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Editor - John Hurley, jghur@eircom.net..... last updated 29/5/03
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Drogheda Chess Congress, 30 May-2 June

 

Latest news

New link for Irish Chess Online. Webmaster David McAlister advises that the ICO site has moved to a new address at http://www.irishchessunion.com. Details of recent Waterford Open as well as May 2003 rating update now available. 29/05/03

Results: The Hewlett Packard Galway Open , 17-18th May 2003. GM Baburin wins with 5/5. See report and crosstable.
Venue: Galway Bridge Centre, St. Mary's Road, Galway. Open tournament Format: 5 round swiss (first 2 rounds accelerated) with 90 mins per player for all moves. (courtesy Ronan Duke) 20/05/03

Drogheda Chess Congress: May 30-June 2. Venue: Boyne Valley Hotel. Five rounds, competitors divided up into A-P-A groups of six by grading. Entry, 25 euro. First rd proper, Sat. May 31, 10am. Informal blitz on Friday evening, 8pm, kicks off event.
Contact Donal O'Boyle, email: daoboyle@eircom.net, ph: 041-9824864 (courtesy Donal O'Boyle) 18/05/03

Full list of current and recent ICU ratings are available on Mark Orr's Irish Chess Archive site. 18/05/03

Malahide Millenium results: Colm Daly wins Open. Open | U1800 | U1400 (courtesy Vincent Bissett). 8/05/03

Irish Open / Leinster Championships results, Easter weekend: Stephen Brady wins senior title. Full crosstables, Senior | Intermediate | Junior (courtesy Vincent Bissett). 3/05/03

Irish Junior Championships results, April:
Full crosstables, U-19 | U-16 | U-14 | U-12 | U-10 (courtesy Herbert Scarry). 3/05/03

Irish Open (incorporating Leinster Senior Chs), April 19-21, Dublin, 6 rd event, three sections. Full details in flier. 16/04/03

Irish Double Velvet Junior Chess Chs, April 25-27, St Benildus College Dublin. Full details in flier. (courtesy ICO) 16/04/03

LCU Armstrong Cup final rd playoffs, April 12, ALSAA, Dublin: Phibsboro A retained their title in the Leinster leagues first division with a final round victory over Rathmines. Rathmines/Crumlin finished second. Elm Mount and UCD were relegated to division two. 16/04/03

Cork City Congress, 21-23 March. Venue: Gresham Metropole Hotel.
RESULTS: English GM Mark Hebden won the Masters event with 5.5/6 after a final round win over Philip Short who finished second on 5. Patrick Miller won the Major (5.5/6) and Thomas Lane the Minor (5.5/6). Full crosstables, Masters | Major | Minor. (courtesy Vincent Bissett) 28/03/03

Malahide Millenium tournament 2003 will take place on 3rd, 4th + 5th May, 2003 (Saturday, Sunday + Monday of May bank-holiday weekend) at the A.L.S.A.A. Sports Complex, Swords Road, Dublin Airport, Co. Dublin 3. Sections: Open, Under 1800, Under 1400.
Format (all sections): 6-round Swiss event, 2 rounds per day (morning + afternoon) with 105mins each player for all moves.
Prize fund: In excess of 3,000 euro. Entry fee (all sections): Euro30 (discount of Euro5 for any "fees" received by 28/4/03). Entries to: Vincent Bissett, New Street, Malahide, Co. Dublin, Ph:(01)8453609 or vincentbissett@hotmail.com. Accommodation: Details available on request.
See Malahide CC's website for more details.

Erratum: GM John Nunn won the Bunratty Masters on tiebreak and not IM Brian Kelly as previously reported. Kelly beat Nunn in their individual game and in the final shakeout both players were joined on 4.5/6 by GM Baburin, Yuri Rochev and Lorin D'Costa. See ICO for full results. Over 300 players took part in this year's festival. 28/02/03

Cormac Brady (1956-2003) by Hugh Cummins amended 01/03/03

Brian Fitzpatrick won the Gonzaga Open ahead of Sam Collins. See ICO for full results. 28/02/03

Stephen Brady and Mel O'Cinneide fared well at the annual open at Val d'Aosta both finishing on 5.5/9. Check the event site to see how they are getting on. 28/02/03

