Williamson Shield 2018 - who would win the Historic Shield

The Williamson Shield took place at Queens University on Friday 23rd - Sunday 25th March. With two well attended sections and brilliantly controlled by Brendan Jamison. Two sections totalling 37 players and the fight is on......

My favourite tournament is the Williamson - with its wonderful shield which has names going back to the 1920's a part of Ulster Chess History. It was the first tournament I played in after moving to Northern Ireland. My last game was on the top table against Michael Holmes - in my mind I was so close to winning - in reality Michael crushed me! I met Alex Beckett and Arthur Cootes and so many excellent characters from the Chess world - a brilliant weekend.

I like to think that each tournament is an event to create memories - moments to saviour and stories to tell. Its a privilege to be part of one of these.

Everyone at the Williamson would agree that it was a brilliantly organised and prepared for tournament all done by Brendan Jamison.

Adrian Dornford-Smith setup the 6 electronic boards and the web camera for live coverage. Ross Harris and Mark Newman assisted with the setup of the boards.

We had a fantastic no of players for the two sections - 19 players in the intermediate and 18 in the Seniors - some 37 players in total.

The format meant only two games on the Sunday. We started friday evening.

The brilliant venue of Queens Student Union was kindly organised by Rian Mellotte and the QUB chess club.

We had 6 live boards - links below to see the games:

http://www.ulsterchess.net/2018-03-23_r1/

http://www.ulsterchess.net/2018-03-24_r2/

http://www.ulsterchess.net/2018-03-24_r3/

http://www.ulsterchess.net/2018-03-24_r4/

http://www.ulsterchess.net/2018-03-25_r5/

http://www.ulsterchess.net/2018-03-25_r6/

Intermediate Section:

Pairings round 1 (Friday, 23 March 2018)

Table	White	Rating	Black	Rating	Result
10	John McKenna	1490 *	Vincent O'Brien	1010 *	1-0
11	Dexter Harris	1009 *	Martin Sloan	1415 *	0-1
12	John Phillips	1410 *	Paul Anderson	919 *	1-0
13	Adam Rushe	917 *	Martin Kelly	1363 *	½-½
14	Pat McKillen	1335 *	James Wong	862 *	1-0
15	Michael Wong	846 *	Roy Stafford	1209 *	0-1
16	Stephen Law	1161 *	Brian Fitzsimons	814 *	1-0
17	Adam Fitzsimons	798 *	Adrian Dornford-Smith	1102 *	0-1
18	David Seaby	1074 *	Rhys McLean	795 *	1-0

Bye	Jamie Holland

Generated by Swiss Master for Windows on 25-03-2018 at 17:39

All the first round went to rating. Apart from a brilliant draw played by the young Adam Rushe against Martin Kelly - it was the last game to end in the first round. Pawns and Kings. Pawns racing to get to Queen first...

Pairings round 2 (Saturday, 24 March 2018)

Table	White	Score	Rating	Black	Score	Rating	Result
10	Roy Stafford	1.0	1209 *	John McKenna	1.0	1490 *	0-1
11	Martin Sloan	1.0	1415 *	Stephen Law	1.0	1161 *	1-0
12	Adrian Dornford-Smith	1.0	1102 *	John Phillips	1.0	1410 *	½-½
13	Jamie Holland	1.0	0 *	Pat McKillen	1.0	1335 *	0-1
14	Martin Kelly	0.5	1363 *	Vincent O'Brien	0.0	1010 *	½-½
15	Paul Anderson	0.0	919 *	Adam Rushe	0.5	917 *	1-0
16	Brian Fitzsimons	0.0	814 *	Dexter Harris	0.0	1009 *	½-½
17	James Wong	0.0	862 *	Adam Fitzsimons	0.0	798 *	1-0
18	Rhys McLean	0.0	795 *	Michael Wong	0.0	846 *	0-1

Draw by default	David Seaby

Round 2 Saturday morning. A bright sunny start. Adrian Dornford-Smith got a good draw against John Philips always a tough player to beat. Paul Anderson took a point off Adam Rushe. Vincent O'Brien getting a good point off Martin Kelly.

