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Wednesday, December 25, 2013

An early morning Christmas present

The local chess population has been waiting with bated breath for the big decision. Where would the axe fall in the divisional split?

Well, very early on Christmas Day, Santa Claus (aka the League Controller) announced to the team captains that it is to be a 6-6 split. So one of the Magnificent Seven is to lose out on the kudos of playing for the Silver King but will then inevitably become the favourite for Division 2 glory. Looks like my previous blog hoping for that decider between Lagan and Ballynafeigh 2 will come to pass.

Hey, but hold on a minute, what's this about 6-6? Surely only 11 teams entered the League. There had been a few rumours, fuelled by some teasing by the League Controller over at the Ballynafeigh blog, that an extra team could be on the cards. So where's this mystery team coming from. The best clue appears at the Belfast South blog and so it looks like a second team from that quarter is entering the fray. Considering the number of players that have flocked there recently, they have the spare capacity.

From that blog we also learn that Belfast South teams will now be named BSI 1, BSI 2 etc. The "I" apparently stands for International. Still it seems a shame to go for an abbreviation that sounds like some disease found in cows or sheep. Much friendlier to my ear would have been Belfast South and Malone - after all their blog has the words "malonechessteam" in its web address. Maybe the émigrés don't want a copyright war with the team across the road!

One final point is how Division 2 will accommodate the newbie. League points gained from the preliminary all-play-all are carried over into the divisions. So does the new team start from scratch, effectively giving it no chance of winning Division 2 (admittedly that's probably the same hope that NICS and Ballynafeigh 3 have) or will the League Controller have come up with an imaginative solution?


Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Is a 7-4 League split coming?

This is now the fourth season in which the Belfast & District Leagues have had a preliminary section in which all teams compete, followed by a split into separate Divisions to decide the League titles. For the first two seasons, there was a 4-4-3 split while last season the Controller went for 2 Division 6-5 separation.

Whether the split was into 2 or 3 Divisions, there seemed to be a mathematical validity to it - equal sized Divisions, in so far as that can be managed with 11 competing teams. Your correspondent had assumed, albeit without any official word on it, that we would get something similar this year. 6-5 seemed the more likely with "newbies" Muldoons and Lindores, and a strengthened Belfast South, adding a greater competitive edge to the top of the preliminary section.

Everybody seems to agree that this is the most exciting League for some time with a number of teams keen to have a crack at Fisherwick, the Red Bull Racing of Ulster chess. However, with a 6-5 split could perhaps a genuine title contender find itself in Division 2, come separation-time? Seems this thought is doing the rounds in Belfast chess circles.

Nick at "Off the Chest" at the Ballynafeigh CC website raises this issue:

"Can the league split of either 7 4 or 6 5 be decided before the league season starts? It isnt fair to be decided in january."

Seems the League Controller, aka Ballynafeigh Chess, has already seen all this coming - here's an excerpt from his reply to Nick at "Off the Chest."

"the league controller must be allowed discretion to decide the separation line between teams that are or are not in contention, the controller must evaluate the prospects of team considering their points tally and proximity to the team above them if you want an exciting and competitive competition."
So, reading between the lines, 7-4 looks to be on the cards, particularly after Lagan, who were perhaps the most likely of the Magnificent Seven to miss out under 6-5, drew their match last night with Ballynafeigh 1.

Still a couple of points might be raised.

  • How much more "exciting and competitive competition" could you have than the final week preliminary section match-up between Lagan and Ballynafeigh, 2 if sixth place and entry into Division 1 depended on it? 
  • What about plucky Bangor and a possible 8-3 split - is the reward for the seasiders in being the only team this season to even share the points with Fisherwick to be a favourite's chance to win the silverware in Division 2 rather than have a few more shots at the big stars in Division 1?

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Martin on the move - Rookie reports

Four days - eight games. That was the unlikely scenario for Martin Kelly, chess captain of Belfast South. Last Thursday, his team stormed to a 5.5-1.5 victory over Muldoons, with Rev. Ray Devenney "collaring" Gareth Annesley and Flying Dutchman Siebren Westra "nicking" a point from Nicholas Pilkiewicz. Martin lost in a friendly on board 6 against Rodney Orr - "orr" did he?

