You are here: Home Archives Ulster Chronicles 2018-2019 season UCU Web 2018 childrens chess 2018-19 LJCC 2018-19 Top young chess players compete in Belfast LJCC Qualifier

Top young chess players compete in Belfast LJCC Qualifier

On Saturday 6th October at Methodist College - young chess players gathered to play in the Belfast London Junior Chess Championship Qualifier.

The Childrens Chess events have started for the year. With the now annual Belfast LJCC Qualifier. The London Junior Chess Championships is one of the most prestigious tournaments setup in 1924.

There are sections for Under 8, Under 10, Under 12, Under 14, Under 16, Under 18 and Under 21. To play at the London tournament the players Under 14 have to qualify in a qualifying tournament - by gaining a set number of points. Older youngsters can enter and play without the need to qualify.

The format of the tournament is set by the LJCC organisers. A six round swiss with 30mins on each of the players clocks. With if possible the tournament split into age group sections depending on the numbers.

With the start of the new academic year we also had a new venue to play in at Methodist College - The Middle Gym. Myself and Geoff Hindley and James Fairley arrived early to put up arrows to the new room (our previous venue is part of the school being renovated). With the room set a couple of new players arrived early.

We soon had 13 players. With a mix of age groups we decided to have one section and a second tournament with adults to give James Wong a good competition and so that he wasnt playing with the younger students and thereby taking points off them! So Geoff Hindley, James Fairley, Michael Wong, Ross Harris and myself played an all play all with James Wong. We set our time to be 10mins each so it only had a minimal impact on the main tournament.

Off course we had our puzzle competition which is a brilliant way of talking chess. Students setup the positions and discussed them and worked out the solutions.

We had trophies donated by an anonymous donor - many thanks.

In the challenging puzzle competition - Conor Boyle won the Secondary Schools section and Adam Fitzsimons won the Primary Schools section.

Name Age group Score
Boyle, Conor U14 4
Grady, Jasper U12 2
Karpagavinagam, Umai U12 2
Thornton, Katy U14 1
Name Age group Score
Fitzsimons, Adam U10 16
Boyle, Eoin U12 14
Kamal, Taufik U12 10
Harris, Blake U8 7
Karpagavinagam, Karthikeya U8 6

 

Round 1

Results

No Name                Feder Total  Result   Name                      Feder Total

 1 Eoin Boyle          U12   [0]      1:0    Karthikeya Karpagavinagam U8    [0]  
 2 Umai Karpagavinagam U12   [0]      0:1    Conor Boyle               U14   [0]  
 3 Adam Fitzsimons     U10   [0]      1:0    TJ Macartney              U14   [0]  
 4 Reuben Magill       U12   [0]      1:0    Jasper Grady              U12   [0]  
 5 Blake Harris        U8    [0]      1:0    Katy Thornton             U14   [0]  
 6 Peter Wong          U8    [0]      0:1    Taufik Kamal              U12   [0]  
by Swiss Perfect (TM)  www.swissperfect.com

 

players1players2

 

Round 2

Results

No Name                      Feder Total  Result   Name                Feder Total

 1 Blake Harris              U8    [1]      0:1    Eoin Boyle          U12   [1]  
 2 Conor Boyle               U14   [1]      1:0    Reuben Magill       U12   [1]  
 3 Taufik Kamal              U12   [1]      1:0    Adam Fitzsimons     U10   [1]  
 4 Jasper Grady              U12   [0]      0:1    TJ Macartney        U14   [0]  
 5 Karthikeya Karpagavinagam U8    [0]      1:0    Peter Wong          U8    [0]  
 6 Katy Thornton             U14   [0]      1:0    Umai Karpagavinagam U12   [0]  

Eoin Boyle and Conor Boyle go into the lead with 2 out of 2. Will they meet and who will win? Taufik Kamal also shares first place with 2 points.

players3players4

Round 3

Results

No Name                Feder Total  Result   Name                      Feder Total

