Report, Photographs and Annotated Games
In 1977 the Ulster Chess Union, with sponsorship from the Belfast City Council, organised a chess competition as part of the Belfast Civic Festival. The winner of that inaugural event was
John Moles, one of the strongest Ulster players of all time. The winner of the next two events in the series was Moles's great rival Paul Henry. Since then a tradition of a strong tournament in the late Spring of each year has been maintained. In recent years the Council, although still providing promotional support, has no longer sponsored the event, now renamed Belfast Summerfest. In 2002 however the UCU was able to persuade the Irish Chess Union to support the event financially. As a result, it was possible to organise the tournament into three sections and increase the total prize-fund.A small but select field of 10 competed in the Open. Among the competitors were the defending champion Stephen Scannell and previous winners Tom Clarke and Arthur Pinkerton, the latter travelling over from England to take part. However, perhaps the most interesting competitor was Jabj (pronounced Happy) Munoz, a player from the Basque region with a Spanish rating of 2200.
Already in the first round there was a big surprise when Scannell was beaten by Nicholas Pilkiewicz. These two have had many close-fought battles, but this was the first time Nicholas had defeated Steve in a competitive game.
N. Pilkiewicz - S. Scannell Summerfest Open Belfast 2002 (Round 1)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 0-0 5.Bg2 d6 6.0-0 Nc6 7.Nc3 a6 8.Re1 Rb8 9.e4 b5 10.b3 Na5 11.Qd3 bxc4 12.bxc4 Nd7 13.Ba3 c5 14.d5 Rb4
Nicholas Pilkiewicz
Pilkiewicz then beat Pinkerton in Round 2 before meeting Munoz in round 3.
J. Munoz, - N. Pilkiewicz Summerfest Open Belfast 2002 (Round 3)
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Nge2 d6 6.0-0 Nf6 7.d3 0-0 8.h3 Bd7 9.Be3 Rb8 10.Qd2 b5 11.Bh6 a5 12.Bxg7 Kxg7 13.f4 Qc7 14.Nd1 a4 15.Ne3 Na7 16.c3 b4 17.c4 Bc6 18.f5 Rbe8 19.Ng4 Nxg4 20.hxg4 Nc8 21.Kf2 Rh8 22.Rh1 h6 23.g5 h5 24.g4 hxg4 25.Qf4 gxf5 26.exf5 Reg8
Meanwhile defending champion Scannell was having a nightmare of a tournament. In round 2 he sacrificed a Knight against Arlo White (who had gallantly agreed to step up from the Challengers to make an even number in the Open). However, White resourcefully countered with a Bishop sacrifice (which could not safely be accepted) and then wrapped up an endgame victory. In round 3 Scannell had a passive position in a rook and pawn ending against George Heathwood, and despite some resourceful defence, ultimately had to concede.
A sharp intake of breath from Stephen Scannell, as he realises further
resistance is futile in his Round 3 encounter with against George Heathwood
Many a player in Scannell's position would be tempted to withdraw from the tournament. However he turned up the next morning, admittedly half an hour late, determined to win his last two games. The lost time almost undid him in Round 4, when although having a winning position of Queen and passed d-pawn against Rook and Knight, he had very little time left. However, as the pictures below show he found a shortcut to victory.
Scannell's Queen checkmates Ian Davis. To be fair to Ian, the
abrupt finish took the spectators by surprise also.
A close-up of the final position in Scannell-Davis shows
just how little time Stephen Scannell had left.
Meanwhile Tom Clarke and Jabj Munoz were the only players to enter Round 4 with 100% scores. The computer automatically paired them together and just as automatically Clarke played the Trompowsky Attack. A sacrifice by Tom had a small hole in it, but he still retained attacking chances when Munoz blundered in time trouble.
T. Clarke,T - J. Munoz Summerfest Open Belfast 2002 (Round 4)
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Qd2 c5 5.Bxf6 exf6 6.0-0-0 Nc6 7.Nf3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bg7 9.h4 0-0 10.h5 f5 11.e3 Nxd4 12.exd4 a6 13.hxg6 fxg6 14.g3 Be6 15.Bg2 b5 16.Ne2 a5 17.Nf4 Bf7 18.Rde1 Qd6 19.Nh3 h6 20.Ng1 Rfc8 21.Nf3 Rc4 22.Ne5 Rac8 23.Nxc4 dxc4 24.c3
Clarke and Munoz shaking hands after their entertaining Round 4 encounter
This left Clarke a full point clear of Munoz, Heathwood and White with one round to go. In Round 5 Clarke, employing the Dutch Defence, managed to equalise without difficulty against Heathwood and a draw was agreed, while Munoz eventually got the better of White, despite the latter ingenuously promoting a pawn to a Knight in a bid to win a tempo in a Rook and pawn ending.
Prizewinners in the Open
In the Challengers Tom Alcorn and Robin Triggs ended the first day in the lead with 3 points apiece. Their Round 4 encounter unfortunately was something of an anti-climax, when Triggs dropped a piece early on. In round 5 Alcorn sensibly was content to keep the draw in hand against Dublin visitor, Andrew Higgins, but in the end he managed to win this game as well. In the 1950s Tom won a number of Ulster tournaments, including the Ulster Schools Championship, the Ulster Junior Championship (twice) and the Williamson Shield. He returned after a very long absence to Ulster chess at last year's Target Recruitment Open and this was his first tournament victory in his "new career."