Last weekend, Martin won the Ulster Masters Junior title with 3.5/6, including draws with Damien Cunningham, Mark Newman and Robert Lavery. He also beat Stephen "Scarborough fair" and square! Some people wonder why Martin's rating is still only 1335 and they are quite right to wonder!

On Monday, Belfast South played champions Fisherwick with a second Dutchman, Maxim Le Clercq, "thrown into the deep end" against Michael Waters. With the Fisherwick big two top boards both winning and the other boards drawing, they won 5.5-1.5. Where was Martin? Across the road in the Belfast South Monday Tournament, drawing with Chris Armstrong. No rest for the wicked, as he heads off this weekend with Cathal Murphy and Philip Morrison - The Three Musketeers - to Kilkenny. A report will follow.

Friday, October 18, 2013

League begins, intensity and flexibility beckon

Monday night saw the Belfast and District League get underway with defending champions Fisherwick just getting the better of one of the three Ballynafeigh entrants. On Tuesday another Ballynafeigh team lost at home to Belfast South, the latter boosted by the acquisition of Bruce MacLean and with webmaster Sam Flanagan finally making his debut, Hat tip to the latter for alerting us to the presence of two new club websites - newbies Lindores and the imperious Fisherwick.

On Wednesday Lindores put out a strong line-up and thumped Fruithill 5-0 while on Thursday the revived Civil Service suffered a heavy 1-4 home defeat to Lagan. The third Ballynafeigh team was also in action on Thursday night against Bangor, but no word yet on the result from the furthest reaches of the League (err, that's Groomsport). One piece of good news from the grapevine is that despite my earlier concerns, it appears the seasiders will be putting out a very decent side this season. Further reaction to opening week coming here soon.

So the 2013-2014 season is now in full swing and tournaments are coming thick and fast. The intensity bit is this Sunday's (20th October) Civil Service Rapidplay and the flexibility is Belfast South's so-called "Autumn Tournament" which stretches a marathon 20 weeks from Monday 21st October until (and here's an intriguing choice for the finale) St Patrick's Day 2014.

Saturday, September 28, 2013

New League Season

The fixture list for the 2013-14 Belfast and District Leagues has been posted at the Ballynafeigh CC website, the mouthpiece for League Controller, Damien Cunningham. Hats off to him for getting the whole thing started a week earlier than last year - with Easter 2014 at a late date, there should be no problem fitting in even 21 games before then. Good news is that there are an even number of 12 teams, one up from last year.

Two new entrants, from opposite ends of the Upper Newtownards Road, join the lists. An old name, Civil Service, returns. About 5 years ago the club members decamped to another multi-sports club, the Belfast Boat Club, where they now play under the Lagan designation. There hasn't been a mass return, because apart from UCU Chairman, Geoff Hindley, it's an entirely new group that has set up shop at the Maynard Sinclair Pavilion. At the other end of the road Calum Leitch has gathered a group of coffee house players for his team at the Lindores Cafe. Another watering hole, this time in the city centre (well more or less), Muldoon's Pub, provides another new name for the League, albeit this is the former Mallusk team in disguise, though we are promised that they have added 2 or 3 heavy-hitters to their squad.

New clubs and rejuvenated teams are very welcome news, but where have they got their players from? Answer, in the main, seems to be from Ballynafeigh. This club, still in infancy itself, has very rapidly become the big club in Belfast. It's perhaps not surprising that some of its members may want to try to do the same trick somewhere else, and we understand the leavers go with the good wishes of Ballynafeigh supremo Cunningham. Perhaps he was just delighted not to have to employ his carpentry skills to build a mezzanine floor in the Ballynafeigh clubroom to fit everyone in. Does all this mean Ballynafeigh will have to reduce its teams for the new season? Not at all - such is Cunningham's ability to attract new members, it will still be three teams turning out this season for the Ormeau Road club. How they all fare in the League will depend on whether one of their teams is loaded with their top-rated players.

Last year the new boys on the block were Belfast South, mainly made up of Fisherwick émigrés. They set up in the equally new Agape Centre on the Lisburn Road, but rumour has it that they were pining so much for the Malone Road, that they have moved back to just across the road from their old club in the Bankers Club, where the Summer Tournament was held this year. Despite the loss of players, Fisherwick easily retained the League title in 2012-13, though not without the schizophrenic situation of the new boys webmaster turning out for his "old" team. I expect Fisherwick to be once again the team to beat this season.

