Ballynafeigh Chess Club are running some rapidplay tournaments over the summer at their clubroom on Tuesday evenings. Planned schedule is to have one a month. Damien Cunningham has modestly christened this addition to the local chess calendar as the Ballynafeigh Super Series.
I'm going to be controlling at the first one on Tuesday 22nd May. There will be five rounds, 15 minutes each player per game. Players need to be there by 7.30 pm and the whole thing should be wrapped up by 11.00pm. I'm reliably informed places are going fast and there's already a good field entered for the series opener, so if you're thinking of playing get in touch pronto with Damien - his contact details are at the Ballynafeigh CC website.
Thursday, 17 May 2012
Monday, 5 March 2012
Waters wins Williamson centenary edition
Michael Waters continued his right vein of form to win the 2012 Williamson Shield, 100 years on from its first edition. Crucial to his overall victory was a round 5 win over nine-time Williamson champion, Stephen Scannell. Waters went into the game with full points from his previous four games, with Scannell a half-point behind after taking a half-point bye on Saturday night. Waters with the Black pieces was content with a draw but was clever enough to offer the possibility of a pawn race between rival a- and h-pawns in a bishop and 4-pawn endgame. Scannell decided to grasp the opportunity to leap-frog his main rival for the title and played a move which looking like forcing Waters to give up his bishop to prevent the White a-pawn queening. But Waters countered immediately with a push of his h-pawn - he could afford to let his bishop go because now his pawn would queen first. Scannell immediately resigned.
Waters eventually finished with 5.5 points out of 6 after drawing with Danny Mallaghan, the only person who could still catch him, in the final round. That draw looked like securing Mallaghan one of the minor prizes; he had 4.5 points along with Ian Woodfield, who emerged the winner from a short but brutal battle with third-seed Gareth Annesley in the last round. The only other players who could reach 4.5 were Scannell and Callum Ormerod. They were paired against each other and their game looked a certain draw from the time quite early in the game that a Queen and 5-pawn ending was reached. There were no obvious weaknesses to exploit or breakthroughs to make so it looked like the only thing Mallaghan and Woodfield had to worry about was who took second and who took third on tie-break.
However Scannell still had ambitions to make the prize-list and decided to try to tease out a win. The inexperienced Ormerod showed he had very strong nerves, worthy of a seasoned campaigner, and after a lot of careful manoeuvring, Scannell decided to take a very big risk to create complications, but in reality all he was doing was signing his own death warrant. Ormerod snaffled up the full-point to join those on 4.5. When the tie-break standings were calculated, it turned out that Ormerod was second, Woodfield third and despite his draw with the centenary champion, Mallaghan was remarkably out of the prizes.
Ross Harris won the 1300-1600 grading prize. Along the way he drew with the much higher- rated Mallaghan and Annesley and finished off his weekend by beating early pace-setter Damien Cunningham. Harris has just broken through the 1500 barrier and looks to be making strong strides towards 1600. He has the makings of a strong Intermediate player if he can continue to progress at his current rate. Raymond Smith took the under 1300 Grading Prize. Smith is one of those players who seems to raise his game against higher-rated opposition and he played a strong field in reaching 3.5 to win his prize on tie-break from the unlucky Gary Johnston.
Waters eventually finished with 5.5 points out of 6 after drawing with Danny Mallaghan, the only person who could still catch him, in the final round. That draw looked like securing Mallaghan one of the minor prizes; he had 4.5 points along with Ian Woodfield, who emerged the winner from a short but brutal battle with third-seed Gareth Annesley in the last round. The only other players who could reach 4.5 were Scannell and Callum Ormerod. They were paired against each other and their game looked a certain draw from the time quite early in the game that a Queen and 5-pawn ending was reached. There were no obvious weaknesses to exploit or breakthroughs to make so it looked like the only thing Mallaghan and Woodfield had to worry about was who took second and who took third on tie-break.
