Bartczak – Spence, DCU Majors 2024
IRL chess | Irish chess history & records
by Sean Coffey
1w ago
The recent post about the DCU Majors 2024 gave the Bartczak – Spence game as the most interesting, with plenty of play left in the final position. I thought Black “should be able to draw”, but the line I offered also left plenty of play. Delving deeper turned up some interesting points. Bartczak – Spence, DCU Majors 2024 Final position; White to play From the final position, I think best play goes 31. Rxc2 Ba6+! 32. Ree2! Rxe2 33. Rxe2 c5! (slightly more accurate than 33… Bxe2+ 34. Qxe2 c5 as I gave before, since then Black has to work out the consequences of 35. Qa6) 34. Kf2 Bxe2 35. Qxe2 a5 ..read more
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DCU Challengers 2024
IRL chess | Irish chess history & records
by Sean Coffey
1w ago
The third of the three sections at last weekend’s DCU Congress 2024 was the Challengers, for players rated under 1200 ICU and under 1650 FIDE, or unrated. 55 players actually played (as in the Open, there were five more who were paired for round 1 but played no games). The winner was Chima Mgbemena with full points, though he was fortunate to win his last round game against Malachy O’Neill, where he was queen for bishop down in the final position. A full report has been added to the Tournament pages here ..read more
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DCU Majors 2024
IRL chess | Irish chess history & records
by Sean Coffey
1w ago
The DCU Majors 2024 was the second of three sections of the DCU Congress last weekend. A full report has been added to the Tournament pages here. This section was the smallest of the three, with 29 players. Ruarai Goodfellow of U.C.C. took clear first with an unbeaten 4/5, ahead of six players tied for second place, half a point back. The most interesting game available was the round 2 top board clash between Korneliusz Bartczak and Beckett Spence. Bartczak – Spence, DCU Majors 2024 28… ? In the diagrammed position Black could have won quickly via 28… Qxc4+! 29. Kxg2 Qxa2+ 30. Qe2 Qxe6, when a ..read more
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DCU Open 2024
IRL chess | Irish chess history & records
by Sean Coffey
2w ago
The DCU Congress attracted 180 players across three sections at the weekend, and the newly introduced Blitz attracted 59. A full report on the Open has been added to the Tournament pages here. 20 games are available via live boards, though a few of these were truncated. The event was open to all ICU members, and attracted a mammoth field of 96 players. Due to some snafu, IMs Artur Davtyan and Oleg Gubanov were listed in the field and paired for the first round, but played no games. This left as top seeds Tarun and Trisha Kanyamarala, Stephen Jessel, and Zalan Nemeth. Three players tied for fir ..read more
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Ennis Congress 2024
IRL chess | Irish chess history & records
by Sean Coffey
1M ago
The Ennis Congress was held over the weekend, and attracted 111 players over three sections. Generally, very few games have been available from this event, and so there is only one full report from a previous edition in the tournament pages here. This year, though, more than half of the games from the Open (37 out of 73) are available, along with a handful from the two lower sections. A full report for the Open has been added. Oleg Gubanov from the local club finished clear first on 4½/5. Half a point behind were IM Mihnea Costachi of Romania, Colm Daly, and James Naughton, and a further half ..read more
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Harding – Reynolds, Irish 65+ Championship 2024
IRL chess | Irish chess history & records
by Sean Coffey
1M ago
The Irish 65+ Championship 2024 round 6 game between Tim Harding and Pat Reynolds reached the diagrammed position with White to play. Harding – Reynolds, Irish 65+ Championship 2024 48. ? While 48. Qe5 would leave White much better, the game continuation’s immediate simplification 48. Qe8+ Kh7 49. Qxf7 Qxc3 50. Qxe6 Qxa5 51. Qf5+ Qxf5 52. gxf5 is a definite win. The game later reached the second diagrammed position, with White to play. Same game 65. ? White wins via ‘corresponding squares’. Black must be able to meet Kf5 with Kf7, and must be able to meet Ke8 with Ke8; the square f7 ‘correspon ..read more
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Irish 65+ Championship 2024
IRL chess | Irish chess history & records
by Sean Coffey
1M ago
As mentioned in the last post, Gerard O’Connell won this year’s Irish 65+ Championship, with 5½/7, half a point ahead of Pat Hogan, Gerard MacElligott, and David Salter. Hogan won their individual game in round 6, after an oversight by O’Connell, and there was a three-way tie between O’Connell, Hogan, and Salter heading into the final round. In the final round the latter two drew against each other, and O’Connell’s win against Pete Morriss gave him the title. A full report has now been added in the Tournament pages here ..read more
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Irish 50+ Championship 2024
IRL chess | Irish chess history & records
by Sean Coffey
1M ago
The “Irish International Festival 2024”, held at the Talbot Hotel Stillorgan from January 4-7, featured an open tournament and the Irish 50+ and 65+ championships, and the Leinster Junior Championships, as well as a blitz. Congratulations to Jonathan O’Connor, who won the Irish 50+ championship convincingly, ½ point ahead of John Delaney, and a full point ahead of Stephen Brady and Oscar Culbeaux Tello. He was the only unbeaten player in the event, and his record of +5 =2 -0 included wins against Brady and Anthony Fox. Many games are available via live boards, and a full report has been added ..read more
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Galvin – Plotkin, Irish Universities v Scottish Universities match 1968
IRL chess | Irish chess history & records
by Sean Coffey
4M ago
The recent update here on Irish championship players added first names for many players. One of these was Roddy Galvin, who played in the 1967 championship in Cork. No games of his are currently in the ICU games archive. However, one appeared in the Cork Examiner, November 27, 1968, p. 11. It’s from a challenge match between Irish Universities and Scottish Universities played in Edinburgh shortly before the article. The format was a two-round, nine-board match. The Irish team was reportedly missing several top players, and slumped to a heavy 14-4 defeat. The Irish team in board order was Micha ..read more
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Doyle – Ward, Hastings Major C 1933-34
IRL chess | Irish chess history & records
by Sean Coffey
4M ago
James J. Doyle was a long-time stalwart of Dublin C.C., playing on Armstrong Cup-winning teams spanning at least the 1921-22 to 1949-50 seasons, and was Leinster champion in 1925. He was also a regular at tournaments at Margate and Hastings. One of his games has recently shown up at John Saunders’ outstanding BritBase site. It was found by Brian Denham in the Borough of West Ham, East Ham and Stratford Express, January 20, 1934, and it is a sprightly win from the Hastings Major C in 1933-34. Doyle – Ward, Hastings Major C 1933-34 17… ? After an eventful opening, White has just played 17. Bc1-h ..read more
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