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Match Report · Joined: 25 Oct 2006 Posts: 123

Chess v 7th Portadown
02/03/2009
(National Competition, Irish Final)

Knocknamuckley were drawn at away from home in the Irish Final of the national chess competition against local rivals 7th Portadown. Knocknamuckley were the holders of the competition, and had won it in three of the past four seasons, while 7th Portadown had knocked out the Knocknamuckley B team in the semi final. With Stephen Russell unavailable, Knocknamuckley had to call upon Gregg Harrison for his first match of the season, and Simon Grey for his debut.

In the first round of matches the initiative went to Knocknamuckley, as Simon Grey started with a win on his debut, and Neill Adamson also got a win, while Gregg Harrison was defeated, despite having taken his opponents Queen early on.

1st Round 1st Knocknamuckley 2 v 1 7th Portadown

In the second set of games Simon Grey was beaten to level up the scores. Neill Adamson got his second win of the night to give his side the lead. This left a lot resting on Gregg Harrison’s game, which turned out to be very tense, lasting 35 minutes. Harrison eventually managed a checkmate, with only 2 minutes 26 seconds left on his clock.

2nd Round 1st Knocknamuckley 4 v 2 7th Portadown

Knocknamuckley held a two point lead going into the final set of matches, this meant that one win from the remaining three games would give Knocknamuckley the title. Gregg Harrison won his game, while Neill Adamson again won, to give him three wins out of three on the night, and Simon Grey was defeated.

Final Result 1st Knocknamuckley 6 v 3 7th Portadown

This meant that Knocknamuckley had regained their crown as Irish Champions, taking their tally to an impressive four titles in five years. Knocknamuckley will now compete in the UK Finals, which will be hosted in Larne this year, and hope to go one better than last year, and turn their local dominance, into a national title.

Team: N.Adamson, Grey, Harrison.