Ulster Chess Union

1st. Stephen Scannell 5.5; 2nd. Michael Holmes 5.0; 3rd= Gerard MacElligott and Nicholas Pilkiewicz 4.0.
Grading prizes won by Desmond Moreland and Tom Alcorn.

1st= Michelle Cowley, Damien Lavery and Paul McLoughlin 4.5.
Grading prize won by Alex Beckett and under 18 prize by Calum Leitch

There were 97 competitors in this 6 Round Weekend Swiss, run in 3 sections.

Winner of the Senior section was FM Colm Daly with 4.5 out of 6. Amongst the prizewinners in the Intermediate section was Ulster player Desmond Moreland, who finished equal second.

28 players competed in two Swiss sections over six rounds. Games were 25 minutes each.

The result in this Match is now confirmed as a win for Wales by 14 points to 13. On Day 1 the Welsh won 7.5 to 4.5 plus three games forfeit (though the Welsh have decided not to claim those games) due to travel difficulties encountered by some of the Ulster team. The Ulster team fought back on Day 2 scoring particularly well on the top Boards to win by 8.5 to 6.5. Leading the way on Board 1 was IM Brian Kelly who defeated James Cobb in both their games while David Houston, Tom Clarke, Paul McKeown and Jonathan Harvey all scored 1.5 out of 2.

With the big Kilkenny tournament moving a week later than usual to avoid a 4NCL weekend, the knock-on effect was that the UCU had to find new dates for the Intermediate and Junior Championships. Unfortunately our usual venue at Queen's was not available, and it was decided to avail of the hospitality of Bangor Golf Club as in 1999. Although this might have put off some Belfast players, it probably was more convenient for others. One particularly pleasing entry was that of John Lynch of City of Derry CC, the first time in some while since the Championships has had an entry from the maiden city. In the end total numbers were exactly the same as last year. The venue itself was excellent, with more than enough space in the playing area, good food in the Golf Club restaurant at a very reasonable price, friendly staff and a pleasant view over the golf course.

In the Intermediate (1500 and above) Jonathan Brown, returning to competitive chess after a 4 year lay-off and with just a couple of League games as a warm-up, ended Day 1 a full point ahead after wins over Stewart McConaghy, Danny Mallaghan and Brendan Jamison. He continued on his merry way with victories over Desmond Moreland and Alan Burns in Rounds 4 and 5. In the final Round he faced his Civil Service club mate Sam Moore, the only other unbeaten player, having only conceded 2 draws to Desmond Moreland and Danny Mallaghan. Sam was Black and played a Nimzo-Indian Defence, only to notice at Jonathan's side a book (unopened of course) on the very opening. When Sam mentioned this excellent preparation, Jonathan good-naturedly offered to lend the book to Sam! Anyway, Sam decided that with Jonathan in such good form, trying to beat him with Black was too risky a strategy and opted for an early draw offer and a safe second place ("It would have been different if I had White," said Sam). He then waited to see if Danny Mallaghan could join him on 4.5 points - this the top seed managed by beating Desmond Moreland with the Black pieces.

In the Junior (under 1500) last year's winner, William Storey finished Day 1 with 3 wins over young David Grzymek (making his debut in UCU events) Geoff Hindley and Alex Beckett. Half-a-point behind at this stage were John Orchin and Richard Proctor, who had drawn their individual encounter in Round 2. In Round 4 Storey faced Proctor, who sacrificed 3 pawns by move 7 in a King's Gambit !

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 Be7
The Cunningham Defence.
4.Bc4 Bh4+ 5.g3
Richard Proctor called this the Wild Cunningham Gambit - it certainly lives up to its description!
5...fxg3 6.0-0 gxh2+
Here or on the next move theory suggests Black is better playing ...d5.
7.Kh1
This is sometimes called the Three Pawns Gambit. White's King is in fact quite well sheltered behind the Black h2 pawn.
7...d6 8.Bxf7+ Kd7 9.e5 Nh6 10.e6+ Kc6 11.Nd4+
11.c4 may be better here. White is threatening 12.Qa4. Now if Black plays 11...a6 12.Qa4+ Kb6 White captures the Knight with 13.Nxh4 when Black cannot reply 13...Qxh4 on account of 14.c5+ discovering an attack on the Queen.
11...Kb6 12.Nc3 c5
Black should only push this pawn one square, when he would have reasonable chances of surviving the onslaught. After the text move mate is inevitable - to be precise Fritz gives it as mate in six.
13.Nd5+ Ka5 14.b4+ cxb4 15.a3 1-0
A slightly quicker way to mate was with either 15.a4 or 15.Qe2, but this still does the business. After 15.a3 White is threatening to mate immediately with 16.axb4. Richard Proctor showed a few sample mates:
(a) 15...axb3 16.Rxa3 mate
(b) 15...b3 16.Nxb3+ and now
(b1) 16...Ka4 17.Nc3 mate
(b2) 16...Kb5 17.Qe2+ b5 (17...Kc6 18.Qc4 mate) 18.a4 Kb7 19.Qxb5+ Qb6 20.Na5 mate.
In variation (b2) Black can prolong the agony with different moves on his 18th but defeat is still inevitable.
See if you can work it all out!

