The Sligo Spring Tournament had four sections in all, and the organisers made live boards available for all games in each. Full reports have been added here for the Championship (40 players, 1st Nitish Arun), the Major (44 players, 1st Christopher Woods), and the Challenger (87 players, 1st Cal Nolan).
There was a glitch in the live boards for the Championship, or so it seems to me. The results shown on live boards for round 4 diverged in many games from those shown on Chess-Results and recorded in rating reports. This often happens for an isolated game or two, and can happen when one player loses on time, or where the live board feed fails and there are unrecorded moves. But here there seemed to be too many for those explanations to be plausible. For the report, I deleted the moves of all round 4 games, but give references to the live board feeds, and also a pgn file that includes the games in question.
One striking game occurred in the Challengers, and involved the eventual winner, Cal Nolan of St. Benildus. Here I’d like to acknowledge Kevin Burke’s post on the St. Benildus C.C. web site, which included an annotation of this game.
Nolan – D. Devine, Sligo Spring Tournament Challenger 2024 20. ?
Here 20. Nxe5+ wins straightforwardly enough, but White played the natural 20. Nd6+, and after 20… Kh8, followed up with 21. Bxe5.
But this latter move turns out to be a mistake. Black struck with 21… Bxg2+!, and after 22. Kxg2, could have mated quickly by 22… Bg3+!. In the game, Black missed the chance and played 22… Bxe1+, which loses. Still, this was an excellent effort for the Challenger section, for players rated under 1200 (higher of FIDE and ICU).
After the continuation 20. Nd6+ Kh8 from the diagrammed position, how should White have continued? Was the win still there?
The Sligo Spring Tournament was held in Enniscrone from February 2-4, 2024.
The flyer gives testimonials from players (“the best tournament in Ireland at present”, “by far the most professional weekender I’ve been to”), and these seem no idle boasts. A video collage of this year’s event, compiled by player Vladimir Mabhena, conveys the atmosphere very well.
Chief organiser Craig DuBose was interviewed by Chessdom.com two weeks ago about his plans for the event going forward.
A full report on the Masters section has (finally) been uploaded to the Tournament pages here. Craig DuBose sent all games, in two different formats, very promptly after the event, and much additional information, so the delay is down to me. In fact, I was asked recently if I had posted a report, replied that I had, and was surprised to find out that I hadn’t.
An interesting ending occurred in the round 1 encounter between Oisín O’Cuilleanain and Sergey Beryozkin.
O’Cuilleanain – Beryozkin, Sligo Spring Tournament Masters 2024 Position after 61… Rxg3
In the diagrammed position, chances are equal. Several moves later, the second diagrammed position was reached.
Same game 65… ?
Here 65… Rg5? turns out to lead to a losing ending after 66. Rf7+ Ke6 67. Rh7 Rxb5 68. Rxh4. Here Black can of course not play 67… Rh5?? because after 68. Rxh5 gxh5 the white king is too close to the black pawns.
The right way is 65… Rg3+!. Now after 66. Kc4 Rg5 67. Rf7+ Kc8 68. Rh7, Black can play 68… Rh5, when White must force a draw, while after 66. Ke4 Rxc3 67. Rxg6 a different R+2 vs. R+1 ending is reached, and this one turns out to be drawn with best play.
Instead Black played the natural but wrong 65… g5? and was lost after 66. Rh6. The game continued 66… Rg3+ 67. Kc4 h3 68. Rh7+ Kc8 and now White blundered with the disastrous 69. d5?? (69. b6 was winning), allowing 69… Rg4+ 70. Kc5 Rh5, winning.
The event resulted in a three-way tie for first between James Naughton, Oscar Culbeaux Tello, and Oleg Gubanov. For this event, as for some other recent Irish tournaments, tie-breaks were applied even for cash prizes, and Naughton finished first, with Culbeaux Tello second and Gubanov third, with very narrow margins separating each.
Congratulations to Lara Putar, who has qualified for the WFM by scoring 7/9 at the Women’s Olympiad in Budapest.
Direct WFM titles at the Women’s Olympiad require a score of at least 65% over at least 9 games, having at one point or another reached a rating of at least 1900. Lara won her fourth game in succession yesterday, reaching 6/8, and so today needed only to show up to play, regardless even of whether her opponent showed up. As it was, she won again.
(Cf. the congratulatory tweet by the ICU yesterday.)
Kevin Burke points out at the St. Benildus C.C. web site that Lara scored 6/10 at the last Women’s Olympiad, so falling ½ point short.
The Title norms page here has been updated accordingly.
The 1988-89 season of the Armstrong Cup turned into a battle between the defending champions, and favourites for the new season, Kevin Barry, versus the previous year’s runners-up, Rathmines.
