The Ulster championships 2025 were held in Lisburn C.C. over the August Bank Holiday weekend, August 23-25.
Apparently there was a last-minute change of venue after the usual Queen’s University location fell through, and this caused entries to be limited. Overall, though, numbers were healthy, with 24 contesting the Ulster championship proper (‘Senior’) and 20 contesting the Ulster Intermediate, for players rated under 1700.
Reports on both events (Ulster championship 2025 and Ulster Intermediate Championship 2025) have been uploaded to the Tournament pages here.
In the top section, Oisín O’Cuilleanáin was top seed, and he ended first with 6/6. In round 2, Ethan Cole reached an instructive drawn ending against him, but lost.
The rules for eligibility for the title of Ulster champion were not stated explicitly this year, or at least I was not able to find them, but the rules from last year were that the player had to have lived for at least 12 months in one of the 9 counties of Ulster. At any rate, O’Cuilleanáin wasn’t eligible, and the title of Ulster champion came down to a tight finish between Daniil Zelenchuk, Modestas Razbadauskas, Stephen Scannell, Conor Spackman, and Mandar Tahmankar, who were separated by just half a point heading into the final round, with Zelenchuk ahead and the rest tied. (I am not certain that all of these were eligible; in particular, Zelenchuk doesn’t seem to have played recently in Ulster.)
In the final round, Spackman lost to O’Cuilleanáin on top board, and Tahmankar beat Zelenchuk, while Scannell beat Razbadauskas as Black. This left Tahmankar and Scannell tied on 4½/6. After tie-break (Buchholz), Mandar Tahmankar became Ulster champion for 2025.
The game between the champion and the tournament winner had an interesting conclusion.
Position after 37. b6
Black’s pieces all stand markedly better than their counterparts, so it is not surprising that Black stands much better. If White had played 37. Qc1 instead, though, the game would still have been in the balance. From the diagrammed position, engines find that Black is winning after 37… Bxf4!!; the reader is invited to work out the variations. O’Cuilleanáin instead played the also-winning, and from a human point of view much safer, 37… Qe3. After 38. Qf1 (there is nothing better) came 38… Bxf4!. Now 39. Rxf4 leads to a quick mate, while after the game’s 39. gxf4 g3+ 40. Kg1 Bd3, Black will emerge a clear rook up. White resigned.
Tahmankar’s other dropped half point came against Razbadauskas in round 4, in a topsy-turvy game in which he went from much better to completely lost, to lost with some play left, to a draw.
In the Intermediate, Peter Dolan also finished with 6/6. He is SCO-registered, but reports were silent on whether he was eligible for the title of Ulster Intermediate Champion. His last-round game against Andrew Campbell produced early fireworks, reaching the diagrammed position at move 6:
Position after 6… Nc6
How should White continue? The solution is left as an exercise.
In the game, he did not find the best continuation, and reached a lost position, but later recovered to a roughly equal ending, and after a blunder by Black, even won.