“This was a weak Irish Championship which quickly developed into a two horse race between Wolfgang Heidenfeld and me. We were tied together for most of the week, occasionally swapping places as each of us were held to a draw in different rounds. We entered the final round tied on 7/8, a full two points ahead of the nearest competitor. Has I accepted a draw in my last round game, I would have finished runner up on 7½ points, possibly the highest runner up total in the history of the championship.

I did not, however, play to my best chess in this championship. I won a lot of games through sheer dogged determination and good middle game play after coming out of the opening with not great positions. I was very lucky that David Wilson resigned a drawn position and it could have been worse. Wolfgang Heidenfeld was the deserving winner of the championship.”

     —Paul Cassidy, Irish Chess Championship 1968, March 25, 2026