MacElligott – Kennedy, Armstrong Cup 2024-25

Gerard MacElligott has sent another interesting game, for which many thanks, played last Saturday in the Armstrong Cup. In the diagrammed position, it’s White to play and draw.

MacElligott - Kennedy, Armstrong Cup 2024-25

MacElligott – Kennedy, Armstrong Cup 2024-25
White to play and draw

The solution is, of course, that he claimed a draw under the 50 move rule: the last capture had occurred 54 moves earlier. (A similar outcome happened recently in the World Rapid Championship in a game between Alexander Donchenko and Hikaru Nakamura.)

[Click to replay the full game.]

Earlier, Gerard had held an advantage, and was pressing. It looked promising enough at times, for example around move 63, but I did not find any clear-cut win. Does anyone have suggestions?

A blunder at move 75 dropped a piece. Kennedy could have reached a bishop plus knight versus lone king ending 16 moves before it appeared; as the players must have been surviving on increments, it seems likely that he was building up a time reserve.

After the last capture, the Nalimov tablebase shows that Black mates in 27 moves with best play. So what went wrong? Following the sequel with the tablebase, it took far too much time to shepherd the white king into the ‘wrong’ corner: 31 moves, leaving 17 more required with best play. As it was, Kennedy almost immediately lost five moves through an inaccuracy, but later got a reprieve of 11 moves, restoring the win with best play. There was almost no margin for error, and he was unable to thread the required needle.

Dublin won the match 7-1, and the loss puts Elm Mount in danger of relegation (see table as of today). The half point saved might turn out to be very important!

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Dunne – Beryozkin, Heidenfeld Trophy 2024-25

Oliver Dunne has sent an interesting game, for which many thanks, from this year’s Heidenfeld Trophy.

This is from the penultimate round match between Phibsboro and the runaway leaders Dún Laoghaire, played on March 24.

Dunne - Beryozkin, Heidenfeld Trophy 2024-25

Dunne – Beryozkin, Heidenfeld Trophy 2024-25
17. ?

The diagrammed position looks overwhelming for White, given the difference in development and space, but I was surprised when I looked at the engine evaluation, which was a relatively modest +0.6 to +0.8.

Oliver found the best continuation, 17. Nd6!. After 17… exd6 18. exd6 Rxe1+ 19. Rxe1 Qxd6 20. Re8+ Bf8, best is apparently 21. Bxd8, with advantage.

Oliver instead played 21. Be7?. Black could have turned the tables with 21… Qxe7, when he has rook, knight, and bishop for the queen and a winning position.

Instead he erred with 21… Qxd3?, and after 22. Bxf8! had to resign, as the threat of immediate mate leads to massive material losses.

[Click to replay the full game.]

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Drogheda Super Rapid 2K24 KlimaX 2024

The inaugural Drogheda Super Rapid 2K24 KlimaX 2024 was held on December 28-29, 2024, with a field of 76, and 15 rounds.

A full report has been added to the tournament pages here. The organisers provided twenty live boards, with the result that 298 of the 534 games are available.

FM Oleg Artemenko of Uzbekistan finished first, winning €800, a point and a half ahead of Jacob Flynn and Kavin Venkatesan, with David Fitzsimons a further half a point back in fourth. Fifth place was shared between Andrey Ivanov and Hong Nhung Nguyen, a further point and a half back, with the latter also winning the Best Woman prize.

I confess that I only scanned a small fraction of the games, and did not compile an Interesting Games selection in the report.

Artemenko – Flynn, Drogheda Super Rapid 2K24 KlimaX 2024 (7.1)
38… ?

One critical moment came in the game between Artemenko and Flynn in round 7. The diagrammed position has chances for both sides, with engines finding that Black stands slightly better after 38… Re8.

Instead Flynn erred with 38… Qxa4?, and after 39. Ne6!, compounded the error with 39… fxe6?, and had to resign after 40. Rxd7, when mate is inevitable.