Pairings round 3 (Saturday, 24 March 2018)

Table	White	Score	Rating	Black	Score	Rating	Result
10	John McKenna	2.0	1490 *	Martin Sloan	2.0	1415 *	1-0
11	Pat McKillen	2.0	1335 *	Adrian Dornford-Smith	1.5	1102 *	0-1
12	John Phillips	1.5	1410 *	David Seaby	1.5	1074 *	1-0
13	Michael Wong	1.0	846 *	Martin Kelly	1.0	1363 *	0-1
14	Paul Anderson	1.0	919 *	Roy Stafford	1.0	1209 *	1-0
15	Stephen Law	1.0	1161 *	Jamie Holland	1.0	0 *	1-0
16	Dexter Harris	0.5	1009 *	James Wong	1.0	862 *	0-1
17	Adam Rushe	0.5	917 *	Brian Fitzsimons	0.5	814 *	1-0
18	Adam Fitzsimons	0.0	798 *	Rhys McLean	0.0	795 *	1-0

Draw by default	Vincent O'Brien

John McKenna continues to win and take out potential rivals for top place. Beating Martin Sloan. Adrian continues his good success against higher rated players. Paul Anderson gets a good win against Roy Stafford.

Pairings round 4 (Saturday, 24 March 2018)

Table	White	Score	Rating	Black	Score	Rating	Result
10	Martin Sloan	2.0	1415 *	John Phillips	2.5	1410 *	½-½
11	Adrian Dornford-Smith	2.5	1102 *	Stephen Law	2.0	1161 *	½-½
12	Martin Kelly	2.0	1363 *	Pat McKillen	2.0	1335 *	½-½
13	James Wong	2.0	862 *	Paul Anderson	2.0	919 *	1-0
14	David Seaby	1.5	1074 *	Adam Rushe	1.5	917 *	1-0
15	Brian Fitzsimons	0.5	814 *	Adam Fitzsimons	1.0	798 *	0-1
16	Jamie Holland	1.0	0 *	Dexter Harris	0.5	1009 *	1-0

Loss by default	Vincent O'Brien
Draw by default	John McKenna; Roy Stafford; Michael Wong; Rhys McLean

Saturday evening brings with it lots of draws. The top 3 tables and 3 players taking travelling byes. Means that going into round 5 theres everything to play for. John McKenna still leads on 3.5 (unbeaten) followed by on 3: John Phillips, James Wong and Adrian Dornford-Smith.

Pairings round 5 (Sunday, 25 March 2018)

Table	White	Score	Rating	Black	Score	Rating	Result
10	John Phillips	3.0	1410 *	John McKenna	3.5	1490 *	½-½
11	James Wong	3.0	862 *	Adrian Dornford-Smith	3.0	1102 *	0-1
12	Pat McKillen	2.5	1335 *	Martin Sloan	2.5	1415 *	0-1
13	Stephen Law	2.5	1161 *	Martin Kelly	2.5	1363 *	½-½
14	Paul Anderson	2.0	919 *	David Seaby	2.5	1074 *	1-0
15	Adam Fitzsimons	2.0	798 *	Jamie Holland	2.0	0 *	1-0
16	Adam Rushe	1.5	917 *	Michael Wong	1.5	846 *	1-0
17	Roy Stafford	1.5	1209 *	Brian Fitzsimons	0.5	814 *	0-1
18	Rhys McLean	0.5	795 *	Dexter Harris	0.5	1009 *	0-1

Sunday morning and into the home straight. John McKenna has earned the right and continues to play on the top board. James Wong whos on a brilliant score for his rating looses to Adrian Dornford-Smith who with the two Johns drawing is joint leader with John McKenna. Adam Fitzsimons is making his way up the table with a win against Jamie Holland.

