28 March 2026: Belfast: art & chess neurodiversity festival [event 3 of 10]
On Sat 28 March at Black Mountain Shared Space, Brendan Jamison organised a special event with 44 players from across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It was 6 rounds of rapid chess at a time control of 25+0. Players ranged in age from 7 to 72 and it was a wonderful cross-cultural mix with local players enjoying a fun day of chess with attendees from India and Ukraine.
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10 March 2026: cross-community rural event in County Tyrone
On the night of Tuesday 10 March 2026, Bangor Chess Club held a 10 rounds blitz at Washingaby Centre on the shore of Lough Neagh in County Tyrone. 30 players attended from across Northern Ireland, travelling from Bangor, Belfast, Crumlin, Moira, Cookstown and Coalisland. With 10 trophies up for grabs, it was 10 rounds of blitz chess at a time control of 3+2.
The players expressed their gratitude to arbiter Brendan Jamison for running the event.
These outreach events are made possible thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund 2025-2027.
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28 February 2026: Moira cross-community and cross-cultural event
On Sat 28 February at Moira Presbyterian Hall, Bangor Chess Club held a very special event with 26 players from across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. With 15 awards up for grabs, it was 10 rounds of blitz chess at a time control of 5+5. Players ranged in age from our youngest, 7 year old Sanvi Shambharkar, to adults in their 60s. Attendees travelled from Bangor, Donaghadee, Belfast, Crumlin, Craigavon, Longford and Dublin. They enjoyed playing alongside local Moira players.
The players expressed their gratitude to arbiter Brendan Jamison and venue co-ordinator Deborah Simpson. Arbiter Paul O’Connor also assisted with the hall set-up and take-down at the end of the day.
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21 February 2026: Newtownards cross-cultural event with Indian Community
On Sat 21 February at Queen’s Hall in Newtownards town centre, Bangor Chess Club held a very special event with 20 Indian players battling 20 NI players across 10 rounds (4 FIDE rapid rounds and then 6 unrated blitz games). Organiser Brendan Jamison said this “initiative is about celebrating the outstanding contribution that players from the local Indian community have made to our chess scene in Northern Ireland.” Venue hire and awards were generously supported by Ards & North Down Borough Council and the NI Executive. The soft drinks were free for all partipants and parents, thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund 2025-2027
The players expressed their gratitude to arbiters Chris Dorrian and Brendan Jamison for volunteering to run the event. Arbiter Paul O’Connor also assisted with the hall set-up and take-down at the end of the day.
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3 February 2026: Rural cross-community chess event
We ran a 5 round rapid tournament at Washingbay Community Centre on the shore of Lough Neagh. 37 players participated from Dublin, Cavan, Omagh, Coalisland, Cookstown, Lisburn, Belfast, Newtownabbey and Bangor. It was as happy and friendly group of children, students, working adults and pensioners. We awarded 8 trophies. Arbiter: Brendan Jamison.
These outreach events are made possible thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund 2025-2027
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24 January 2026: Belfast Blitz – evening event at Maynard Sinclair Sports Pavilion, East Belfast
Event 1 of 10 in Neurodiversity Festival
With support from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, our Club President Brendan Jamison has established an ‘art and chess’ neurodiversity festival.
Brendan states “we embrace neurodiversity in the world of chess and aim to create an environment where different minds can thrive. The festival celebrates how the neurodiverse brain is particularly good at recognising patterns in chess and processing complicated positions with clarity, speed, precision and attention to detail. In response to the massive increase in neurodivergent chess players over the past couple of years, many of whom are also highly creative through art and music, the time was right to create a festival spanning 10 venues across Northern Ireland. It features a mixture of creativity and chess with workshops for trophy making and speed chess activities.“
The first of these events was launched in East Belfast at Maynard Sinclair Sports Pavilion on the evening of Saturday 24 January 2026. It featured 28 chess players who enjoyed playing a 10 round blitz. Ages ranged from teenagers to pensioners and we enjoyed a mixture of nationalities, with local players competing with players from Lithuania, Kazakhstan and India. 10 trophies were awarded for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Intermediate 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Junior 1st, 2nd, 3rd and Best Newcomer. Participants attended from Coalisland, Lisburn, Ballyclare, Bangor, Newtownards, Belfast and Dublin.
