The Ulster Chess Championship is an annual chess tournament organised by the Ulster Chess Union which has been held since 1892. It is currently open to all players who qualify as having been born in any of the 9 counties of Ulster. Nearly all Championships since 1982 have been played in Belfast. Among the winners in recent years have been two players, both also Irish Champions, who now have the title of

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

(IM), Mark Orr (4 times, most recently in 2001/02) and Brian Kelly (1994/95). Recent winners are *Michael Waters (4 times) *Stephen Scannell (8 times) *Eugene O'Hare (6 times) *Adrian Gillen (3 times) *Tom Clarke (3 times) *Michael Holmes (twice) *Stephen Gillen (twice) *David Houston (4 times) Some winners have represented Ireland at

chess Olympiads The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 and ...

and European Team Chess Championship.

Champions

Early Champions

* 1892 - E.A. Robinson * 1893 - E.A. Robinson * 1895 - Ernest Louis Harvey * 1897 - William Steen * 1899 - C.E. Smith * 1902 - J. J. O'Hanlon

After 1932

''The Ulster Chess Union was founded in 1932 and relaunched the Ulster Championship.'' * 1933 -

William John Allen William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

* 1934 - W. J. Allen * 1935 - P. J. (Joe) McMahon * 1936 - J. Watson * 1937 - R. Lennox * 1938 - J. D. Peebles * 1939 -

William Minnis William Minnis (1902 — unknown), was an Irish chess player, two-times Ulster Chess Championship winner (1939, 1945). Biography In the end of 1930s to the end of 1940s William Minnis was one of the strongest Irish chess players. He two times w ...

* 1944 - A. L. Davies * 1945 -

* 1946 - R.A. Heaney * 1947 - J.D. Peebles * 1949 - J.A. Flood * 1950 - G. A. Kearney * 1951 - W. D. Kerr * 1952 - Robert Jones * 1953 - G. J. Boyd & W. D. Kerr * 1954 - Douglas Eric Arnold Riley * 1955 - R. A. Heaney * 1956 - A. Torney * 1957 - Jack Wrigley * 1958 - G. J. Boyd * 1959 - E. McGlinchey * 1960 - Eugene O'Hare * 1961 - E. O'Hare * 1962 - H. Harte & E. O'Hare * 1963 - E. O'Hare &

Edward Whiteside Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

* 1964 -

Hugh MacGrillen Hugh MacGrillen (1945 – 10 January 2004) was an Irish chess player, Irish Chess Championship winner (1973), Ulster Chess Championship winner (1964). Chess player career From the end of 1960s to the mid-1970s, Hugh MacGrillen was one of Ire ...

& E. O'Hare * 1965 -

John Larkin Moles John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

& M. O'Leary * 1966 - H. Boyd * 1967 - J. L. Moles * 1968 - M. O'Leary * 1969 - E. O'Hare * 1970 - F. Coll * 1971 - John Nicholson * 1972 -

Ray Devenney Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (g ...

* 1973 - J. Nicholson * 1974 - Adrain McDaid * 1975 - P. Hadden & D. Harkin * 1976 - J. Nicholson & E. Whiteside * 1977 - J. Nicholson * 1978 - Keith Allen * 1979 - K. Allen * 1980 - K. Allen, John Hegarty, John Kennedy & Derek McGill * 1981 - James Quigley * 1982 - David Houston & Michael Smyth * 1983 - M. Smyth * 1984 - M. Smyth & Tom Clarke * 1985 - Mark Orr * 1986 - K. Allen * 1987 - Tom Brown & Niall Carton * 1988 - K Allen, D. Houston & M. Orr * 1989 - K. Allen & M. Orr * 1990 - D. Houston * 1991 - Diarmuid Simpson * 1992 - Kieran Greer * 1993 - Adrian Gillen * 1994 - Stephen Gillen & K. Greer * 1995 - S. Gillen & Brian Kelly * 1996 - A. Gillen * 1997 - A. Gillen * 1998 - Michael Holmes & James McDonnell * 1999 - J. McDonnell & Stephen Scannell * 2000 - Timothy Douglas, M. Holmes & S. Scannell

Champions since 2000

* 2001 - Stephen Scannell * 2002 - Mark Orr IM * 2003 - Tom Clarke * 2004 - Stephen Scannell * 2005 - Tom Clarke * 2006 - Michael Waters & Stephen Scannell * 2007 - Stephen Scannell * 2008 - Stephen Scannell * 2009 - Stephen Scannell * 2010 - Michael Waters * 2011 - Michael Waters * 2012 - Michael Waters * 2013 - Mike Redman * 2014 - Gábor Horváth * 2015 - Gábor Horváth * 2016 -

Stephen Rush Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

(QUB) * 2017 - Stephen Scannell * 2018 - Thomas Donaldson * 2019 -

Daniil Zelenchuk Daniil (russian: Даниил) is a Russian masculine given name; equivalent to that of the English given name Daniel. Notable examples People named Daniil include: Arts and literature * Daniil Andreyev (1906–1959), Russian writer, poet, and C ...

* 2020 - no championship due to covid * 2021 - Thomas DonaldsonA brilliant tournament - face to face play at the Ulster Championships 2021
Ulster Chess Union, www.ulsterchess.org

References

Chess competitions Chess in Ireland {{chess-tournament-stub