Pairings round 6 (Sunday, 25 March 2018)

Table	White	Score	Rating	Black	Score	Rating	Result
10	Adrian Dornford-Smith	4.0	1102 *	John McKenna	4.0	1490 *	1-0
11	Martin Sloan	3.5	1415 *	James Wong	3.0	862 *	1-0
12	Martin Kelly	3.0	1363 *	John Phillips	3.5	1410 *	0-1
13	Adam Fitzsimons	3.0	798 *	Paul Anderson	3.0	919 *	1-0
14	David Seaby	2.5	1074 *	Stephen Law	3.0	1161 *	0-1
15	Adam Rushe	2.5	917 *	Pat McKillen	2.5	1335 *	1-0
16	Jamie Holland	2.0	0 *	Roy Stafford	1.5	1209 *	0-1
17	Dexter Harris	1.5	1009 *	Michael Wong	1.5	846 *	0-1
18	Brian Fitzsimons	1.5	814 *	Rhys McLean	0.5	795 *	0-1

Adrian beats all the odds and outplays John McKenna to win the internediate section - an absolutely brilliant result 5 out of 6.

Adam Fitzsimons having won his last 4 games ends on 4 out of 6 in 6th position out of 19 players and wins the under 900 grading prize on the same points as the under1250 grading prize winner Stephen Law.

Final

Rank	Name	Score	M/F	Rating	BH-HiLo	BH	PS	TPR Mixed	1	2	3	4	5	6
1	Adrian Dornford-Smith	5.0	M	1102 *	15.0	22.0	17.0	1449	1	½	1	½	1	1
2	John Phillips	4.5	M	1410 *	14.5	22.0	16.0	1420	1	½	1	½	½	1
3	Martin Sloan	4.5	M	1415 *	13.5	19.5	15.5	1404	1	1	0	½	1	1
4	John McKenna	4.0	M	1490 *	15.5	23.5	17.5	1378	1	1	1	=	½	0
5	Stephen Law	4.0	M	1161 *	11.5	18.0	13.5	1226	1	0	1	½	½	1
6	Adam Fitzsimons	4.0	M	798 *	9.0	15.5	10.0	970	0	0	1	1	1	1
7	Adam Rushe	3.5	M	917 *	10.5	15.0	10.0	1116	½	0	1	0	1	1
8	James Wong	3.0	M	862 *	14.0	20.5	12.0	1096	0	1	1	1	0	0
9	Paul Anderson	3.0	M	919 *	13.0	20.0	11.0	1045	0	1	1	0	1	0
10	Martin Kelly	3.0	M	1363 *	12.5	19.5	12.0	1113	½	½	1	½	½	0
11	Pat McKillen	2.5	M	1335 *	14.0	20.5	12.5	983	1	1	0	½	0	0
12	David Seaby	2.5	M	1074 *	13.0	20.0	11.5	968	1	=	0	1	0	0
13	Roy Stafford	2.5	M	1209 *	9.5	15.0	8.5	824	1	0	0	=	0	1
14	Michael Wong	2.5	M	846 *	9.5	14.5	7.5	987	0	1	0	=	0	1
15	Jamie Holland	2.0	M	0 *	10.5	17.0	9.0	862	+	0	0	1	0	0
16	Brian Fitzsimons	1.5	M	814 *	11.5	17.0	4.5	789	0	½	0	0	1	0
17	Dexter Harris	1.5	M	1009 *	8.5	14.5	4.5	797	0	½	0	0	1	0
18	Rhys McLean	1.5	M	795 *	8.0	13.5	2.5	668	0	0	0	=	0	1
19	Vincent O'Brien	1.0	M	1010 *	10.5	17.0	4.5	1234	0	½	=	-	-	-

For the complete list of prize winners see the end of the article.

