Venue NICS,Maynard Sinclair Pavilion, Stormont, Upper Newtownards Road Belfast BT4 3TA
We are in the Large Mac Room please arrive at 7:30pm.
Starting Wednesday 2nd May 2018 and continuing every Wednesday
Apart from a free week : Weds 11th July.
Ending Wednesday 26th September 2018. Prize Giving and mini tournament.
Start Time for the draw 7:30 pm. The aim is to start each round at 7.45 pm sharp.
Format The tournament is flexible – players play whichever nights suit them with pairings being made on the evening. Players are usually paired with opponents within their own grading band but late comers may get a difficult draw or may not be paired – so please be prompt.
Time limit Each player gets 1 hour 30 minutes for the complete game.
Prizes will depend on number of entrants.There will be grading bands, again depending on entrants.
Entry Fee £20. Cheques payable to ‘Ulster Chess Union’.
Entries to Mark Newman, 50 Abbey Mount, Bangor, BT20 4DB. Telephone 07872544868. email: mark.chris.newman@googlemail.com
Rules
1. Players must complete 10 games to be considered for prizes.
2. If a player does not play in two of the last three rounds they will be assumed to have played and lost 2 games. If they play only one then they will forfeit one game.
3. However if a player has played 14 or more games then they are exempt from rule 2.
4. Scores will be calculated on a percentage basis.
Controller Mark Newman
]]>Format: The number of rounds and sections will be determined on the day depending on turnout. There are expected to be between 15-20 rounds!
Entry Fee: £10
Time Control: 3 minutes per player with a 2 sec increment
Registration: 11.00
Prizes: Prize fund will be formulated and published on the day.
Contact: For any enquiries or to enter contact td@ulsterchess.org or telephone 07796172227
We hope to see you there in what promises to be a fun day of chess for all!
]]>Format: 6 Round Swiss. Open to players of all abilities.
Entry Fee: £10
Time Control: 25 minutes per player for all moves
Timetable: All 6 rounds played on Saturday 22nd November 2014. Registration is on the morning of the event at 10.30.
Sections: To be decided on the day depending on turnout
Prizes: The prize fund will be formulated and published on the day of the tournament.
Contact: For any enquiries or to enter contact td@ulsterchess.org or telephone 07796172227
Tournament Director: Ross Harris
]]>Format: 6 Round Swiss
Entry Fee: £15 (£12 if made prior to Wednesday 15th October 2014)
Time Control: 70 mins per player with 30 sec increment.
Timetable: Games played on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th October 2014
Registration: 09.30 Sat 18th
Round 1: 10.00 - 13.00 Sat 18th
Round 2: 14.00 - 17.00 Sat 18th
Round 3: 18.00 - 21.00 Sat 18th
Round 4: 10.00 - 13.00 Sun 19th
Round 5: 14.00 - 17.00 Sun 19th
Round 6: 18.00 - 21.00 Sun 19th
Sections: To be decided on Day 1 depending on turnout
Prizes: Prize fund will be formulated and published on Day 1
Contact: For any enquiries or to enter contact td@ulsterchess.org or telephone 07796172227
Tournament Director: Ross Harris
]]>The centenary edition of this ever popular chess tournament will be held over the weekend of 3rd-4th March at the Maynard Sinclair Pavilion in the grounds of the Civil Service Club, Stormont.
Format: 6 rounds. 3 rounds per day, commencing at 10am, 2pm and 6pm. Lunch break 1-2pm. Evening break 5-6pm.
Time controls: 90 mins per player per game. Allegro finish.
Entry fee: £12 (or £10 if entry received by Thursday 1st March). FREE to titled players (GM, IM, FM) all players under the age of 18, and any players new to Ulster Chess events.
Prize Fund: Guaranteed £250 minimum including grading prizes.
All welcome. We look forward to seeing you there to celebrate 100 years of the Williamson Shield.
]]>Marking a profitable return to the Belfast chess scene was the second place prize winner Semyon Mkrtchyan (1977). With the exception of a half-point dropped to Freeman in the second round, Mkrtchyan could do no wrong and finished with 4.5/5. Semyon played strongly and enjoyed the breaks at just the right time too, winning in the last round despite a hopelessly lost position - only awarded the final crucial win virtue of his sole remaining pawn and opponent's fallen flag.
On the day, it just wasn't to be for the strongest Belfast players competing. Ulster and Belfast Champion Steve Scannell lost momentum with a defeat against Steve Morgan and, after an unforgivingly tough draw, wasn't to recover. Morgan himself was left frustrated in round 3, following up his win over Scannell by losing a king and pawn endgame to William Storey (1315). Nevertheless, Morgan was to finish level with Fisherwick's John Bradley on 4/5 as the top finishing Ulster players.
The best under 1600 player in the tournament was another southern-based competitor, Steve Stokes of Bray Chess Club. The Greystones man - through his work driving forward the Irish University Chess Association in recent years - is certainly no stranger to chess in Queen's. Stokes' prize was extremely well-earned, with the 1537-rated player facing higher-seeded players in 4 of his 5 matches yet going through the entire tournament unbeaten. The highlight of Steve's tournament perhaps came in the 4th round, where he drew against the 2006 joint Ulster Champion, Michael Waters.
At least one prize was gained by a locally-based player, with Ismail Haji Jaya winning the award for the best ungraded player. Ismail's lack of competitive experience certainly didn't show, winning against more battle-hardened opponent's such as Chris Armstrong of the Lagan Chess Club on his way to an impressive 3.5/5 points tally.
Also deserving of note was the performance of the young Gupta siblings, who are currently the most precocious prodigies in Ulster Chess. Radhika and Raghav, both primary school pupils, each recorded wins and amazed all of the participants with their remarkable talent and all-too-evident potential to develop into extremely strong players. Hopefully such experience as this will be another step in nurturing their natural flair for the game.
There was also a very encouraging turnout of Queen's students enjoying their first taste of competitive chess. A superb total of 17 QUB players in all participated, reflecting the growing size of the club and all-round increase in chess interest at the University.
In conclusion, the 2008 edition of the QUB Rapid sees the expansion of the tournament begin to accelerate. Even bigger and better things are already being planned for next year. As the QUB Chess Club continues to move from strength-to-strength, the club's annual tournament will do so along with it.
The full final standings, more pics and video content are available here:
]]>]]>
The event itself was a close one with Messrs Scannell, Annesley and Lavery - 3 heavyweights in this fastplay version of the game being the main competitors for the honour of 1st place. Annesley - the tournament winner - was forced to win the tournament from behind as his only slip occurred early on in round 2 to Lavery. Scannell - the outstanding favourite - was held to a draw in round 4 by Lavery and a 5th round defeat by Annesley all but ended his hopes. Lavery who was tied for the lead heading into the last round was beaten by Calum Leitch which resulted in both players' finishing in joint third place and ended Lavery's first place aspirations. This result paved the way for Annesley to win the tournament outright and once again to demonstrate the good form he showed at the end of last season.
Another Strong performance came from Anandagopal Srinivasan who picked up the u1500 grading prize.
1st Gareth Annesley 5/6
2nd Stephen Scannell 4.5/6
3rd= Damien Lavery & Calum Leitch 4/6
Grading Prize (U1500) Ananda Srinivasan 4/6