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Chess Notes by Rookie

Between 1983 and 1990, a weekly column was published in the Irish News with the byline of Rookie
Chess Notes by Rookie

Rookie in 1984

Rookie, in real life the irrepressible Martin Kelly, published over 300 of his chess columns in the Irish Press. Fortunately for us, we have been able to gather cuttings of his column and add them to our archive including the regular game posted along with each issue. Usually these games were from local competitions giving us a unique insight into Ulster chess of the 80's.

During these years, Martin honed his Extreme Punning skills to grandmaster level; these days his weekly reports of Belfast South's League Results - some of which have crept on to this site - often have a pun-count in double-figures.

Additional material appeared sporadically in various local papers over the same period and some of these - usually with photos - have also been recovered and will be appearing here soon. These include Ireland's Saturday Night (the Pink), Belfast Newsletter, Belfast Telegraph, The Down Recorder, Andersonstown News and the County Down Spectator.

Indexes

Reports are listed in each seasons archive but you can access Rookie specific items from the following lists:

News
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
The Year of Schools Tournaments kicked off with the LJCC Belfast Qualifier 2023 Pupils gathered at Methodist College on the morning of 7th Oct to play in the Belfast Qualifier for the LJCC 2023 tourna... Nov 01, 2023
More news…
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Upcoming Events
Sam Lynn Memorial Classic Round 3 Nov 30, 2023 07:45 PM - 09:45 PM — Church of Ireland Parish Hall, 30 Main Street, Groomsport, Co Down
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
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