After 39. Ne6!, 39… f5 was essential, but White is still winning after 40. Nd6!, when it turns out that Black’s kingside position is fatally weak. Best play seems to run 40… Qa2 41. Nxf8 Rxf8 42. Qe3, where Black can struggle on for a while via 42… f4 43. Bxf4 Rxf4 44. Qxf4 Qe6 45. Qxh6, but otherwise is hard put to survive.

[Click to replay the full game.]

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A king hunt

From an Armstrong Cup game played on Wednesday:

Jonathan O’Connor, on X, remarked that “My opponent went downhill very quickly after forgetting his Sveshnikov theory”. This happened around ten moves before the diagrammed position.

Beatty - O'Connor, Armstrong Cup 2024-25

Beatty – O’Connor, Armstrong Cup 2024-25 (8.3)
Position after 21… Qe3

White now continued 22. Kh3, and the conclusion was 22… Rc4 23. Bxc4 Bc8+ 24. Kh4 Qh6+ 25. Kg3 Ne4+ 26. fxe4 Qf4 mate.

[Click to replay the full game.]

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Zalan Nemeth, FM title and two IM norms

Congratulations are due to Zalan Nemeth, who recorded two IM norms within the span of the past few weeks, at the SixDays Budapest IM-C January 2025 and the 1st EUTender Sinus Sárkány IM 2025.

Each was structured as a ten-player all-play-all, and Zalan finished clear first in each.

His games have been added to the archive here, though not yet the index: see the sundry files 2025-02 collection.

His norms have been added to the Norms page here. In the process, I noticed that I had not recorded his FM title, for which I had seen no announcements. He has not reached 2300 in any published FIDE list, but as far a I can see, he reached a live rating of 2303.2 on March 12, 2023 by winning his game against IM Viktor Varádi in the Hungarian team league 2022-23 (see the Norms page for details of the calculations). The FM title appeared in the May 2023 list.

Here is a crucial ending from his first norm.

Nemeth - Pasti, SixDays IM-C January 2025, I

Nemeth – Pásti, SixDays Budapest IM-C January 2025
44… ?

The diagram shows his fifth round game against IM, and top seed, Áron Pásti (Black), with Pásti to move. Though White is not as badly placed as might appear at first glance—engines give Black a half-pawn advantage only—it looks as if White is “playing for two results”.

Nemeth - Pasti, SixDays Budapest IM-C January 2025, II

Same game
52… ?

Eight moves later the second diagrammed position was reached, and now it’s all much more uncomfortable for Black. It seems that 52… Kb8 is enough to hold the balance, but Black chose 52… f5. This should also be fine, but after the reply 53. e5, he had to find the only move 53… f4!, which holds the balance. Instead he played 53… g5?, and after 54. f4! (not 54. hxg5?? f4 and Black wins) he was lost.

[Click to replay the full game.]

Posted in Games, Norms and titles, Players | 1 Comment

Irish 65+ Championship 2025

The recent New Year festival also included the Irish 65+ Championship, which attracted a very healthy entry of 34.

A full report has been added to the Tournament pages here.

Four boards per round were available on live boards, and these included many entertaining games. One game that caught the eye was the rollercoaster encounter between clubmates Peter Cafolla and Peter J. Lynch in round 1. The former was heading to a smooth win when he slipped by blundering a knight, whereupon he gave up an exchange to try to muddy the issue, ending a full rook down. A slip by the latter enabled a miraculous escape.

Joe Noone finished clear first on an unbeaten 6/7, to win the title of Irish 65+ champion for the first time. Half a point behind, and also unbeaten, was the defending champion Gerard O’Connell. Gerry MacElligott and Pat Reynolds shared 3rd-4th a further half a point back.

In addition to the 28 games available on live boards, two extra games were contributed by Michael Burniston and Gerry MacElligott, for which many thanks.

Michael’s game featured a striking finish.

