Category Archives: Tournaments

A game in a thousand

Posted on July 3, 2020 by Sean Coffey

The Irish Championship 1991 featured a spectacular game between the brothers Niall and Gerard McDonnell. Where the average interesting game might have one or two critical points of interest, this game had a dozen at the very least. It featured … Continue reading →

Posted in Games, Irish championships, Tournaments | Leave a comment

Irish Championship 1991

Posted on June 29, 2020 by Sean Coffey

A report on the Irish Championship 1991 has been added to the tournament section here. Stephen Brady became champion for the first of many times, a point clear of Colm Daly, Mark Heidenfeld (who was playing in his first Irish … Continue reading →

Posted in Irish championships, Tournaments | Leave a comment

Cork Congresses

Posted on May 30, 2020 by Sean Coffey

A new sub-page on Cork Congresses has been added to the Tournament series page here. This event, which started in 1993, was originally called the Cork City Congress, presumably to distinguish it from the Cork Chess Congress series that ran … Continue reading →

Posted in Cork Congresses, Tournaments | Leave a comment

Littleton – Ludgate, Irish Championship 1978

Posted on May 14, 2020 by Sean Coffey

Going into the penultimate round in the 1978 Irish championship, Alan Ludgate led the field, half a point ahead of Colm Barry and Eugene Curtin, and a full point ahead of Conor Barrington and Michael Littleton. In round 8, Ludgate … Continue reading →

Posted in Games, Irish championships | Leave a comment

McDaid – Ludgate, Irish Championship 1978

Posted on May 7, 2020 by Sean Coffey

Another critical moment in the 1978 Irish championship came in round 3, when Alan Ludgate had Black against Adrian McDaid. In a complex struggle, chances were around equal until quite late on, when an error from McDaid caused his position … Continue reading →

Posted in Games, Irish championships, Tournaments | Leave a comment

Clarke – Ludgate, Irish Championship 1978

Posted on May 4, 2020 by Sean Coffey

One of the critical games of the entire Irish championship in 1978 occurred in the opening round, when Tom Clarke had the white pieces against the top seed Alan Ludgate. Clarke built up a large advantage, turned down a draw … Continue reading →

Posted in Games, Irish championships, Tournaments | 1 Comment

Irish Championship 1978

Posted on April 27, 2020 by Sean Coffey

A report on the Irish Championship 1978 has been added to the tournament pages here. The event returned to Galway, for the first time since 1965, and 23 players entered. In a well-contested championship in which many players were in … Continue reading →

Posted in Irish championships, Tournaments | Leave a comment

A puzzle solved

Posted on April 24, 2020 by Sean Coffey

Three years ago, when a report on the Bunratty Masters 2006 was posted here, I asked how on earth White could have recovered from the diagrammed position, where Black has just played 31… Qh3 (How?, February 28, 2017). Van Voorthuijsen … Continue reading →

Posted in Bunratty, Games, Tournaments | 1 Comment

S. Moran – O’Donnell, Irish Championship 2019

Posted on April 3, 2020 by Sean Coffey

S. Moran – O’Donnell, Irish Championship 2019 30. ? Another game from the sixth round of the 2019 Irish championship, and another missed opportunity. Stephen Moran now played 30. Rxg6+? and the game soon ended in a draw. He could … Continue reading →

Posted in Games, Irish championships | Leave a comment

O’Connell – G. Melaugh, Irish Championship 2019

Posted on March 29, 2020 by Sean Coffey

O’Connell – G. Melaugh, Irish Championship 2019 35. ? In this round 6 game, Gerard O’Connell had fought back from a losing game to reach the diagrammed position. He now saw nothing better than 35. Nxf8, and the game soon … Continue reading →

Posted in Games, Irish championships | Leave a comment