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!)

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.

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)

Full details at the UCU website

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.

More details at the UCU website

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.

There is a report on the event at the ICU website

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

Bobby Fischer Against the World

Screening at QFT Belfast from Friday 15 – Thursday 21 July

When genius turns to madness…enthralling documentary portrait of the enigmatic chess genius Bobby Fischer.

Proving that truth really is stranger than fiction this fascinating documentary recounts the life story of the troubled chess player Bobby Fischer, from his childhood in Brooklyn, where he became addicted to the game at 6, to his international fame as a chess champion and eventual descent into reclusive eccentricity bordering on madness. From the highs of his famous 1972 “Match of the Century” showdown with Russian master Boris Spassky to the lows of anti-semitism and Holocaust denial, this unsettling film lends strength to the belief that sometimes, too much genius can drive a person insane.

Nemtzov Cup echoes

This year the top section in the City of Belfast championships (for the Nemtzov Cup) was a 6-player all-play-all rather than the usual Swiss. The luck of the draw had paired Richard McMaster and Gareth Annesley, the two leaders with one round to go, in the fifth and final round. They put on a grandstand finish battling each other to a draw (and a shared title) with only seconds remaining on the clock after a complicated endgame.

From the position in the board below McMaster played 1. g7 Rd3 2. Ke2 Rd8 3. g8(Q) and a draw resulted, but his analysis shows he missed a couple of wins. He wonders whether Gareth might have found a Black win earlier in the complications.

Over to Richard:

UCU March Rapidplay

Damien Lavery sent me this game from the last round of the UCU Rapidplay held Sunday March 13th at the Belfast Boat Club.

This win brought Lavery into a tie for first place with Ulster Champion Michael Waters and English newcomer Jonathon Arnott.

Bunratty live

The official website promised you could "Watch Bunratty 2011 live on the internet" so I decided to give it a go here today. Only one game - a bit disappointing, but it does feature Nigel Short. So here are the moves.

Adam Hunt (White) -v- Nigel Short (Black):

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.h4 c6 7.Bxe7 c5 8.Nb5 Qxe7 9.Nc7 O-O 10.Nxa8 Nc6 11.Nf3 cxd4 12.Qd2 Qb4 13.Rd1 Qxb2 14.Bd3 Nc5 15.Nc7 Bd7 16.Nxd5 Rc8 17.O-O exd5 18.Qf4 a6 19.Rb1 h6 20.Rfd1 Qc3 21.Kh2 b5 22.g4 Re8

Nigel doesn't seem to be quite at his best; has the legendary Irish hospitality affected him? His 7th move, leaving his Queen en prise, looks more than a bit dodgy. Ah, good, he's noticed next move. However, even more surprising he's forgotten you can't castle out of check (move 9). Probably best to draw a veil over the rest of the game.

City of Dublin Round up: Murphy pipped to 2nd place in Juniors by Chestnut69

Cathal Murphy shrugged off the disappointment of relinquishing his Ulster Junior title at the Europa Hotel on bank holiday weekend, by storming to 2nd place at the City of Dublin Junior six days later. His score of 5/6 at the Ambassador Plaza was a half point better than his performance at the corresponding event last year when he finished in a three-way tie for 1st spot.

Cathal as top seed played board 1 for the first five games, but on 4/4 lost his place in round 5 to the eventual winner Alan Lau. In a tight Budapest gambit declined, Lau had blundered on move 36 to which Cathal, whether under time pressure, or perhaps momentary loss of concentration, blundered immediately back overlooking a Q x R check to hand the game to his opponent. It was the only mistake Murphy made all weekend and as he went on to beat Dublin mate Sean McGowan in round 6 proved to be a costly one at 100 euros (the difference between 1st and 2nd).

His round 2 game is below. Check out the overlooked “mate in 1” on move 23, which preceded quite a neat finish on move 26. Of course all those "good" Ulster players are welcome to comment/analyse.

The Ulster triumvirate, or as they are increasingly known down south as "Three Musketeers" was completed by Philip Morrison in his third appearance in Dublin finishing with 2/6 in the Juniors, (incidentally Henry the Horse has made a new friend - a lovely Camel called Humphrey) and of course Martin Kelly who narrowly missed out in the Challengers section with 3.5/6. Martin was up material in round 5 against eventual winner Pat Coleman, before eventually losing. There was a good deal in the nearby bar on pitchers of beer for 9 euros, not that this had any interest for Martin of course!!

Check out Rookie’s regular blog for further “tongue in cheek” reports/gossip.

