The latest instantiation of the long-running Williamson Shield was held in Belfast last weekend. In a departure from recent practice, one combined event was run, instead of an upper and lower section. In all, 35 players played, including four former winners: Mandar Tahmankar, who had won the previous four years, Gareth Annesley, Stephen Scannell, and David Blair. The latter shared the Shield twice, in 1972 and 1975, per David McAlister’s records.
A full report has been added to the Tournament pages here. The top six games were available via live boards, so 30 of the 83 games are available.
The Ulster Chess Union Facebook page had a post with 18 photos of the event and a short video of round 1.
Stephen Scannell suffered an early reverse in his second round loss to Anayraj Tripathi, in a game where he stood well early on, but seemed to lose the thread badly.
Third seed Ethan Cole dropped half a point, also in the second round, in a way that will have disappointed him.
Position after 57… Qxc1+
In the diagrammed position, Cole has just won a piece. The exposed position of the black king creates some problems, but even after the best 58. Bf1, Black should be able to win. After the game’s 58. Kh2?, the response 58… Qe1 would have won on the spot. Instead the game continued 58… Qb2?. Although the position should still be winning, Black did not manage to find a clear-cut continuation, and not very much later allowed White an inescapable series of checks. The game ended in a draw under the fifty move rule.
[Click to reply the full game.]
Tahmankar had no such troubles, and after four rounds had full points, half a point ahead of Cole and Gabriel Landmark of Curragh C.C. Tahmankar and Landmark had a shortish draw in the last round, and Cole also drew against Scannell.
This left Mandar Tahmankar as clear winner, for the fifth consecutive year. Congratulations! Landmark, Cole, Andew Campbell, and Jack Edens finished joint second on 4/5; tie-break applied to place Landmark second, Campbell third, and Edens fourth.