Ulster Chess Union

Ulster Chess News 2001 Number 1

ULSTER CHAMPIONSHIP
FORTWILLIAM GOLF CLUB 27-30 DECEMBER 2000

Among the 16 players competing for the title of Ulster chess champion included three players making a welcome return to Ulster chess. Paul McKeown, was a member of the Downpatrick Chess Club in the mid-1980s before going to University in England. This was his first competition since then in Ulster. He has a FIDE rating of 2084 after a good performance in the Major Open at the 2000 British Championships. Michael Waters was a member of the Queen's University team in the early 1990s. He won the 1991 Williamson Shield and has a FIDE rating of 2125. However, by his own admission, he had hardly looked at a chess set for five years. Another former winner of the Williamson Shield, Fred MacDonald, was continuing his comeback after returning to action earlier this season after over 10 years away from competitive play. Eight of the top 10 from the 1999 championship, including the winner Stephen Scannell, were playing again, so this was probably a slightly stronger field than last year.

There were three surprises in the opening round. Defending champion Scannell was beaten by Gareth Annesley, number one seed Tom Clarke lost to Danny Mallaghan, and it started to snow very heavily. While the snow made the surroundings at Fortwilliam Golf Club very picturesque, it caused the players quite a few problems going to and from the venue.

After all the adjournments were cleared away at the end of Round 4, the leading scores were Clarke, James McDonnell, Adrian Skelton and Waters on 3.0, followed by Michael Holmes, McKeown and Scannell on 2.5. McDonnell beat Clarke in the top board clash in Round 5, but then lost to Scannell in Round 6. Meanwhile Holmes had won in Rounds 5 and 6 to be in the sole lead going into the last round.

The final round pairings on the top two boards were: Scannell (4.0) -v- Holmes (4.5) and James McDonnell (4.0) -v- Adrian Skelton (4.0). Only these four players were in a position to win the title. Scannell managed to beat Holmes and this gave him the championship outright as the other two in the hunt drew their game. Final round wins for Clarke, over Waters, and Timothy Douglas, over the previously unbeaten McKeown, brought them up to second equal. The only player to remain unbeaten over the seven rounds was Adrian Skelton.

Final scores and positions:
1. Stephen Scannell 5.0;
2=6. Tom Clarke, Tim Douglas, Michael Holmes, James McDonnell and Adrian Skelton 4.5;
7. Danny Mallaghan (winner of the grading prize) 4.0;
8=12. Fred MacDonald, Paul McKeown, Desmond Moreland, Brendan O'Neill and Michael Waters 3.5;
13=14. Gareth Annesley and Sam Moore 3.0;
15. Paul McLoughlin 1.0;
16. John Nicholson 0.0 (withdrew after 2 rounds).

Detailed scorecards for all the players

Gareth Annesley - Stephen Scannell:
Ulster Championship: Round 1, 27 December 2000

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bb5 Nge7 5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 Qc7 7.Be3 Nxd4 8.Qxd4 Nc6 9.Bxc6 dxc6 10.0-0-0 f6 11.f4 Be7 12.e5 f5 13.g4 fxg4 14.Rhg1 0-0 15.Rxg4 Rd8 16.Rdg1 Bf8 17.Qc4 Qf7 18.Ne4 Bd7 19.Qd3 g6 20.Nf6+ Kh8 21.Rh4 Be8 22.Qe4 Be7 23.Rxh7+ Qxh7 24.Nxh7 Kxh7 25.h4 Bf7 26.h5 Rg8 27.hxg6+ Bxg6 28.Qh1+ Kg7 29.f5 exf5 30.e6 Rae8 31.Qh6+ Kf6 32.Bg5+ Kxe6 33.Bxe7 Rxe7 34.Rxg6+ Rxg6 35.Qxg6+ Ke5 36.Kd2 Ke4 37.Ke2 Re5 38.Kf2 Rb5 39.b3 Rd5 40.Qe6+ Kf4 41.Qe3+ Kg4 42.c4 Ra5 43.Qe2+ Kh4 44.Kf3 Kh5 45.Kf4+ Kg6 46.Qe8+ Kh6 47.a4 a6 48.b4 Rxa4 49.Kxf5 1-0

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ULSTER OPEN ACTIVE BELFAST 4 FEBRUARY 2001

Senior (18 Player 5 Round Swiss)

1. Stephen Scannell 4.5
2. Michael Holmes 4.0
3=4. Tom Clarke, John Nicholson 3.5
5=8. Paul McLoughlin, Nicholas Pilkiewicz, John Strawbridge, Brendan Walshe (grading prize) 3.0
9=10. Mark Newman, David O'Donnell 2.5
11=15. Alan Burns, Danny Mallaghan, Stephen McCann, Desmond Moreland, Jim McLean 2.0
16. David Collins 1.5
17. Ron Henderson 1.0
18. Gerry Pollock 0.0

