A report has been added here on the Irish Championship 1994.
The championship was held for the first and only time in the town of Armagh. The field of 20 players included the defending champion Niall Carton, along with a group of players who at that time had never won, but who shared the next five championships between them (Brian Kelly, Richard O’Donovan, Joe Ryan, and Colm Daly), as well as IM Mark Orr, Conor O’Shaughnessy, and Mel Ó Cinnéide.
Carton started with three straight wins, but then hit a disastrous streak of four straight losses. (Has this ever happened a defending champion before or since?)
Daly’s loss to O’Donovan in round 5 was the most spectacular game of the tournament.
Heading into the last round, Kelly and Orr led by half a point over Clarke and Ó Cinnéide. Clarke lost to Daly, and Kelly agreed an early draw against Ó Cinnéide.
The championship thus came down to Orr’s game on board 1 against Adrian Gillen, which had a dramatic conclusion.
Irish Championship 1994 (9)
37. ?
The finish was 37. Kb6 bxa3+ 38. Kxc6 axb2 39. Ne8 Qf3 40. Qxf3 b1=Q 41. Nd6 1-0.
So Mark Orr became champion for the second time, after sharing the title with Eugene Curtin in 1985. Brian Kelly, still several months short of his sixteenth birthday, was second, and Mel Ó Cinnéide was third.
The short passage of play above includes some significant twists of fortune and missed opportunities, and the outcome of the championship could have been different. Where could play have been improved, and what should be the outcome with best play from the diagrammed position?