Proctor was now in the lead as Beckett had beaten Orchin, but the lead was to be short-lived when he lost to Beckett in Round 5. This left Beckett half-a-point ahead going in the final Round, and the 1996 winner maintained his lead with a victory over Geoff Hindley. John Orchin came back up into second place with wins in the final 2 Rounds over Ashley Peile and Storey

The RVH Chess Club ran 3 very successful handicap blitz tournaments over the summer. The Club used the same format for a pre-Christmas entertainment, this time confined to club members. Runaway victor was Paul McLoughlin with 6 wins from his 6 games. Runner-up on 4.5 after winning his last 4 games was Michael Holmes.

The field of 20 players assembled for the Ulster Championship was probably the strongest since the mid-1990s. Top seed was International Master Mark Orr, formerly from Bangor but now resident in Edinburgh and making his first appearance in the Championship in over 10 years. Unfortunately former champion Michael Holmes had to avail of the travelling bye in Round 1 and then withdraw from the tournament prior to Round 2 because of a family illness.

The big surprise of the opening Round was Danny Mallaghan's victory over Stephen Scannell, champion for the past three years. Perhaps it shouldn't have been that much of a surprise. In last year's Championship Mallaghan defeated the top seed Tom Clarke in the opening Round, while at the same time Scannell had dropped the full point to Gareth Annesley. Somebody humorously suggested that Steve should in future take a travelling bye in Round 1. There was to be no giant-killing this year for Annesley. His attempt at aggression against top seed IM Mark Orr's Trompowsky Attack rebounded, when he had to give up the exchange and was eventually ground down.

Douglas-Orr was fairly even until Douglas went astray in time trouble. Mallaghan joined Orr on 2 points after an endgame win over Ulster Intermediate Champion Jonathan Brown. Heathwood-McDonnell was a quiet game with both players trying to squeeze something out of the ending. McDonnell tried a tactic, but it had a hole in it, and Heathwood became the third player with full points after 2 games.

Heathwood beat co-leader Mallaghan while Mark Orr "floated down" to Rod Nixon. Orr was in serious trouble in this game when Nixon started pushing passed pawns on the a- and b-files. However, Nixon went astray and Orr used the open h-file to penetrate with his Queen to secure victory. Scannell looked to be heading for his second defeat against Desmond Moreland, until a time-trouble blunder from his opponent allowed him to get a second Queen.

In the battle of the leaders Heathwood, with the White pieces, seemed to have a slight edge, but a misjudged liquidation into an ending handed victory to Orr. The only other unbeaten player after 3 Rounds had been Adrian Skelton, but his run came to an end against James McDonnell when, under pressure, he blundered a piece.

1. IM Mark Orr 4.0; 2=5.Timothy Douglas, George Heathwood, James McDonnell and Stephen Scannell 3.0; 6=7.Rod Nixon and Adrian Skelton 2.5

Scannell had the Black pieces against Orr and pushed his h-pawn all the way to h2. The game was balanced on a knife-edge, but after what appears to have been a mutual mistake on move 40 when Orr gave Scannell the chance to win material, Orr secured the full point. Timothy Douglas sacrificed a pawn for open lines against James McDonnell's king. The game came to an abrupt end when McDonnell missed a tactic. On the way home after the day's play Desmond Moreland was involved in a frightening incident when a block of ice was thrown through his car windscreen. Fortunately Desmond suffered only a few cuts and bruises, but he had to withdraw from the tournament.

Mark Orr made it 6 wins out of 6 with a smooth performance against Adrian Skelton while Douglas kept up the chase with his fifth win - his opponent Nixon seemed to castle into trouble, and despite his habitual time-trouble, Douglas produced a sparkling finish. Scannell "allowed" his Bishop to be trapped at h8 in an ending but when McDonnell went to round it up, Scannell marched his King over to the other side of the board. McDonnell resigned without Scannell needing to demonstrate the win by pushing a pawn through to queen. Early leader Heathwood suffered his third defeat in a row when he blundered a piece in the opening in his game with Paul McLoughlin.

1. IM Mark Orr 6.0; 2. Timothy Douglas 5.0; 3=4. Paul McLoughlin and Stephen Scannell 4.0; 5=7. Rod Nixon, Adrian Skelton and Arlo White 3.5

On Board 1 it was top seed Orr versus bottom seed McLoughlin, and the IM's pressure on the kingside netted a couple of pawns. McLoughlin resigned when he was about to lose a bishop as well. Scannell pressed hard against Douglas in the endgame for the win that would bring him level with his opponent in the final standings. However Douglas stood firm and Scannell, having exhausted every avenue but with more time left, sportingly offered a draw when others may have been tempted to take advantage of the allegro finish. Nixon and Skelton, with wins over Arlo White and Fred MacDonald respectively, joined Scannell in third equal.

1. Mark Orr 7.0
2. Timothy Douglas 5.5
3=5. Adrian Skelton, Rod Nixon and Stephen Scannell 4.5
6. Paul McLoughlin (winner Under 1800 Grading Prize) 4.0
7=11. George Heathwood (joint winner 1800-1999 Grading Prize), James McDonnell, Arlo White, Nicholas Pilkiewicz (joint winner 1800-1999 Grading Prize) and Ian Davis 3.5
12=14. Fred MacDonald, Jonathan Brown and Gareth Annesley 3.0
15=18. Danny Mallaghan, Paul McKeown, Sam Moore and Desmond Moreland (withdrew after 5 Rounds) 2.5
19. John McKenna 1.5