Senior Section:

Pairings round 1 (Friday, 23 March 2018)

Table	White	Rating	Black	Rating	Result
1	Nikhil Joshi	2046 *	Daniil Zelenchuk	1675 *	1-0
2	Robert Lavery	1650 *	Stephen Rush	1909 *	0-1
3	James McDonnell	1858 *	David Riley	1612 *	1-0
4	Des Moreland	1564 *	Gareth Annesley	1825 *	0-1
5	Mark Newman	1748 *	Modestas Razbadauskas	1564 *	1-0
6	Ting Yan Lee	1550 *	Alex Goss	1708 *	0-1
7	Jacob Flynn	1699 *	Andrew Todd	1440 *	1-0
8	Michael Sheerin	1412 *	Ross Harris	1685 *	0-1

Draw by default	Steve Scannell; Danny Roberts

Generated by Swiss Master for Windows on 25-03-2018 at 17:36

The toughest match for the lower grades in a tournament tends to be the first round. All of the matches went to rating. Though not all of them were easy.

Pairings round 2 (Saturday, 24 March 2018)

Table	White	Score	Rating	Black	Score	Rating	Result
1	Gareth Annesley	1.0	1825 *	Nikhil Joshi	1.0	2046 *	0-1
2	Stephen Rush	1.0	1909 *	Jacob Flynn	1.0	1699 *	½-½
3	Alex Goss	1.0	1708 *	James McDonnell	1.0	1858 *	1-0
4	Ross Harris	1.0	1685 *	Steve Scannell	0.5	1972 *	0-1
5	Daniil Zelenchuk	0.0	1675 *	Danny Roberts	0.5	1816 *	0-1
6	Modestas Razbadauskas	0.0	1564 *	Robert Lavery	0.0	1650 *	1-0
7	David Riley	0.0	1612 *	Ting Yan Lee	0.0	1550 *	1-0
8	Andrew Todd	0.0	1440 *	Des Moreland	0.0	1564 *	½-½

Draw by default	Mark Newman
Bye	Michael Sheerin

Round 2 see Nikhil Joshi win against Gareth Annesley and Jacob Flynn prove that his was in contention with a draw against Stephen Rush. Another upset was Alex Goss (visiting from Dublin) beating James McDonnell (visiting from London) and Modestas Rzbadauskas winning against Robert Lavery.

Pairings round 3 (Saturday, 24 March 2018)

Table	White	Score	Rating	Black	Score	Rating	Result
1	Nikhil Joshi	2.0	2046 *	Alex Goss	2.0	1708 *	1-0
2	Steve Scannell	1.5	1972 *	Mark Newman	1.5	1748 *	1-0
3	Danny Roberts	1.5	1816 *	Stephen Rush	1.5	1909 *	1-0
4	Jacob Flynn	1.5	1699 *	Gareth Annesley	1.0	1825 *	½-½
5	James McDonnell	1.0	1858 *	Michael Sheerin	1.0	1412 *	½-½
6	David Riley	1.0	1612 *	Ross Harris	1.0	1685 *	½-½
7	Des Moreland	0.5	1564 *	Modestas Razbadauskas	1.0	1564 *	1-0
8	Robert Lavery	0.0	1650 *	Andrew Todd	0.5	1440 *	1-0
9	Ting Yan Lee	0.0	1550 *	Daniil Zelenchuk	0.0	1675 *	0-1

Jacob Flynn continues with a draw against Gareth Annesley whilst Michael Sheerin draws against James McDonnell.