 1 Eoin Boyle          U12   [2]      1:0    Conor Boyle               U14   [2]  
 2 TJ Macartney        U14   [1]      0:1    Taufik Kamal              U12   [2]  
 3 Adam Fitzsimons     U10   [1]      1:0    Karthikeya Karpagavinagam U8    [1]  
 4 Reuben Magill       U12   [1]      0:1    Blake Harris              U8    [1]  
 5 Peter Wong          U8    [0]      0:1    Katy Thornton             U14   [1]  
 6 Umai Karpagavinagam U12   [0]      0:1    Jasper Grady              U12   [0] 

Eoin beats his older brother and goes into round 4 unbeaten, sharing first place with Kamal. The competition is tough.

players5players6

Round 4

Results

No Name          Feder Total  Result   Name                      Feder Total

 1 Taufik Kamal  U12   [3]      1:0    Eoin Boyle                U12   [3]  
 2 Conor Boyle   U14   [2]      1:0    Blake Harris              U8    [2]  
 3 Katy Thornton U14   [2]      0:1    Adam Fitzsimons           U10   [2]  
 4 Jasper Grady  U12   [1]      1:0    Karthikeya Karpagavinagam U8    [1]  
 5 TJ Macartney  U14   [1]      0:1    Reuben Magill             U12   [1]  
 6 Peter Wong    U8    [0]      1:0    Umai Karpagavinagam       U12   [0]  

 

players7players8

 

 

Round 5

Results

No Name                      Feder Total  Result   Name            Feder Total

 1 Conor Boyle               U14   [3]      1:0    Taufik Kamal    U12   [4]  
 2 Eoin Boyle                U12   [3]      0:1    Adam Fitzsimons U10   [3]  
 3 Blake Harris              U8    [2]      0:1    Jasper Grady    U12   [2]  
 4 Karthikeya Karpagavinagam U8    [1]      1:0    Katy Thornton   U14   [2]  
 5 Reuben Magill             U12   [2]      1:0    Peter Wong      U8    [1]  
 6 Umai Karpagavinagam       U12   [0]     .5:.5   TJ Macartney    U14   [1]  

 

players9players10

 

Round 6

Results

No Name                      Feder Total  Result   Name                Feder Total

 1 Adam Fitzsimons           U10   [4]      0:1    Conor Boyle         U14   [4]  
 2 Taufik Kamal              U12   [4]      1:0    Umai Karpagavinagam U12   [.5] 
 3 Katy Thornton             U14   [2]      0:1    Eoin Boyle          U12   [3]  
 4 Karthikeya Karpagavinagam U8    [2]      0:1    Reuben Magill       U12   [3]  
 5 Jasper Grady              U12   [3]      1:0    Peter Wong          U8    [1]  
 6 TJ Macartney              U14   [1.5]    0:1    Blake Harris        U8    [2]  

 

players11players12
players13players14

Standings

Place Name                      Feder Score M-Buch. Buch. Progr.

 1-2  Conor Boyle               U14   5        15.0  20.5   17.0
      Taufik Kamal              U12   5        10.5  16.0   19.0
 3-6  Eoin Boyle                U12   4        14.0  21.0   16.0
      Adam Fitzsimons           U10   4        13.0  19.5   15.0
      Reuben Magill             U12   4        10.5  16.5   12.0
      Jasper Grady              U12   4         7.5  12.0   10.0
  7   Blake Harris              U8    3        14.0  20.5   11.0
 8-9  Karthikeya Karpagavinagam U8    2        14.0  19.0    7.0
      Katy Thornton             U14   2        10.0  14.5    9.0
 10   TJ Macartney              U14   1.5      15.0  20.5    6.0
 11   Peter Wong                U8    1        12.0  17.5    3.0
 12   Umai Karpagavinagam       U12   0.5      12.5  18.5    1.0

The Winners.

