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Hi ,
I have been asked to find a connection between next year’s 1916 commemoration and chess, has anyone any ideas please. The only things that I have come up with so far are that Arthur Griffith played chess and that there is a chess piece carved by Liam Mellowes in the National Museum. Mellowes was executed by the Free State before he could finish the set. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Regards
Steve Danaher
Steve,
Francis Sheehy-Skeffington (executed during the Rising even though he was a non-combatant) was a chessplayer: he played at Sackville C.C. (I’m not aware of him playing for Sackville). At least one of his games survives: against Blackburne in a simul, where he turned down a draw offer and lost.
Regards,
Sean