Leinster Junior Championships 2017

6 of our local chess enthusiasts travelled down to the Esplanade Hotel in Bray over the last week to compete in the Leinster Junior Chess Championships. Despite only being 8 years old Avrora Zelenchuk and Dexter Harris both competed in the U10 and U12 championships. Avrora scored 3.5/7 in the U10's and 2/5 in the U12's, whilst Dexter scored 4/7 in the U10's and 1.5/5 in the U12's. Avrora won the prize for first placed girl in the U12 championship.

Daniil Zelenchuk competed first in the U16 section and scored an excellent 4/5, which left him placed 3rd overall. This was particularly impressive as Daniil is only 13! He returned 48 hours later to compete in the U14 championships which he won with an outstanding score of 4.5/5. Congratulations Daniil!! Ciaran Rowan also competed in the very competitive U16 tournament and scored a respectable 1.5/5.

We had 2 competitors from Ulster in the U19 event, Jake Patterson, who scored 1.5/5 and John Dawson, who scored an impressive 2.5/5. Well done to all our juniors who travelled down to Bray and many thanks to the Leinster School Chess Association for running an outstanding and enjoyable event.

Ulster School's Championships

The Ulster School's Chess Championships were held this weekend at Methodist College Belfast. All sections were hotly contested with some very exciting finishes to games. Congratulations to all the winners on the day.

U19 Champion       -         Vincent Crean
U16 Champion       -         Hannah Patterson
U14 Champion       -         Daniil Zelenchuk
U12 Champion       -         Calum Glendinning
U10 Champion       -         Dexter Harris
U8 Champion         -         Ahmed Hassan

Many thanks to Mark Newman for all his hard work in organizing and controlling this excellent event

Omagh Rapidplay 2016

It was great to see some of our Juniors competing with the adults in this years Omagh Rapidplay. All of them performed exceptionally well for their age, but special mention must go to Daniil Zelenchuk who won the Junior Section ahead of some very strong, experienced adult players.

Strandtown Chess Academy

Today saw the return of the Strandtown Chess Academy after the Halloween break. By the end of the day Patrick McEvoy remained at the top of the ladder despite a tough challenge from Leon Hamilton. This was Patrick's second week at the top! Other movers on the ladder were Euan Hanna (from 17th to 14th) and Dexter Harris (from 6th to 3rd).

The star of the week award went to Justin Macartney!

November 2016 UCU Chess Event

Today saw another fantastic day of junior chess run by Mark Newman of the Ulster Chess Union. As usual it was held in Methodist College Belfast and was attended by kids ranging in ages from 7 - 18. The tournament saw some fantastic attacking chess, some great problem solving, and an enjoyable fun filled atmosphere. A full report will appear soon on the Ulster Chess Union Website. All the winners are shown below!

Children's Chess Events

Just a reminder to everyone that this weekend is the first UCU Children's Chess event of the year. It is being held in Methodist College Belfast and is a qualifier for the London Junior Chess Championships. Full details can be found on the UCU Website. We look forward to seeing you all there!

This week also saw the return of the Strandtown Chess Academy. The club went from strength to strength during its first year and has started off this week with an amazing 27 members! It's great to see so many kids having fun and playing chess!!

Munster U8 Championships

Dexter Harris traveled down to Ennis to compete in the Munster Junior Chess Championships, in the U8 section. Coming up against stiff opposition he did fantastically well to win the tournament with a score of 6 / 6!