Alan McGowan, ChessScotland’s historian, has sent the photo above, for which many thanks.
The third World Junior Championship was held in Antwerp, from July 21 to August 9, 1955. Ireland’s representative was Dónal Déiseach of Clontarf C.C., then Armstrong Cup and national club champions, and in round 1 he was drawn against the favourite and eventual winner, IM (!) Boris Spassky. The photo is from Schach-Echo, no. 16, August 20, 1955, p. 253.
[Click to replay the full game.]
The format featured three preliminary all-play-all groups of 8 players, from which 10 players qualified for an all-play-all final, and the remaining 14 played a ‘match classification pool’ 9-round Swiss event. Déiseach, the youngest player, had a rough event, losing all 7 games in his preliminary pool and his first 5 games in the consolation tournament. This must have been very demoralizing; it’s a credit to his resilience that he won two of his last 4 games.
Incidentally, OlimpBase has relatively recently branched out into covering individual tournaments, and it now has a very fine complete history of the World Junior Championship, from its inception in 1951 to the present.
Another photo of the same game is at – http://www.lecavalier.lu/Jugendweltmeisterschaft-Antwerpen-19550721-19550807(6).jpg
Donal;
Many fine memories of playing chess with you at Michener Park at the University of Alberta and if my fleeting memory is correct, we met in Halifax briefly when you were the CEO for Education Canada. I remember discussing your game with Spasky and my game with Francois Jobin (Canadian Junior Chess Champ), but, this is the first time I ever saw the Deiseach~Spasky photo. GREAT!! Where are you now and can you email me? My very best regards.
Lloyd Campbell
Dear Lloyd,
This is Donal’s eldest daughter, Margaret. I am just discovering this photo myself. It is fabulous! I am sorry to say that my dad passed away 20-May 2018. He would have loved to hear from you. Your name was mentioned often enough, with fondness, for me to remember it even though I was very young when we were in Michener Park.
I hope your life has treated you well.
Thank you for remembering my Dad, and reaching out to him.
Sincerely,
Margaret Deiseach
Dear Margaret,
Thank you so much for your November 14th correspondence. I just received it recently and was deeply saddened to learn that your Dad had passed on May 20,2018. My memory is in decline as I approach my 82nd birthday next month but I believe that you and my oldest son Colin attended Malmo Elementary School and that Mrs.Kelly was your Teacher. Your Dad gave me and my wife Nickie 3 copies of his Masters thesis (the best thesis I ever read in my life, and I have read many). I would be happy to give you the signed copy for you and your Family if you would send me your mailing address. Thanks
Hello Lloyd,
We would love to have a copy of my Dad’s thesis. The web master sent me your personal email, so I will send my mailing address to you there. I did not go to Malmo, but I had friends that did, si maybe I crossed paths with Colin at some point.
Dear Mrs. Deiseach, Dear Mr. Campbell,
I am preparing a book about the 3d Junior World Chess Championship in Antwerp 1955. t will also include a chapter on what the lesser-known players did later in life. I was pleased to find some information here about Donal Deiseach, but would like some additional biographical information. For example, I would like to know how he ended up in Canada; what degree he obtained from the University of Alberta and what his profession was as CEO of Education Canada.
In the hope to receive an answer, I offer many thanks in advance.
Kind Regards,
Henri Serruys
Antwerp, Belgium