasper | P6 | |
Bronze | 3 | Singh, Anjali | P5 | |
Bronze | 2 | Thornton, Katy | P7 | |
Bronze | 2 | Hall, Edward | P3 | |
Bronze | 2 | Hall, John | P2 |
Secondary Section - Puzzle Winner Daniil Zelenchuk F2
Points | Name | Year | ||
Gold | 19 | Zelenchuk, Daniil | F2 | |
Silver | 11 | Patterson, Jake | U6 | |
Silver | 10 | Rushe, Adam | F4 | |
Silver | 8 | Rowan, Ciaran | F4 | |
Silver | 8 | Byrne, Nathan | F3 | |
Bronze | 5 | Kane, James | F3 | |
Bronze | 4 | Patterson, Phoebe | F1 | |
Bronze | 3 | McConkey, Louis | F2 |
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The Primary section consisted of seven rounds. A tough section with Dexter Harris having just returned with brilliant results from the Leincester Junior Championships, Adam Fitzsimons back from coming 5th in the London Junior Chess Championships and Calvin Patterson who has been winning the Childrens Chess competitions for the last couple of years. How would the competition play out?
Round 1
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Calvin Patterson P5 [0] 1:0 Katy Thornton P7 [0] 2 Ahmed Haridy P5 [0] 0:1 Dexter Harris P4 [0] 3 Adam Fitzsimons P4 [0] 1:0 Farida Haridy P3 [0] 4 Edward Hall P3 [0] 0:1 Jasper Grady P6 [0] 5 Aaditya Singh P3 [0] 1:0 John Hall P2 [0] 6 Ben Lawson P3 [0] 1:0 BYE
by Swiss Perfect (TM) www.swissperfect.com
Thanks to Ross Harris the youngsters have been given ratings (see the Childrens Chess Ratings Facebook page) which means when the players are paired in the rounds the higher rated players wont meet until latter. The first round goes to rating. New players John Hall and Edward Hall get an estimated rating.
Round 2
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Jasper Grady P6 [1] 0:1 Calvin Patterson P5 [1] 2 Dexter Harris P4 [1] 1:0 Adam Fitzsimons P4 [1] 3 Katy Thornton P7 [0] 0:1 Aaditya Singh P3 [1] 4 John Hall P2 [0] .5:.5 Ahmed Haridy P5 [0] 5 Farida Haridy P3 [0] 0:1 Edward Hall P3 [0] 6 Anjali Singh P5 [0] 1:0 BYE
Youngsters have a choice of activities on Saturday afternoons and sometimes this means its difficult to attend the Chess - we welcome latecommers (just adding them to the draw - and if leaving early removing them from the draw), Anjali playing a musical instrument arrived late and was added to the draw. Calvin wins against Jasper, Dexter beats Adam - the lines are being drawn. Aaditya has a good win against Katy. Edward gets his first win of the tournament.
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Round 3
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Aaditya Singh P3 [2] 0:1 Dexter Harris P4 [2] 2 Calvin Patterson P5 [2] 1:0 Anjali Singh P5 [1] 3 Adam Fitzsimons P4 [1] 1:0 Jasper Grady P6 [1] 4 Edward Hall P3 [1] .5:.5 John Hall P2 [.5] 5 Ahmed Haridy P5 [.5] 0:1 Katy Thornton P7 [0] 6 Farida Haridy P3 [0] 1:0 BYE
Dexter and Calvin are still yet to play each other and both win their matches - looks like they will soon have a play-off. Brothers Edward and John get a draw. Katy wins here first game of the tournament.
Round 4
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Dexter Harris P4 [3] .5:.5 Calvin Patterson P5 [3] 2 Aaditya Singh P3 [2] 0:1 Adam Fitzsimons P4 [2] 3 Katy Thornton P7 [1] 1:0 Edward Hall P3 [1.5] 4 Jasper Grady P6 [1] 1:0 John Hall P2 [1] 5 Anjali Singh P5 [1] 1:0 Farida Haridy P3 [1] 6 Ahmed Haridy P5 [.5] 1:0 BYE
Dexter and Calvin play and agree a draw. Adam continues his wins.
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Round 5
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Calvin Patterson P5 [3.5] 1:0 Adam Fitzsimons P4 [3] 2 Jasper Grady P6 [2] 0:1 Dexter Harris P4 [3.5] 3 Anjali Singh P5 [2] 1:0 Aaditya Singh P3 [2] 4 Farida Haridy P3 [1] 0:1 Katy Thornton P7 [2] 5 Edward Hall P3 [1.5] 0:1 Ahmed Haridy P5 [1.5] 6 John Hall P2 [1] 1:0 BYE
Calvin and Dexter maintain their lead by beating Jasper and Adam. It is difficult to see who might beat them.