However Scannell still had ambitions to make the prize-list and decided to try to tease out a win. The inexperienced Ormerod showed he had very strong nerves, worthy of a seasoned campaigner, and after a lot of careful manoeuvring, Scannell decided to take a very big risk to create complications, but in reality all he was doing was signing his own death warrant. Ormerod snaffled up the full-point to join those on 4.5. When the tie-break standings were calculated, it turned out that Ormerod was second, Woodfield third and despite his draw with the centenary champion, Mallaghan was remarkably out of the prizes.
Ross Harris won the 1300-1600 grading prize. Along the way he drew with the much higher- rated Mallaghan and Annesley and finished off his weekend by beating early pace-setter Damien Cunningham. Harris has just broken through the 1500 barrier and looks to be making strong strides towards 1600. He has the makings of a strong Intermediate player if he can continue to progress at his current rate. Raymond Smith took the under 1300 Grading Prize. Smith is one of those players who seems to raise his game against higher-rated opposition and he played a strong field in reaching 3.5 to win his prize on tie-break from the unlucky Gary Johnston.
Thursday, 23 February 2012
Williamson Shield in early March
This year's Williamson Shield is a about a month later than usual. A few scheduling difficulties have pushed it back to the first weekend in March, but it's at its normal venue - the Maynard Sinclair Pavilion. You can find more details at the UCU website.
It will be interesting to see whether this time-slot proves popular with players. UCU Chairman John Cairns tells me that the entries so far are very encouraging with 5 of last year's top 7 already confirmed in the field. That 5 doesn't include last year's champion, Stephen Scannell, but he usually like to leave his entry late and it would be a big surprise if Scannell didn't turn up to defend his title. Main rival is likely to be Ulster champion, Michael Waters, who seems to be winning everything these days, but former winners Cairns and Gareth Annesley, the latter just back from a good performance in Bunratty, will no doubt be in the mix too.
I'm controlling the Williamson so I'm looking forward to seeing some excellent competition at close quarters.
It will be interesting to see whether this time-slot proves popular with players. UCU Chairman John Cairns tells me that the entries so far are very encouraging with 5 of last year's top 7 already confirmed in the field. That 5 doesn't include last year's champion, Stephen Scannell, but he usually like to leave his entry late and it would be a big surprise if Scannell didn't turn up to defend his title. Main rival is likely to be Ulster champion, Michael Waters, who seems to be winning everything these days, but former winners Cairns and Gareth Annesley, the latter just back from a good performance in Bunratty, will no doubt be in the mix too.
I'm controlling the Williamson so I'm looking forward to seeing some excellent competition at close quarters.
Monday, 20 February 2012
Submarine gambit brings success for Annesley
The Bunratty weekender was held 17-19 February. The main event, the Masters, had its strongest ever field and was won by English GM Michael Adams after a blitz play-off with former World Championship challenger Nigel Short. IM Mark Orr, resident now for many years in Scotland, was the only Ulster player in that section and finished on 3.0 points.
There were four separate tournaments at Bunratty and four Ulster players competed in the second-tier Challengers section. Unfortunately two of them met in round one with Danny Mallaghan turning the rating list on its head by beating second seed Gareth Annesley. However Gareth shrugged off that setback to win his remaining five games and secure himself an equal first place with three others, though Jan Heinrich took the Challengers title on tie-break. Danny lost in rounds 2 and 3 but finished strongly by beating fourth seed Pete Morriss in the final round. The other two Ulster players were Cecil Sloan and Paul McLoughlin. Cecil finished on a very creditable 3.0 after playing a strong field, rated an average 161 points higher - he also beat the afore-mentioned Mr Morriss. Unfortunately Paul, who tends to blow either hot or cold, couldn't raise the temperatures of his opponents this time.