U14 Champion Conor Boyle
U12 Champion Taufik Kamal
U10 Champion Adam Fitzsimons
U8  Champion Blake Harris
Qualifiers
U12 Minor Championships
Eoin Boyle
Reuben Magill
Jasper Grady
U10 Major Championship
Adam Fitzsimons

 

theplayers

With only one under 19 we decided to setup an  impromptu  all-play-all and give James Wong a challenging afternoon of chess. We cut the time down to 10mins each and played each other when it was convenient. A good tournament ensured with plenty of good chess. The results of each round:

Adult - Round 1

Results

No Name          Total  Result   Name          Total

 1 Geoff Hindley [0]      0:1    James Wong    [0]  
 2 Ross Harris   [0]      1:0    Michael Wong  [0]  
 3 Mark Newman   [0]      1:0    James Fairley [0]  

under19-1

 

Adult - Round 2

Results

No Name          Total  Result   Name          Total

 1 James Wong    [1]      1:0    James Fairley [0]  
 2 Michael Wong  [0]      0:1    Mark Newman   [1]  
 3 Geoff Hindley [0]      0:1    Ross Harris   [1]  

Adult - Round 3

Results

No Name          Total  Result   Name          Total

 1 Ross Harris   [2]      1:0    James Wong    [2]  
 2 Mark Newman   [2]      1:0    Geoff Hindley [0]  
 3 James Fairley [0]      0:1    Michael Wong  [0] 

under19-2

Adult - Round 4

Results

No Name          Total  Result   Name          Total

 1 James Wong    [2]      1:0    Michael Wong  [1]  
 2 Geoff Hindley [0]      0:1    James Fairley [0]  
 3 Ross Harris   [3]      1:0    Mark Newman   [3]  

Adult - Round 5

Results

No Name          Total  Result   Name          Total

 1 Mark Newman   [3]      1:0    James Wong    [3]  
 2 James Fairley [1]      0:1    Ross Harris   [4]  
 3 Michael Wong  [1]      1:0    Geoff Hindley [0]  

 

 

Standings

Place Name          Score

  1   Ross Harris   5    
  2   Mark Newman   4    
  3   James Wong    3    
  4   Michael Wong  2    
  5   James Fairley 1    
  6   Geoff Hindley 0   

 

With the tournament covering the full day we also managed to get a few rounds of Battle chess. This gives the players an opportunity to show their skills at the endgame. Each player gets 4 pawns and a King - they hide their half of the board using another board or piece of card and place their pawns and King on their half of the board. The King isn't allowed to be placed on the 4th row (as it could be in check) and the pawns aren't allowed on the first row. Once both players have placed their pieces the divider is removed and play is continued with White playing first and normal rules. The Winner is first to checkmate.

For each round the players played each other twice once as White and then a return game as Black.

See you at our next tournament on November 3rd a Half day Childrens Chess tournament registration from 12:30pm at Methodist College.

BattleChess - Round 1

Results

No Name                      Total  Result   Name                Total

 1 Conor Boyle               [0.0]  0.0:2.0  Umai Karpagavinagam [0.0]
 2 Karthikeya Karpagavinagam [0.0]  0.0:2.0  Eoin Boyle          [0.0]
 3 Adam Fitzsimons           [0.0]  2.0:0.0  TJ Macartney        [0.0]
 4 Reuben Magill             [0.0]  1.0:1.0  Jasper Grady        [0.0]
 5 Blake Harris              [0.0]  1.0:1.0  Katy Thornton       [0.0]
 6 Peter Wong                [0.0]  1.0:1.0  Taufik Kamal        [0.0]

 

BattleChess - Round 2

Results

No Name                Total  Result   Name                      Total

 1 Eoin Boyle          [2.0]   .5:1.5  Adam Fitzsimons           [2.0]
 2 Umai Karpagavinagam [2.0]  2.0:0.0  Blake Harris              [1.0]
 3 Jasper Grady        [1.0]  1.0:1.0  Peter Wong                [1.0]
 4 Taufik Kamal        [1.0]  2.0:0.0  Reuben Magill             [1.0]
 5 Katy Thornton       [1.0]  0.0:2.0  Conor Boyle               [0.0]
 6 TJ Macartney        [0.0]  0.0:2.0  Karthikeya Karpagavinagam [0.0]

 

 

BattleChess - Round 3

Results

No Name                      Total  Result   Name                Total

 1 Adam Fitzsimons           [3.5]  2.0:0.0  Umai Karpagavinagam [4.0]
 2 Eoin Boyle                [2.5]  0.0:2.0  Taufik Kamal        [3.0]
 3 Conor Boyle               [2.0]  2.0:0.0  Peter Wong          [2.0]
 4 Karthikeya Karpagavinagam [2.0]   .5:1.5  Jasper Grady        [2.0]
 5 Reuben Magill             [1.0]  1.5:.5   Katy Thornton       [1.0]
 6 Blake Harris              [1.0]   .5:1.5  TJ Macartney        [0.0]

BattleChess - Standings

Place Name                      Score M-Buch. Buch. Progr.

