Top boards in the Ulster Masters
For the 2011-2 season the Ulster Chess Union decided to add a fourth weekender to its calendar. With already well-established tournaments held in the Winter (Williamson Shield), Spring (City of Belfast), Summer (Ulster Championships), the obvious slot for the newcomer was in the Autumn.
Originally planned to have four sections, a shortage of entries (perhaps caused in part by being scheduled only two weekends before Christmas) resulted in a cut down 2011 Congress of 2 sections with a small 4-player double-rounder for the Masters title itself.
For the next two editions, the Congress was moved three weeks earlier; there was a better turnout in 2012 but last year it was only feasible to hold a single-section tournament.
The 2014 renewal was moved a further month back and the Ulster Masters returned to its original home, the Belfast Boat Club, a multi-sports complex in south Belfast. On the fourth attempt, total numbers were much improved, almost double the number of year one, and the tournament at last seems to have established itself.
We have added an Ulster Masters page covering all four tournaments to date.
Irish Chess History 