Pairings round 4 (Saturday, 24 March 2018)

Table	White	Score	Rating	Black	Score	Rating	Result
1	Danny Roberts	2.5	1816 *	Nikhil Joshi	3.0	2046 *	½-½
2	Alex Goss	2.0	1708 *	Steve Scannell	2.5	1972 *	0-1
3	Mark Newman	1.5	1748 *	Jacob Flynn	2.0	1699 *	0-1
4	Stephen Rush	1.5	1909 *	David Riley	1.5	1612 *	1-0
5	Gareth Annesley	1.5	1825 *	Michael Sheerin	1.5	1412 *	1-0
6	Ross Harris	1.5	1685 *	Des Moreland	1.5	1564 *	1-0
7	Daniil Zelenchuk	1.0	1675 *	Robert Lavery	1.0	1650 *	0-1
8	Modestas Razbadauskas	1.0	1564 *	Andrew Todd	0.5	1440 *	1-0

Draw by default	James McDonnell
Bye	Ting Yan Lee

Danny Roberts draws against Nikhil in an excellent game. The top 5 board games can be found together with the board 1 of the intermediate section: http://www.ulsterchess.net/2018-03-24_r4/ . Jacob Flynn gained a pawn against Mark Newman and outplayed him to an excellent win.

Pairings round 5 (Sunday, 25 March 2018)

Table	White	Score	Rating	Black	Score	Rating	Result
1	Steve Scannell	3.5	1972 *	Nikhil Joshi	3.5	2046 *	0-1
2	Jacob Flynn	3.0	1699 *	Danny Roberts	3.0	1816 *	½-½
3	Gareth Annesley	2.5	1825 *	Stephen Rush	2.5	1909 *	1-0
4	Modestas Razbadauskas	2.0	1564 *	Ross Harris	2.5	1685 *	1-0
5	Robert Lavery	2.0	1650 *	James McDonnell	2.0	1858 *	½-½
6	David Riley	1.5	1612 *	Alex Goss	2.0	1708 *	0-1
7	Des Moreland	1.5	1564 *	Mark Newman	1.5	1748 *	0-1
8	Michael Sheerin	1.5	1412 *	Ting Yan Lee	1.0	1550 *	1-0
9	Andrew Todd	0.5	1440 *	Daniil Zelenchuk	1.0	1675 *	0-1

The battle of the giants Steve Scannell plays Nikhil Joshi Nikhil wins with a sudden attack. Jacob proves his strength with a draw against Danny Robert. Modestas has a good win against Ross Harris.

Pairings round 6 (Sunday, 25 March 2018)

Table	White	Score	Rating	Black	Score	Rating	Result
1	Nikhil Joshi	4.5	2046 *	Jacob Flynn	3.5	1699 *	½-½
2	Danny Roberts	3.5	1816 *	Steve Scannell	3.5	1972 *	½-½
3	Alex Goss	3.0	1708 *	Gareth Annesley	3.5	1825 *	0-1
4	James McDonnell	2.5	1858 *	Modestas Razbadauskas	3.0	1564 *	0-1
5	Mark Newman	2.5	1748 *	Robert Lavery	2.5	1650 *	1-0
6	Daniil Zelenchuk	2.0	1675 *	Michael Sheerin	2.5	1412 *	1-0
7	Des Moreland	1.5	1564 *	David Riley	1.5	1612 *	½-½
8	Andrew Todd	0.5	1440 *	Ting Yan Lee	1.0	1550 *	0-1

The final round sees Jacob drawing against Nikhil who wins the tournament - a brilliant result with so many tough players. Mark Newman has an incredibly lucky win against Robert Lavery - he was destroying my position winning my Queen and in time pressure a couple of moves gave me play to checkmate - so lucky - apologies to Robert. For all the games of the top 5 boards goto Adrians page at http://www.ulsterchess.net/2018-03-25_r6/

