The children come in from about 12:30pm help setup the room and sit and play friendly games of chess. We register the players hoping that we get enough to have a least two sections. In the past we have had as many as 80 pupils of all age groups. These tournaments have now been running for some 10 years. The top players at the end of the series being invited to Stormont for an Elite Tournament and prize giving together with the Principals of their schools.
With five primary pupils we ran an all-play-all tournament. Followed by some coaching and a competitive series of battle chess - a game where each player has a King and 4 pawns. The players use a piece of card/or chess board to hide their side of the board from their opponents and places in secret their pawns and King - the rule being the King cant go on the fourth row (as could be in check) and the pawns cant go on the first row. Then the players say 'ready' and the separator is removed to reveal the whole board. White plays first and the game continues with the normal rules of chess. Apart from definition of a win. The winner is the first to Queen a pawn safely. This is a brilliant way of practicing and improving your endgame techniques. Especially as pawn endgames aren't common for people new to the game.
With Eighteen secondary pupils we managed a swiss tournament with 7 rounds of chess. Thanks go to Andrew Todd from Bangor Grammar School who has run the school chess club and encouraged players from the school to attend these tournaments. He also shares his love of the game with his two Brothers Samuel and Peter both very good players. In fact the younger Peter has won his way already to Stormont with top points of 3 x 10 = 30 points for the Secondary Lower school section. For standings in the Stormont Grandprix see end of this article.
Thanks also to Gerry Tate who brings a contingent of pupils up from St Patricks, Downpatrick. Thanks also to the volunteers: Gerry Tate, Geoff Hindley, James Fairley and Andrew Dawson.
The quality of the chess was brilliant with sharp positions. Quick play endings. Stalemates the whole spectrum of exciting chess.
Present were the current Ulster Champions - Under12 Champion: Calvin Patterson, Under14 Champion Peter Todd and Under16 Champion Raghav Gupta.
The winners of the puzzle solving competition: Secondary: Raghav Gupta (F3), Primary: Phoebe Patterson (P6).
Results and photos follow.
Primary Competition
Round 1
Results
by Swiss Perfect (TM) www.swissperfect.com
Round 2
Results
Round 3
Results
Round 4
Results
Round 5
Results
Standings
Secondary
Round 1
Results
Round 2
Results
Round 3
Results
Round 4
Results
Round 5
Results
Round 6
Results
Round 7
Results
Standings
Hannah Patterson was awarded the Hilder Chater Silver Shield for best placed Girl at the Ulster Championships which had been held on 6th December 2014. Where Hannah came joint winner of the under 14 Ulster Championships.
Standings in the years Grandprix. The points are allocated for being placed in one of the three sections. Primary, Lower Secondary, Upper Secondary.
Place
Points
1
10
2
8
3
6
4
5
5
4
6
3
7
2
8
1
The players best three tournaments are added together. The top four players from each section are invited to Stormont for an award ceremony and Elite Tournament.
Belfast Scholastic Shield 2015
Primary School Championship
Year__
Oct___
Nov___
Jan___
Feb___
Mar___
Apr___
total__
Best 3.__
Pheobe Patterson
P5
10
8
10
8
36
28
Calvin Patterson
P3
6.33
10
8
10
34.33
28
Pirathesan, Muthisan
P7
6.33
3.5
9.83
9.83
Isaac McIlwrath
P6
6.33
6.33
6.33
Avery, Fiachra
P6
6
6
6
Heidi Dawson
P7
6
6
6
Geraghty, Leon
P6
5
5
5
Isaac Yong
P6
5
5
5
Jack McWilliams
P7
4
4
4
Jonah Power
P3
4
4
4
Duffy, Johnny
P7
3.5
3.5
3.5
Matthew McWilliams
P7
3
3
3
Glendinning, Calum
P6
1.5
1.5
1.5
Duffy, Eoghan
P5
1.5
1.5
1.5
Belfast Scholastic Shield 2015
Lower Secondary School Championship
Oct
Nov
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
Total
Best 3
Todd, Peter
F1
10
10
10
9
39
30
Todd, Samuel
F3
6
4
8
5.5
23.5
19.5
Patterson, Hannah
F3
8
4
5.5
17.5
17.5
Gupta, Raghav
F3
4.5
4
9
17.5
17.5
Duffy, Matt
F2
8
8
8
Kane, James
F1
2
5.5
7.5
7.5
McElroy, Eoghan
F3
2
4
6
6
Jervis, Conor
F3
2
3
5
5
Edwards, Owen
F3
4.5
4.5
4.5
Ferguson, Darragh
F1
4
4
4
Brown, Cameron
F2
4
4
4
Breen, Dylan
F1
4
4
4
Quigley, Caleb
F2
3
3
3
Lewis Murphy
F3
2
2
2
Rowan, Ciaran
F2
1
1
1
Bryne, Nathan
F1
1
1
1
Belfast Scholastic Shield 2015
Upper Secondary School Championship
Oct
Nov
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
Total
Best 3
McCorkindale, Eoin
F5
10
9
10
29
29
Dawson, John
L6
10
5.5
9
4
28.5
24.5
Todd, Andrew
L6
8
5.5
6
8
27.5
22
Patterson, Jake
F5
5.5
8
5
6
24.5
19.5
Dawson, Joel
F4
5.5
2
2
9.5
9.5
Mcgurnaghan, Patrick
F4
4
2
6
6
Gray, Matthew
F5
3
2
5
5
Samuel Trimble
L6
5
5
5
Hanzharov, Edward
F4
4
4
4
Geary, Josh
F7
4
4
4
Finlay, Kelly
F5
3
3
3
Murray, Scott
F5
1
1
1
Belfast Scholastic Shield 2015
The Belfast Scholastic Edward Whiteside Shield:
Primary Puzzle Solving Chess Champion
Primary Puzzles
Total
Best 3
Pheobe Patterson
P6
9
10
10
10
10
49
30
Calvin Patterson
P3
6
5
8
19
19
Avery, Fiachra
P6
8
8
16
16
Isaac McIlwrath
P6
9
9
9
Dawson, Heidi
P7
8
8
8
Pirathesan, Muthisan
P7
6
6
6
Yong, Isaac
P6
6
6
6
Geraghty, Leon
P6
5.5
5.5
5.5
McWilliams, Jack
P7
5.5
5.5
5.5
Power, Jonah
P3
5
5
5
Glendinning, Calum
P6
3.5
3.5
3.5
McWilliams, Matthew
P7
3.5
3.5
3.5
Belfast Scholastic Shield 2015
The Belfast Scholastic Fergus O’Neill Shield:
Secondary Puzzle Solving Chess Champion
Secondary Puzzles
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
Total
Best 3
John Dawson
L6
10
7
2
5.5
24.5
22.5
Todd, Samuel
F3
1.5
8
8
4
21.5
20
Todd, Andrew
L6
5
10
4
19
19
McCorkindale, Eoin
F5
10
3.5
3.5
4
21
17.5
Todd, Peter
F1
3.5
5
5.5
4
18
14.5
Owen Edwards
F3
8
3.5
11.5
11.5
Joel Dawson
F4
6
3.5
1
10.5
10.5
Matt Duffy
F2
10
10
10
Matthew Gray
F5
6
4
10
10
Gupta, Raghav
F3
10
10
10
Scott, Murray
F5
8
8
8
Rowan, Ciaran
F2
7
7
7
Patterson, Jake
F5
3.5
3.5
3.5
Breen, Dylan
F1
2
2
2
Brown, Cameron
F2
1.5
1.5
1.5
Kane, James
F1
1
1
1
Edward Hanzharov
F4
1
1
1