North Munster Championships take place on 5-6th April, 2003
1st round @ 10:00am. Venue: Auburn Lodge Hotel, Galway Road, Ennis, Co. Clare. 2 sections: Under1200 + Open Entrants. Restricted to those players resident or originally from North Munster (Charleville, Clare, Kerry, Limerick + Tipperary). Entry fee: Euro15, Under18s = Euro10. Entries to: John Cassidy, Loyola, Cusack Road, Ennis, Co. Clare. Ph(065)6824642 by Wed 2/4/03. (courtesy Vincent Bissett). 15/02/03

Bunratty Chess Festival takes place on February 21-23 and will draw upwards of 250-300 players from Ireland and further afield to the Fitzpatrick Bunratty Hotel. For full details, including online entry, see the Bunratty Chess Festival site.4/02/03

Rathmines Chess Club have changed their opening nights. The club now meets at Rathgar Parish Hall, 52 Grosvenor Road, on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 7.30pm onwards and no longer meets on Saturday night. 4/02/03

It is with great sadness that we heard of the tragic, early death of Cormac Brady last week. Cormac was a well-known and well-liked member of the Irish chess community over the last three decades. A loyal, competitive and successful club player with many of the strongest club teams in Leinster, he won Armstong Cup medals with Bray and Crumlin in recent years before joining the recently formed club in Wicklow town. I'm sure that many readers of this page will join in offering our condolences to Cormac's family. 27/1/03

LCU Armstrong fixtures, 2003 (courtesy Gerry Behan). Download (xls format) 8/1/03

GM Alexander Baburin has written to indicate that postings on the bulletin board purporting by him are in fact the work of an impostor. I take the opportunity to repeat that contributors are requested to sign their postings using their own name. 8/1/03

LCU Xmas Blitz, 7 December: Results - Winner: Martin Schmidt, 2nd Mel O’Cinneide, 3rd Peter Hayes, 4th Derek Smith
Runners Up: 1st Ciaran Quinn, 2nd Joerg Weidemann, 3rd H. Hofstra. Best under 1500: Gerard Reilly and Darren McCabe. (Courtesy / for further info, ICO ) 26/12/02

Kilkenny 2002 results: Four sections, two hundred and fifty players, four winners ... GM Alexander Baburin won the Masters, Richard O'Donovan the Major. Peter Carden the James Mason and Jonathan Wyse the Challengers.
Full crosstables at ICO. 26/12/02

The 2002 Chess Olympiad finished in Bled, Slovenia at the weekend with the Irish men's team finishing in its highest position ever after good results in the last two rounds (4-0 v Costa Rica and 2-2 v Romania). The most notable result was Sam Collins' excellent 7.5/8 which won him the board six gold medal (Sam will be interviewed on the Pat Kenny radio show, Wed 13/11/02, according to an email from Alexander Baburin).

On other boards, Brian Kelly's 7.5/11 was nearly good enough for a second GM norm while IM Mark Orr had a good event on board five between making despatches in his Bled diary (see for full Irish team performance details).

Final Irish board scores. Men GM A.Baburin 4.5/11, IM B.Kelly 7.5/11, IM M.Quinn 3.5/10, IM M.Heidenfeld 2.5/8, IM M.Orr 5.5/8, S.Collins 7.5/8. Women Suzanne Connolly 6.5/13, Debbie Quinn 4.5/10, Gearoidin Ui Laighleis 4/10, Elisabeth O'Shaughnessy 3/9

For further accounts of the Olympiad, see the daily diary kept by Gerry Graham, men's team captain, on the Limerick Chess Club site. The official site was excellent also.

Prior to the event, the Irish Chess Union stripped Colm Daly, the original choice for board five, of his place on the team. The reasons for this decision are alluded to in an ICU statement confirming the decision. 25/10/02

Mel O'Cinneide won the 2002 City of Dublin senior event with 5.5/6. Full crosstables (courtesy ICO) - Senior | Intermediate | Junior. Venue: The Bankers Club, 93 St Stephens Green, 4-6 October. Flier (doc). 25/10/02

European Youth championships, October 2002, Penascola, Spain. See team manager, Herbert Scarry's account of the Irish performance. (courtesy ICO) 25/10/02

Crumlin CC represented Ireland at the European club championship in Kallithea, Greece on 22-28 September and finished a creditable 43rd. Top scorer for CCC was Derek Smith (2/6) which included a draw against a 2400+ Israeli IM. See official site. 25/10/02