See Leinster Chess Union tournament website for full results/tables.

Queens “dethroned” at AGM while Hawks “soar” to the top

It’s official! RVH Hawks are League Division One champions on 82.5 points ahead of Queen’s on 81 points after a decision at the recent UCU AGM overturning the result from Board 1 in one of the big two matches.

We await eagerly an update on the QUB chess website, which is usually quick off the mark with results. I assume the huge pictures of their team, which adorned Queens’ Naughten Gallery, have been taken down, leaving “naughten” its walls!

Meanwhile, Martin Kelly recently followed up his second place in the City of Belfast Junior with second spot in the Irish Junior and a grading prize in the Irish Weekender-at which Stephen Scannell finished joint second. It means Martin’s recent record is: Pl16 w9 d5 l2. He kept his lifelong unbeaten record against Irish-born ladies by beating Johanna Lowry- O’Reilly (Oh really? No, O’Reilly!), whose daughter Hannah is a woman FM, and Nicola Benson, who has been selected for the 2010 Irish Women’s Olympiad team in Russia and whose son Oisin is a top Irish junior. Incidentally, Cork’s Alex Lopez is this year’s Irish champion.

Don’t forget this year’s Ulster Championship at the Europa Hotel, Belfast from August 28 to August 30 - more details on the Ulster Chess Union website. See you there!

Stateside results: Murphy grabs joint fourth by Chestnut69

Three Ulster players took part in the recent Las Vegas International Chess Festival at the South Point Casino in Las Vegas Nevada. CJ Murphy in his stateside chess debut managed to claim a share of fourth place in the "unrated" section with a score of 3.5/6. This section was nominally unrated, but all the players in it had played before, albeit not in official tournament play in the states. To demonstrated the relative strength of the section, Murphy actually played up in round 2 to the U1200 section and claimed his easiest win of the tournament in only 20 moves.

All the unrated players will now have official USCF ratings.

Two experienced American campaigners Danny Mallaghan and Cecil Sloan, made up the Ulster/Irish contingent. Danny scored 2.5/6 in the U2000 section and Cecil matched this score in the U1800.

All results cross tables can be found here.

Karina Kruk “steals” the limelight

It’s been an eventful few days in Ulster chess-where do I begin? Last weekend at Stormont, Karina Kruk “kruised to a krushing konquest” in winning the Henderson Cup on 5/6, a half-point ahead of joint seconds Martin Kelly and newcomer Ross ”Rolf” Harris. Cathal Murphy was consistent again, picking up the grading prize on 4/6, despite losing the first game below against Martin Kelly.

Rumours that Karina might not have won if she had to play Kelly are unfounded surely? Incidentally, it appears that Karina might also pip Martin for the season-long Tom Clarke Grand Prix by 44.5 points to 40.5, though the latter might have the consolation of winning the Junior Grand Prix like last year.

At the same time and venue, Dubliner Gordon Freeman won the Nemtzov Cup on 5/6, a point clear of Michael Waters in second, with Mark ”Paul” Newman getting the grading prize on 3.5 points. Interestingly, Ryszard Kaczorowski lost his game when his mobile phone went off under new FIDE rules. He did not try to make “phoney” excuses and the other players gave controller David McAlister a “ringing” endorsement of his decision.

QUB might propose the above-named Gordon be made a “freeman” of the city after helping them beat Fisherwick 6-1 at Queen’s on Tuesday night to clinch league division one for the third consecutive time but runners-up RVH Hawks might not agree. Firstly, he was parachuted in midseason from Dublin and secondly there is still a dispute about one of the QUB players using a computer while playing a league game earlier this year. This may well be brought up at the UCU AGM at North Belfast CC, Antrim Road, on Wednesday 2nd June. at 7.30pm. Get there early to avoid the crowd-the AGM should prove “a gem”!

Rookie

UCU LEAGUE DIVISION ONE

TEAM	PL	W	D	L	PTS	%
QUB	16	14	0	2	82.5	88
RVH HAWKS	16	12	1	3	81.0	78
FISHERWICK	16	7	2	7	57.0	50
THE AWAY TEAM	16	3	2	11	33.0	25
LAGAN	16	1	1	14	26.5	9

Anand on top of the world

Yesterday, World Champion Anand retained his world championship crown in Sofia, beating Bulgarian challenger Topalov in game 12 to win 6.5-5.5. For Viswanathan, ”nothing” was too difficult - if an “and” was expected at this point of the sentence, you’re not getting one because this is the end of the sentence!

