Sunday morning slugfest in Bunratty

Northern Ireland's adopted son Mikhail Pavlov, on 3.5 points out of 4, was on the live boards in Round 5 of the Challengers. The Russian opera singer was already fine tuned for his 9.15am (!!) start. In typically enterprising style he essayed the Morra Gambit and brought off a sparkling win.

[Event "Bunratty Challengers"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.02.19"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Pavlov, Mikail"] [Black "Mirza, Diana"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B21"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:01:59"] [BlackClock "0:32:36"] 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nxc3 Nc6 5. Bc4 d6 6. Nf3 a6 7. O-O Nf6 8. Bf4 Bg4 9. h3 Bh5 10. g4 Bg6 11. Nh4 e6 12. Re1 Ne5 13. Bb3 Nxe4 14. Ba4+ Nc6 ( {I suspect that after} 14... b5 {we would have seen} 15. Nxb5 axb5 16. Bxb5+) 15. Nxe4 Bxe4 16. Rxe4 d5 ({Probably best here is} 16... Qxh4 {but after} 17. Rc1 Rc8 18. Bxc6+ bxc6 19. Rxc6 $1 Rxc6 20. Qa4 Qd8 21. Qxc6+ Qd7 22. Qxa6 { White must have good winning chances.}) 17. Re2 b5 ({Now if} 17... Qxh4 { White has} 18. Qxd5 {exploiting the pin along the e-file.}) 18. Rc1 Nb4 19. Nf5 $1 g6 20. Nd4 Bg7 ({After} 20... bxa4 {now} 21. Rc7 {threatening Qxa4+ looks very strong.}) 21. Nxe6 fxe6 22. Rxe6+ Kf7 23. Rd6 Qe7 24. Bb3 Rad8 25. Bxd5+ { The computer tells me there's a forced checkmate from here.} Kf8 26. Qf3 Bf6 27. Rxf6+ Qxf6 28. Bh6+ 1-0

Large contingent at Bunratty Festival

The Bunratty International Chess Festival is now firmly established as Ireland's biggest weekender. This year over 300 players are competing in the four sections. In recent years more and more Northern Ireland players are making the journey to County Clare.

According to Brendan Jamison's new Chess Northern Ireland website 36 local players are in the lists. If you want an easy way to find out how they are doing, Brendan has a dedicated page following their progress.

For an overview of the whole tournament action then go to the organisers' own website or the Irish Chess Union page on the event. At both you'll get all the round-by-round results, standings and also 7 "Live Boards", 3 from the Masters, 2 from the Challengers and one each from the Major and Minor.

In Round 1 young Ballynafeigh CC player Daniil Zelenchuk featured in the live transmission when he was facing the top seed in the Major. Daniil was clearly unfazed by the experience, winning with the Black pieces and still having more than an hour on his clock at the end.

[Event "Bunratty Major"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.02.17"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Smith, Jonathan"] [Black "Zelenchuk, Daniil"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D71"] [PlyCount "92"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteClock "1:10:52"] [BlackClock "0:08:04"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. Nf3 d6 6. O-O c6 7. Nc3 Bd7 8. e4 a5 9. Qd3 Na6 10. a3 Rb8 11. h3 Qc8 12. Kh2 b5 13. cxb5 cxb5 14. Be3 b4 15. axb4 axb4 16. Qxa6 Qxa6 17. Rxa6 bxc3 18. bxc3 Bb5 19. Ra7 Bxf1 20. Bxf1 e6 21. Nd2 Rfc8 22. c4 Ne8 23. Kg2 Nc7 24. Ra5 Kf8 25. f4 Rb2 26. e5 dxe5 27. dxe5 Rd8 28. Kf3 Rbxd2 29. Bxd2 Rxd2 30. Rc5 Rd7 31. Rc6 f6 32. Rd6 Rf7 33. exf6 Bxf6 34. Ke4 Be7 35. Rd7 Bc5 36. Rxf7+ Kxf7 37. g4 Ne8 38. f5 Nd6+ 39. Ke5 gxf5 40. gxf5 Nxf5 41. Bd3 Bd4+ 42. Kf4 Kf6 43. Ke4 Bc5 44. Kf4 h5 45. Be2 Bd6+ 46. Kf3 Nd4+ 0-1

Forthcoming events page

I have added a new page to publicise future events in the local chess calendar. You can access it by clicking on the "Forthcoming Events" button in the crossbar above.

