Irish Championship 1950

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Sources and notes

Sources
Scorebooks All of J. J. Walsh's games (of which all but one were previously unavailable) are available via his scorebooks
Web
Newspapers
  • Belfast News-Letter
  • “Irish Championship and Premier Tournaments”, July 12, 1950, p. 2 (Venue, session times, entries for Championship and Premier)
  • “Irish Championship: Opening matches in Belfast”, July 18, 1950, p. 6 (Round 1)
  • “Irish Championship”, July 19, 1950, p. 6 (Round 2)
  • “Chess Championship”, July 20, 1950, p. 2 (Round 3)
  • “Chess Championship”, July 21, 1950, p. 7 (Round 4)
  • “Chess Championships”, July 22, 1950, p. 2 (Round 5)
  • “Ulster boy tournament winner”, July 24, 1950, p. 8 (Round 6, Courtney wins Premier)
  • “Irish Chess Champion: Dublin student's win”, July 25, 1950, p. 2 (Round 7, final standings in Premier)
  • “Appeal to Ulster players”, July 26, 1950, p. 2 (Round 8, leading final standings in Championship, final dinner)
  • GAMES:
  • Maher -v- Jackson, August 2, 1950, p. 6
  • Heaney -v- Tormey, August 10, 1950, p. 6
  • Bewley -v- Nash, August 17, 1950, p. 6
  • Dundas -v- Maher, August 24, 1950, p. 6
  •  
  • Belfast Telegraph
  • “Irish Chess Championship”, July 17, 1950, p. 7 (Preview and round 1, tournament conductors)
  • “Irish Chess Championship”, July 18, 1950, p. 3 (Round 2)
  • [Photograph], July 18, 1950, p. 6 (G. W. O. Leslie and Father Weymes)
  • “Irish Chess Championship”, July 19, 1950, p. 7 (Round 3)
  • “Belfast Chess Competition: The Latest Results”, July 20, 1950, p. 5 (Round 4)
  • “Irish Chess Championship”, July 21, 1950, p. 9 (Round 5)
  • “All-Ireland Chess Championship: Seventh Round Games”, July 24, 1950, p. 8 (Round 7)
  • “Belfast Chess Player Praised: “Moves others can only make in their dreams”: Championship Finale”, July 26, 1950, p. 8 (Review, final dinner)
  •  
  • Ireland's Saturday Night
  • “The Irish Championship”, July 8, 1950, p. 3 (Session times, entries for Championship and Premier)
  • “Rivals for Irish Chess Championship”, July 22, 1950, p. 5 (Round 6, Courtney round 7 Premier)
  • GAMES:
  • O'Sullivan -v- Peebles, July 29, 1950, p. 4
  • O'Leary -v- Flood, August 12, 1950, p. 4
  • Heaney -v- Walsh, August 19, 1950, p. 3
  • Murphy -v- Dundas, August 19, 1950, p. 3
  •  
  • Northern Whig
  • “Chess Congress To Be Held In Belfast”, April 19, 1950, p. 3 (Preview)
  • “Irish title test begins in Belfast next week”, July 12, 1950, p. 2 (Venue, session times, entries, conductors)
  • “Ulster player's fine win in Irish chess tourney”, July 18, 1950. p. 2 (Round 1)
  • [Photograph], July 19, 1950, p. 4 (G. A. Kearney and P. J. Murphy)
  • “The Passing Hour" column by “The Watchman”, July 19, 1950, p. 4 (Profile of J. J. O'Hanlon)
  • “Irish Chess Title: Dublin player's good form”, July 19, 1950, p. 5 (Round 2)
  • “Irish Chess Title: Ulster successes in third round”, July 20, 1950, p. 5 (Round 3)
  • “O'Hanlon Beaten By Ulster Player: Maher has maximum points”, July 21, 1950, p. 5 (Round 4)
  • “Varsity player still going well”, July 22, 1950, p. 2 (Round 5)
  • “Premier title won by 18-year-old “Inst” student”, July 24, 1950, p. 5 (Round 6 and Premier round 7, Courtney game bought forward to allow him to leave for Glorney Cup in Cardiff, Courtney photograph)
  • “Dublin student is new Irish Champion”, July 25, 1950, p. 2 (Round 7, Maher wins title with one round remaining)
  • “Flood held Maher to a draw”, July 25, 1950, p. 2 (Round 8)
  • “Irish Title Dinner: Chess ought to be taught in schools” - Dr. Harte”, July 25, 1950, p. 2 (Review, final dinner)
  • “The Passing Hour” column by “The Watchman”, July 26, 1950, p. 4 (C. P. Glorney speech at final dinner)
  •  
  • Cork Examiner
  • “P. B. Kennedy Not To Defend Irish Title”, July 4, 1950, p. 7 (P. B. Kennedy withdrawal, venue, rate of play)
  • “Munster Players in Irish Championship”, July 13, 1950, p. 8 (Player profiles)
  • “Another Brilliant Win For V. Maher”, July 19, 1950, p. 6 (Round 2)
