The second in the Alan Burns series of tournaments. We had new faces and even a player who came up from Dublin to play.

I had a good chat with Joseph Gunning who had played chess a while back with Arthur Cootes and Eddie Whiteside. He was returning to chess after a long break.

The time control of 20mins and 5 sec increment meant there was no rush.

Round 1

Results

No Name                         Rtg  Total  Result   Name            Rtg  Total

 1 Daniel Diaz-Roncero Gonzalez 1862 [0]      1:0    Chris Armstrong 1412 [0]  
 2 Joseph Gunning               1300 [0]      0:1    Danny Roberts   1799 [0]  
 3 Stephen Cullen               1610 [0]      1:0    Adam Rushe      1263 [0]  
 4 Conor Aspell                 1200 [0]      0:1    Robert Lavery   1566 [0]  
 5 Christopher Kelly            1534 [0]      1:0    Ross Halpin     1200 [0]  
 6 Bartlomiej Rybicki           877  [0]      0:1    Nial Troughton  1490 [0]  

by Swiss Perfect (TM)  www.swissperfect.com

No upsets in the first round. All games went to rating.

Round 2

Results

No Name            Rtg  Total  Result   Name                         Rtg  Total

 1 Robert Lavery   1566 [1]      0:1    Daniel Diaz-Roncero Gonzalez 1862 [1]  
 2 Danny Roberts   1799 [1]      1:0    Christopher Kelly            1534 [1]  
 3 Nial Troughton  1490 [1]      1:0    Stephen Cullen               1610 [1]  
 4 Chris Armstrong 1412 [0]      1:0    Conor Aspell                 1200 [0]  
 5 Ross Halpin     1200 [0]      1:0    Joseph Gunning               1300 [0]  
 6 Adam Rushe      1263 [0]      1:0    Bartlomiej Rybicki           877  [0]  

Round 2 and a couple of upsets Nial Troughton beat Stephen Cullen and Ross Halpin was against Joseph Gunning. Stephen did comment that his rating was high because of his excellent performance at the Bangor Rapidplay and that it might be an over estimate - modesty.

Round 3

Results

No Name                         Rtg  Total  Result   Name               Rtg  Total

 1 Daniel Diaz-Roncero Gonzalez 1862 [2]     .5:.5   Danny Roberts      1799 [2]  
 2 Robert Lavery                1566 [1]      1:0    Nial Troughton     1490 [2]  
 3 Stephen Cullen               1610 [1]      1:0    Chris Armstrong    1412 [1]  
 4 Christopher Kelly            1534 [1]      1:0    Adam Rushe         1263 [1]  
 5 Conor Aspell                 1200 [0]      1:0    Ross Halpin        1200 [1]  
 6 Joseph Gunning               1300 [0]      0:1    Bartlomiej Rybicki 877  [0]  

Bartlomiej Rybicki gets a good win against Joseph Gunning. Daniel and Danny draw on the top table. So who wins will be up to one of the other players to score against either Daniel or Danny.

Round 4

Results

No Name               Rtg  Total  Result   Name                         Rtg  Total

 1 Nial Troughton     1490 [2]      0:1    Daniel Diaz-Roncero Gonzalez 1862 [2.5]
 2 Danny Roberts      1799 [2.5]    1:0    Stephen Cullen               1610 [2]  
 3 Christopher Kelly  1534 [2]     .5:.5   Robert Lavery                1566 [2]  
 4 Chris Armstrong    1412 [1]      1:0    Ross Halpin                  1200 [1]  
 5 Bartlomiej Rybicki 877  [1]      0:1    Conor Aspell                 1200 [1]  
 6 Adam Rushe         1263 [1]      1:0    Joseph Gunning               1300 [0]  

At this stage the competition is more open - with both leaders only 1/2 point ahead. But it will take someone to challenge them. They win their round 4 games.

Round 5

Results

No Name                         Rtg  Total  Result   Name               Rtg  Total

 1 Daniel Diaz-Roncero Gonzalez 1862 [3.5]    0:1    Christopher Kelly  1534 [2.5]
 2 Robert Lavery                1566 [2.5]    0:1    Danny Roberts      1799 [3.5]
 3 Conor Aspell                 1200 [2]      0:1    Nial Troughton     1490 [2]  
 4 Adam Rushe                   1263 [2]      0:1    Chris Armstrong    1412 [2]  
 5 Stephen Cullen               1610 [2]      1:0    Joseph Gunning     1300 [0]  
 6 Ross Halpin                  1200 [1]      0:1    Bartlomiej Rybicki 877  [1]  

The last round. Chris Kelly pulls out all the stops and beats Daniel. Danny beats Robert Lavery to win the tournament. Bartlomiej has a good win over Ross Halpin.

Standings

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

  1   Danny Roberts                1799 4.5       9.0  12.5   13.5
 2-3  Daniel Diaz-Roncero Gonzalez 1862 3.5       9.5  16.5   12.5
      Christopher Kelly            1534 3.5       8.0  13.5   10.0
 4-6  Stephen Cullen               1610 3         8.0  12.5    9.0
      Nial Troughton               1490 3         7.5  13.0   10.0
      Chris Armstrong              1412 3         7.0  11.5    7.0
  7   Robert Lavery                1566 2.5      10.0  16.5    9.0
8-10  Adam Rushe                   1263 2         8.0  11.5    6.0
      Conor Aspell                 1200 2         7.5  11.5    5.0
      Bartlomiej Rybicki           877  2         5.0   8.0    4.0
 11   Ross Halpin                  1200 1         7.0  10.5    4.0
 12   Joseph Gunning               1300 0         7.0  12.5    0.0

Winner : Danny Roberts

Second : Daniel Diaz-Roncero Gonzalez

Grading Prize (under 1400) : Adam Rushe

Some great games and positions - not playing means I get to watch alot of the action - exciting stuff.

This is part of a series of 4 competitions. The Alan Burns Grand-Prix.

The remaining tournaments will be held at the Pavilion on:

Alan Burns Grandprix

NICS Lackadaisical #3 14^th April

NICS Lackadaisical #4 12^th May

01:00 PM to 06:00 PM

NICS,Maynard Sinclair Pavilion, Stormont, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast, BT4 3TA

mark.chris.newman@googlemail.com