In Round 3 Tom Clarke beat Nicholas Pilkiewicz (the game appears below) and Michael Holmes lost to Stephen Scannell. This put Clarke and Scannell in the joint lead with 3/3 and they met in Round 4. After a fluctuating struggle the game was drawn. Meanwhile Holmes and Pilkiewicz had got back on the winning trail and this produced final round pairings of Clarke (3.5) - Holmes (3.0) and Pilkiewicz (3.0) - Scannell (3.5). Both games were won by the player of the Black pieces and therefore Scannell notched up his 4th victory of the season in UCU tournaments.

Junior (15 player 5 Round Swiss)

1. Chris Black 5.0
2. Michael Kane 4.0
3=6. Alex Beckett, Damien Cuningham, Louis Holmes, Jack McCann (grading prize) 3.0
7=10. Colin Fenton, Geoff Hindley, Sam Lynn, Ed Morgan 2.5
11=13. John Cahoon, Damien Lavery, Philip Morrison 2.0
14. William Storey 1.5
15. A. Peile 1.0

Having both scored 3/3 Chris Black and Michael Kane met in the 4th Round and it was Black who won, thus assuring himself of at least a share of first prize. In the final round first prize went outright to Black when he won quickly against Dubliner Jack McCann. Thinking he was now out of the running for a prize, Jack was considering making an early start on his long journey home, until some of the other competitors persuaded him that he was still in with a chance of a grading prize. As you can see from the result above the wait proved worthwhile.

Tom Clarke - Nicholas Pilkiewicz: Ulster Open Active, Round 3, 4th February 2001
[Notes based on comments by Tom Clarke]

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 Ne4 3.h4 d5 4.Nd2 Nxg5 5.hxg5 g6 6.e4
The usual move here is 6.e3, which Clarke himself played against John Nicholson in the 1995 Irish Championship (1-0, 21).
6...dxe4 7.Nxe4 Bg7 8.Nf3 Bg4
Clarke thought 9...Bf5 might be better here.
9.Bc4 0-0 10.c3 Nd7 11.Qd2 Bxf3 12.gxf3 e5
Pilkiewicz was probably hoping that he would be allowed to exchange on d4 and put a minor piece on e5, when Black may survive.
13.d5
Clarke however felt that 12...e5 was a mistake and that after the text move he was clearly winning. The White pieces are so active and the bishop can easily threaten the Black King with an appropriate d6. Plausible moves are hard to find. White's plan is to play 0-0-0, or in some lines Ke2, and either double rooks on the h-file or play f4 to bring in the Queen culminating with d6. Black's only chance is a thematic h5 hoping in some lines that after g5xh6 the king can hide on h8. Clarke also looked at the spectacular 13.0-0-0 exd4 14. Rxh7+ Kxh7 15. Rh1+ followed by Qf4 and Qh2, but concluded that idea could not be made to work.
13...Nb6 14.Bb3 Qd7
A fatal mistake, taking his eye off the important square f6.
15.Nf6+ Bxf6 16.gxf6 Nxd5
Desperation, hoping for 17.Qh6 Nxf6, when everything is covered.
17.Bxd5 1-0
White's plan of Qh6 and mate on either g7 of h7 is unanswerable.

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BUNRATTY CHESS FESTIVAL 16-18 FEBRUARY 2001

There were 280 players competing in 4 sections. The Masters attracted 5 GMs and 6 IMs. There was an Ulster success in the Major section with Tony Parker coming first equal with 5.5 out of his 6 games.

Final standings after 6 rounds:
Masters: 1=3. Mark Hebden, Bogdan Lalic, Matthew Turner 4.5;
4=9. Alexander Baburin, Brian Kelly, Jonathan Parker, Mark Ferguson, Joe Ryan, Philip Short 4.0
(44 players)
Challengers: 1. Paul Kiely 5.5;
2=7. Jonathan Kaye, Simon Jeffares, David Salter, Patrick Rea, Niall McDonnell, Brian Fitzpatrick 5.0
(55 players)
Major: 1=2. Tony Parker, Colin Byford 5.5;
3=5. John Knightson, William Gill, Maurice Coveney 5.0 (94 players)
Minor: 1. Patrick Prendiville 6.0
2. Sandor Brito 5.5; 3=7. David McCarthy, Walter Fitzgibbon, Keith Wicks, Rory Delaney, Eamonn Keane 5.0 (87 players)