It seems to be a good time to start this listings service as March promises to have a feast of quick-play chess to savour. On Saturday 4th March Chess NI (no relation!) is organising a Belfast Blitz and Bullet Championships at the ground floor conference room of the Good Shepherd Centre, 511 Ormeau Road.

The very next day the NI Civil Service Chess Club is running the second of this season's Rapidplays in the Alan Burns Grand Prix - that takes place in the Maynard Sinclair Pavilion, Stormont.

You then have two weeks to catch you breath before the UCU Rapidplay on Sunday 19th March in the Belfast Room of the Ulster Museum.

I'll also mention here two events taking place in February featuring simultaneous play. These both have maximum numbers for participants and may already be "full up" so I haven't put them on the new page. However, in case it's not too late to get on board with these events, below are the links to the organisers' webpages:

• Mark Hebden GM Simultaneous: Thursday 16 February
• Monster Double Simul Match - Pavlov v Jamison: Friday 24 February 

Ross Harris 24 hour Chess-A-Thon

Starting at 8am on Saturday 11th February and continuing right through the night until 8am on Sunday 12th, Ross Harris took on all-comers in a non-stop 24 hour "Chess-a-thon". In doing so he has raised over £500 for a new children's chess club at Strand Arts Centre in East Belfast.

There's a report by Brendan Jamison at the UCU website that provides the context for this prodigious effort. I caught some of the action at various times on the Saturday and managed to download a couple of games from the UCU Live transmission.

On the Saturday morning Ross got the better of Brendan Jamison after a capture threatened a mate in two. Brendan managed to bailout into an inferior ending but Ross's technique was up to the task.

[Event "24 hour Chess-A-Thon"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.02.11"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Jamison, Brendan"] [Black "Harris, Ross"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A45"] [PlyCount "108"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 e6 3. e3 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nd2 Bd6 7. Bg3 O-O 8. Ngf3 Re8 9. Ne5 Qc7 10. Ndf3 h6 11. h4 Ne4 12. Bf4 cxd4 13. exd4 f6 14. Nxc6 Bxf4 15. Nb4 a5 16. Nc2 Bd7 17. Ne3 Bxe3 18. Bxe4 (18. fxe3 Qg3+ 19. Ke2 Qf2#) 18... Bxf2+ 19. Kxf2 dxe4 20. Nd2 Qf4+ 21. Kg1 Bb5 22. c4 $2 e3 23. Nf3 Bxc4 24. Qc2 Bd5 25. Rh3 Bxf3 26. Rxf3 Qxd4 27. Qe2 Qd2 28. Rxe3 Qxe2 29. Rxe2 e5 30. Rc1 Rac8 31. Rec2 Rxc2 32. Rxc2 Kf7 33. Kf2 Kg6 34. Rc5 b6 35. Rb5 Re6 36. g4 Rc6 37. Ke3 Kf7 38. g5 hxg5 39. hxg5 Ke6 40. gxf6 gxf6 41. b4 axb4 42. Rxb4 f5 43. a4 Kf6 44. Kf3 Kg5 45. Rb5 e4+ 46. Ke3 Rc4 47. Rxb6 Rxa4 48. Rb8 f4+ 49. Kf2 Ra2+ 50. Ke1 f3 51. Rf8 Kg4 52. Rf7 Kg3 53. Rg7+ Kf4 54. Rf7+ Ke3 0-1

Screen grab from UCU Live of Jamison-Harris

On Saturday evening Ross faced off against Ulster Champion Stephen Rush and I managed to catch this well-played effort that ended in a draw.

