Author Archives: Sean Coffey

Weymouth 1968: Postscript

Posted on May 20, 2018 by Sean Coffey

British Pathé has a newsreel of Weymouth 1968, lasting 1 minute, 6 seconds. Unfortunately there’s no sound, but the video is interesting nevertheless. There is also one additional game, Keane – Rantalainen, round 9 (Ireland – Finland), not in the … Continue reading →

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3rd Blind Chess Olympiad: Weymouth 1968

Posted on May 18, 2018 by Sean Coffey

The 3rd Blind Chess Olympiad was held in Weymouth, England, from March 29 to April 11, 1968. Twenty teams competed, with the Soviet Union finishing first, followed by Yugoslavia and Romania. The Irish team of Seán Loftus, Willie Breen, Ernie … Continue reading →

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Where and when?

Posted on May 16, 2018 by Sean Coffey

As far as I am aware, there is only one Olympiad in which Ireland finished ahead of Great Britain / England. Where and when? Answer in a few days.

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Armstrong Cup 1892-93: Kingstown

Posted on April 30, 2018 by Sean Coffey

Congratulations to Gonzaga on winning the Armstrong Cup for the fourth consecutive season! For the first time in a while there was a close finish, with the result well in doubt heading into the final day. The last post discussed … Continue reading →

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Controversy in the Armstrong Cup!

Posted on April 19, 2018 by Sean Coffey

Players allegedly placed out of order in violation of the rules … objections lodged … draconian penalties applied, affecting the fate of the entire season … this describes the Armstrong Cup. The season 1891-92 of the Armstrong Cup, to be … Continue reading →

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Mulcahy-Bouwmeester, Munich Zonal 1954

Posted on March 24, 2018 by Sean Coffey

Today, March 24, marks the 50th anniversary of the Viscount air disaster. One of the 61 people on board was Noel Mulcahy, one of Ireland’s strongest players. He was Irish champion in 1953, and equal second or better in five … Continue reading →

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ICU games archive update

Posted on March 19, 2018 by Sean Coffey

The ICU games archive has been updated and significantly expanded: see the notice and article on the ICU web site. Among other items, this update includes the IRLchess games collection as it stood at the end of 2017. Going forward, … Continue reading →

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Bunratty Festival 2018

Posted on March 14, 2018 by Sean Coffey

This year’s Bunratty Festival, the 25th in the series, was, as has been very widely reported, the largest ever, with 362 players across 4 sections. All 155 games from the Masters were made available on the tournament website almost immediately … Continue reading →

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Irish championship 1974

Posted on February 18, 2018 by Sean Coffey

The Irish championship 1974 was an 8-round, 28-player Swiss held in the Dublin C.C. clubrooms at 20 Lincoln Place from July 6-13, 1974. A full report has been added to the archives here: see also the Irish championships and Tournaments … Continue reading →

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Karpov-Moles revisited

Posted on January 28, 2018 by Sean Coffey

In his post “Karpov-Moles, Groningen 1967-8”, from 2014, David McAlister discovered surprising and long-overlooked resources for John Moles in his game against Anatoly Karpov, Groningen 1967-68, played fifty years ago this month. His most startling discovery was that Moles had … Continue reading →

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