The next two events in the Neurodiversity Festival have been scheduled for Saturday 28 March 2026 at the Black Mountain Shared Space in West Belfast (a one day FIDE rapid, running from 10:30am to 4:30pm) and at the Golden Thread Gallery on Queen Street in Belfast City Centre on Saturday 25 April 2026 (a one day FIDE blitz, with a morning art workshop before the tournament, for children to learn how to make their own little ‘rising stars’ chess trophies).
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24 January 2026: Northern Ireland Youth Rapid Championships
We ran a Northern Ireland wide Youth Rapid Championship at Groomsport for children aged 7-17. It was 6 rounds of 10+5. A separate section was held for parents in the far end of the hall and trophies were awarded for the top 3 players. All child participants won a trophy (for 1st or 2nd in each age band) or a medal.
U18 Champion trophy: Caleb McClean (Bangor)
U16 Champion trophy: Jake Gourley (Carrickfergus), U16 second place trophy: Rory Miller (Bangor) , U16 bronze medal: Joshua Boyd (Killyleagh)
U14 Champion trophy: Ayann Prabhith, U14 second place trophy: Jacob Boyd (Killyleagh), U14 bronze medals: Reuben McClean (Bangor), William Swann (Bangor), Ayush Shambharkar (Belfast)
U12 Champion trophy: Darragh Marsh, U12 second place trophy: Alex McKeown (Belfast), U12 bronze medals: Conal Caughey, Jonah Boyd (Killyleagh)
U10 Champion trophy: Daniel Simpson, U10 second place: Abhiram Ganja (Belfast), U10 bronze medals: Anay Bhide (Belfast), Alexander Tannahill (Ballywalter)
U8 Champion: Sanvi Shambharkar (Belfast)
Chess parents section: Champion: Jonathan Boyd (Killyleagh), 2nd: Ashish Shambharkar (Belfast), 3rd: Richard Proctor (Bangor)
Arbiter: Brendan Jamison. The venue hire for all our weekend events is made possible thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund 2025-2027.
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17 January 2026: West Winds Community Centre, Newtownards
We ran a 6 round rapid tournament at West Winds Community Centre on the edge of Newtownards. 22 players participated, with attendees from West Winds, Millisle, Bangor, Belfast, Cookstown, Lisburn and Ballyclare. It was a mix of children and adults, with many nationalities attending, in particular from India and Ukraine. We awarded trophies and medals to the 10 prize-winners. Arbiter: Brendan Jamison.
These outreach events are made possible thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund 2025-2027
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8 January 2026: Rural cross-community chess event
We ran a 5 round rapid tournament at Washingbay Community Centre on the shore of Lough Neagh. 31 players participated from Coalisland, Cookstown, Portadown, Lisburn, Belfast, Newtownabbey, Carrickfergus and Bangor. It was as mix of children (aged 10 to 16) and adults, many of whom where newcomers, playing in their first ever event. It was a wonderful cross-cultural mix with many nationalities attending, in particular from India and Kazhakstan. Arbiter: Brendan Jamison.
These outreach events are made possible thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund 2025-2027
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12 December 2025: Friday blitz event
We hired the Maxwell Hall in Groomsport for a special 10 round blitz tournament on Friday 12 December. It was mainly aimed at children and newcomer adults, with players attending from Belfast and Bangor. It was a wonderful cross-cultural mix with many nationalities attending, in particular from the local Indian and Polish communities and a player from Kazhakstan. Our youngest player, Sanvi Shambharkar (a school girl aged 7 from Belfast) won the trophy for Primary School Champion. 10 participants received a chess award. Arbiter: Brendan Jamison. The attendees thanked Brendan for volunteering to run the event that was enjoyed by all.
These outreach events are made possible thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund 2025-2027
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28 November 2025: Friday blitz event for children and adult newcomers
We delivered a special 12 round blitz tournament at the Maxwell Hall on Thursday 27 and Friday 28 November. It was mainly aimed at children and newcomer adults. 9 participants received a chess trophy. Arbiter: Brendan Jamison.
