Synchronicity in Belfast

On Thursday 16th February 2017 English GM Mark Hebden, en route to the super-weekender at Bunratty in County Clare, provided the opposition for 31 Ulster players at the now well-established annual grandmaster simultaneous exhibition at Belfast Inst in College Square East.

One of Hebden's three losses was to Mikhail Pavlov and Brendan Jamison was on hand to capture the precise moment that the GM realised he was in trouble. If you enlarge the picture you can see the mixture of surprise and consternation as Hebden sees his Bishop attacked by a pawn and with nowhere safe to go.

The circumstances that the modern GM simul-giver found himself in reminded me of a game played nearly a hundred years earlier in another simultaneous exhibition. Less than a year and a half before he became World Champion, Cuban superstar José Raúl Capablanca was in Belfast, facing 39 amateur players in simultaneous play at the Clarence Place Hall, May Street.

[Event "simul x 39"] [Site "Belfast"] [Date "1919.12.10"] [Round "?"] [White "Capablanca, Jose Raul"] [Black "Allen, William John"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A53"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "1919.12.10"] [EventType "simul"] [EventCountry "IRL"] [SourceTitle "Ulster Archive"] [Source "David McAlister"] [SourceDate "2008.03.19"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nc3 Nbd7 4. e3 e5 5. Bd3 g6 6. f4 Bg7 7. Nge2 O-O 8. O-O Qe7 9. Qc2 (9. f5 {is the usual move, which Black now prevents by threatening to advance the e-pawn.}) 9... Re8 10. fxe5 dxe5 11. d5 {White evidently did not want to allow exd4, and overlooked for the moment the Bishop's danger.} e4 12. Nd4 exd3 13. Qxd3 Ne5 14. Qe2 Bg4 15. Nf3 Rad8 16. e4 {Giving up an other pawn for the sake of getting the Queen's Bishop into play.} Qc5+ 17. Be3 Qxc4 18. Qf2 Qa6 ({A weak move, which loses the exchange. Black was considering} 18... Nxe4 {but had not satisfied himself about its soundness when Capablanca returned to his board.It would probably have turned out well, for if then} 19. Nxe5 Rxe5 20. Qxf7+ Kh8 {with the possibility of Rf8 to follow.}) (18... Nd3 { was also available.}) 19. Nxe5 Rxe5 20. Bd4 Rde8 21. h3 Bd7 22. Bxe5 Rxe5 23. Qf4 Qd6 24. Rac1 Qe7 25. b3 c6 26. Kh1 Qe8 27. Qf2 a6 28. Qb6 Qc8 29. Qf2 Bxh3 {The sacrifice is hardly good enough. Black should have played to win one of the centre pawns instead.} 30. gxh3 Qxh3+ 31. Qh2 Qxh2+ 32. Kxh2 Rh5+ 33. Kg2 cxd5 34. exd5 Nxd5 35. Nxd5 Rxd5 36. Rc7 Rd2+ 37. Kh1 Rh2+ (37... f5 {followed by Rxa2 would have lost very quickly.}) 38. Kxh2 Be5+ 39. Kg2 Bxc7 40. Rd1 Be5 41. Rd7 b6 42. Kf3 Kg7 (42... a5 {seems best here.}) 43. Ke4 Bh2 ({And this is fatal.} 43... Bg3 {was necessary if Black was to hold his Queen side pawns.}) 44. b4 Bg3 45. Ra7 Bf2 46. Rxa6 f5+ 47. Kf3 Bd4 48. a4 g5 49. a5 bxa5 50. bxa5 h5 51. Rd6 {The Bishop is now forced to leave the diagonal, and White ultimately Queens his pawn.} Be5 52. Rd5 g4+ 53. Kg2 Kf6 54. Rxe5 {and White won.} 1-0

The game and annotations were sourced from the Belfast News-Letter chess column for 18th December 1919. W.J. Allen was the editor of the column, so it is highly likely that these are his own notes to the game.

A full report on Capablanca's visit to Belfast can be found in our 1919 page.

Double Monster Simul Match

Good Shepherd Centre, Ormeau Road, Belfast 
February 24, 2017 

Brendan Jamison reports

The Double Monster Simul Match saw Mikhail Pavlov (1766) and Brendan Jamison (1743) go into battle against 11 different players. Brendan’s red team faced the Russian opera star; meanwhile Mikhail’s blue team duelled with the sugar cube sculptor.

Zooming about on their wheelie chairs, it was an exciting night where every point would count to decide the winner of the match. Lots of delicious refreshments were also on hand to distract the players from their games! A total of £120 was raised for the worthwhile cause of funding three children to fly to Russia in August for a 4 day chess match between Saint Petersburg and Belfast.

Group view

After 3 hours of continuous play, Pavlov won an impressive 8 games, drawing only one against Richard Gould who collected a silver medal award and losing two games to Ross Harris and Daniil Zelenchuk, both of whom won gold medals. The certificate for ‘last man standing’ [L.M.S.] went to Dmitry Zelenchuk. Pavlov’s total score was an incredible 8.5 points out of 11.