  1   Adam Fitzsimons           5.5       2.5   8.0   11.0
  2   Taufik Kamal              5         2.5   7.0    9.0
 3-4  Umai Karpagavinagam       4         4.0  11.0   10.0
      Conor Boyle               4         2.0   7.5    6.0
  5   Jasper Grady              3.5       2.5   7.0    6.5
 6-8  Eoin Boyle                2.5       5.0  13.0    7.0
      Reuben Magill             2.5       3.5  10.0    4.5
      Karthikeya Karpagavinagam 2.5       2.5   7.5    4.5
  9   Peter Wong                2         4.0  12.5    5.0
10-12 TJ Macartney              1.5       2.5   9.5    1.5
      Katy Thornton             1.5       2.5   8.0    3.5
      Blake Harris              1.5       1.5   7.0    3.5

Adam Fitzsimons wins unbeaten with 5.5 out of 6. points.

Navigation
News
The Monthly Childrens Chess Kicks off Oct 4th at Methodist College ** Cancelled due to Storm ** Event cancelled due to Storm ** The LJCC Belfast Qualifier a one day 6 round tournament starts our annual series of m... Oct 03, 2025
The 2025 Summer tournament ends with a fun tournament and award ceremony Weds 24th September 2025 saw 24 players gather to celebrate the end of the UCU Summer Tournament. Who won? we have the f... Sep 27, 2025
Belfast Qualifier for the British Open Blitz 2025/26 Belfast runs one of 16 tournaments that allow players to qualify for the British Open Blitz tournament. The top player a... Sep 27, 2025
The Annual UCU Summer School at Ormeau Park We had 18 young chess players for 3 days of brilliant chess activities over Weds/Thurs/Fri 6th, 7th, 8th August 2025. At... Sep 14, 2025
One more game to play in the Summer Tournament 2025 We have played 19 weeks of glorious chess. What are the standings with only one game to go. Sep 13, 2025
More news…
« October 2025 »
October
SuMoTuWeThFrSa
1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031
Upcoming Events
Bangor: FIDE RATED Blitzmania 10 Rounds 11-20 Thursday 9 October 2025 Blitzmania at Bangor - a series of exciting Blitz tournaments at City of Bangor Chess Club. Oct 09, 2025 07:15 PM - 10:00 PM — City of Bangor Chess Club, Church of Ireland Parish Hall, 30 Main Street Groomsport
FIDE RATED U1700 Groomsport Autumn Blitz Oct 10, 2025 07:30 PM - 09:45 PM — City of Bangor International Chess Club, Church of Ireland Parish Hall, 30 Main Street, Groomsport, County Down, Northern Ireland, BT19 6JR
FIDE RATED County Down Rapid Chess Championships 2025 (for adults) The event will run as one open section with age specific champions crowned at the end of the day, based on the highest p... Oct 11, 2025 09:30 AM - 05:00 PM — City of Bangor Chess Club, Church of Ireland Parish Hall, 30 Main Street Groomsport
FIDE RATED County Down Junior Chess Championships 2025 (for children aged 7-17) The event will run as one open section with age specific champions crowned at the end of the day, based on the highest p... Oct 11, 2025 10:00 AM - 05:00 PM — City of Bangor Chess Club, Church of Ireland Parish Hall, 30 Main Street Groomsport
FIDE RATED Bangor Chess Club 60th Anniversary Classic Round 1 Oct 16, 2025 07:30 PM - 10:30 PM — City of Bangor International Chess Club, Church of Ireland Parish Hall, 30 Main Street, Groomsport, County Down, Northern Ireland, BT19 6JR
Upcoming events…