Chess on the radio: Tom O'Sullivan advises that there is a regular Chess Broadcast on NEAR FM 101.6. 'Chess Corner' on OTT [On the Touchline- a midweek sports program] - usually the first item on the show which starts just after 7 p.m on Wednesday nights, repeated 11.30 a.m on Thursday. NEAR FM is a Northside Community Radio Station aimed at North Dublin - City & County but can be picked up in the south city as well apparently. 31/08/02

Dublin Classic results: 1st FM Jorg Weidemann (Germany) 5/5, 2nd IM Mark Heidenfeld 4.5. 64 participated. Full crosstable (courtesy ICO). 31/08/02

Glorney and Faber Cup 2002 results are available on John Alfred's Limerick Region chess site. Also report by Herbert Scarry (courtesy ICO). 31/08/02

The 2002 Dublin Classic will be held on August 24th - 25th at the United Arts Club, 3 Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin 2. This is a 5 round open swiss tournament which will be rated bythe Irish Chess Union. All moves to be made in 1hr 45 minutes per player. First round 10.00am Saturday 24th. Limit on entries so early entry advised. Entries to Deborah Quinn, 8 Castle Court, Ballinteer Road, Dundrum, Dublin 14. Tel: 01-215 7850 or 087 97 87 377. Email: deborah.quinn@irishlife.ie or deborahq@gofree.indigo.ie 11/08/02

For details of recent performances by Sam Collins (Copenhagen, British Chs), Gavin Wall (British Chs) and Joe Ryan, Mel O'Cinneide and Colm Daly (Amsterdam), see ICO. I cannot quite figure out whether Sam Collins made an IM norm at the British Chs ... will advise when I find out. 11/08/02

Congratulations to Sam Collins, winner of the 2002 Irish senior championship. Decisive final round matches at the Charlesland Golf Club, Greystones: S.Collins drew with Paul Dempsey while John Joyce beat Phililp Short.
Final scores: 1st Sam Collins 7/9, 2nd John Joyce 6.5, 3rd Paul Dempsey 6. 18 played. Full results in coming days. More event info at dublinchess.com. Final crosstable (courtesy ICO). 17/07/02

FIDE all-play-all: a small closed FIDE-rated tournament played earlier in the year was won by Joe Ryan on 6/8 ahead of John Joyce, Stephen Brady, Mel O'Cinneide and Colm Barry. Final crosstable (courtesy Joe Ryan). 17/07/02

ICU AGM, July 21: The Annual General Meeting of the Irish Chess Union will be held in the Arts Club, 3 Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin 2 on Sunday 21 July 2002 at 2.30 p.m.
Irish Blitz Championships
at same venue at 11.00 a.m. Entry fee 10 euro - bring chess equipment. 14/07/02

Belfast Summerfest, 8-9 June. 1st Tom Clarke 4.5/5, 2nd J.Munoz, 3rd G.Heathwood. Crosstables, Open | Challengers | Novices (courtesy ICO) 03/07/02

Drogheda Chess Festival, 1-3 June.
Section A: 1st Sam E. Collins (Gonzaga). Joint 2nd Colm Egan (Dublin) and Kieran Rogers (Drogheda)
Section B: Joint 1st Peter J. Lynch (Rathmines), Nick Larter ( Ennis) and Hameed Khonji (Phibsboro)
Section C: 1st Peter C. Jackson (Phibsboro), Joint 2nd Alan Dee (Drogheda) and Ronan Fleming (Ayrfield)
Section D: 1st Brendan Evers (Drogheda) Joint 2nd Una O'Boyle (Crumlin) and Harry Howard (Ayrfield) 4th Austin Blake (Ayrfield) Veterans: Joint 1st= Maurice Coveney (Douglas) and Pat Loughrey (Dublin) (courtesy ICO) 03/07/02

Irish team selections: a statement from the ICU's international selection subcommittee with its recommendations for forthcoming international selections.
17/06/02

Irish championships 2002, July 5-14, Charlesland Golf and Country Club, Greystones, Co. Wicklow. For detail of events, see flyer (courtesy Dublinchess.com). 30/05/02