[Event "24 hour Chess-A-Thon"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.02.11"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Harris, Ross"] [Black "Rush, Stephen"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A40"] [PlyCount "92"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 c5 4. c3 Be7 5. h3 b6 6. e3 O-O 7. Nbd2 d5 8. Bd3 Ba6 9. Qe2 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 Nc6 11. O-O Qd7 12. a4 Rfc8 13. Ne5 Qb7 14. Nxc6 Qxc6 15. Qb5 a6 16. Qxc6 Rxc6 17. Nf3 Rcc8 18. Ne5 h6 19. f3 b5 20. axb5 axb5 21. Nd3 c4 22. Ne5 Kf8 23. Kf2 Ke8 24. Ng4 Nxg4+ 25. hxg4 b4 26. e4 Kd7 27. exd5 exd5 28. Rfe1 Bf6 29. Be5 b3 30. Bxf6 gxf6 31. Rxa8 Rxa8 32. Kg3 Ra2 33. Re2 Ra1 34. f4 Rc1 35. Kf3 Rf1+ 36. Kg3 Kd6 37. f5 Kd7 38. Re3 Rd1 39. Re2 Rh1 40. Kf3 h5 41. gxh5 Rxh5 42. Kg4 Rh1 43. Kf3 Rf1+ 44. Rf2 Rc1 45. Re2 Rc2 46. Kf2 Rc1 1/2-1/2

QUB Tourney final standings and prizewinners

Childreach International Chess Tournament
Students Union, Queen's University, Belfast,
3-5 February 2017

Prizewinners (from l to r) Rajan, Mellotte, Rodriguez, Lavery, Doak, Jamison, Newman

Final standings

Rank Player            Rtg  Points Prize 

1    Brendan Jamison   1743   5.0  Champion
2    Mark Newman       1724   4.5  2nd Senior
3    Clark Rodriguez   ----   4.0  Junior Champion
4    Edward Doak       1362   4.0  Intermediate Champion
5    Ram Rajan         1368   3.5  2nd Intermediate
6    Daniil Zelenchuk  1260   3.5  3rd Intermediate
7    Robert Lavery     1649   3.5  3rd Senior
8    Rian Mellotte      987   3.0  2nd Junior
9    Dmitry Zelenchuk  1223   3.0
10   Martin Kelly      1416   2.5
11   Utkarsh Gupta     1490   2.5
12   John McKenna      1510   2.5
13   Tyrone Winter      944   2.5  3rd Junior
14   Geoff Hindley     1040   2.0
15   Bhudhav Singh      624   2.0
16   Jasper Ramsey      835   1.5
17   Rhys McLean        692   1.0
18   Ben Campbell      1010   1.0

Rian Mellotte also received a "Giant Slayer" certificate
for his win against John McKenna

Brendan Jamison, the overall winner receiving his prize from Mark Newman

Edward Doak - Intermediate Champion

Clark Rodriguez - Junior Champion

Mark Newman had presented all the prizes on behalf of the organisers. Mark also played in the tournament and finished second in the Senior section. Someone else would have to award this prize and it appears QUB CC Treasurer, Ben Campbell stepped up to handle the formalities. As reported on the QUB CC Facebook page, Ben is taking part in a Childreach project in Nepal in the near future that focuses its efforts to fight child trafficking. He is heading out to work with the kids and also climb part of Mount Everest as a challenge to raise further funds for the charity. Below is the moment where Mark learns that his prize is to accompany Ben on the climb up Everest.😈

Gotcha!

Click on the images for larger versions

Thanks again to Brendan Jamison for his help with photographs and results

Final round pairings from QUB tourney

Play underway in Round 6

QUB Charity Tournament

The QUB Chess Club are organising a tournament new to the calendar this weekend. Round 1 was on Friday night (3rd February) with three rounds following on Saturday. The tournament finishes with morning and afternoon rounds today.

The event is being held to help the Childreach International charity and £200 has been raised. Traditional money prizes are not being offered, but the overall victor and the Intermediate (under 1500) and Junior (under 1200) prizewinners will all receive a free entry to the Mark Hebden GM Simultaneous, being held at RBAI later this month.

Round 1 action (Photo courtesy of Brendan Jamison)

A study in concentration from Round 1 (Photo courtesy of Brendan Jamison)

Going into the final day, top seed Brendan Jamison leads with 3.5 points but there is still plenty to play for as the Pairings for Round 5 show.

My thanks to Brendan Jamison for sending me reports on the tournament. Hopefully I will have more to post late Sunday or some time on Monday.

Williamson Shield Day 2

At the end of Day 1 Gareth Annesley had enjoyed a full-point lead over his six nearest pursuers. However that buffer zone disappeared when he lost to Nicholas Pilkiewicz in the Sunday morning round.

Annesley got back on track with a win over WFM Karina Kruk in Round 5 and going into the final round he was joined on 4 points by Pilkiewicz and John McKenna, Only these three could still win the Shield. 

