Category Archives: Tournaments

Irish championship 2012

This year’s Irish championship is heating up, with a great win by David Fitzsimons over Stephen Brady in round 4 blowing the race wide open; he is now joint leader with John Redmond, last year’s runner-up, and they meet in … Continue reading

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P.J. Laracy, Philip Baker and the 1927 Leinster Championship

When compiling the Roll of Honour for the Leinster Championship, there was a particularly tricky decision to make about the 1927 renewal. There was evidence pointing towards two possible candidates. They were Philip Baker, champion the previous year (and also … Continue reading

Posted in Armstrong Cup, Irish championships, Leinster championships, Players, Tournaments | 1 Comment

Leinster Championships centenary

The Leinster Championships are being held over the May Bank Holiday weekend, the usual slot for the Malahide Millennium Tournament. In fact these two tournaments have amalgamated this year, and pre-event it was being anticipated that the quality and quantity … Continue reading

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A neat finish: Lewis-Duffy, Armstrong Cup 1958

From the Armstrong Cup 1958-59, W. Lewis – N. Duffy, Dublin-Phibsboro, board 6, played in late 1958 (and, by the way, not in the ICU games archive or other databases): In the diagrammed position Black sealed. It looks as though … Continue reading

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City of Dublin 2011

The City of Dublin championships took place last September, and a report (by Pat Fitzsimons) and a majority of the games in the Masters (complied by Ciarán Quinn) appeared at the time. Subsequently Peter Scott, chief arbiter, sent the crosstables, … Continue reading

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An Tóstal 1955

Last year Tony Foley gave extensive coverage of An Tóstal 1955, the first international tournament ever held in Cork, in a series of posts (parts I, II, III, IV, V and VI), based on reports in the Evening Echo and … Continue reading

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Irish championship 2000, Castleconnell, Co. Limerick

Irish Ch 2000 flyer header

To this day the topic of where to hold Irish championships is hotly debated, with a division between those who say choosing Dublin all the time is monotonous and unfair to non-Dublin players, and those who say that non-Dublin venues result in much smaller tournaments. The 2000 championship, held in the “scenic village” of Castleconnell Continue reading

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DisinformatorTM

With excellent timing, two magazines have produced a new issue this week, just in time for the Christmas stocking. The first is of course Tony Foley’s Irish Chess Journal. The second, which may not be familiar to Irish readers, is … Continue reading

Posted in Branagan Cups, Games | 2 Comments

Duignan-Diskin, Irish championship, Galway 1949 (brilliancy prize)

Returning to , the next on the list is another win by P. A. (Paddy) Duignan, this time against P. Diskin in the 1949 Irish championship in Galway, winning the tournament brilliancy prize. P. Diskin of Galway was Connacht champion … Continue reading

Posted in Connacht champions, Games, Irish champions, Irish championships, Players | 1 Comment

Equal first in an Irish championship, but never Irish champion

The answer to Thursday’s trivia question, what do William Edward Thrift P.J. McMahon W.J. Allen Oscar Aidan Quigley William Richard Dunphy Alex Montwill Matt O’Leary Tom Clarke have in common, is as in the title: all finished equal first in … Continue reading

Posted in Players, Puzzles, Tournaments | 2 Comments