Dennis the Menace gently enquired about the health of this blog at the recent Nigel Short simul. Well, good news, despite the unseasonal weather, its long hibernation has ended as your blogmaster ventured forth to the Ulster Rapidplay Championship at Ballynafeigh Chess Club.
I cannot remember the Ulster Chess Union putting on an event over the Easter weekend before, but this innovation seems to have been a success with numbers up on recent rapidplay events. Whether this was in fact due to the supposed emergency meeting at the event in support of the Hollywood Two (Clooney and Alba), no-one at the venue was prepared to admit to overlooking that Easter Monday this year was also April Fool's Day.
My own play confirmed once again that my brain requires a turbo-booster and that my black openings need a considerable overhaul. Of course, playing in a quickplay event means that you don't get much of a chance to see what's happening on the other boards, but I did catch the closing stages of the Round 5 game between the top two seeds Gareth Annesley and John Masterson, which was pivotal to the overall outcome of the Championship. My first look at the game came with Masterson down to his last minute and a half with Annesley having about three times that amount of time. However John is renowned for whipping up attacks with his flag hanging even in longer time limits and so it proved here also. About five minutes later it was clear, based on the constant bagging of pieces and clock, that both players were very short of time, and Masterson delivered checkmate with one second only left! (Don't you just love these digital clocks.) Going into the sixth and last round Masterson had a 100% score of 5 wins, a full point ahead of a trio of players from the host club - Danny Mallaghan and the two Damiens, Cunningham and Lavery.
Masterson was paired with Cunningham and the latter, finding himself in a difficult situation, cleverly offered a draw which guaranteed Masterson the Championship while also ensuring third place for himself. In the other battle for the top prizes, Mallaghan overcame Lavery to take the second spot on the podium. The under 1600 (or was it 1500?) Grading Prize was won by Steven Eachus, while even three tie-break methods could not separate Stephen Critchlow and Mond Parissis for the under 1200 equivalent.
The new date was not the only change for this year's Championship. Instead of starting play at 10.00am, registration for the event didn't even start until midday. Instead of having a lunchtime break, players could have a leisurely morning, get themselves a big breakfast and still get home at a decent hour for their evening meal. If by any chance anyone got a bit peckish, the traditional Ballynafeigh coffee and biscuits were available. The event was run very efficiently by Ballynafeigh's resident fairy tale teller Damien Cunningham and UCU Secretary Mark Newman and even finished about 10 minutes ahead of the scheduled 6.30 pm finish time. So, a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon's entertainment and the when the sun eventually came out in mid-afternoon, you could even gaze over to Ormeau Park at the host of golden daffodils, beneath the trees, fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
No Name Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 Prize
1 John Masterson 5.5 21:W 14:W 6:W 4:W 5:W 3:D First
2 Danny Mallaghan 5 27:W 15:L 20:W 11:W 8:W 4:W Second
3 Damien Cunningham 4.5 13:W 6:L 21:W 12:W 14:W 1:D Third
4 Damien Lavery 4 20:W 8:W 15:W 1:L 7:W 2:L
5 Gareth Annesley 4 0:D 9:W 12:W 7:W 1:L 6:D
6 Steven Eachus 4 26:W 3:W 1:L 17:W 9:D 5:D Grading
7 Ian Woodfield 4 19:W 11:W 16:W 5:L 4:L 15:W
8 Thomas Donaldson 4 23:W 4:L 31:W 13:W 2:L 16:W
9 Paul McLoughlin 4 22:D 5:L 27:W 16:W 6:D 13:W
10 Mark Newman 4 18:W 16:L 13:L 29:W 19:W 14:W
11 Mohamed Saad 4 28:W 7:L 24:W 2:L 25:W 20:W
12 Chris Armstrong 3.5 24:W 17:W 5:L 3:L 20:D 22:W
13 Mathew Chapman 3 3:L 25:W 10:W 8:L 17:W 9:L
14 Karina Kruk 3 25:W 1:L 19:W 15:W 3:L 10:L
15 Tony Redden 3 29:W 2:W 4:L 14:L 18:W 7:L
16 Robert Lavery 3 30:W 10:W 7:L 9:L 26:W 8:L
17 David McAlister 3 31:W 12:L 18:W 6:L 13:L 25:W
18 Steve Critchlow 3 10:L 26:W 17:L 22:W 15:L 24:W Grading
19 Mond Parissis 3 7:L 28:W 14:L 24:W 10:L 26:W Grading
20 William Storey 2.5 4:L 23:W 2:L 30:W 12:D 11:L
21 Colin Fenton 2.5 1:L 22:W 3:L 25:L 28:W 23:D
22 Stephen Scarborough 2.5 9:D 21:L 29:W 18:L 31:W 12:L
23 David Seaby 2.5 8:L 20:L 26:L 27:W 30:W 21:D
24 Adrian Dornford-Smyth 2 12:L 0:W 11:L 19:L 29:W 18:L
25 Ram Rajam 2 14:L 13:L 28:W 21:W 11:L 17:L
26 Patrick Magee 2 6:L 18:L 23:W 31:W 16:L 19:L
27 Iza Bujak 2 2:L 29:L 9:L 23:L 0:W 30:W
28 Dayna Ferguson 2 11:L 19:L 25:L 0:W 21:L 31:W
29 Paul Anderson 2 15:L 27:W 22:L 10:L 24:L 0:W
30 Daniel Ferguson 1 16:L 31:L 0:W 20:L 23:L 27:L
31 Honor Parissis 1 17:L 30:W 8:L 26:L 22:L 28:L
