Author Archives: Sean Coffey

J.C. Hickey

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Sean Coffey

The answer to Sunday’s puzzle is John C. Hickey. I said it was a hard puzzle, and indeed I’ll bet most readers will be unfamiliar with the name. But he had quite a distinguished career in both over-the-board and correspondence … Continue reading →

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Who?

Posted on January 19, 2014 by Sean Coffey

Can anyone identify this Irish player? Some clues: (a) he won several national championships (b) he played in a zonal tournament in 1957 (c) he played Armstrong Cup chess for Phibsboro. Warning: hard! The picture is shown with permission, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Photos, Puzzles | 1 Comment

Thorpe-Hughes, WYCC U14 Open 2013

Posted on January 12, 2014 by Sean Coffey

Ireland had three representatives at the World Youth Chess Championships in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates last month: John Hughes (5/11, U18 Open), Diana Mirza (6/11, U14 Girls), and Kevin Singpurwala (4½/11, U14 Open). All games were made available by … Continue reading →

Posted in Games | 4 Comments

The Alekhine (or Maróczy) Gambit Accepted–Modern Version

Posted on December 26, 2013 by Sean Coffey

Issue 12 of The New Winawer Report has now been posted on the Winawer page. It continues the discussion in last month’s issue of the gambit lines in the Alekhine (or Maróczy) Gambit. This month starts from the diagrammed position, … Continue reading →

Posted in Articles | 1 Comment

Rendle-Crichton, Hillingdon League 2011-12

Posted on December 8, 2013 by Sean Coffey

Martin Crichton sends in several games for the archive. The first, Rendle-Crichton, Hillingdon League 2011-12, has some interesting background. In Martin’s words (slightly modified to fit the blog format): “I went into semi retirement from chess in mid 2010 (my … Continue reading →

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Monthly update, November 2013

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Sean Coffey

November saw 190 games added to the games archive, of which 90 were from the 2004 Irish championship, and the remaining 100 from a variety of tournaments (number of games in parentheses): Irish Championship 1950 (3) Irish Championship 1971 (1) … Continue reading →

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Irish championship, Limerick 2004

Posted on November 29, 2013 by Sean Coffey

This year’s Irish championship was the fourth ever held in Limerick, after the 1991, 2000, and 2004 championships: see David McAlister’s comprehensive compilation on his Irish Chess History web site. The 2004 championship was notable as the first championship of … Continue reading →

Posted in Irish championships, Tournaments | Leave a comment

The Alekhine (or Maróczy) Gambit Accepted

Posted on November 23, 2013 by Sean Coffey

It’s strange how the same move in the same position can have drastically varying meanings and interpretations in different games. The classic example is a sharp and startling innovation, successfully and tenaciously defended over the board and ending in a … Continue reading →

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Monthly update, October 2013

Posted on November 2, 2013 by Sean Coffey

Another 229 games involving Irish players or teams have been added to the archive this month. Of these, one featured in the Steatham & Brixton Chess Blog’s “Worst Move on the Board” series, unfortunately on the wrong side for the … Continue reading →

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125 years of the Armstrong Cup

Posted on October 20, 2013 by Sean Coffey

Today (20th October) marks the 125th anniversary of the first ever Armstrong Cup match. The cup was donated by William Armstrong B.L. as a challenge cup “for annual competition by the chess clubs of Dublin”. Its first season was 1888-89, … Continue reading →

Posted in Armstrong Cup, News, Tournaments | 3 Comments