Author Archives: Sean Coffey

“Correspondence Chess in Britain and Ireland, 1824-1987” shortlisted for ECF Book of the Year

The English Chess Federation has announced the shortlist of four books for its highly prestigious Book of the Year award, and Tim Harding’s book, with much of interest to Irish chess history, has very deservedly been selected as one of … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Leave a comment

City of Dublin IM norm tournament 2011

The recently concluded City of Dublin IM norm tournament has been added to the tournaments page. 1st Sam Collins, all 45 games. No IM norms, unfortunately, with Stephen Brady missing out by ½ point, but some very interesting and entertaining … Continue reading

Posted in Tournaments | Leave a comment

Castlebar 1969

Castlebar 1969, or to give it its full name, the Castlebar Chess Festival international tournament, ran from August 24th to 31st 1969, finishing 42 years ago today. 1st Robert Hübner by a wide margin, ahead of a diverse international field … Continue reading

Posted in Tournaments | Leave a comment

Leinster championship 2006

The Leinster championship 2006 has been added to the tournaments page. (Or rather, the Masters section of the Leinster championships, as there were three other sections.) 1st-2nd Karl McPhillips, GM Jan Votava (CZE), with Karl McPhillips champion on tie-break. 17 … Continue reading

Posted in Leinster championships, Tournaments | 2 Comments

City of Dublin championships 2010: Masters

The City of Dublin Masters 2010 has been added to the tournaments page. 14 players, 6 rounds, 39 games (of which only 8 are available, unfortunately), 1st Nick Pert.

Posted in Tournaments | Leave a comment

10th Gonzaga Classic 2011: Masters

We’ve added the Gonzaga Masters 2011 to the tournament page. (4th-6th February 2011, 17 players, 5 rounds, 39 games of which complete or partial scores for 32 are available, 1st David Fitzsimons.)

Posted in Tournaments | Leave a comment

The Berlin Wall, Hans-Joachim Hecht & Eugene O’Hare

Today is the 50th anniversary of the construction of the Berlin Wall: an important event in the lives of many and in world history, but you’re probably thinking that it could have no conceivable direct connection to Irish chess history. … Continue reading

Posted in Players | 2 Comments

What if queens could jump as knights do?

“Hey Dad,” said my 9-year-old a couple of days ago, “I’ve figured out why queens don’t move like knights.” Then he showed me the reason he had come up with. And very persuasive it was too! So here’s the puzzle: … Continue reading

Posted in Puzzles | Leave a comment

From the 2011 Irish championship

Administrative note: post reformatted, 20 August 2012.

Keogh-Doyle, Irish Ch 2011The 2011 Irish championship was hugely enjoyable and a credit to the players and organisers. Is it a trick of the imagination, due to the presence of live games and almost instant availability of game scores, or was the chess really more entertaining than usual? Perhaps a mixture of both?

Here is a finish with a timeless appeal:

Black now played 49 … h3. How do you evaluate this move and the resulting position with best play? Was there anything better?

See the solution. Continue reading

Posted in Irish championships, Puzzles | Leave a comment

And they’re off …

The 2011 Irish championship has started. There is some excellent live coverage available from the organisers, the highly reputed e2e4 Chess, including live games for the first time ever in an Irish championship.

We gather all the information we have in a tournament report, which we’ll update continually while the championship unfolds.

July 10: Stephen Brady wins the Irish championship for the 7th time. Rory Quinn wins the weekender. July11: Eric Bennett earlier won the intermediate. Mark Finnigan won the junior. Continue reading

Posted in Irish championships, Tournaments | Leave a comment