The Irish championship ran from August 4-12 in Dublin. Congratulations are due to the organisers for an outstanding event, which must rank as the strongest ever. The turnout of 36 players has only rarely been exceeded (fifth on the all-time list, I think), including 8 former champions and 12 titled players.
The in-form Alex Lopez won in a canter, finishing with 8/9, 1½ points ahead of the field. He was never in any trouble throughout the event, and for good measure he followed up with 9/9 in the blitz. He has now played in three Irish championships (2010, 2017, and 2018) and has been champion or joint champion in all of them.
In addition David Murray recorded his first IM norm. That’s the second consecutive year in which the Irish championship has produced a norm, and another testament to the work of the organisers. (And to David Murray, of course.)
It will take some time to compile a full report. In the meantime, here is one fragment. In round 8, the only Ulster player Stephen Rush (White) grabbed a pawn against Eamon Keogh, and was faced with the following position at move 23:
Rush – Keogh, Irish championship 2018
White to play
Play continued 23. Re1? Rd6 24. Kg2 Qe4+ 25. f3 Rxf3! 26. exf3 Qxf3+ 27. Kg1 Qxg3+ 28. Qg2 Nf3+ 29. Kf1 Nh2+ and the players agreed a draw, due to the perpetual.
Actually, 24… Qe4+? threw away a win. After 24… Rh6! White is defenceless, since the presumably-intended 25. Rh1 loses to the same theme after 25… Qe4+.
So from the diagram White needs to cover the square e4, as well as e2. He thus had to play 23. Nc3!, when he is still in the game: engines then give White a small edge.