Round 6
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Dexter Harris P4 [4.5] 1:0 Anjali Singh P5 [3] 2 Ahmed Haridy P5 [2.5] 0:1 Calvin Patterson P5 [4.5] 3 Adam Fitzsimons P4 [3] 1:0 Katy Thornton P7 [3] 4 Aaditya Singh P3 [2] 1:0 Jasper Grady P6 [2] 5 John Hall P2 [2] 0:1 Farida Haridy P3 [1] 6 Edward Hall P3 [1.5] 1:0 BYE
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Round 7
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Calvin Patterson P5 [5.5] 1:0 Aaditya Singh P3 [3] 2 Katy Thornton P7 [3] 0:1 Dexter Harris P4 [5.5] 3 John Hall P2 [2] 0:1 Adam Fitzsimons P4 [4] 4 Anjali Singh P5 [3] 1:0 Edward Hall P3 [2.5] 5 Jasper Grady P6 [2] 1:0 BYE
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Standings
Place Name Feder Score M-Buch. Buch. Progr. 1-2 Calvin Patterson P5 6.5 17.0 26.0 26.0 Dexter Harris P4 6.5 17.0 26.0 26.0 3 Adam Fitzsimons P4 5 17.0 25.0 19.0 4 Anjali Singh P5 4 18.5 27.0 14.0 5-7 Aaditya Singh P3 3 20.5 28.5 15.0 Jasper Grady P6 3 20.0 28.0 12.0 Katy Thornton P7 3 19.0 27.5 12.0 8-9 Ahmed Haridy P5 2.5 14.5 22.5 7.5 Edward Hall P3 2.5 13.5 18.5 10.5 10-11 John Hall P2 2 13.5 20.5 8.5 Farida Haridy P3 2 11.5 18.0 5.0 12 Ben Lawson P3 1 0.5 0.5 1.0
In a very rare circumstance Calvin Patterson and Dexter Harris jointly win the tournament with the same points and the same scores in the M-Buch, Buch and Progr - so no tie-split. Both are awarded the P5 winning prize. Adam comes a clear third followed by Anjali and Aaditya Singh. New comers John and Edward Hall gaining a good 2 and 2.5 points respectively. A tough tournament.
P7 | Winner: Katy Thornton |
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P6 |
Winner: Jasper Grady |
P5 |
Winner: Calvin Patterson Winner: Dexter Harris 2nd : Adam Fitzsimons |
The Secondary section also consisted of 7 rounds. With the winner of the Leinster Junior Chess Championships Under14 Daniil Zelenchuk - being the person to beat.
Round 1
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Daniil Zelenchuk F2 [0] 1:0 Adam Rushe F4 [0] 2 Nathan Byrne F3 [0] 0:1 Jake Patterson U6 [0] 3 Hannah Patterson F5 [0] .5:.5 James Kane F3 [0] 4 Louis McConkey F2 [0] 0:1 Ciaran Rowan F4 [0] 5 Phoebe Patterson F1 [0] 1:0 BYE
Again players were rated so the first round usually means the lower rated players play the higher rated. And as the results show the games went to rating apart from Jame Kane drawing against Hannah Patterson. As controller I had missed Phoebe from the draw - but luckily for me having the lowest rating Phoebe would have received the bye.
Round 2
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Ciaran Rowan F4 [1] 0:1 Daniil Zelenchuk F2 [1] 2 Jake Patterson U6 [1] 1:0 Phoebe Patterson F1 [1] 3 Adam Rushe F4 [0] 0:1 Hannah Patterson F5 [.5] 4 James Kane F3 [.5] 1:0 Nathan Byrne F3 [0] 5 Louis McConkey F2 [0] 1:0 BYE
Daniil continues his series of wins. Jake plays and beats sister Phoebe. Whilst Hannah wins against Adam.
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Round 3
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Daniil Zelenchuk F2 [2] .5:.5 Jake Patterson U6 [2] 2 Hannah Patterson F5 [1.5] 1:0 Louis McConkey F2 [1] 3 Phoebe Patterson F1 [1] 1:0 James Kane F3 [1.5] 4 Adam Rushe F4 [0] 1:0 Ciaran Rowan F4 [1] 5 Nathan Byrne F3 [0] 1:0 BYE
Jake challenges Daniil series of wins by drawing against him. The games are excellent to watch - some fantastic positions and challenging endings.