The background and atmosphere was described vividly by Michael O’Brien in an eight-page article “Clash of the Titans” in the Irish Chess Journal. Rather than attempt to summarise, here is the full article, which is highly recommended:
The article includes twelve games, many with extensive annotations, and none of which is currently in the ICU games archive. Three of these featured Eddie O’Connor, and he was on the winning side in each.
O’Connor – O’Mahony, Armstrong Cup 1988-89 36… ?
The first, against Tim O’Mahony of Southern Cross, reached the diagrammed position at the adjournment, though it’s not clear whether this was before or after the sealed move.
An earlier issue of the ICJ reported that Eddie showed up to play off the game by helicopter; really, Black could have resigned without resuming.
The article reported that the “Spectator Sport Award” of round 3 went to the game between Eddie and Joe Noone, “in which, during an insane time-scramble, Eddie left a Rook en prise for six consecutive moves(!!!) before Joe finally spotted it.”
In round 8, Eddie played Herbert Scarry of Phibsboro ‘A’, a crucial match against the team that ended up in third place.
Scarry – O’Connor, Armstrong Cup 1988-89 14… ?
From the diagrammed position, play continued 14… hxg2! 15. Bxh8 Bd6! 16. f4 gxf1=Q+ 17. Kxf1 Qh4 18. Qe2 Qh1+ 19. Kf2 Qxa1 and White resigned a few moves later.
Rathmines led heading into the last round, and played Phibsboro ‘B’, while Kevin Barry played Rathmines ‘B’. Eddie played Ernie McElroy.
O’Connor – McElroy, Armstrong Cup 1988-89 17. ?
From the diagrammed position, he continued 17. Ng5+!, and after 17… hxg5 18. Qh3+ Kg6 19. g4, Black erred with 19… gxf4?, allowing 20. Qh5 mate.
This finish was a pity, as the position after White’s 19th is very interesting. As pointed out in “Clash of the Titans”, Black’s strongest response is 19… Nxf6!. The article considers the possible replies 19. exf6 and 19. Bg3. Which of these should White play, or should he play some other move?
Rathmines won the match 7½-½, while Kevin Barry won theirs by 6½-1½, and so Rathmines became Armstrong Cup champions for the fifth time. “The popular (though unexpected) winners graciously accepted their merited trophy and a new bright dawn rises over the happy land.”
Individual results:
David Dunne 9/11
Adrian McDaid 8½/11
Eddie O’Connor 5½/9
Conor Barrington 6½/9
Michael O’Brien 10/11
Robert Stuart 8/11
Jack Killane 6½/9
Michael Miskelly 7½/9
Colm Darby 4½/8.
I was very sorry to hear of the passing of Eddie O’Connor. Sincere condolences to his family.
His association with Dublin C.C. lasted over thirty years, and he also served as club President, most recently ending at the end of last year.
He was on the Dublin team that won the Branagan Cup in 2022, and probably in 2000 (for which records are scarce). He was also on the Dublin team that won the Armstrong Cup last season, for the first time since 1980-81, and the photo above shows him with the trophy.
Dublin was not his first club, though; he played for Rathmines in the Armstrong starting in 1980-81, and was on the team that won the Cup in 1988-89, scoring 5½/9 on board 3; he had moved to Dublin C.C. by 1993.
He played in three Irish championships, 1983, 1989, and 1993, achieving his best result of 5½/9 and joint 7th place in the first of these.
Eddie O’CONNOR, b. 16 August 1956, d. Dublin, 13 September 2024.
I was very sorry to hear of the passing this week of Maurice Coveney. Sincere condolences to his family.
His playing career spanned six decades, and he also contributed heavily in several administrative roles.
He played in four Irish championships—1967, 1971, 1972, and 1977—and also acted as controller in the 1971 event, where he scored 4½/9 for joint 9th place.
“Maurice Coveney, Laskerville, Carrigaline East, has lived all his life in the locality except for ten years he trained at Baldonnell and worked in the aircraft industry overseas. Over a period of 25 years running his own business he employed between 20 and 100 mostly local people” ran a profile, from which the photograph above is taken, in the Southern Star in 2009, when he ran as an independent candidate for Cork County Council.
The first records of his chess career date to the 1962-63 season, when he was stationed at Baldonnel Aerodrome in Dublin (renamed Casement Aerodrome in the mid-1960s). He played for Kevin Barry in the Ennis Shield that season, and also competed in the Irish Correspondence Chess Championship, in a junior section. He moved to Middlesex at the end of 1964, but continued to compete in I.C.C.C. events, winning his section in 1963-64. He returned to Ireland by the end of 1966, and played with Bellevue C.C.
