The plan here at IRLchess is to present as much information as possible about as many Irish chess tournaments as possible (and a bit more besides).
Sean suggested to me that the Ulster Championship played 27-30 December 2002 would be a suitable candidate for our next effort. Of course, he would have been aware that all the games from the event were available (which, of course, is a good starting point). However, he had managed to suggest the Ulster Championship for which probably the greatest amount of contemporary material is available. We are able to present a host of photographs, courtesy of Damien Lavery, nearly all of which have never before been publically available.
David Houston and I were the tournament arbiters for the Championship and this was perhaps one of the happiest and most successful events I’ve been associated with. Why some tournaments are more special than others is hard to define but this one had the magic ingredient.
It’s also a chance to celebrate the victory of the late and much-missed Tom Clarke. Amongst our coverage, you’ll find two of his scoresheets.