Bray Rapid, June 29. Details. 30/05/02

Leinster championship, May 17-19: Joe Ryan won the senior event on 5/6 a half-point ahead of IM Brian Kelly and Sam Collins. Joe started with five straight wins and a 1.5 pt cushion allowed him the luxury of a loss in the lost round to Brian who was playing - if my memory serves me right - his first event in Dublin for six years. Full details forthcoming.
Update: Championship report / results and questionnaire (doc) re future Leinster chs (courtesy Debbie Quinn) 29/05/02

Belfast Summerfest Tournament 8th - 9th June. Venue: Queen's University Staff Common Room, Belfast.
Sections: Open (1800+), Challengers (1400-1799), Novices (U1400 and unrated).
Schedule: Saturday Round 1: 10:00am Round 2: 2:00pm. Round 3: 5:30pm. Sunday Round 4: 10:00am, Round 5: 2:00pm. Entry fees: £8 Open: £7 Challengers: £6 Novices.
Time Limit: All moves in 90 minutes for each player.
Entries and enquiries to: Tony Parker, ph: 028 90281700 or email tonythetiger101@aol.com or David McAlister, ph: 028 92638857 or email rct26@dial.pipex.com. 20/05/02

Ulster Team Championship results: The final (a double round with 5 players a side) ended Fisherwick 5.0 RVH 5.0. Fisherwick won the Championship on Board Count. More details at Ulster Chess Chronicle. 20/05/02

Some snippets from Dublinchess.com: According to Colm Daly, Ireland's top-rated indigenous player IM Brian Kelly will be playing at the Bankers' Club, Stephens Green in the Leinster Championships this weekend. Brian needs to notch up a few ICU-rated events to qualify for the coming Olympiad team. On which subject .... Colm also has a few cross words to say about ICU matters and the recently nominated international selection sub-cttee. According to a notification received here earlier this week, Gerry Graham has been appointed chairman of the selectors who will also include myself, Tony Fox, Stephen Scannell, Jonathan O'Connor and Herbert Scarry. While hearsay suggests that the usual back-room mischief resurfaced in and around recent ICU meetings, I'd just like to put on the record that I have confidence that the above cttee will carry out their selection decisions fairly, openly and accountably. 18/05/02

Galway Open results, May 11-12: Jt winners Lorcan O'Toole and Joe McDonnell 4.5/5. 55 took part. Full crosstable (courtesy ICO). 18/05/02

Malahide Millenium, May 4-6. Generous prize money saw many top players compete at this recently established annual event sponsored this year by . Winner of the 1000 euro first prize was FM Colm Daly on 5.5/6 ahead of IM Mark Heidenfeld (5) and my Crumlin CC team-mates Mel O'Cinneide and Daire McMahon (4.5). Irish champion FM Stephen Brady, FM Joe Ryan and Tom Clarke were amongst those a further half-point adrift. Full crosstable (courtesy ICO).
In the U-1600 event, UCD's Peter Carden won outright on 5.5/6. Full crosstable (courtesy ICO). 18/05/02

North Munster Championships, April 20-21. John Alfred won on 4.5/5. Full crosstable (courtesy ICO). 18/05/02

Phibsboro CC Armstrong champions 2001/2: The city centre club won the Armstrong Cup, surprisingly I think for the first time, after the last round play-offs in ALSAA, Co. Dublin at the end of April. Last year's champions Crumlin CC finished second on tiebreak ahead of Kilkenny. Further LCU league results to follow.
Armstrong (Div 1): 1st Phibsboro A, 2nd Crumlin. Relegated: Faughs & Celbridge.
Heidenfeld (Div 2): 1st Dun Laoire, 2nd UCD, both promoted. Relegated: Elm Mount "B" & Faughs.
Ennis Shield (Div 3): 1st Wicklow, 2nd Lucan, both promoted. Relegated: Demoted: Celbridge + Tallaght/Rathfarnham.
O'Hanlon Cup (Div 4): 1st Dublin University 2nd Straffan, both promoted. Relegated : UCD +Lotus.
BA Cup (Div 5): 1st Jobstown and Drogheda, both promoted.

I'm sure all players actively involved in the LCU leagues will share in a word of thanks to Tom O'Sullivan, the leagues controller, and all of the individual league controllers for their sterling efforts throughout the season. Also to Peter Scott for maintaining his excellent Chess League LCU results service. 18/05/02

 

 

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