Bombardier come up short

Last Wednesday night saw QUB travel to face Bombardier in an eagerly anticipated game. Malone and Groomsport were eyeing the game with interest as they saw this fixture as a potential banana skin for QUB. Another point of interest saw Calum Leitch return to face his old club of 2 years where he was deemed a success. McKittrick and co. were hoping to teach these young upstarts - in particular Leitch a valuable lesson and were hoping their vast experience would count favourably.
Bombardier come up short

Chris Millar - a happy captain

Although the game was scheduled for 7.30, Leitch arrived at 7.50 to add to the pre-match tension and to expect to find his clock already running. But to Leitch’s surprise his team hadn’t arrived and he was beginning to feel vulnerable and a simultaneous was looming! Thankfully for Leitch, his team arrived shortly after which consisted of Mendicute, Pucovsky, MacDonald and Millar. The only “galactico” missing was Masterson, whose busy schedule prevented him from playing.

Bombardier’s line-up contained Mark Newman, who recently signed from Bangor and is a highly respected person and player from UCU, further inclusions included Drew Ferguson – the likeable UCU Secretary.

The first game to finish this week was the board 2 encounter between Pucovsky and Paul McNaughten. McNaughten seemed to have the edge in a tense middlegame but decided to offer his Slovakian opponent a draw – which he dutifully accepted. McNaughten was perhaps wary of his Slovakian’s opponent’s name and perhaps Ferguson has been telling more people of Pucovsky’s supposed 2300 strength.

 Ferguson himself looked in good touch for a while against Division2 draw specialist Chris Millar on board 5, but Millar’s form continued to impress and was able to win sufficient material to force a resignation. Millar’s unbeaten start to the season continues and he is fulfilling the captain role submissively. Post match comments reveal the Millar described the win as “ordinary against an ordinary player”

On board 3 MacDonald’s lack of match practice once again showed as he allowed a very promising position slip through his hands against UCU stalwart Stewart McConaghy. McConaghy is known throughout UCU for his dominance is junior tournaments and the God of luck shone favourably upon his shoulders as he swindled his time-troubled opponent. This was McConaghy’s first league win of the season and a rather notable one.

The tussle on board 1 between Claudio Mendicute and Mark Newman proved to be a close one. In a position where tactical threats were hard to spot, Mendicute’s precision play gave his opponent a lot to think about. Perhaps he gave his opponent too much to think about, as Newman lost on time in a subdued position. This win for Mendicute is his second in a row and this puts QUB 2.5-1.5 up and guarantees them at least a draw.

Appropriately, the last game to finish was the clash on board 4 between Bombardier captain Bill McKittrick and ex Bombardier player Calum Leitch. McKittrick seemed enthralled rather than subdued about the prospect of facing Leitch as he rolled up his sleeves to do combat. McKittrick’s solid playing style was left behind for tonight’s quarrel as he took it to his younger and higher rated opponent. Leitch defended accordingly and counter attacked with a splendid kingside pawn march. McKittrick’s accurate defending prevented Leitch from gaining a commanding edge, but Leitch’s dubious piece sac proved to be too much for McKittrick’s defences as he carefully manoeuvred his pieces into a forced checkmate. A valiant effort from McKittrick, but a relieved Leitch picks up the victory for himself and for QUB.

Chris Millar goes home a happy captain with a comfortable 3.5-1.5 win for QUB. QUB are back in the title chase and a tricky away fixture to Bangor Winston awaits these”galacticos”

Navigation
News
21 local players make a FIDE debut in the December 2023 rating list December FIDE NI Rating Report by Brendan Jamison Nov 30, 2023
2245 Adrian Gillen headlines Ulster Blitz 2023 Ulster Blitz hosted by Greenisland FC Chess Nov 27, 2023
Divison 2 Results and table We have been unable to give you div 2 results. Michael Devine has emailed them to team captains and here they are. Nov 19, 2023
November 4th Childrens Chess at Methodist College, Belfast The UCU monthly Schools Chess tournaments continued with the Childrens Chess: Hindley-Newman Tournaments. An afternoon o... Nov 19, 2023
Reminder to pay your UCU fees for the 2023/2024 season Nov 03, 2023
More news…
« December 2023 »
December
SuMoTuWeThFrSa
12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31
Upcoming Events
Ulster Schools Individual Championships 2023 Come and challenge to become the Ulster Schools Chess Champion 2023. Dec 02, 2023 09:45 AM - 05:00 PM — Methodist College,1 Malone Rd, Belfast BT9 6BY
Omagh Rapidplay Championship 2023 Dec 02, 2023 10:45 AM - 05:30 PM — Christian Brothers Grammar School, Kevlin Rd, Omagh BT78 1LD
FIDE-RATED Groomsport Winter Blitz 2023 Dec 07, 2023 07:30 PM - 10:30 PM — Church of Ireland Parish Hall, Groomsport
FIDE-RATED City of Bangor End of Year Rapid 2023 Dec 21, 2023 07:30 PM - 10:30 PM
Ulster Blitz Championship 2023 FIDE Dec 28, 2023 10:00 AM - 05:05 PM — Greenisland FC Chess
Upcoming events…