Author Archives: Sean Coffey

O’Hanlon – Seitz, British Championship Major Open B 1938

Posted on April 25, 2022 by Sean Coffey

The last post commented that new games from long-ago events appear all the time. Here is another example, which has also surfaced this month, and which also involves John O’Hanlon. This one is from a subsidiary event of the British … Continue reading →

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A Lively Skirmish: O’Hanlon – Scott, British Championship 1921

Posted on April 21, 2022 by Sean Coffey

One of the interesting aspects of chess history is that missing games from long-ago events turn up out of the blue, rediscovered in some out-of-the-way publication. One such game appeared this very month, discovered by “Tabanus” at chessgames.com and relayed … Continue reading →

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The John Bolger Cup 2022

Posted on April 16, 2022 by Sean Coffey

The inaugural John Bolger Cup was held at Coláiste Éanna in Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin, from March 25-27. The event attracted 154 players across three sections. All games for the Masters section were broadcast via live boards, and a full report … Continue reading →

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Gibson – Doyle, Leinster Championship 1980

Posted on April 4, 2022 by Sean Coffey

Among the many tributes that poured in for John Gibson was one at the Irish Go Association web site, which features a very nice recent photo: The photo’s metadata indicates that it was taken on February 29, 2020. The last … Continue reading →

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FIDE ratings

Posted on April 2, 2022 by Sean Coffey

The FIDE ratings page here shows the highest FIDE ratings achieved by Irish players, ranked in descending order. The list had not been updated since the November 2020 FIDE list came out, initially because there was almost no chess activity … Continue reading →

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Van Manen – Gibson, Harrachov 1967—II

Posted on March 23, 2022 by Sean Coffey

The last post gave one of John Gibson’s wins from Harrachov 1967, against the Dutch player Gerben van Manen. Curiously, his other win from the event came against the same player, also as Black, in the preliminary rounds. Though the … Continue reading →

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Van Manen – Gibson, Harrachov 1967

Posted on March 21, 2022 by Sean Coffey

In 1967, Ireland sent a team to the World Student Team Championship, or “Student Olympiad”, in Harrachov, Czechoslovakia. As described here ten years ago, the Student Olympiads were very strong events, with far fewer weak teams than in Olympiads, and … Continue reading →

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John Gibson 1948-2022

Posted on March 16, 2022 by Sean Coffey

I was very sorry indeed to hear of the passing of John Gibson, announced on RIP.ie and the ICU web site. I saw him in September, when he seemed in excellent form in all ways. He was interesting and entertaining, … Continue reading →

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Williamson Shield 2022

Posted on March 8, 2022 by Sean Coffey

The Williamson Shield 2022 took place at Stormont from February 4-6, marking another very welcome step in the transition back to in-person tournaments, and attracted 31 players across two sections. Many thanks to organiser Damien Lavery, who transcribed virtually all … Continue reading →

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More games from the Irish Championship 1971

Posted on February 18, 2022 by Sean Coffey

I’m delighted to report that Jim Murray has sent all of his games from the 1971 Irish championship. Only one of these, his round 6 game against John O’Brien, was available before, and these are the first new games to … Continue reading →

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