Prizewinners in the Challengers (1400-1799)
C. Black,C - D. Collins Summerfest Challengers Belfast 2002 (Round 2)
The quick time-limit in weekend events unfortunately means that many intricate endings are played with both players only having a few minutes left to finish the game. Often the moves go unrecorded, so the players may not even be able to analyse their endgame play afterwards. Fortunately the following endgame was reached while both players still had plenty of time left. Even so, the course of the game shows just how difficult pawn endings can be. The analysis below is based on comments by the two players, plus the use of Fritz. Even so, I would not be surprised if there are resources for both players unrevealed.
28.Qe4
Chris Black considered that he should have kept Queens on, because in the pawn ending the White King will be tied down to defending the pawns at c4 and e4.
28...Qxe4 29.fxe4 Ke7 30.Ke2 Kf6 31.Ke3 Ke5
With both Kings now centralised and in opposition, the players must now decide which pawns should be moved - never an easy task!
32.a4 g6
An inaccuracy. Black should prevent White from playing a5.
The correct move was 32...b6 Now if White continues with 33.a5 Black should probably win e.g. 33...bxa5 34.bxa5 h5 35.g3 g5 36.Kd3
((A )36.h4 gxh4 37.gxh4 f6; (B) 36.g4 hxg4 37.hxg4 f6)
36...h4 37.gxh4 gxh4 38.Ke3 f6 when White is forced to abandon either his c or h-pawn
33.h4
33.a5 should be played.
33...f6
Black again misses the chance to play 33...b6
34.g4
Again spurning 34.a5 though he will still get one final opportunity.
34...h5 35.gxh5 gxh5
White is now down to two pawn moves. During the game Chris Black thought that whatever he played here lost.
36.c5
In fact 36.a5 now seems to lead to victory for White after 36...f5
The alternatives allow White to create a passed a-pawn, thus winning the game:
(A) 36...b6 37.b5 axb5 38.a6;
(B) 36...c6 37.dxc6 bxc6 38.b5 cxb5 39.cxb5 axb5 40.a6 37.exf5 Kxf5 38.Kd4 Kf6 39.Ke4 Kg6 40.c5 dxc5
(If Black doesn 't capture the c-pawn, White again can create a passed a-pawn e.g. 40...Kf6 41.c6 bxc6 42.dxc6 Ke6 43.b5 axb5 44.a6)
41.bxc5 Kf6 42.Kf4 Kg6 43.Ke5 Kf7 44.d6 cxd6+ 45.cxd6 Ke8 46.Ke6 Kd8 47.d7
36...b6
Now Black is winning.
37.cxd6 cxd6 38.Kf3 f5 39.exf5 Kxf5 40.b5 a5
White has run out of pawn moves and must now concede either the d or h-pawn, and with it the game.
41.Kg3 Ke5 42.Kf3 Kxd5 43.Kf4 Kc4 44.Kg5 d5 45.Kxh5 d4 46.Kg6 d3 47.h5 d2 48.h6 d1Q 49.h7 Qd3+ 50.Kg7 Qd7+ 51.Kg8 Kb4
A little joke coming up.
52.h8Q Qd8+ 53.Kg7 Qxh8+ 0-1
David Collins quipped after the game: "I wanted his King as far away as possible from the queenside!"
The Novices section had a very encouraging turnout. Even last year's Target Recruitment tournament (with its very generous prize-fund) had only attracted 15 players to its under 1400 section, but 19 turned out for the Summerfest equivalent.
The Novices turned out to be a battle between three Q.U.B. players - Calum Leitch, Mohamed Saad and Ashley Peile. All of them ended Round 3 with full points.
Calum Leitch (on the right) playing Geoffrey Collins in Round 3
In Round 4 Leitch was paired with Louis Holmes, who had 2 points, while the other two leaders were paired against each other.
How do you prepare for your opponent in these circumstances? Well, Peile and Saad had a novel approach. After all the other players had gone home at the end of Day 1, the two intrepid team-mates remained in the tournament hall played blitz games for the best part of an hour. The following morning, the two players battled away once again with Peile scoring a win after a close-fought encounter
From left to right Geoffrey Collins, Louis Holmes, Chris Black
and Calum Leitch have a grandstand view of the final stages of
Peile against Saad from Round 4
Peile's victory had put him level with Leitch, who had already recorded a victory over Holmes. In the final Round there was no quick handshake and a sharing of the spoils between team-mates but a full-blooded encounter, in which Peile eventually triumphed.
Prizewinners in the Novices
One of the most encouraging trends at recent tournaments has been the increasing number of young players competing. Belfast Summerfest 2002 may well be the tournament when this new generation of young players started to make their mark. Best of them on this occasion was Calum Leitch, who played this excellent attacking game against the top seed in the Novices.
C. Leitch - M. Kane Summerfest Novices Belfast 2002 (Round 2)
1.e4 e6 2.d4 b6 3.Nc3 Bb7 4.f4 Bb4 5.Bd3 f5
Play through all the annotated games in Palview
Final Crosstables and Photographs of the main prizewinners
More Photographs from the tournament by Damien Lavery and Mark Newman
Arlo White, Phillip Todd, Richard Proctor and Tom Alcorn between rounds
Tom Clarke, Stephen Scannell, Tony Parker and Paul McLoughlin having fun
George Heathwood - Stephen Scannell in Round 3 of the Open
Tom Alcorn, winner of the Challengers
McConaghy - Newman in Round 4 of the Challengers
Ashley Peile, winner of the Novices
Final round in the Challengers
Top two boards in the final round of the Open
Fred Macdonald - Stephen Scannell in Round 5 of the Open
The three prize-winners in the Open
Prizegiving ceremony - Tom Clarke
Prizegiving ceremony - Jabj Munoz
Prizegiving ceremony - George Heathwood