Open Air Chess Delivers New Blitz Ratings
The 28 players who competed in the September outdoor chess events have now had their games rated by the Ulster Chess Union. Well done to everyone who made gains (in brackets). Players who made a blitz debut appear as (===).
October 2020 Blitz Ratings:
1769 Alex Goss
1769 Brendan Jamison (+21)
1751 Gareth Annesley (+86)
1704 Robbie Wright (===)
1703 Danny Roberts
1565 Gatis Barbals (+121)
1502 Matthew Dougherty
1482 Adam Rushe (+44)
1463 Andrew Todd (+84)
1447 Edward Hanzharov (+30)
1435 James Wong (+10)
1434 James O’Fee (+6)
1353 Aaron Wafflart (+101)
1350 Christopher Dorrian
1324 Ben Toogood
1315 Calum Glendinning (===)
1307 Mark Newman (+20)
1300 Evan Elwood (===)
1300 Maikel Podean (===)
1218 Timothy Morrison (+53)
1178 Tony Scullion
1147 Adrian Dornford-Smith
1089 Geoff Sterrett
1068 Jamie Corscadden
1027 Ethan Cole (+88)
1132 Richard McClean
963 George Gamble
768 Rebecca McClurg
Gatis Barbals (+121) was the highest gainer with an incredible jump into the 1500s. He is an excellent blitz player, a wonderful gentleman and a great asset to Fruithill Chess Club.
21 year old Aaron Wafflart (+101) continued his sharp rise as he broke into the 1300s. Having scooped up so many over-the-board awards during 2019 and 2020, Aaron’s dedication and vast improvement will no doubt continue in the years ahead.
Multi-award winning champion Gareth Annesley (+86) made an impressive gain from just playing in one outdoor event at Stormont. As one of the most decorated players in the UCU, everyone gets a tremendous buzz when he competes and raises the bar!
Eight year old Ethan Cole gained 88 points to break the 1000 threshold as he landed a new blitz rating of 1027. It is very rare for someone so young to get over 1000 so quickly so a big congratulations to Ethan! More and more adults will try dodging Ethan before he gobbles up their rating points!
Other significant gains include Andrew Todd (+84), champion of the Play Park Blitz where he reigned supreme, totally undefeated throughout the 7 rounds. The same competition saw Tim Morrison jump into the 1200s as he earned 53 points to land at 1218, very well done Tim!
15 year old Calum Glendinning has been on a wonderful roll this year. It began as he won a prize at the Ulster Rapidplay Championships in Newry back in February 2020. During the autumn, Calum earned awards at all 4 blitz events he competed in, culminating in Whitehead on 3rd October as this rising star was crowned champion. We are delighted to see Calum’s blitz debut of 1315 and long may his abundance of enthusiasm continue to bring joy to all the players at the chess events.