These outreach events are made possible thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund 2025-2027
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19 November 2025: rural chess event
We delivered a special rapid tournament at the Washingbay Centre on the shore of Lough Neagh in a rural part of County Tyrone. 28 players took part, with half from the Coalisland area, mixing with chess players from Bangor Chess Club. Ages ranged from 11 to pensioners. 10 participants received a chess trophy. Arbiter: Brendan Jamison.
These outreach events are made possible thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund 2025-2027
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8 November 2025: special children’s event
We hired the halls at Groomsport for a special Saturday morning rapid tournament for primary school children. Many parents took public transport to bring their children all the way from Moira and Belfast to take part in the event alongside local children from Bangor. Ages ranged from 7 to 12. All participants received a chess trophy.
These outreach events are made possible thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund 2025-2027
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2 November 2025: special coaching event
We used the first floor of The Red Berry Cafe at Bangor marina to run a 3 hour coaching session on the morning of Sunday 2 November 2025. Armed with volunteer Club Masters to analyse the games of teenagers on a one-to-one basis, allowing tailor-made coaching for upcoming chess stars. Each youngster brought the annotation along from 2 recent classic games. Each Club Master played through the moves one-by-one, asking the player about their ideas and the Club Masters offered insight to help improve their play. We covered the following chess openings: the Queen’s Gambit Declined, the French Defence and the Jobava London. Our thanks to Club Masters Brendan Jamison and Edward Khanzharov for volunteering their time for free. The feedback was fantastic and we hope to run more sessions like this in the future.
These outreach events are made possible thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund 2025-2027
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23 October 2025: special newcomer event
We hired the Avril Morley Room to run a special blitz event for 20 newcomers/beginners (while 44 of our regular club members were playing in the main hall at our regular Thursday club session).
We awarded medals to 6 children: Champion: 12 year old Reuben McClean, 2nd: 13 year old Charlie Murphy, 3rd: 15 year old Seren Winstanley, Junior Champion: 13 year old Antoni Ostradecki, Junior 2nd: 13 year old William Swann, Junor 3rd: 8 year old Sawyer Harpur.
These outreach events are made possible thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund 2025-2027
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11 October 2025: special children’s event
For the first time in the club’s history, we held a County Down Junior’s tournament with 17 trophies for children aged 7 to 17. This was a fantastic opportunity for local children to mix with children from all across Northern Ireland and much further afield in the Republic of Ireland. We had 80 people attend [58 players attending, 2 arbiters and 20 parents/grandparents/older siblings]. One of the most beautiful aspects of the day was to see so many friendships between children of different nationalities. It was a joy to see so many children from the Indian community and they contributed a massive amount of joy and enthusiasm, 5 of whom won trophies. Another notable statistic was 20% of the children were from Ukraine (who had fled their home country during the full-scale war that erupted in 2022), 4 of whom won trophies at the end of the day.
These outreach events are made possible thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund 2025-2027
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10 October 2025: special chess event for newcomers/beginners
On the evening of Friday 10 October, we made a special booking of the hall to hold a small event with 18 players, with an emphasis on newcomers/beginners. They got the opportunity to play some of the more experienced players in an 8 round blitz tournament. 13 year old Charlie Murphy (from Greenisland) won the award for Best Newcomer. Meanwhile fellow teenager Reuben McClean won the Intermediate trophy. Adult winners were: Owen Dumigan (Holywood) in 3rd place with 6/8, Richard Proctor (Bangor) in 2nd place with 6/8 and the champion was Alan McBurney (Bangor) with 6.5/8
These outreach events are made possible thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund 2025-2027
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17 September 2025: teaching tournament organising at Washingbay Community Centre, County Tyrone
Bangor Chess Club’s President travelled to Washingbay Community Centre on the shores of Lough Neagh to teach the method for organising small all-play-all chess tournaments. The Washingbay Club Director Jelmer Hania was very thankful for the tournament hand-outs and guidance on how to run the events for local Coalisland players, which he hopes to carry forwards throughout the chess season. The trail run was held in the cafe at Washingbay Centre and was filled with local players of all ages and all abilities, from schoolchildren to adults.