Check out the complete results at the Bunratty website
There were four separate tournaments at Bunratty and four Ulster players competed in the second-tier Challengers section. Unfortunately two of them met in round one with Danny Mallaghan turning the rating list on its head by beating second seed Gareth Annesley. However Gareth shrugged off that setback to win his remaining five games and secure himself an equal first place with three others, though Jan Heinrich took the Challengers title on tie-break. Danny lost in rounds 2 and 3 but finished strongly by beating fourth seed Pete Morriss in the final round. The other two Ulster players were Cecil Sloan and Paul McLoughlin. Cecil finished on a very creditable 3.0 after playing a strong field, rated an average 161 points higher - he also beat the afore-mentioned Mr Morriss. Unfortunately Paul, who tends to blow either hot or cold, couldn't raise the temperatures of his opponents this time.
Check out the complete results at the Bunratty website
Friday, 30 December 2011
Blitz, Williamson, and Black is the new Black
The first ever Ulster Blitz Championship was held at the Belfast Boat Club on the 27th December. I popped in about 4pm to see how the final rounds unfolded. New UCU supremo (please note the alias el presidente is copyrighted) John Cairns had magically arranged that the four contenders for the title, the Robbin brothers, Cal Leitch and the veteran (at least in this company) speedster Damien Lavery were encountering each other in the final rounds. In round 13 Leitch and Kiran Robbin had "contrived" a grandmaster draw and once again proved the maxim "discretion is the better part of valour" when they ended up tied for first place. An Armageddon game was ordered to break the tie. Leitch had Black and less time but only needed to draw. After a complicated middle game that needed a proper amount of time rather a few seconds contemplation, Leitch came out a pawn ahead and carefully hoovered off the remaining material to leave K and P v. K. Just as I was trying to work out if he had the opposition (a lengthy process for me at the best of times) Leitch calmly offered the pawn up to his opponent - after all, he only needed a draw!
For those who want an entertaining if fictionalised account of the event I warmly recommend the Beard's gossip column at the Ballynafeigh Chess Club website. I see the Beard is concerned about the embarrassment of not resigning when you've been completely mashed and provides video evidence of this phenomenon. I understand the Ulster Chess Union had arranged extensive video coverage of the event (coming to YouTube some time soon) so I look forward to examples of the equally embarrassing spectacle of some bozo having a completely won position and simply sitting there until his time runs out.
At the closing ceremony John Cairns announced that the next UCU competition will be the Williamson Shield. Although not absolutely confirmed as yet, expect it to be held on the first weekend in February at its normal venue, the Maynard Sinclair Pavilion in the Stormont estate. If I'm wrong, you didn't hear it from me!
Finally, those who have not lost the will to live (or at least visit these pages) due to my rather infrequent blogs will note that the website has had a makeover - Black is the new Black in Ulster chess circles as I now realise I have come dangerously close to plagiarising Sam Flanagan's house-style over at his Malone Chess Team website. Still it has to be better than the purple shag pile over at Ballynafeigh. BTW, congrats to my team-mates on the Angels for topping the League table at Christmas (my absence from the team-sheet obviously instrumental!)
For those who want an entertaining if fictionalised account of the event I warmly recommend the Beard's gossip column at the Ballynafeigh Chess Club website. I see the Beard is concerned about the embarrassment of not resigning when you've been completely mashed and provides video evidence of this phenomenon. I understand the Ulster Chess Union had arranged extensive video coverage of the event (coming to YouTube some time soon) so I look forward to examples of the equally embarrassing spectacle of some bozo having a completely won position and simply sitting there until his time runs out.
At the closing ceremony John Cairns announced that the next UCU competition will be the Williamson Shield. Although not absolutely confirmed as yet, expect it to be held on the first weekend in February at its normal venue, the Maynard Sinclair Pavilion in the Stormont estate. If I'm wrong, you didn't hear it from me!