Meanwhile on the other side of the room, Jamison picked up 7 wins but drew three games against Mark Newman, Michael Sheerin and Robert Lavery, with all three scooping silver medals. He lost one game to Ram Rajan who won a gold medal for his victory. The certificate for ‘last man standing’ went to Adrian Dornford-Smith for lasting 77 moves. Jamison’s total was also 8.5 points out of 11. And so, after all the intensity of concentration, the high energy leg work to wheel their chairs at high speed around the room, their total focus and dedication in each game, in the end, the two monsters finished equal! Instead of playing a blitz-off, they agreed to share the trophy and were happy to remain ‘Joint-Champions of the Monster Double Simul Match’! A sincere thanks to everyone who participated, the evening was lots of fun and everyone really enjoyed the buzz!

Group view of participants

You can find a fuller report with detailed results and a shedload of photographs at Brendan's own website Chess Northern Ireland.

The return of the Ulster Chess Chronicle

In 1999, to provide an internet presence for chess in Northern Ireland, I started a website called the Ulster Chess Chronicle. It was a mix of chess results, news, articles and history. It also included the official webpages of the Ulster Chess Union.

After the UCU set up its own website in 2004, I still continued with the Chronicle but on a reduced scale. A couple of years after that I decided to start this blog which allowed me to put a more personal slant on things. When the service provider for the Ulster Chess Chronicle discontinued its service in 2014, I moved the contemporary results & reports and articles to NI Chess News.

I've now re-started the history part at a renewed Ulster Chess Chronicle. There will be brand new posts on the history of Ulster chess, but my intention is also to incorporate, albeit re-formatted and often with additions and revisions, all the old material.

Good results for NI players in Bunratty

We have already reported on Mikhail Pavlov's victory in the Challengers. I would have gone as far as describing it as "brilliant" but apparently the UCU website has copyrighted that word😃

However that was far from the only prize taken home by the Northern contingent. The rapidly improving Rian Mellotte won third prize in the Minor, there were grading prizes for Daniil Zelenchuk and John Phillips in the Major and also for Tyrone Winter in the Minor.

Brendan Jamison over at Chess Northern Ireland has a complete rundown on how the Ulster players got on.

Pavlov wins Bunratty Challengers

After his Round 5 victory, the subject of our previous post, Mikhail Pavlov was in second place on his own and a half-point behind leader Don Short. The result in the their Round 6 game would decide the overall winner - Short only needed a draw whereas Pavlov needed a win.

Just like Round 5, Pavlov went for a sacrificial opening line - this time the Albin Counter Gambit - and once again play got complicated. Here's how the game went.

[Event "Bunratty Challengers"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.02.19"] [Round "6.1"] [White "Short, Don"] [Black "Pavlov, Mikhail"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D08"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:52:33"] [BlackClock "0:03:26"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 d4 4. a3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Nbd2 Qe7 7. Qa4 O-O-O 8. b4 Kb8 9. Qb3 Nxe5 10. Nxe5 Qxe5 11. Bb2 f5 12. O-O-O Nf6 13. Nf3 Qe8 14. Rxd4 Ne4 15. h3 Nxf2 16. Rg1 Bh5 17. g4 Rxd4 18. Bxd4 fxg4 19. hxg4 Nxg4 20. Bh3 Nf6 21. Qb2 Qe4 22. Ng5 Qh4 23. e3 h6 24. Bxf6 hxg5 25. Bxg7 Qxh3 26. Bxh8 Qxe3+ 27. Qd2 Qxg1+ 28. Kb2 Kc8 29. Bf6 Qd1 30. Qxg5 Bf7 31. Qf5+ Kb8 32. Bc3 Qe2+ 33. Ka1 Qxc4 0-1

Congratulations to Mikhail on his victory. His only draw came in Round 1 against his fellow Northern raider, Sergio Esteve Sanchez. Sergio followed up with two more draws before storming home with three straight wins to finish tied fifth. Here's that Round 1 encounter.

[Event "Bunratty Challengers"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.02.17"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Esteve Sanchez, Sergio"] [Black "Pavlov, Mikhail"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A01"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:31:24"] [BlackClock "0:14:09"] 1. b3 e5 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bd6 5. Na3 a6 6. Bxc6 bxc6 7. Nc4 O-O 8. Ne2 Re8 9. Ng3 e4 10. Nxd6 cxd6 11. f3 d5 12. O-O d6 13. fxe4 Nxe4 14. Nxe4 Rxe4 15. Qh5 Qe7 16. Rf4 Rxf4 17. exf4 Bb7 18. Qf3 f6 19. d3 c5 20. Qf2 d4 21. Re1 Qf7 22. Bc1 Qd7 23. Qe2 Bd5 24. Bd2 Rb8 25. a4 Bc6 26. Ba5 Qf7 27. Qe6 Re8 28. Qxf7+ Kxf7 29. Rxe8 Bxe8 30. Kf2 h5 31. Bb6 Ke6 32. Bc7 h4 33. a5 Bh5 34. Ke1 Bg4 35. Kd2 Kd5 36. Bb6 Bh5 37. Bc7 Bg6 38. Bb6 1/2-1/2

Reboot

At the beginning of the new millennium, I started a website called the Ulster Chess Chronicle. It was a mix of chess results, news, articles and history. More recently I hived off the news into another blog, NI Chess News.

I've now decided to reboot the history part here. Like any re-imaging, it will look and feel a bit different from the original. The main change is the Chronology section, which will be a year-by-year account of over 100 years of Ulster chess up to the end of the 20th Century,

My present intention is to incorporate all the old material here. However my research into these topics is continuing and the material will often appear in a revised form and dealt with in greater depth. Also I will take the opportunity to present brand new material on the history of Ulster chess.

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.