Author Archives: Sean Coffey

Glorney Gilbert IM Norm Event 2019

Posted on August 25, 2019 by Sean Coffey

A norm event was held alongside the Glorney Gilbert events, held near Dundalk, in July. The tournament was won by the young Icelandic player Vignir Vatnar Stéfansson, who recorded his first IM norm in the process. The event also resulted … Continue reading →

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Irish champions

Posted on August 9, 2019 by Sean Coffey

A new page listing all Irish champions, in descending order of number of championships won, has been added.

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P. B. Kennedy and the Irish Championship 1949

Posted on July 23, 2019 by Sean Coffey

The Irish Championship of 1949, held in Galway, ended 70 years ago today. The event was a 7-round Swiss—the first time the Swiss system was used for an Irish Championship–with 16 players. The field included the defending champion, Dónal J. … Continue reading →

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Brian Canton 1930-2019

Posted on July 19, 2019 by Sean Coffey

Brian Canton, formerly of Clontarf and Dublin C.C.s, died on July 7. He was a member of the Clontarf club that was founded in the early 1950’s and that won the Armstrong Cup twice, in 1953 and 1955, and the … Continue reading →

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Kernan – Cassidy, Irish Championship 1974

Posted on July 13, 2019 by Sean Coffey

Last year, we reported here on the 1974 Irish championship, and remarked that no games were available from the event. Remarkably, a few months later one turned up, on the ICU web site, in Paul Cassidy’s article My Memorable Games … Continue reading →

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Irish championship players, updated

Posted on July 10, 2019 by Sean Coffey

The lists of Irish championship players have been updated to include the 2018 championship: see the full list in descending order of number of championships played, and the same in alphabetical order. Two errors have been corrected: Previously “W. Laveney” … Continue reading →

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Irish Championship 1976

Posted on June 14, 2019 by Sean Coffey

A report on the Irish Championship 1976 has been added to the tournament section here. The championship was held at the New University of Ulster in Coleraine (now “Ulster University at Coleraine”), from July 17-25, 1976. It was sponsored (for … Continue reading →

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Irish International Open 2019

Posted on April 28, 2019 by Sean Coffey

A report on the Irish International Open 2019 (97 players, 9 rounds, 1st GM Robert Ruck (Hungary)) has been added to the Tournaments page here. Update, August 3, 2019: one week after the event, a substantially revised game file with … Continue reading →

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Spassky – Buckley, Kilkenny simul 1991

Posted on April 23, 2019 by Sean Coffey

The game in the last post was far from Boris Spassky’s last interaction with Irish chess. In March 1991 he visited Ireland and gave two simuls, in Dublin and Kilkenny. The Kilkenny event was part of the club’s celebration of … Continue reading →

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Déiseach – Spassky, World Junior Championship 1955

Posted on April 5, 2019 by Sean Coffey

Alan McGowan, ChessScotland’s historian, has sent the photo above, for which many thanks. The third World Junior Championship was held in Antwerp, from July 21 to August 9, 1955. Ireland’s representative was Donal Déiseach of Clontarf C.C., then Armstrong Cup … Continue reading →

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