East Belfast Prize-winners. Photography: ChessNI
East Belfast Outdoor Blitz Championships 2021
Tuesday 22 June 2021
9:45am to 1pm
On a bright sunny day at the picnic cirlce at Stormont Estate, 16 players competed in the East Belfast outdoor blitz championships. We were delighted to welcome 4 newcomers to the tournament, with Declan McKee playing in the top section and scoring an impressive 4 points to win 'Best Newcomer' and Michael Smith scored 4.5 points to win 'Best Intermediate Newcomer'. It injects fresh positive energy into our events when we have new players joining our chess community. Meanwhile 16 year old Matthew Moreland secured 3 draws and a win as he continues to grow stronger. Over the past 6 weeks, ChessNI has organised 11 open air blitz tournaments with 50 players, of which 8 are new to the local chess scene. We hope they will continue to play in our events and enjoy the great buzz and friendly atmosphere!
The day's champion, 13 year old Calvin Patterson was hoovering up rating points in a super tough field, finishing with an excellent score of 6.5/8. Half a point behind in 2nd place was blitz supremo Cathan Gormley. His fellow QUB teammate Matthew Dougherty, also a wonderful speed player, took 3rd place on 6/8. The rating awards went to Adam Rushe (Under 1600) and Gerard Obasi (Under 1400).
Harry Skerbergs of Fruithill Chess Club was crowned Intermediate Champion with 8.5/10, followed by Adrian Dornford-Smith on 6/10 and 3rd place went to Paul Devlin on 5.5/10
Prize-winners
 Champion
Calvin Patterson (6.5/8)
2nd
Place: Cathan Gormley (6/8)
3rd
Place: Matthew Dougherty (6/8)
Under 1600 Grading Award: Adam Rushe (5/8)
Best Newcomer: Declan McKee (4/8)
Under 1400 Grading Award: Gerard Obasi
Intermediate Champion
Harry Skerbergs (8.5/10)
Intermediate 2nd: Adrian Dornford-Smith (6/10)
Intermediate 3rd: Paul Devlin (5.5/10)
Best Intermediate Newcomer: Michael Smith (4/10)
Intermediate prize-winners: left to right: Adrian Dornford-Smith (2nd), Harry Skerbergs (Champion) and Paul Devlin (3rd) Photography: ChessNI
Jake Patterson (White) v Declan McKee (Black). Photography: ChessNI
Paul Devlin (White) v Michael Smith (Black). Photography: ChessNI
Adrian Dornford-Smith (White) v Harry Skerbergs (Black). Photography: ChessNI
Matthew Moreland (White) v Danny Cochrane (Black). Photography: ChessNI
Danny Cochrane (Black) v Matthew Moreland (White). Photography: ChessNI
East Belfast Outdoor Blitz Championships. Photography: ChessNI
Adam Rushe (White) v Bernard Jaffa (Black). Photography: ChessNI
Calvin Patterson (White) v Des Moreland (Black) Photography: ChessNI
Cathan Gormley (White) v Matthew Dougherty (Black) Photography: Eimear Savage
Adam Rushe (White) v Bernard Jaffa (Black). Photography: ChessNI
Adrian Dornford-Smith (Black) v Matthew Dougherty (Black) Photography: ChessNI
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