  • “Irish Chess Championship”, July 20, 1950, p. 8 (Round 3)
  • “Another Win For V. Maher”, July 21, 1950, p. 9 (Round 4)
  • “V. Maher Beats C. O'Leary In Belfast”, July 22, 1950, p. 9 (Round 5)
  • “V. Maher Set For Title Success”, July 24, 1950, p. 6 (Round 6)
  • “Irish Championship”, July 25, 1950, p. 6 (Round 7)
  • “V. Maher Wins Irish Title”, July 26, 1950, p. 6 (Round 8, winner and runner-up, Premier winner)
  •  
  • Evening Herald
  • “Maher Going Well For Chess Title”, July 19, 1950, p. 8 (Round 2)
  • “O'Hanlon Draws With Boyd”, July 19, 1950, p. 8 (Round 3)
  • “Belfast Chess: P.J. Murphy Near Leader”, July 22, 1950, p. 8 (Round 6)
  • “Irish Chess Titles”, July 24, 1950, p. 8 (Round 7, final standings in Premier)
  • “Chess Championship at Belfast”, July 25, 1950, p. 8 (Round 8)
  •  
  • Irish Independent
  • “Maher's Good Start In Chess Title Test”, July 18, 1950, p. 10 (Round 1)
  • “J. J. Walsh Defeats Leinster Champion”, July 19, 1950, p. 10 (Round 2)
  • “Maher And Walsh Lead In Chess Title Bid”, July 20, 1950, p. 10 (Round 3)
  • “Maher's Clear Lead In Chess Title Bid”, July 21, 1950, p. 10 (Round 4)
  • “V. Maher's Well Ahead in Chess Test”, July 22, 1950, p. 9 (Round 5)
  • “Maher's Lead In Chess Title Bid”, July 24, 1950, p. 9 (Round 6)
  • “Irish Chess Title For V. Maher”, July 25, 1950, p. 10 (Round 7, final standings in Premier)
  • “Chess Champion Held To Draw”, July 26, 1950, p. 10 (Round 8, final standings in Championship)
  •  
  • Sunday Independent
  • “Belfast Will See Big Chess Event”, April 30, 1950, p. 6 (Preview)
  • “Not Defending”, July 9, 1950, p. 6 (P. B. Kennedy withdrawal, entries)
  • “Former Champions in This Week's Test”, July 16, 1950, p. 6 (Preview)
  • “Belfast Battle Of Chess Champions”, July 23, 1950, p. 9 (Report on first week)
  • “V. Maher In Clear Lead”, July 23, 1950, p. 9 (Round 6)
  •  
  • Irish Press
  • “Duignan Starts Well In Chess Title Bid”, July 18, 1950, p. 8 (Round 1)
  • “Three Players Share Chess Leadership”, July 19, 1950, p. 8 (Round 2)
  • “Maher, Walsh Hold Chess Lead”, July 20, 1950, p. 8 (Round 3)
  • “Maher Leads In Chess Title Race”, July 21, 1950, p. 9 (Round 4)
  • “Maher Keeps Record”, July 22, 1950, p. 9 (Round 5)
  • “V. Maher New Irish Chess Champion”, July 25, 1950, p. 8 (Round 7, leading final standings in Premier)
  • “Maher's Unbeaten [*] Record Broken”, July 26, 1950, p. 7 (Round 8, leading final standings in Championship)
  •      [* sic—should be 100%]
Magazines
  • BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
  • (in the section “News from Ireland” by Denis G. Jackson, Hon. Secretary of the Irish Chess Union)
  • Volume LXX, June 1950, p. 188 (Preview, eligibility conditions)
  • Volume LXX, July 1950, p. 222 (Preview, entries, time limit)
  • Volume LXX, October 1950, p. 323 (Brief report, leading scores)
  •  
  • CHESS
  • “Ireland”, Volume 15, August 1940, p. 211 (Brief report, and game between Bewley and Nash)


Notes
Key In "Pairings & results",
  • "qual" denotes method of qualification
  • "(age)" denotes the player's age on his or her birthday that year, regardless of whether that birthday fell before, during, or after the event
  • "x-ch" denotes former Irish champions
  • "ch#" denotes the number of championships the player played in, including this one
Débuts and final appearances For Bewley and Tormey this was their only appearance in the Irish championship. Finnegan, Heaney, Martin, Mulcahy and Walsh also made their débuts in 1950 while for Duignan, Dundas, Jackson and Peebles it was their final appearance.
Disambiguation John Casey, b. 1930 or 1931, who played in the 1949, 1950, 1951 and 1952 Championships, is given as "John Casey (2)" to distinguish him from John Casey, ca. 1895-1968, who played in the Irish championships of 1939, 1940 and 1947. The older Casey attended the event as a newspaper reporter.
Versions
  • v1.0 (6 Nov 2025): first published version.
Author David McAlister


IRLchess: Irish chess history & records.
Version 1.0, published 6 November 2025. Comments/corrections? .
Download pgn file.