Round 4
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Jake Patterson U6 [2.5] 1:0 Hannah Patterson F5 [2.5] 2 Phoebe Patterson F1 [2] 0:1 Daniil Zelenchuk F2 [2.5] 3 James Kane F3 [1.5] .5:.5 Ciaran Rowan F4 [1] 4 Nathan Byrne F3 [1] 0:1 Louis McConkey F2 [1] 5 Adam Rushe F4 [1] 1:0 BYE
Daniil, Jake and Hannah enter this round all on 2.5 points. Daniil wins as does Jake so two leaders on 3.5 points going into the next round.
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Round 5
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Daniil Zelenchuk F2 [3.5] 1:0 Hannah Patterson F5 [2.5] 2 James Kane F3 [2] 1:0 Jake Patterson U6 [3.5] 3 Louis McConkey F2 [2] 1:0 Adam Rushe F4 [2] 4 Nathan Byrne F3 [1] 0:1 Phoebe Patterson F1 [2] 5 Ciaran Rowan F4 [1.5] 1:0 BYE
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Round 6
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Daniil Zelenchuk F2 [4.5] 1:0 James Kane F3 [3] 2 Jake Patterson U6 [3.5] 1:0 Louis McConkey F2 [3] 3 Ciaran Rowan F4 [2.5] .5:.5 Phoebe Patterson F1 [3] 4 Adam Rushe F4 [2] .5:.5 Nathan Byrne F3 [1] 5 Hannah Patterson F5 [2.5] 1:0 BYE
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Round 7
No Name Feder Total Result Name Feder Total 1 Louis McConkey F2 [3] 0:1 Daniil Zelenchuk F2 [5.5] 2 Ciaran Rowan F4 [3] .5:.5 Jake Patterson U6 [4.5] 3 Phoebe Patterson F1 [3.5] 0:1 Adam Rushe F4 [2.5] 4 Hannah Patterson F5 [3.5] 1:0 Nathan Byrne F3 [1.5] 5 James Kane F3 [3] 1:0 BYE
Standings
Place Name Feder Score M-Buch. Buch. Progr. 1 Daniil Zelenchuk F2 6.5 16.5 24.0 25.5 2 Jake Patterson U6 5 16.0 23.5 22.0 3 Hannah Patterson F5 4.5 17.5 25.0 17.5 4 James Kane F3 4 18.5 26.0 15.5 5-7 Ciaran Rowan F4 3.5 18.0 27.0 13.5 Phoebe Patterson F1 3.5 18.0 25.5 16.0 Adam Rushe F4 3.5 16.0 23.5 11.0 8 Louis McConkey F2 3 18.5 26.0 13.0 9 Nathan Byrne F3 1.5 17.0 24.5 6.0
Daniil wins the tournament with Jake second followed by Hannah third.
F4 and Above |
Winner: Jake Patterson 2nd : Hannah Patterson |
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F3 |
Winner: James Kane 2nd : Nathan Byrne |
F2 |
Winner: Daniil Zelenchuk 2nd : Louis McConkey |
F1 | Winner: Phoebe Patterson |
This is the second tournament in the Grandprix series of tournaments leading to invitations to an elite tournament at and award ceremony at Stormont. The current standings will be calculated and published on this site shortly.
As part of the prize giving special certificates were given to Players who had done well in competitions outside of Ulster. recieving these were Dexter Harris, Avrora Zelenchuk, Daniil Zelenchuk - all doing well at the Leincester Childrens Chess Championships and Adam Fitzsimons who did well at the London Junior Chess Championships - for more details click here
Thanks to everyone - the young players for creating such a good atmosphere, the volunteers for making the event possible, the parents for supporting their youngsters and our event, Methodist College for the excellent location and the person donating our excellent trophies.... thankyou all!
The next tournament of the series is at Methodist College on Saturday 11th February at 12:30pm. Looking forward to seeing you there...
The problems solved.
13.
1. ... Bxc3
2. bxc3 g5
3. Either loose the Knight
or move it and loose the Bishop
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14. 1. ... Rxd3+ 2. Kxd3 Rxf2 two pawns up and threatening the f pawn. Black has winning advantage |
15. 1. ... Be2 2. Rd2xe2 Rxe2 3. Rxe2 Kxe2 |
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16. 1. ... Rxe2 2. Kxe2 Re8+ 3. K moves Bxd3 |
17. 1. ... Bh4 2. Qxh4 Qxc2+ The Queen must leave the defence of the Rook |
18. 1. Nc4 R moves 2. Nxb2 Rxb2 3. Rxc3 |
19. 1. Bxh7+ Kxh7 2. Qh5+ Kg1 3. Qxf7+ Kh1 4. Qh5+ Kg1 5. Qh7# |
20. 1. Qxh5 gxh5 2. Bh7# |
21. 1. BxN gxh4 2. Rxh7+ Kf8 3. Bh7 any move 4. Rg8#
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