Don’t forget the City of Belfast Championships this Saturday and Sunday, 15-16/5/10, at Maynard Sinclair Pavilion, Stormont.over six rounds. It is split into the Nemtzov Cup for those 1600 and over and the Henderson Cup for those under 1600. For more details, ring David McAlister at 92638857 - remember it’s free for females, under 18s and newcomers - which reminds me of last year’s prizegiving for the Henderson Cup where I beat Karina Kruk in the last round to deprive her of the cup as we finished joint second behind William Storey (but that’s another “storey”) .I announced then:”I didn’t want a “kruk” winning the tournament”!

Finally, Queen’s University play Fisherwick next Tuesday, 18/5/10, at QUB Students Union, knowing a win would win them their third consecutive league division one title. Anything less will hand the title to RVH Hawks. May the best team win!

Rookie

“Oils well” that ends well for Malone

In view of the recent Gulf of Mexico disaster, I shouldn’t use any “slick” puns about Malone plucking victory from defeat last week against Bangor Wannabees to win the UCU league division two title, but I couldn’t help it! In the end, it all hinged on the excellent game below, where Ruben’s technique was as skilful and beautifully crafted as any of his namesake’s oil paintings. Perhaps this will be the “platform” for greater success next season. I hope I’m not being a “bore” but I hit a rich “vein” of humour! When Derek Truesdale won a 1980’s game, I said in the “Irish News” that “Derek lifted his game”-get it (Derek=derrick)!

Don’t forget the Summer Tournament every Wednesday starting tomorrow night at 7.45pm and the City of Belfast Tournament from Saturday May 15thto Sunday May 16th,both at Maynard Sinclair Pavilion, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast. Contact Mark Newman (tel.no.91-456638) and David McAlister (tel.no.92-638857) respectively for more details.

Finally, Anand leads Topalov 4-3 in Sofia after 3 consecutive draws-The first to 6.5 points wins the World Championship.

Rookie

Magnificent Malone make brave Bangor wannabees for another season

Report by Rookie; pics by Dennis the Menace

BD	MALONE	VS	WANNABEES
1	S.FERRIS	0.5-0.5	P.MCGUIGAN
2	N.GREEN	0-1	A.MCCONNELL
3	S.FLANAGAN	0.5-0.5	P.MCLAUGHLIN
4	D.RUBEN	1-0	W.MCGRATTAN
5	N.MCFARLAND	0-1	R.PROCTOR
6	A.BECKETT	1-0	B.BELSHAW
	TOTAL	2.0-3.0
	+BONUS	2.0-5.0

AT GROOMSPORT, 29/4/2010
BOARD 6 NOT PART OF THE OFFICIAL LEAGUE MATCH

Having promised to eat his hat if Wannabees won league division two, Malone “cap”tain, Martin Kelly, cap in hand, turned up with his team at the idyllically-situated Groomsport Church Hall to play Bangor Wannabees in the top of the table clash. Kelly cleverly switched his two S.F.s - Sam Ferris and Sam Flanagan - around from their usual board order to flummox the opposition. On board one, Sam’s draw against a stronger opponent was as “ferris” as his anxious captain could have expected. The next game to finish saw Proctor “gamble” and succeeding in a risky opening on board five and Neil turn “green” after losing on board two. Suddenly, Wannabees only needed a point from the last two games to win the league. By this stage, Kelly had returned from watching Liverpool lose and his quiz team win in the nearby pub. On board three, Paul McLaughlin, behind on material, offered his short-of-time opponent a draw, which was eagerly accepted. With an explosive finish on board three, David’ was “ruben” salt into Wannabees’ wounds as he grabbed a win to guarantee Malone are division two champions, despite losing twice to Wannabees this season.

TEAM	PL	W	D	L	PTS	%
MALONE	14	10	1	3	67.0	75
WANNABEES	14	10	3	1	66.5	82
WINSTON	14	8	2	4	60.5	64
BOMBARDIER	14	8	1	5	55.0	61
FORTWILLIAM	14	6	4	4	54.0	57
HENDERSONS	14	3	2	9	34.5	29
RANDALSTOWN	14	0	4	10	28.0	14
RAVENS	14	1	3	10	26.5	18

The packed hall, Bangor supporters to a man (apart, that is, from guest star Dennis the Menace), were very sporting in defeat as they joined in the group photo taken by our Dennis.

Finally, the Catalan opening is bound to get a revival in popularity after Anand’s second win with it over Topalov in round four.