Fruithill were another "new" club last year, essentially a reincarnation of RVH, the big team of the "noughties". Their results were variable as they often put out under-strength teams but if, and it's a big if, they can get their best team out every week they could spring a surprise.

After Fisherwick, Bombardier and Bangor are the oldest-established clubs. Both are usually solid performers and it will be interesting to see if Bombardier can come ahead of their new east Belfast neighbours, Civil Service and Lindores. Bangor put out two teams last year, but there were worrying rumours that mass apathy might see them fail to enter the League, but the Groomsport-based club will after all have one team representing their interests. Hopefully, a bit of consolidation will lead to an improved commitment.

So, good luck to all the teams. With a lot of changes in the line-up of clubs in recent times, an interesting season beckons.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Kelly excels in Dublin

While many preferred the Ulster Rapidplay on Easter Monday, one hardy soul ventured South for the whole holiday weekend and picked up some prize-money for his efforts. Rookie reports:

At Easter in Dublin, Martin Kelly (Belfast South) followed up his 4/6 in the Gonzaga Under-1800s with 5/7 in the e2e4 Under-1750 Major. He was unbeaten in the 7 round event.


After a first round travelling bye, Kelly was full of the "joyce" of spring after a difficult draw with Stephen Joyce. After a win and draw in the next two rounds, he was able to "waltz" past Cathal Walsh in Round Five in the game below:
A game that I liked (ChessBase 12)
[Event "e2e4 Major"] [Site "Dublin"] [Date "2013.03.31"] [Round "5"] [White "Kelly, Martin"] [Black "Walsh, Cathal"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B90"] [Annotator "Kelly"] [PlyCount "74"] [EventDate "2013.03.29"] [SourceDate "2013.04.11"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. a4 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. Be2 Be6 9. Bg5 Nbd7 10. f4 h6 11. Bxf6 Nxf6 12. f5 Bd7 13. O-O Rc8 14. Kh1 Rxc3 $5 15. bxc3 Nxe4 16. Qd3 Nf6 17. Bf3 Qc7 18. Nd2 O-O 19. Ne4 Nxe4 ({Not} 19... Bxf5 {because} 20. Nxf6+ {wins a piece.}) 20. Bxe4 f6 {To avoid 21.f6.} 21. Qd5+ Kh8 22. Qxb7 Qxb7 23. Bxb7 a5 24. c4 Rb8 25. Ba6 Rb2 26. Bb5 $1 Bxb5 27. axb5 Rxc2 28. Rxa5 Rxc4 29. b6 Kh7 30. Ra7 Bd8 31. b7 Bc7 32. Rb1 h5 33. Ra8 Kh6 34. Rc8 $1 Kg5 35. Rxc7 Rxc7 36. b8=Q Rc4 37. Qxd6 Kxf5 $2 {38. Qd3 wins the Rook.} (37... Rf4) 1-0

In Round Six on Board Two, joint leader Ronan Murphy was "groanin'" after losing to Kelly in a swashbuckling, sacrificial game, not for the fainthearted. The final round saw Kelly on Board One face last year's winner, Bulgarian Atanis Kouthev, nicknamed "Attack" or "Attila the Hun", who was a half point clear and needed only a draw to win. Kelly remembered losing on Board Two in the last round at Gonzaga but knew a win this time would get him a first prize of 400 Euros. Instead, he chickened out with a Grandmaster draw to finish second. What would you have done in the final position in the game below? Answers on a postcard to......ROOKIE.
A game that I liked (ChessBase 12)
[Event "e2e4 Major"] [Site "Dublin"] [Date "2013.04.01"] [Round "7"] [White "Kelly, Martin"] [Black "Kouthev, Atanas"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B07"] [Annotator "Kelly"] [PlyCount "18"] [EventDate "2013.03.29"] [SourceDate "2013.04.11"] 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 c5 4. dxc5 Qa5 5. cxd6 $5 Nxe4 6. dxe7 Bxe7 7. Bd2 ({ White considered} 7. Qd5) 7... Nxd2 8. Qxd2 Be6 9. Bb5+ Nc6 1/2-1/2

Tuesday, April 02, 2013

Ulster Rapidplay Championship

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