These outreach events are made possible thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund 2025-2027
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12-13 September 2025: inter-cultural chess with players from local Indian community
We hired the smaller Maxwell Hall in Groomsport to hold two chess events over Friday 12th and Saturday 13th September. It was a special mix of players from Bangor Chess Club and our local Indian community who live throughout Northern Ireland.
These outreach events are made possible thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund 2025-2027
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3 September 2025: Cross-community event in County Tyrone
8pm to 10:30pm. 12 chess players from Bangor Chess Club attended this cross-community event at the Washingbay Chess Club in County Tyrone. Ranging in age from 9 upwards, it was a mix of children, adolescents, students, adults and pensioners. 32 players took part and the night was a great buzz. We distributed 10 trophies. The Under 19 Gold Cup was won by Oliver Mead from Whitehill in Bangor. The Under 16 Cup was won by Aharshi Banerjee (from India) who joined Bangor Chess Club last season and is one of the most talented 14 year olds in Northern Ireland. The Under 14 Cup was won by 9 year old Alex McKeown, an exceptionally gifted young player who travels from Belfast to all our events.
These outreach events are made possible thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund 2025-2027
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29 August 2025: Coaching for teenage chess players, Jamaica Blue, Bloomfield’s Shopping Centre, Bangor, County Down
4pm to 6pm. Attendees from the nearby housing estate of Whitehill, as well as Newtownards and central Bangor. The 2 hour session featured Club Master coaching through Q&A with each teen discussing challenging openings and we did group opening theory to solve the problems so everyone learned from the experience. Adolescent participants ranged in age from 14-18, with 3 adults present to lead the activity. The event was cross-community. After the coaching, attendees enjoyed casual chess in a relaxed environment.
These outreach events are made possible thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund 2025-2027
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28 August 2025: Community Cafe Chess, Bangor, County Down
10am to 12:15pm. Attendees from the housing estates of Whitehill and Kilkooley, as well as further afield with 2 players that travelled 90 minutes by car from Kilrea. We gathered at the original venue in Kilkooley at 10am but it was cancelled so we took our group of 10 chess players to The Red Berry Cafe at Bangor marina. Participants ranged in age from 15 to 71 and the event was cross-community with all attendees enjoying casual chess in a relaxed environment. We even had time to do a little coaching session as we played through a classical game with 2 of the attendees!
These outreach events are made possible thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund 2025-2027
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23 August 2025: Outside the Walled Garden at Bangor Castle Park, County Down
10am to 1:30pm. Attendees from the nearby housing estates of Whitehill and Kilkooley and the tonic fold in Bangor City Centre. Participants ranged in age from 9 to 71 and included a celebration of neurodiversity with several players with autism and ADHD excelling on the day, winning many games and enjoying the social interaction.
These outreach events are made possible thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund 2025-2027
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2024/2025 season:
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July 2024: Outside the Walled Garden at Bangor Castle Park, County Down
This event was made possible thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund
July 2024: Londonderry Room, Ards Arts Centre, County Down
This event was made possible thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund
July 2024: Londonderry Room, Ards Arts Centre, County Down
This event was made possible thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund
July 2024: Londonderry Room, Ards Arts Centre, County Down
This event was made possible thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund
July 2024: Londonderry Room, Ards Arts Centre, County Down
This event was made possible thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund
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May 4, 2024:
We are over the moon to receive a grant from the The National Lottery Community Fund to help develop our community outreach activities where chess builds bridges, builds confidence, breaks down language barriers, cross-cultural, cross-community, attracts young and old in wonderful cross-generational activities, combats loneliness and isolation and is often described as a ‘happy place’ for those with ASD who adore attending our events and making friends for life.
Chess connects, it builds community, it creates a magic spark in the lives of so many. To the National Lottery, thank you for believing in what we do…
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September 7, 2024:
Venue address: 44 Shore Rd, Rostrevor, BT34 3ET
The venue is a magical setting, overlooking the beautiful Carlingford Lough
and the wonderful Kilbroney Forest Park is behind our building.
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