Final scores for Ulster players:
Masters: Brian Kelly 4.0, Mark Orr 3.5, Tom Clarke 2.0, Paul McKeown 2.0
Challengers: Sam Moore 3.0, Danny Mallaghan 2.5, Cecil Sloan 2.0
Major: Tony Parker 5.5, Damien Cunningham 4.0, Martin Kelly 3.0, Paul McLoughlin 3.0, John Orchin 2.0, Alan Burns 1.5

Full results and download of the games from the Masters at the Official site: http://members.aol.com/bunratty chess

UCU BELFAST & DISTRICT LEAGUES 2000-2001:
STANDINGS ON 8 MARCH 2001

DIVISION 1
TEAM	PLAYED	POINTS
NORTH BELFAST	10	63.0
RVH A	11	53.0
RVH B	11	37.0
CIVIL SERVICE	12	36.0
BANGOR CARNEGIE	9	31.5
BOMBARDIER	10	24.5
FISHERWICK A	7	19.5
MAGHERAFELT	8	8.5
DIVISION 2
TEAM	PLAYED	POINTS
SHORTS	12	53.0
CIYMS	10	47.5
QUB	9	47.0
RVH C	8	28.0
FISHERWICK B	10	28.5
FORTWILLIAM	10	28.0
RVH D	12	27.0
BANGOR GROOMSPORT	7	26.0
BANGOR WINSTON	10	23.5

QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY CHESS CLUB WEBSITE

Traditionally one of the strongest Ulster chess clubs, since the early 1990s Queen's University Chess Club had been in decline, not even entering teams in the Belfast and District Leagues. Fortunately that trend has now been reversed. The University players organised a one-day tournament last year and entered a team in the UCU Knockout Cup, reaching the final of the Plate competition. This year a QUB team is competing with considerable success in Division 2 of the League. Those involved in running the club are determined to return it to its previous heights. The club is also the first Ulster chess club to have a website. It can be found at http://qubchessclub.tripod.com

TARGET RECRUITMENT OPEN 30 MARCH-1 APRIL 2001
2 Grand Masters 2 International Masters 2 FIDE Masters Competed in the Masters

This was by far the strongest weekend event ever held in Northern Ireland. The Masters was won jointly by Grandmasters Bogdan Lalic and Alexander Baburin with 5 points from 6 games. Half a point behind in shared third place were the two Dutch players IM Harmen Jonkman and FM Yge Visser. In the Challengers Brendan O'Neill (RVH) and Ian Davis (Durham University) came first equal with 5 out of 6 and in the Major, former Faber Cup player Michelle Crowley (Trinity College, Dublin) tied on 5.5 out of 6 with Dublin resident and frequent visitor to Ulster tournaments Jack McCann. An impromptu blitz tournament was held on the Saturday night with IM Mark Orr beating Visser in the final, while a special 8-player youth event was won by Nicola Hood after a play-off with Shane Keers.

Masters Final Standings

Place Name                           Rtg  Score   Progr. M-Buch. Buch.

1-2   Lalic, Bogdan                  2531 5       18.0    15.0  22.0
      Baburin, Alexander             2515 5       16.5    14.5  21.0
3-4   Visser, Yge                    2442 4.5     16.0    15.0  21.0
      Jonkman, Harmen                2383 4.5     16.0    14.0  21.5
5-9   Orr, Mark                      2323 4       16.0    14.5  21.5
      Daly, Colm                     2284 4       15.5    13.0  19.5
      Clarke, Tom                    2191 4       14.0    14.5  21.5
      Gillen, Stephen                2264 4       14.0    13.0  19.5
      Allen, Keith                   2182 4       13.0     9.5  16.0
10-15 McDonnell, James               2138 3.5     13.0    14.0  20.0
      Gillen, Adrian                 2345 3.5     13.0    12.0  18.0
      Jowett, Peter                  2225 3.5     13.0    11.5  17.5
      Holmes, Michael                2113 3.5     12.0    11.0  17.0
      Tello, Yasser                  1936 3.5     10.5    12.0  16.5
      Cooper, John                   1936 3.5      9.5    11.5  18.0
16-19 Gillen, Peter                  2063 3       11.0    10.5  16.0
      Skelton, Adrian                2024 3        9.5    12.0  19.0
      O'Rourke, Ray                  2021 3        8.0    10.0  16.0
      Pilkiewicz, Nicholas           1966 3        6.0     8.5  14.0
20-25 Scannell, Stephen              2171 2.5     11.5    14.5  21.5
      Ellison, George                2100 2.5     11.5    12.5  19.5
      Forson, Desmond                1880 2.5      8.5    12.5  18.5
      Moreland, Desmond              1814 2.5      8.5    10.5  15.0
      Path, David                    1909 2.5      8.0    12.0  17.5
      Nizetic, Philip                1928 2.5      7.5    12.0  17.5
26-30 Bradley, John                  1833 2        9.5    11.5  16.5
      Newman, Mark                   1826 2        9.0    11.5  17.5
      McKeown, Paul                  2084 2        8.5    11.0  17.0
      Mallaghan, Daniel              1916 2        8.0    13.5  18.5
      Annesley, Gareth               1883 2        7.5    11.5  17.0
31-33 MacDonald, Fred                1850 1.5      6.0    11.5  16.5
      Esmonde, Tom                   1887 1.5      4.5    11.5  16.0
      Heathwood, George              1952 1.5      2.5    10.5  15.5
34    Morgan, Stephen                2004 1        3.5     9.5  15.0

