Author Archives: Sean Coffey

A famous ending—II

Posted on June 5, 2016 by Sean Coffey

The ending in the last post was given in the excellent book Chess Combination as a Fine Art by Werner Golz and Paul Keres (Pitman 1976), a compilation of puzzles originally published by Kurt Richter in Schach. On p. 149 … Continue reading →

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A famous ending—I

Posted on June 4, 2016 by Sean Coffey

White to play; how should he continue? In particular, if 1. Nxh4, what then? This position, from an Irish game, has featured in several books, including some highly acclaimed recent ones—which stress the importance of trying to work out a … Continue reading →

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Irish championship 2003

Posted on June 1, 2016 by Sean Coffey

A new report for the Irish championship 2003 has been added to the tournaments pages here. Stephen Brady won for the fourth time, finishing 1½ points clear of the field. Until this addition, this championship was the most recent for … Continue reading →

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Dick Grogan 1938-2016

Posted on May 27, 2016 by Sean Coffey

Dick Grogan, who died earlier this month, was a nationally prominent journalist. Most of his career was spent with the Irish Times, where among other assignments he served as Northern Editor. His Irish Times obituary is subtitled “Journalist whose career … Continue reading →

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Bunratty Masters 2016

Posted on May 18, 2016 by Sean Coffey

A full report on this year’s Bunratty Masters is now available here. Nigel Short finished clear first, apparently and surprisingly for the first time ever. All 135 games are available. In perhaps the most interesting of all, the French player … Continue reading →

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Hogarty-Green, European Boys U18 Team Championship 2006

Posted on May 10, 2016 by Sean Coffey

In the puzzle in the last post, White must not play 1. Ke3?, which loses: after 1. … c1=Q+ 2. Nxc1 Kxc1 3. Ke4 Kd2 4. Ke5 Ke3 5. Kxe6 Kf3 6. Kf6 White is one move too late. The … Continue reading →

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1. ?

Posted on May 8, 2016 by Sean Coffey

In this position, from an Irish game, it’s White to play. (i) How should White continue and what should the result be with best play? (ii) What happened in the game? Not too hard, but neat. Answer in a couple … Continue reading →

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Moulton-Crichton, Mulcahy Memorial 1988

Posted on April 30, 2016 by Sean Coffey

Congratulations to Martin Crichton, who recently finished equal first in a small FIDE Open tournament in London, the Colin Crouch Celebration Congress Weekender. Always good to see IRL at the top of the leaderboard! This was a decade since his … Continue reading →

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Irish Junior Championships 2016

Posted on April 9, 2016 by Sean Coffey

Congratulations to the winners in this year’s Irish Junior Championships, held last weekend in Killiney: Conor O’Donnell (Gonzaga), U19; Diana Mirza (St. Michael’s), U16; Henry Li (Gonzaga), U14; Danny Dwyer (Blanchardstown), U12, and Con Kirby (Limerick), U10. (I understand there … Continue reading →

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“An unexpected move”

Posted on March 22, 2016 by Sean Coffey

23. ? In the position at right it’s White to play: how should he continue? The position arose in a casual consultation game played around 1887, probably somewhere in Dublin, between J. A. “Porterfield” Rynd (White) and John Morphy and … Continue reading →

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