December 27-30, 2002. (From 1985 to 2004 the tournament took place from December 27-30 but the trophy was inscribed with the following year (cf. Ulster Chess Competition Records (via the Wayback Machine)).)
7-round Swiss. Closed championship: players were required to have been born in Ulster, or to have been then resident for 12 months in Ulster, or to have a close family connection to Ulster. In addition players were required to be rated 1600 or above, or to have qualified from the Ulster Intermediate Championship. Other entries could be allowed at the discretion of the controller.
Other prizes
Top two finishers were to qualify for the 2003 British championship
Tie break
None for the championship. For the British championship qualifying places, the tie break was 1. Progressive; 2. Median Buchholz; 3. Buchholz. Rod Nixon took the second qualifying place.
Time control
40 moves in 2 hours, then 30 minutes for all remaining moves
Games available
All 71 (including 2 partial)
Extra information
Damien Lavery has kindly made available a collection of 66 photos, of which all but 4 are previously unpublished. Warning: 3.5MB total. Below: the late Tom Clarke with the McSparran Cup.
References
Sources and notes. If you have any other documents, reports, references, biographical information, annotations or (in particular) photos, please .