Author Archives: Sean Coffey

Jessel – O’Donnell, Plancoët Open 2014

Posted on October 6, 2023 by Sean Coffey

Stephen Jessel and Conor O’Donnell competed in the strong Plancoët Open 2014, finishing with 6/9 and 5½/9 respectively. They met in round 8, in a game of changing fortunes. The first diagram shows one interesting moment. Jessel – O’Donnell, Plancoët … Continue reading →

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Irish Women’s Championship 2023

Posted on September 27, 2023 by Sean Coffey

The Irish Women’s Championship was held in Dublin last month, and a full report has now been uploaded here. The field of 13 spanned huge rating gaps, but as has happened in previous instances of this event, lower-rated players rose … Continue reading →

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Fox – D. Nolan, Irish Championship 2023

Posted on August 24, 2023 by Sean Coffey

Among the many interesting moments in the recently concluded Irish Championship was the following from the encounter between Anthony Fox and Dermot Nolan in round 6. Fox – D. Nolan, Irish Championship 202353. ? I was following the game live, … Continue reading →

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Irish Championship 2023

Posted on August 9, 2023 by Sean Coffey

The Irish Championship 2023 is reaching its halfway stage, with (as I write this) ronnd 4 completed. A partial report, [update, August 13: now final] reflecting progress so far, has been uploaded to the tournament pages here, and will be … Continue reading →

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Problems and studies: Robert Pye web site

Posted on August 5, 2023 by Sean Coffey

Robert Pye writes to say that there is a new web site, chessproblems.ie, dealing with his problems and studies, and also available to other chess problemists and study composers, born in the Republic of Ireland, who wish to make their … Continue reading →

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From the Galway Blitz 2023

Posted on July 20, 2023 by Sean Coffey

The (first?) Galway Blitz Championship, held last Saturday, attracted a field of 87 players, who contested 18 rounds. Tarun Kanyamarala finished first on 15½, ahead of Jacob Flynn on 15 and Oleg Gubanov on 14½. (See full results.) The top … Continue reading →

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Drogheda (Thomson Masters) 2023

Posted on July 11, 2023 by Sean Coffey

The Drogheda Congress was held over the June Bank Holiday weekend, comprising four sections with 131 players in all. Very admirably, essentially all games in all sections were broadcast. A full report on the Thomson Masters has been posted to … Continue reading →

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FIDE ratings

Posted on June 13, 2023 by Sean Coffey

The FIDE ratings page here, which shows the highest FIDE ratings achieved by Irish players, ranked in descending order, has been updated to account for the May and June 2023 lists. Conor Murphy moved from 2450 to 2454 in May … Continue reading →

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Delaney – Ludgate, Irish Championship 1983

Posted on May 24, 2023 by Sean Coffey

The position in the puzzle set in the last post is from the last round game between John Delaney and Alan Ludgate in the Irish Championship 1983. It arose just after the time control, but as it was the last … Continue reading →

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1… Kc_, ?

Posted on May 22, 2023 by Sean Coffey

In the following position, it’s Black to play. How should he continue? To narrow it down, suppose that his next move is to play the king to the c-file. Where should it go, and why? 1… Kc_, ? The solution … Continue reading →

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