He took a variety of roles in the Cork Chess Association, including Chairman from 1969-71, and served as Cork representative on the ICU. He compiled the first C.C.A. rating list in 1968, in the days when there was no unified ICU rating list, and provincial unions maintained their own lists.
He was Irish Veterans joint champion in 2001, and played in last year’s Sligo Challengers.
Maurice James COVENEY, b. Cork?, 25 July 1939, d. Cork, 4 September 2024.
The Irish Women’s Championship was held at the Talbot Hotel Stillorgan over the weekend. Twelve players competed, including defending champion Antonina Góra, former champion Diana Mirza, and last year’s first place finisher (though then ineligible for the title) and top seed Diana Mats.
The event was more competitive than in some past years, and there were some upsets. Mats lost her first round game against Stella Li, and Mirza lost in round 2 against Nemhain Doolin.
After four rounds, only Góra was on full points, with Mats one point behind. The decisive last round game between these two was well won by Mats, who became Irish Women’s champion for the first time, on tie-break. (I’m not sure whether this was “Direct Encounter” or a playoff.) Congratulations!
A full report has been added to the tournament pages here.
The Irish Championship has been running since last Saturday, August 3, at the Talbot Hotel Stillorgan in Dublin, and concludes tomorrow.
A full report, with all games from the first eight rounds and pairings for the ninth, has been uploaded to the tournament pages here.
The event started with a field of 52, tying the all-time record set in 2007, and added an extra player in round 3 in Gavin Sheahan, taking the field to an all-time record. There were 19 players playing in their first Irish championship, but this fell just short of the record of 20 set in Belfast, 1966.
A major feature has been the live commentary on all rounds by Mark Quinn and Jonathan O’Connor on Mark’s Twitch channel. Highly recommended!
After eight rounds, David Fitzsimons leads on 7 points, a full point clear of Alexander Baburin and Kavin Venkatesan on 6. Only these are still in contention; Oisín O’Cuilleanain is in clear fourth on 5½, followed by a group of 11 players on 5.
In tomorrow’s last round (which commences earlier, at 12.30pm local time), O’Cuilleanain has white against Fitzsimons, Baburin plays white against Colm Daly, and Venkatesan plays black against Atharva Paibir. (The last of these pairings is puzzling to me.)
[Update, August 11, 2024: The report has been updated with the final round games. David Fitzsimons needed only a draw in his final round game, and drew without any difficulty, for his first Irish title. Congratulations! Baburin beat Daly to finish clear second, while Venkatesan drew with Paibir to finish clear third. Five players shared fourth place.]
The ICU website has two brief items dealing with the 1947 Irish champion. The longer one, by Enda Rohan, includes the photo at right, taken at the Irish Championship in Belfast in 1950, describes him as a principal officer at the Department of Posts and Telegraphs who was active in Irish Chess Union and Leinster Chess Union organisation, and says he withdrew from organisation completely as a result of sniping by Dónal O’Sullivan at an LCU general meeting.
The second one, by Joe Keenan, consists of just two sentences, saying that by the end of the 1950s he had withdrawn from active participation in chess events.
Nothing else seemed to be known. However, in putting together the report on the 1947 championship, I found considerably more, including some very helpful information on a genealogical website. In particular, there is an interesting backstory to his disappearance from Irish chess.
His parents were John Duignan, born in 1870 in Derrinisky, Co. Roscommon, and Julia, née Naughton (alternatively Norton), born in 1890 in Kilroe East, Co. Galway. John served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army from 1904-1913, and they married in Manhattan, New York, in 1913.
Patrick Alphonsus Duignan was born at Derreenavoggy, Arigna, Co. Roscommon on February 26, 1916. His birth cert shows his birth was registered much later, on September 26, 1918.
At some point, the family moved to Dublin, and Paddy went to O’Connell School on North Richmond Street.
A profile in the Irish Independent shortly after he won the championship said that he entered chess circles in 1941, and was only playing in senior, i.e., highest level, competitions for three years at the time he became champion. During that time he had won Leinster Intermediate and Senior Championships, the Irish Civil Service Championship, and the Oireachtas Cup.
