Belfast & District League 2007-2008
UCU Division 1 2007/08 Preview
With the 2007/08 Belfast & District League now imminent, Chris Millar offers a pre-season outlook on the landscape of Division 1 from a Queen's perspective.
Champions Clifton Claim League Opener
The Belfast & District League sprang back into life this week for the much-anticipated 2007/08 season, with the fixture list drawing together Division 1 Champions Clifton House and Division 2 winners Queen’s University Belfast to kick-off another year of league chess.
Fisherwick Flattened in Demolition Derby
Week 3 of the Belfast & District League season saw QUB host neighbours Fisherwick in a south Belfast derby.
QUB Sink Lagan
After putting title contenders Fisherwick to the sword last round, QUB were looking to add this week's visitors to the PFC, Lagan, to their list of victims. Lagan haven't enjoyed much luck since their relocation and renaming at the start of the season, not least when beaten royally 4.5-0.5 by Fisherwick in week 1. This time they were hoping the return of their board 1, Queen's student Jonathan Brown, would provide the catalyst to a reversal in their fortune. This was not altogether unlikely, considering the unavailability of four QUB players rated above 1750. Gone from the previous fixture's line-up were Karl McPhillips and John Masterson, while in came Damien Lavery and Andrew Higgins.
North Belfast Move Top
The final game in the first round of Division 1 fixtures saw QUB, off the back of two impressive 3.5-1.5 wins at home to Fisherwick and Lagan, travel to North Belfast. North Belfast have been in superb form having already defeated both Fisherwick and Clifton House, but a recent loss against Lagan has provided a blemish to their excellent record. With neither Clifton nor Fisherwick able to do better than two wins and two defeats from their opening matches, each of this game's teams had the opportunity to take the league by the scruff of the neck with a positive result.
Queen's Lead League at Christmas
The final Division 1 fixture of 2007 saw reigning champions Clifton House host QUB. Each team's first round of matches produced a disappointing tally of two wins and two defeats, leaving neither side able to afford any festive generosity to their opponents if they planned to find title-winning form.
League Chess, Back for 2008
Although the QUB Galacticos have to wait until January 30th for a return to league action, both Divisions 1 and 2 of the Belfast & District League are very much back in the swing of things already after the Christmas break. There are certainly no signs of the winter frost enveloping Division 1 especially, which is boiling up into potentially the most intriguing and hard-fought battle for the Silver King in many years.
Strong Lagan lose to lucky Queen's
The Belfast Boat Club - or more specifically the smallest and most cramped room within it - provided the venue for what will quite possibly prove the most peculiar match Ulster League Chess succeeds in producing this season.
Super Tuesday at QUB as Galacticos win Battle of PFC
Having previously defeated the QUB Galacticos on a rain soaked December evening in North Belfast, Stephen Wood's side this time made the return journey south to play the University men on their own patch - the fortress-like Peter Froggatt Centre.
Flawless Queen's Annihilate Fisherwick
Having marked their return to league chess in 2006 with an away fixture at Fisherwick - the infamous "Evil Empire" of Ulster Chess - the 2007/08 team of QUB Galacticos chose the same venue for the scene of their finest league performance since the club's 2005 reformation.
QUB Clinch Consecutive 5-0 to Crush Clifton
As if to emphasise that last week's whitewashing of title rivals Fisherwick was by no means a fluke, QUB decided to pulverise second-placed Clifton House in identical fashion to storm further ahead at the summit of Division 1. Between them, Fisherwick and Clifton House have dominated the highest level of Ulster Chess since 2003. In the past two weeks, however, both have been completely blown away by Queen's and in as emphatic a fashion imaginable. Clifton House may be champions for the last 3 years, but the fresh-faced QUB are setting new standards which have left the best of the rest struggling to cope.
The Empire Strikes Back
The QUB Galacticos entered this season's final league showdown with rivals Fisherwick in mercurial form, recording perfect back-to-back 5-0 victories over this week's opponents and Clifton House.
Queen's Crowned Kings of Ulster Chess
For their season's final league fixture, Queen's University travelled to North Belfast needing just a draw to secure the much-coveted Silver King and title of Ulster Club Champions 2007/08. Previous meetings between the two sides this season have produced a win a-piece for the teams from opposite ends of the city, so another even contest was anticipated.