Burniston - Fitzpatrick, Irish 65+ Championship 2025

Burniston – Fitzpatrick, Irish 65+ Championship 2025
26. ?

Four moves before the diagrammed position, the game stood in the balance, but a single slip led to a cascade of forced further concessions, pushing Black back. His last four moves were … Qe7-f7 (the losing move), … Qf7-g8, … Ke8-e7, and … Ke7-e8.

So much time had been given up that there had to be a breakthrough. Michael found the spectacular 26. Qxd5!!, when the queen is immune because of 27. Bb5 mate. After 26… g5 27. fxg6 Qxg6 he followed up with 28. Rxc6!!, and after 28… Qh6, delivered the coup de grâce with 29. Rxc8+!. Nicely done!

[Click to replay the full game.]

[Update, February 13, 2025: Joe Noone has provided his two previously missing games, from rounds 1 and 2, via Gerry MacElligott, for which many thanks. The report has been updated accordingly.]

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IM Dmitriy Kushko registers as IRL

Ireland has a new IM: Dmitriy Kushko, born 2004, has switched his registration from Ukraine to Ireland. Belated congratulations!

A Connaught Telegraph profile from March 2023 says that he is from Kharkiv, and had arrived in Ballyhaunis, Co. Mayo in May 2022.

I had not heard that this transfer was underway, and only noticed his entry for the Irish Championship earlier today, which prompted me to check his eligibility. With this FIDE transfer, he is certainly eligible to play, but will he be eligible for the title of Irish champion? The last AGM added new requirements. He will be eligible for the title if he becomes a citizen of the Republic of Ireland before the event, but not otherwise, and indeed might not be eligible for the title even next year, as I think the registration transfer occurred after the beginning of this year. [Update: he won the Irish New Year IM Morm event earlier a little over a week ago—quite convincingly—and was registered as Ukraine for that event.]

In any case, Ireland gains a very strong player. He earned the IM title in 2023, having recorded four norms and crossed 2400 in the June 2023 list. He is currently rated 2449 FIDE, his highest rating ever, so will move into fifth place in the all-time list of peak ratings of Irish players, when the list is updated.

[Update, March 5, 2025: The date of the transfer was January 8, according to the (new?) FIDE Transfers page.]

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Irish International Open 2025

Last weekend’s events also featured the Irish International Open, which attracted a mammoth field of 75. The top seed, by a margin of over 300 rating points, was IM Kristian Stuvik Holm of Norway. Only four other players were rated over 2000 FIDE: Colm Daly, Shane Melaugh, Oisín O’Cuilleanain, and Anuar Tureshbayev.

Holm duly finished first on 6½/7, with his sole dropped half point conceded against O’Cuilleanain, in a short draw where O’Cuilleanain, as Black, seems to have stood somewhat better.

O’Cuilleanain won a fine game, also as Black, against Colm Daly in round 5, and held the joint lead going into the last round. However, he lost as White against Tureshbayev, after dropping an exchange in a level position.

A full report has been added to the Tournament pages here, with 49 games from live boards.

One interesting episode occurred in the third round game between James Kavanagh and Shane Melaugh.

Kavanagh - Melaugh, Irish International Open 2025, 24W

Kavanagh – Melaugh, Irish International Open 2025
24… ?

In the diagrammed position, Black is winning comfortably enough, and needed only to play 24… g6. Instead he erred with 24… Qxf2+??, and found that after 25. Rg2 he was losing his queen, since after 25… Qd4, as played, White had 26. Rd7. After 26… g6 27. Rxd4 Rxd4, the second diagrammed position was reached.

Kavanagh - Melaugh, Irish International Open 2025, 27B

Same game
28. ?

But does White have any real winning chances here? It does not appear so: there isn’t enough time to break through with h4-h5, and in many lines Black can exchange a pair of rooks and create a fortress. Of course, White could take an immediate draw via 28. Qf6 Rfd8 29. Rxg6+, etc.