Finally, those who have not lost the will to live (or at least visit these pages) due to my rather infrequent blogs will note that the website has had a makeover - Black is the new Black in Ulster chess circles as I now realise I have come dangerously close to plagiarising Sam Flanagan's house-style over at his Malone Chess Team website. Still it has to be better than the purple shag pile over at Ballynafeigh. BTW, congrats to my team-mates on the Angels for topping the League table at Christmas (my absence from the team-sheet obviously instrumental!)
Saturday, 10 December 2011
Rookie rides again
It took three seasons after 5 consecutive 5-2 defeats, but at last Malone beat Bangor in the UCU League on 8/12/11. Despite those defeats, Malone had won UCU League Division Two in the last two campaigns. How ironic it would be if Bangor go on to win it this season.
Groomsport was the windswept setting for the match and Bangor got "the wind up" when captain Martin Kelly's favourite Vienna Gambit "waltzed" to victory against young "ashen-faced" Ashley McWhinney. The 2011 Henderson Cup winner was able to "make winning" moves against McWhinney as shown below.
R. Proctor "gambled" and lost to J. Bryars, while D. Ruben avoided a "drubbing" by drawing against P. McLaughlin. P. McGuigan said "play it again, Sam" after beating Sam Flanagan to keep Bangor's hopes alive but it was "alan a day's work" for Stephen Morgan as he clinched victory for himself and Malone against Alan McConnell! The final score was Bangor 1.5-Malone 3.5.
[Event "UCU League prelim"] [Site "?"] [Date "2011.12.08"] [Round "7"] [White "Kelly, Martin"] [Black "McWhinney, Ashley"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C29"] [PlyCount "45"] [EventDate "2011.10.??"] [EventType "team"] [WhiteTeam "Malone"] [BlackTeam "Bangor"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 Nc6 4. fxe5 Nxe5 5. d4 Ng6 6. e5 Ng8 7. Nf3 Bb4 8. Bc4 h6 9. O-O d6 10. Bxf7+ $1 Kf8 ({If} 10... Kxf7 11. Ng5+ ({or} 11. Nh4+ { wins.})) 11. Bxg6 Ne7 12. Ng5+ Kg8 13. Nf7 Qd7 14. Nxh8 Kxh8 15. Rf8+ Ng8 16. Bf7 dxe5 17. Rxg8+ Kh7 18. Qd3+ Qf5 19. Qxf5+ Bxf5 20. Rxa8 exd4 21. Nd5 Bc5 22. Kf1 c6 23. Nf4 1-0
Friday, 4 November 2011
Ulster Masters
The Ulster Chess Union has announced a new event on their calendar: the 2011 Ulster Masters, to be played on the weekend of the 10th-11th December at the Belfast Boat Club.
EDIT 07/12/2011: Entry fee reduced from £20 to £12 (£10 if entered by 09/12/2011)
Saturday, 24 September 2011
Autumn Rapidplay
The Ulster Chess Union is running a rapidplay tournament at the Belfast Boat Club on Sunday 9th October. There will be 6 rounds and players will have 25 minutes plus a 3 second increment for each game. There is a guaranteed £200 prize fund with 3 grading prizes.
Thursday, 8 September 2011
City of Dublin Championships
The weekend after the Ulster Championships, a sizeable contingent of Ulster players headed south for the City of Dublin championships organised by the Leinster Chess Union.
The championships were played in four sections and it was in the Majors (for players rated between 1600 and 1999) where our players enjoyed most success. Eamonn Walls, who had finished 3rd in the Ulster Senior, finished clear first with 5.5 points from his 6 games while Gareth Annesley took third place on tie-break.
Saturday, 6 August 2011
Ulster Chess Championships
The 2011 Ulster Senior, Intermediate and Junior Championships are being held over the August Bank Holiday weekend. New UCU Tournament Director Gareth Annesley sent me the following details:
Format: 6 rounds Swiss
Venue: Europa Hotel, Belfast
Dates: Saturday 27th to Monday 29th August
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