Ulster Blitz Championship: Ballynafeigh Community House, Belfast, December 27th

Yreval

The 5th Ulster Blitz Championships will be held at Ballynafeigh Chess Club on Sunday 27th December 2015.

Venue: Ballynafeigh Community Centre, 283 Ormeau Road, Belfast, BT7 3GG

Format: There are expected to be between 15-20 rounds depending on the turnout!

Entry Fee: £10

Time Control: 3 minutes per player with a 2 sec increment

Registration: 11.00

Prizes: Prize fund will be formulated and published on the day.

http://www.ulsterchess.org/Members/ucu02548/5th-ulster-blitz-championships

Yreval

Results:

1) Damian Marchlewicz (17/20)
2) Calum Leitch (16.5/20)
3) Thomas Donaldson (16/20)

sinbad68

Wow ! 20 rounds to determine Ulster blitz champion !, If I am not mistaken it was only 7 rounds in the last Irish blitz championship which was really too few rounds. More rounds obviously ---> worthier champion, specially in blitz where blunders are common.It was 11 rounds in 2012 which was fine and don't know why number of rounds was cut ( Perhaps couple of players moaned that they got tired to cover their bad performance ?). 20 rounds is probably too many and 7 rounds is definitely too few. 11-13 rounds would be good as it is in Goldilocks zone. 7 Rounds is fine for Rapid championship.

Ulster league is going to get reported on ICU website which means closer relationship with ICU & UCU, any news on affiliation or merger ?

Yreval

Last year, the tournament was a 23-player all-play-all. This year, because of the increased turnout (28 players) the format was a 20-round Swiss; we came dangerously close to getting a pairings jam in some of the later rounds.

As for the UCU affiliation, I'm certain it's been discussed elsewhere on this board but the basics are that it doesn't mean that the UCU is outright rejoining the ICU, but there will be a closer relationship between the two bodies.

sinbad68

A round robin would be the fairest way to pick a champion but with large numbers, it's simply not feasible.

Blitz competitions are often rushed, there should be a few minutes pause after every couple of rounds. One of the most annoying thing I find when playing in a blitz competition is when your opponent in his rush knocks over a piece or doesn't put a piece on the right square (which can happen more than once in one game) and then hits his clock which means it will be during your time that you have to adjust the piece and it'll be using up your time. I think if someone knocks over a piece,they have NO right to hit the clock as they haven't completed their move and shouldn't leave a mess on the board for their opponent to clean up, correct response if opponent knocks over or leaves a piece on the wrong square and hits his clock should be to immediately hit the clock and let your opponent who committed the error to adjust the piece in their time. The knocking over a piece is much more prevalent in children. I am not sure what the rules regarding this is, perhaps there is a manual for arbiters? I doubt it somehow,When it comes to providing recommendations or guidelines for various common scenarios, Fide is seriously lacking and is aloof. Here are rules and regulations for this year Fide world Rapid & Blitz championships , Note rule 6.10 fide requires two handshakes per game ! and Fide wants prize money and their cut ($80,000) upfront in section 11.

https://www.fide.com/FIDE/handbook/WorldRapidBlitzChampionshipsRegulations.pdf

As regarding UCU & ICU , taking sensitivities into account ,affiliation is probably better option than joining.

I see you post regarding tournaments in Ulster, are you just notifying or is there also an element of advertising the event to ICU members?

Yreval

Definitely the latter, and while it hasn't always been successful we did get a decent crowd from Gonzaga at last year's Williamson Shield.

sinbad68

@ Yreval. So your intention is to advertise to ICU members, UCU is making very little effort in that field by providing little info ( who is allowed entry, etc), not suggesting accommodation ,not waving ucu joining fees, not having online entry, not contacting Junior club coaches, not advertising it on icu calendar, Not having a strong field is also a deterrent. I tried to enter last year but was denied by Ross Harris, and that was my second failed attempt at going to Belfast ( first one was not chess related).

Ross Harris

@sinbad68 I don't remember refusing entry to anyone from the ICU other than for the 2014 Ulster Championships, which wasn't an open event. At times I have refused to let players play up a section if their rating was below the advertised band, but have always suggested entry into the appropriate section. I'm sure If you speak to anyone from the ICU who has played here over the last 2 years they tell you they were welcomed with open arms and all seemed to thoroughly enjoy the tournaments.

We do wave UCU membership fees for members of the ICU. In my time in charge we have never asked any players from the ICU to become members of the UCU, and I'm pretty sure this has been the case for quite a while. Even though last year the ICU wanted to start enforcing ICU membership on players from Ulster who played in ICU tournaments, we still didn't ask ICU members to join the UCU to play in our tournaments.

You're right, we don't have online entry, but is this really an issue? You simply register for our tournaments by contacting me on email or phone and paying your entrance fee on the day.

I agree we could do more to advertise our events to ICU members and this is something we are actively working on, hence Yreval's posts on boards.

sinbad68

@Ross, It was summer of 2014 when I tried to enter. I have No ill feeling about not being let into the tournament.It's
for organisers to decide entry requirements, but it should be published so as not to waste entrants and your time.

The are a lot more high rated players in the Republic than Ulster, it is partly due to foreign imports but significant part is due ICU & clubs being heavily engaged in Junior training, specially in Leinster, I think Junior training is where Ulster should concentrate it's effort to develop home grown prodigies and may be learn from ICU as we don't seem to hear about Ulster Prodigies, having said that, Ulster kids are lucky that they have the option of learning Dead/Artificially kept alive languages, in some places kids don't have that luxury!.