Final

Rank	Name	Score	M/F	Rating	BH-HiLo	BH	PS	TPR Mixed	1	2	3	4	5	6
1	Nikhil Joshi	5.0	M	2046 *	15.0	22.5	19.0	2056	1	1	1	½	1	½
2	Gareth Annesley	4.5	M	1825 *	12.0	19.0	14.0	1916	1	0	½	1	1	1
3	Danny Roberts	4.0	M	1816 *	15.0	22.0	15.0	2009	=	1	1	½	½	½
4	Jacob Flynn	4.0	M	1699 *	15.0	20.5	15.0	1922	1	½	½	1	½	½
5	Steve Scannell	4.0	M	1972 *	14.5	21.5	15.5	1950	=	1	1	1	0	½
6	Modestas Razbadauskas	4.0	M	1564 *	10.0	14.0	11.0	1783	0	1	0	1	1	1
7	Mark Newman	3.5	M	1748 *	14.0	20.0	11.5	1762	1	=	0	0	1	1
8	Alex Goss	3.0	M	1708 *	13.0	19.5	13.0	1811	1	1	0	0	1	0
9	Daniil Zelenchuk	3.0	M	1675 *	10.0	15.5	7.0	1652	0	0	1	0	1	1
10	Stephen Rush	2.5	M	1909 *	13.5	20.5	11.5	1720	1	½	0	1	0	-
11	Robert Lavery	2.5	M	1650 *	12.0	16.5	8.0	1642	0	0	1	1	½	0
12	Ross Harris	2.5	M	1685 *	11.0	17.5	11.0	1625	1	0	½	1	0	-
13	Michael Sheerin	2.5	M	1412 *	10.5	16.5	9.0	1570	0	+	½	0	1	0
14	James McDonnell	2.5	M	1858 *	10.0	16.5	10.5	1517	1	0	½	=	½	0
15	Des Moreland	2.0	M	1564 *	12.5	17.5	7.0	1521	0	½	1	0	0	½
16	David Riley	2.0	M	1612 *	10.5	15.0	7.5	1587	0	1	½	0	0	½
17	Ting Yan Lee	2.0	M	1550 *	8.5	11.5	4.0	1329	0	0	0	+	0	1
18	Andrew Todd	0.5	M	1440 *	11.5	17.0	2.5	1216	0	½	0	0	0	0

The table of winners:

Senior section

Champion: Nikhil Joshi (2046) Score 5/6

2nd Place: Gareth Annesley (1825) 4.5/6

Under 1850 Grading Prize: Danny Roberts (1816) 4/6

Under 1700 Grading Prize: Jacob Flynn (1699) 4/6

Under 1600 Grading Prize: Modestas Razbadauskas (1564) 4/6

Intermediate section

Intermediate Champion: Adrian Dornford-Smith (1102) 5/6

2nd Place: John Phillips (1410) 4.5/6

Under 1250 Grading Prize: Stephen Law (1161) 4/6

Under 1050 Grading Prize: Adam Rushe (917) 3.5/6

Under 900 Grading Prize: Adam Fitzsimons (798) 4/6

Certificates awarded for best live games (an excellent idea from Brendan Jamison)

ROUND 1: Mark Newman (1748) for winning with White against Modestas Razbadauskas (1564)

ROUND 2: Alex Goss (1708) for winning with White against James McDonnell (1858)

ROUND 3: Danny Roberts (1816) for winning with White against Stephen Rush (1909)

ROUND 4: Jacob Flynn (1699) for winning with Black against Mark Newman (1748)

ROUND 5: Nikhil Joshi (2046) for winning with Black against Steve Scannell (1972)

ROUND 6: Modestas Razbadauskas (1564) for winning with Black against James McDonnell (1858)

What an absolutely fantastic tournament - see you at one of our next ones:

Ulster Rapidplay Chess Championships Sponsored by Falls Bowling Club : on 21st April at : Falls Bowling Club, 61-63 Andersonstown Road, Belfast, BT11 9AH

City of Belfast Championships on May Bank Holiday weekend. Three days of two games a day. May 26th to 28th at: NICS,Maynard Sinclair Pavilion, Stormont

The Civil Service 2018 Summer Tournament Wednesdays from May 2nd at: NICS,Maynard Sinclair Pavilion, Stormont