Pilkiewicz had already played his two joint-leaders, so he floated down to play Kruk in Round 6. Their game ended in a draw and Annesley's win against McKenna gained Gareth his fourth Williamson Sheld title.

Final crosstable

No Name                  Rtg  Club          Total  1    2    3    4    5    6  

1  Gareth Annesley       1908 Muldoons      5      7:W  6:W  5:W  2:L  4:W  3:W
2  Nicholas Pilkiewicz   1847 Muldoons      4.5    8:W  9:D  3:D  1:W  7:W  4:D
3  John McKenna          1510 Belfast South 4     14:W  4:D  2:D  6:W  5:W  1:L
4  Karina Kruk           1646 Ballynafeigh  3.5   12:W  3:D  9:D  8:W  1:L  2:D
5  Mikhail Pavlov        1766 Ballynafeigh  3.5   11:W 10:W  1:L  9:W  3:L  8:D
6  Richard Gould         1536 Belfast South 3.5   16:W  1:L  7:D  3:L  0:W 12:W
7  Modestas Razbadauskas 1346               3.5    1:L 16:W  6:D 12:W  2:L  9:W
8  Patrick McKillen      1334 Muldoons      3.5    2:L 13:W 10:W  4:L 14:W  5:D
9  Robert Lavery         1649 Ballynafeigh  3     13:W  2:D  4:D  5:L 10:W  7:L
10 John Phillips         1392 Enniskillen   3     15:W  5:L  8:L 11:W  9:L 16:W
11 Gary Johnston         1275 Bangor        3      5:L 15:W 12:L 10:L 16:W 14:W
12 Roy Stafford          1243               2.5    4:L 14:D 11:W  7:L 13:W  6:L
13 Adrian Dornford-Smith 1155 NICS          2.5    9:L  8:L 14:D 16:W 12:L  0:W
14 Vincent O'Brien        955 Ballynafeigh  2      3:L 12:D 13:D 15:W  8:L 11:L
15 Rhys McLean            692 Ballynafeigh  1     10:L 11:L  0:W 14:L  0:   0: 
16 Geoff Hindley         1040 NICS          .5     6:L  7:L  0:D 13:L 11:L 10:L

Numbers down at Williamson Shield

Recent editions of the Williamson Shield have been very well attended but this year's renewal has run into something of a perfect storm. The Williamson is clashing with the Gonzaga Classic - while I think this has happened before, this time the marketing onslaught for the Dublin event has launched it into a different league. At least five local players decided to head south to see what all the fuss is about.

Perhaps even more significant for the Williamson numbers is that running next weekend is another local six-round Swiss, new to the calendar - a charity event run by the burgeoning QUB Chess Club. It will be interesting to see how many turn out for this newcomer.

Two former winners of the famous Shield, Gareth Annesley (2009, 2014, 2016) and Nicholas Pilkiewicz (2000), are competing again this year. After close of play on Day 1 Gareth was leading after three straight wins. Six players share second place, a full point behind. The UCU live pages should have regular updates

Your correspondent had time for a couple of friendly quickplay games with Brendan Jamison before taking these photographs of the Round 3 action.

Nicholas Pilkiewicz

John McKenna

Razbadauskas (White) -v Gould

Dornford-Smith (White) -v- O'Brien

Curiosity killed the cat

On the Ballynafeigh CC website, its "Off The Chest" page has a rather curious comment from "Baseball" which is date-stamped December 23, 2016 at 22:07.

However will we make the tea now?

The comment did not seem to refer to anything further up the page and to date there have been no further comments of any nature at "Off The Chest". Of course, sometimes late at night people say the strangest things on social media, even people about to obtain very high office. Still, "Baseball", whoever they might be 😕, usually seems to be someone out to make a point. So was there something of significance behind the comment? Oh, it is irritating when you are outside the loop.

Anyway,  I was researching for a future blog post about ratings (coming soon to this blog) when I came across, on another emanation of Ballynafeigh chess, something that might resolve the issue of the curious comment.

That "something" was that two members of the UCU Board, the Chairperson of Code of Conduct Committee, Brendan Jamison and National Arbiter, Richard Gould had both resigned on 21 December 2016. As far as I can see, there is nothing to confirm this on the official UCU website but as the news of the resignations appears on the emanation hosted by Brendan Jamison, I dare say this is reliable information.

This out of the loop cat is still curious.