Challengers Final Standings

Place Name                          Rtg  Score   Progr. M-Buch. Buch.

1-2   O'Neill, Brendan              1689 5       19.5    13.5  20.5
      Davis, Ian                    1598 5       16.5    12.5  18.0
3     McLean, Jim                   1682 4.5     15.5    13.5  21.0
4-10  Parker, Tony                  1606 4       16.5    16.5  24.5
      Moore, Sam                    1778 4       15.0    14.0  21.0
      McLoughlin, Paul              1757 4       14.0    13.0  18.5
      Burns, Alan                   1562 4       13.5    11.5  18.0
      Harvey, Gerald                1765 4       13.0    12.0  19.5
      Alvarez, Fernando             1705 4       13.0    10.5  16.5
      McCann, Stephen               1563 4       11.0    10.5  16.0
11-13 Jackson, David                1554 3.5     14.0    13.5  20.0
      Alcorn, Tom                   1600 3.5     14.0    13.0  19.5
      O'Donnell, David              1506 3.5      9.0    10.0  17.0
14-20 Hiddleston, John              1650 3       14.0    14.0  20.5
      Marlow, Fred                  1420 3       12.5    12.5  20.0
      Cooper, Neil                  1429 3       11.5    16.0  22.0
      Fisher, Neil                  1752 3       11.0    12.0  17.5
      Neila, Eva                    1529 3       10.0    14.0  20.5
      Henderson, Ron                1621 3       10.0    10.5  15.0
      Clarke, Joe                   1500 3        9.0    11.5  17.5
21-25 Strawbridge, John             1638 2.5      9.5     9.5  15.5
      Collins, David                1553 2.5      8.5    12.5  18.5
      McFarland, Norman             1712 2.5      8.5    11.0  16.0
      McConaghy, Stuart             1773 2.5      8.0    11.5  17.0
      Torres, Wenceslao             1602 2.5      4.5    11.0  16.0
26-31 McInerney, Stephen            1650 2        8.0     8.0  13.5
      Storey, William               1431 2        7.5    10.5  16.0
      Beckett, Alex                 1451 2        7.0    10.5  16.0
      Fiala, Dalibor                1717 2        5.5    10.5  17.0
      Lavery, Damien                1473 2        5.0    10.5  16.0
      Proctor, Richard              1446 2        5.0    10.5  15.5
32    Walshe, Brendan               1617 1.5      8.5    11.5  18.5
33    Woodfield, Jonathan           1407 1        4.5    10.0  15.5

Major Final Standings

Place Name                         Rtg  Score   Progr. Buch. M-Buch.

1-2   Cowley, Michelle             1362 5.5     19.5  21.0    13.0
      McCann, Jack                 1323 5.5     19.5  21.0    13.0
3-4   Higgins, Andrew              1252 4       15.0  22.5    14.5
      Patterson, Harry             1158 4       14.0  21.0    13.5
5-6   Peile, Ashley                     3.5     11.0  16.5    11.0
      Hood, Nicola                 0844 3.5     11.0  15.0    11.0
7-11  Black, Chris                 1322 3       14.0  22.0    14.5
      Kane, Michael                1311 3       11.0  23.0    15.0
      Morgan, Ed                   1262 3       11.0  15.0    11.0
      Keers, Shane                      3       10.0  17.0    11.0
      Holmes, Louis                1388 3        9.0  16.0    10.5
12-13 Hindley, Geoff               1226 2.5     10.0  17.5    11.5
      Cahoon, John                 1240 2.5     10.0  16.5    11.0
14    Kelly, Mark                  1004 2        6.0  15.0    11.0
15    Leitch, Calum                     1        3.0  15.5    10.5

Special Section on the 2001 Target Recruitment Open