A major life change came in 1964, when he was seconded for a year as a United Nations advisor to the Arab Postal Union, and he departed to Cairo with his wife and three children. The initially reported year seems to have turned into a much longer commitment, though at some point his wife and children returned to Ireland, due to school quality. Paddy was reported as returning to Ireland in March 1967 after his posting, but was back in the region again in 1973, when he made the front pages, having been caught up in the Yom Kippur war:
“The wife of an Irishman heading a United Nations postal development in Damascus, whose home was destroyed in the Israeli bomb attack, was waiting last night in Dublin for confirmation that her husband was safe.” (Irish Press, October 10, 1973, p. 1)
The report said that he had been in Damascus for the previous 18 months, as project manager for the Arab Postal Institute, having previously spent two years with his family in Cairo. A front page report in the same day’s Evening Herald reported that Mrs. Duignan had received a telegram from her husband saying that he and a friend were safe.
Paddy Duignan returned to Dublin, where he died on September 2, 1997.
The Irish Championship 1947 was held in Cork, for the first time ever, at the C.C.Y.M.S. Hall in Castle Street. The event was structured as a 14-player all-play-all, with the provincial unions each nominating three players, and with another place for the defending champion. In the event, the defending champion Barney O’Sullivan played instead in the Hilversum Zonal. Leinster nominated a replacement, and, perhaps to avoid a bye, a fifth Leinster player was included.
This was only the second Irish championship since the event resumed after the war, and the only former champion competing was John O’Hanlon, 71 years old. He had played in 20 previous championships, whereas the rest of the field combined had competed in 11.
The Leinster contingent consisted of O’Hanlon, Paddy Duignan (Irish Civil Service champion), Warwick Nash of Athlone (a veteran, along with O’Hanlon and William Minnis, of the previous Olympiad, Buenos Aires 1939, and twice previously Irish correspondence champion), Dónal J. O’Sullivan (who would go on to win three championships), and John Casey of Rathmines, the 1944 Leinster champion, who seems to have been a late addition to the event.
Munster nominated Austin Bourke (a future Irish champion, then working at Shannon Airport), John C. Hickey of Templemore (North Munster champion 1947, and another former Irish correspondence champion), and Con O’Leary of the host club (South Munster champion 1947).
Ulster nominated A. L. Davies (Ulster champion in 1944), G. A. Kearney, and William Minnis (of the Olympiad 1939 team, and Ulster champion in 1939 and 1945).
Connacht nominated Pat Diskin, Frank Killeen, and (Dr.) Michael O’Donnell (Connacht champion).
(There is a link with the previous post: John C. Hickey emigrated a couple of years after this event, and spent over twenty years in Singapore and Malaya, before returning to Ireland. He played board 1 for Phibsboro in the Armstrong Cup 1980-81.)
Paddy Duignan was on form, and won his first six games in succession. Adjournments clouded the issue though: the first session for outstanding adjournments came after round 7. Dónal O’Sullivan also won his first six games once his adjournments were eventually played out. O’Sullivan lost to Bourke in round 8, but the event was thrown wide open with Duignan’s loss to Nash in round 9. This left Duignan and O’Sullivan sharing the lead on 7½, with Bourke and Nash on 7, at the end of play on Friday, though again these were the scores after all adjournments had been played out.
The crucial day was the Saturday, with rounds 10 and 11. In the morning, O’Sullivan and Bourke each lost, to O’Leary and O’Donnell respectively, and Nash drew against Davies, while Duignan beat Kearney. The critical game happened that evening, when Duignan played O’Sullivan, with Duignan eventually prevailing in an ending. This left Duignan on 9½, with Nash on 8½ and Bourke, O’Hanlon, and O’Sullivan a further point back on 7½, again after resolution of adjournments.
After the rest day, Duignan won his round 12 game against Killeen, and could afford to draw against Diskin, who finished last, in the last round, to finish on 11/13, a full point and a half ahead of Nash in second, with O’Sullivan third. Bourke and O’Hanlon shared fourth place on 8½. This was Duignan’s only Irish championship.
Only one game survives from the event, the round 9 game between Duignan and Nash, Duignan’s only loss. There was a mystery here: the game was available in the ICU games archive, but strangely it did not show up in any searches of newspaper archives; where did it come from? David McAlister has traced it to the second batch of games he sent in 2004 to Mark Orr for “TICAbase”, an early predecessor of the ICU games archive, and has even provided his original notes of the game and annotation. In those days before newspaper archives could be searched online, tracking down information and games required painstaking and seriously time-consuming work in libraries with microfilm records.
Duignan – Nash, Irish Championship 1947 15. ?
In the diagrammed position, 15. Qb3 Qd7 16. Qxb7 O-O would leave chances about equal. Instead Duignan blundered with 15. Nc4? and was surprised by 15… Nxe4!, threatening mate. Objectively Black was then winning, but over the next few moves both players missed the strongest continuations. Nash emerged an exchange and two pawns up, but then ran short of time and permitted a three-fold repetition. Duignan missed his chance to claim the draw, and resigned a few moves later.
