Irish Championship 2001

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Information

[ Basic data | Tournament review | Interesting games]


Basic data

Irish Championship 2001
Dates July 7-15, 2001
Town Greystones, Co. Wicklow
Venue La Touche Hotel, 2-4 Marine Terrace
Controller Michael Crowe
Players participating 20
Games played 89
Competition format 9-round Swiss
Eligibility Unknown
Tie break Unknown, but probably unchanged from 1994: two players who tied for first would share the title, while in the case of a tie between three or more players, a tie-break (probably the 1990 ICU series of tie-breaks, starting with Buchholz) would apply to produce a single champion.
Time control Unknown
Prize fund 1st IR£500
Entry fee IR£30
FIDE rated? Yes (tournament ID 20109)
Games available 57, of which at least 1 (Bennett - Scannell, round 1) incomplete
Concurrent events
References Sources and notes. If you have any other documents, reports, references, biographical information, annotations or (in particular) photos, please .


Tournament review

Stephen Brady won his third Irish championship, nine years after his consecutive wins in 1991 and 1992, half a point ahead of defending champion and top seed Mark Heidenfeld, who tied for second with Sam Collins.

The lead changed hands between these three several times. Three straight wins from the start left Collins as clear leader, but a loss and two draws in the next three rounds left him adrift of the lead, and even another three consecutive wins in the last three rounds was not enough to catch up. Brady dropped ½ point in the first round but followed with five consectutive wins, including wins as Black against Collins and his perennial rival Colm Daly. However, a disastrous showing as White against Heidenfeld in round 6 saw him stumble to his only defeat and left Heidenfeld in a clear lead with two rounds to go.

Heidenfeld could only draw his last two games, leaving the path clear for Brady to clinch the championship with two wins. His last round win against Gerard o'Connell was on time, in an equal position.



Interesting games

         Freeman, Gordon – Collins, Sam      0-1

         Collins, Sam – Daly, Colm      1-0

         Brady, Stephen – Beckett, Brian      1-0

         Duffy, Séamus – Bennett, Eric      ½-½

         O'Connell, Gerard – Collins, Sam      0-1

         Clarke, Tom – Duffy, Séamus      1-0

         Brady, Stephen – McMahon, Daire      1-0

         Kennedy, John P. A. – Bennett, Eric      0-1

         Clarke, Tom – Fitzpatrick, Brian      1-0

         Heidenfeld, Mark – Daly, Colm      1-0

         McMahon, Daire – Collins, Sam      0-1

         Lyons, Brendan – Scannell, Stephen      1-0