UCN 1999-1
THE SMITH AND WILLIAMSON CHAMPIONSHIPS SCARBOROUGH 2-13 AUGUST 1999
The 1999 Championships had three Ulster entrants. Steven Scannell and James McDonnell had qualified through the Ulster Championship, while Tom Clarke was one of two ICU nominees. Although five top English players were not competing due to a clash with the FIDE World Championships in Las Vegas, the field of 92 players was still very strong overall. Final scores for the Ulster players in this 11 round event were Scannell 5½, Clarke 3½ and McDonnell 2½ . Steven played a number of English players rated between 2200 and 2300 and he was surprised to find that they were weaker than he had expected in tactical play.
JULY 1999 FIDE RATINGS FOR ULSTER PLAYERS
- IM Brian Kelly 2417
- IM Mark Orr 2350
- Adrian Gillen 2264
- Stephen Gillen 2248
- Kieran Greer 2235
- Keith Allen 2233
- Tom Clarke 2204
- Michael Holmes 2150
- Arthur Pinkerton 2105
- Steven Scannell2069
- James McDonnell 2051
- John Nicholson 2023
NATIONAL CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP SEPTEMBER 12-13
RVH hosted this event very efficiently at their clubrooms. Unfortunately they were unable to avoid the wooden spoon over the board, while the other Ulster team North Belfast, competing because of the absence of a Connacht representative, took second place behind a very strong Bray team.
Round 1
Bray 5-1 Limerick,
North Belfast 4-2 RVH.
Round 2
Bray 6-0 RVH,
North Belfast 4½-1½ Limerick.
Round 3
Bray 4-2 North Belfast,
Limerick 3-3 RVH.
Final standings
lst Bray 15
2nd North Belfast 10½
3rd Limerick 5½
4th Royal Victoria Hospital 5.
1999/2000 TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
- Williamson Shield 6/7 November 1999
- Ulster intermediate/Junior 4/5 December 1999
- Ulster Senior 27/30 December 1999
- Ulster Open 5/6 February 2000
- City of Belfast 1/2 April 2000
- Belfast Civic Festival 20/21 May 2000
