Sponsored by Hyundai Mellons

Tournament Organiser/Arbiter Brendan Jamison with Bill Keery, Mayor of Ard and North Down

Champion John Cairns (White) v Gabor Horvath (Black)

Martin Rodgers (left) is presented with Honorary Lifetime Membership of Bangor Chess Club by Alan McConnell, Chair of Bangor Chess Club

Prize-winners left to right: Christopher Dorrian (Junior Champion), Alex Goss (Under 1800 Grading Prize), Evan Elwood (Junior 3rd), Daniel Hill (Under 850 Grading prize), Tyrone Winter (Under 1200 Grading Prize), John Monaghan (Junior 2nd), Gabor Horvath (2nd), Champion John Cairns and Billy (representing Mellons Hyundia).

Champion Cairns, John

2nd Place Horvath, Gabor

3rd Place Waters, Michael

Under 1800 Grading Prize Goss, Alex

Under 1500 Grading Prize Wilson, Walter

Junior Champion Dorrian, Christopher

Junior 2nd Place Monaghan, John

Junior 3rd Place  Elwood, Evan

Under 1200 Grading Prize Tyrone, Winter

Under 850 Grading Prize Hill, Daniel

Tournament Report by Brendan Jamison

Bangor Chess Congress Returns with a Bang!

Slap. Bang. Swing. Click. Over 50 speed chess players exercised their lightning-fast reflexes, duelling at the Bangor Chess Congress on Saturday 5 October.

Kindly sponsored by Mellons Hyundai, it was the hotly anticipated return of the event after a 14 year break. Held in the magnificent venue of Groomsport Parish Halls, players came in their droves from all across Northern Ireland, even as far away as Dublin. Testimony to the warm reception at Bangor Chess Club.

The event was officially launched by Alderman Bill Keery, Mayor of Ards and North Down, who delivered an excellent speech. Players then took their seats and tried to calm their nerves before battle commenced. 6 rounds flew by as several multi-award winning champions fought hard to secure the Sam Lynn Memorial Shield.

Tournament organiser and arbiter, Brendan Jamison, congratulated the ten prize-winners as one-by-one they came up to collect their awards:

Fruithill’s John Cairns was crowned the much-deserved champion with an undefeated record of four wins and two draws. The following 4 players all ended on 4.5/6 and tie-breaks had to determine the prize they walked home with. Hungarian powerhouse Gabor Horvath took 2nd, while decorated chess supremo Michael Waters of Bray Chess Club came 3rd, the Under 1800 Grading Prize was won by Dublin teenage chess prodigy Alex Goss of Elm Mount and the Under 1500 Grading Prize was won by Walter Wilson from Newtownards, punching far above his rating in a super tough field of players.

Christopher Dorrian from Carrickfergus was crowned the Junior Champion with the excellent score of 5/6. Fruithill Chess Club then delivered two more junior prize-winners as 2nd went to John Monaghan on 5/6 and 3rd to Evan Elwood on 4.5/6. The Under 1200 Grading Prize was won by Tyrone Winter, finishing on 4/6. The Under 850 Grading Prize was scooped by 14 year old Daniel Hill from Larne, a promising young player from Strand Chess Club.

Bangor Chess Club Chairman Alan McConnell also presented a much-deserved ‘Life-time Honorary Membership’ to Martin Rodgers, one of the founding members of the club and its devoted treasurer for 50 years! Martin expressed his heartfelt thanks for the award.

Bangor Chess Club always invites new players to come along to visit the club to get a taste of the marvellous fun that can be shared over the board. Players of all ages and abilities are welcome. The club runs on Thursday nights from 7:30pm to 10:45pm at Groomsport Parish Halls on the Main Street of the village.

Arbiters: Brendan Jamison and Evan Elwood

50 Entrants

Entry list correct as at 10am GMT on Friday 4 October 2019

*reserve, if needed to balance numbers

JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP (1300 & Under)

Please note, Derek Truesdale and Stephen Cullen both registered to play but failed to arrive thus their round 1 opponents were left sitting for an hour without an opponent. Michael Sheein and John Monaghan both joined on the day and thus their entries are not listed above.

LOCATION:

Bangor Chess Club, Groomsport Parish Hall, 30 Main Street, Groomsport, County Down, BT19 6JR

TIMETABLE:

Check-in / pay entry fees: 10:30am-10:45am.

Mayor of Ards & North Down: Introductory speech: 10:45am to 10:50am

Pairings will be printed out at 10:50am

All players to be seated by 10:55am for tournament announcements

Round 1 - 11:00am to 11:50am

Round 2 - 11:55am to 12:45pm

Round 3 - 12:50pm to 1:40pm

LUNCH BREAK

Round 4 - 2:30pm to 3:20pm

Round 5 - 3:25pm to 4:15pm

Round 6 - 4:20pm to 5:10pm

Prize-giving - 5:20pm to 5:30pm

6 rounds in total. The tournament will be completed by 5:30pm.

TRAVELLING BYES:

Players are permitted to take a half point travelling bye for rounds 1 or round 5. Any player unable to compete in round 6 will be scored zero (to avoid affecting those playing for a prize in round 6). If you need a travelling bye, please inform Arbiter at point of registering.

SECTIONS:

Open Section - FIDE RATED - any player can compete in this section

Junior Championships - UCU RATED - only for players rated Under 1300 or unrated

TIME CONTROL:

25 minutes per player per round therfore each game will last a maximum of 50 minutes. No increments.

PRICE:

£10 - Adults

£5 - Students

£5 - Under 18s

All entry fees will be distributed as prize-money at end of the day

PRIZES:

Prizes/perpetual trophies awarded for:

Champion

2nd Place

3rd Place

Under 1800 Grading Prize

Under 1500 Grading Prize

Junior Champion

Junior 2nd Place

Junior 3rd Place

Under 1200 Grading Prize

Under 850 Grading Prize

TIE-BREAKS: For tie-breaks, players will be ranked based on their scores by Median Buchholz, followed if necessary by Buchholz and then Progressive Scores.

RULES: FIDE rules will apply. Touchmove will apply. The second illegal move will result in the immediate loss of the game, however, your opponent must announce when the first illegal move has been played and then once again announce the second illegal move has been played before claiming the win, provided the player still has mating material left on the board, otherwise only a draw can be claimed. If play continues, the opponent may not claim the win retrospectively.

If your opponent makes an illegal move, you are entitled to claim an extra 2 minutes on the clock. In such cases, immediately pause the clock and call the arbiter over.

Remember FIDE rules about mobile phones is very strict. If your phone makes a noise during the game (be it a text, phone call or any other audio distractation), you will automactially lose the game therefore always remember to have your phone switched off and it must be completly unseen in the playing hall and toilets. If you are a doctor on call, please notify Arbiter in advance.

To register please email B. Jamison

Registration deadline: 12 noon on Wednesday 2nd October 2019