Kavanagh - Melaugh, Irish International Open 2025, 35W

Same game
35… ?

White went astray and lost the h-pawn, and after the exchange of a pair of rooks, the third diagrammed position was reached. This is beyond the range of tablebases, but it appears this should be drawn with best play. However, White has to be careful. In the game, he went astray and Black managed to roll his K-side pawns home.

[Click to replay the full game.]

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Irish 50+ Championship 2025

The Irish chess year sprang to life over the weekend, with a large number of events at the Talbot Hotel Stillorgan, including an International Open, a GM norm and an IM norm event, the Irish 50+ and 65+ championships, a blitz, and the Leinster Junior Championships in six age categories.

For the Irish 50+ Championship, defending champion and top seed Jonathan O’Connor successfully recorded his second consecutive victory, with an unbeaten 5½/7, ahead of Oscar Culbeaux Tello, who finished half a point behind, after losing to Jonathan and also Anthony Fox. Fox tied for third with the visiting Ragnar Holm of Norway.

John Delaney reached 3½/4, but withdrew and did not play in the last three rounds.

Congratulations to Jonathan; here is a photo of him with the trophy.

For some reason, participation was down markedly over last year’s event, with only 15 this time compared to 29 last time.

A full report has been added to the tournament pages here.

The last round game between Culbeaux Tello and Paul Ward saw a neat combination.

Culbeaux Tello - Ward, irish 50+ Championship 2025

Culbeaux Tello – Ward, Irish 50+ Championship 2025
16… ?

In the diagrammed position, Black’s best (really, only) chance is 16… Nf3+!? 17. Qxf3 Bxf4, but then White has 18. Nxe6! with a very strong attack.

In the game, Black played 16… Nc4?, after which 17. Nxe6! was overwhelming.

[Click to replay the full game.]

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Downloading games from IRLchess

The “Search games” function here (see right column and the games page) has been modified to add a link to download a pgn file corresponding to the results of a search. I hope this will be useful for readers.

For example, typing "baburin, alexander" gives a result page with 574 games and 9 results without moves. Clicking the link at the bottom of the page downloads a pgn file with 583 games.

The file is named baburin-alexander-q-583-20241204-Wed-175416.pgn. Why such a long name? The idea is to aid the reader who searches at one time, and again some time later, and who wonders whether there have been any changes. The name of the pgn download will change if and only if something has changed in the search: new games added, or old ones deleted, or a new writing of one of the result’s playable game files.

(The naming is derived from the search "baburin, alexander", dropping the comma and converting the space to a dash, adding -q- to indicate that what has gone before was a composite search term rather than "baburin" "alexander", adding the number of games in the search (583 here), and adding the latest time of any game file writing (20241204-Wed-175416 here).)

Each game in the result file has the added tags “[URL” and “[LastModified” automatically generated from the file system. Note that this does not mean that the pgn file itself (without the URL and LastModified tags) has changed, or even that the .htm file has changed: it reflects only the last time the file was written. For example, if a tournament report is rewritten to add commentary in one game, the entire game file will usually be reprocessed, and the change dates of all game .htm files will change.

Up until now, games could be searched using multiple search terms, but if quotation marks were used for any search terms, they had to be used for all. Thus for example, to search for C. H. O’D. Alexander’s games from 1959, the search terms

"alexander, c. h. o'd." "1959"

could be (and still can be) used, but dropping the quotation marks from 1959 would yield no results. This restriction has now been removed, so the search

"alexander, c. h. o'd." 1959

yields the same results.

The results only include games included in the most recent site index; other games might be included in sundry files (search “-month2024-12” to find sundry games for this month) or in a tournament added after the most recent site index. The date of the most recent site index is given on the search results page.

Finally, it is not always the case that a player’s name is rendered the same way throughout the site, as should be clear from searches. I’m working to standardise player names over time, but in the meantime, a search does not automatically find all games of a given player.

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