The Glorney Cup 1955 was held at Newman House, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin, from July 27-28, 1955. The controller was Frank Maher, who had played in the 1949 event, and the chief organizer was Andrew O’Higgins. Once again, four teams participated, and again, only match results counted.
In the morning of the opening day, England beat Ireland 4½ – 1½, and Scotland beat Wales by the same margin.
| England | Ireland | |
| B. J. Moore | 1 – 0 | T. O’Neill |
| N. E. Lewis | 1 – 0 | R. Grogan |
| J. M. Dawson | ½ – ½ | C. Deasy |
| W. S. Deeth | 1 – 0 | C. Kennedy |
| B. J. McGreevy | ½ – ½ | M. McMahon |
| A. J. Leggett | ½ – ½ | D. O’Connell |
| 4½ – 1½ |
| Scotland | Wales | |
| M. Fallone | 1 – 0 | W. B. Sullivan |
| I. Morton | 0 – 1 | D. K. Peters |
| W. Fleming | ½ – ½ | A. J. Davies |
| J. Blair | 1 – 0 | F. S. Wusteman |
| G. Dickson | 1 – 0 | P. M. Perry |
| J. McCann | 1 – 0 | M. Gronow |
| 4½ – 1½ |
In the evening, England beat Wales 4 – 2, while Ireland and Scotland drew.
| England | Wales | |
| B. J. Moore | 1 – 0 | W. B. Sullivan |
| N. Lewis | ½ – ½ | D. K. Peters |
| J. M. Dawson | ½ – ½ | A. J. Davies |
| W. S. Deeth | 1 – 0 | M. Gronow |
| R. Myers | ½ – ½ | F. S. Wusteman |
| B. J. McGreevy | ½ – ½ | D. P. Bryon |
| 4 – 2 |
| Ireland | Scotland | |
| T. O’Neill | 0 – 1 | M. Fallone |
| R. Grogan | 0 – 1 | I. Morton |
| C. Deasy | 1 – 0 | W. Fleming |
| C. Kennedy | 0 – 1 | J. Blair |
| M. McMahon | 1 – 0 | J. A. Phillips |
| D. Kennedy | 1 – 0 | J. McCann |
| 3 – 3 |
On the second day, England beat Scotland 4½ – 1½ and Ireland drew with Wales.
| England | Scotland | |
| B. J. Moore | 1 – 0 | M. Fallone |
| N. E. Lewis | 1 – 0 | I. Morton |
| J. M. Dawson | 1 – 0 | J. Blair |
| W. S. Deeth | 1 – 0 | W. Fleming |
| R. Myers | 0 – 1 | G. Dickson |
| A. J. Leggett | ½ – ½ | J. A. Phillips |
| 4½ – 1½ |
| Ireland | Wales | |
| T. O’Neill | ½ – ½ | W. B. Sullivan |
| R. Grogan | ½ – ½ | D. K. Peters |
| C. Deasy | ½ – ½ | A. J. Davies |
| C. Kennedy | 1 – 0 | P. M. Perry |
| M. McMahon | ½ – ½ | F. S. Wusterman |
| D. O’Connell | 0 – 1 | D. P. Bryon |
| 3 – 3 |
So England won yet again, though the matches were closer than the previous year. The remaining teams were closely matched, with Scotland’s victory over Wales the only decisive result.
| eng | sco | irl | wls | mp | gp | |
| England | . | 4½ | 4½ | 4 | 6 | 13 |
| Scotland | 1½ | . | 3 | 4½ | 3 | 9 |
| Ireland | 1½ | 3 | . | 3 | 2 | 7½ |
| Wales | 2 | 1½ | 3 | . | 1 | 6½ |
No games are available.
The Irish team was Tom O’Neill (Synge St. C.B.S., Dublin, & Eoghan Ruadh C.C.), b. 1937, Leinster Schoolboys’ champion 1955, Richard Grogan (Synge St. C.B.S., Dublin), 1938-2016, Irish Schoolboys’ champion 1954 and Olympiad team member 1956 (obit.), Con Deasy (Synge St. C.B.S., Dublin, & Eoghan Ruadh C.C.), (Robert) Colin Kennedy (Campbell College, Belfast), Ulster Schoolboys’ champion 1955, Michael McMahon (O’Connell’s School, Dublin & Kevin Barry C.C.), b. 1938 (biographical note), Dermot O’Connell (St. Mary’s, Dublin), Leinster Schoolboys’ champion 1954, and David Kennedy (Terenure College, Dublin). Of these, Colin Kennedy, David Kennedy, and Michael McMahon made their débuts. (Donal Déiseach, Coláiste Mhuire, Dublin, & Clontarf C.C.), Irish Schoolboys’ champion 1955, instead played in the World Junior Championship, which clashed with this event.)
The English team was Brian J. Moore (Birmingham University), b. ca. 1937, Neil E. Lewis (Birmingham), J. M. Dawson (Bristol), Southern Counties Boys champion 1955 and West of England Boys champion 1955, William Stanley Deeth (Harrow County School), London Schoolboys’ champion 1955, Richard Myers (Preston Grammar School), b. ca. 1938, Bruce John McGreevy 1938-2020 (Liverpool), and (later Sir) Anthony James Leggett (Staines), b. Camberwell, South London, 1938. All of these players except possibly Leggett made their début.
Anthony James Leggett achieved notable distinction in another field: he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2003. He mentions the Glorney Cup in his Nobel Prize biography: “I had a brief moment of glory when some years later, I was picked for the English team to compete against Scotland, Wales, and Ireland in the (under-16) [sic] Glorney Cup”.
The Scottish team was Michael Fallone (Our Lady’s, Hamilton), b. Bellshill, Lanarkshire, 1938, later Scottish champion (1963), Olympiad team member in 1956, 1964, and 1966 (biographical sketch), Iain Morton (Glasgow) (biographical sketch), W. Fleming (Glasgow), James Blair (King’s Park, Glasgow), George Dickson (Edinburgh), 1938-2017, Scottish Boys’ champion 1955 (obit., biographical sketch, photo, 2015), John Andrew Phillips (Edinburgh), b. 1938 and J. McCann (Glasgow). All except Fallone and Blair made their début.
The Welsh team was W. B. Sullivan (Old Illtydians’ C.C.), (David) Keith Peters (later Sir Keith Peters) (Glan Afan Grammar School, Port Talbot), b. Neath, South Wales, 1938, Welsh Schoolboys’ champion 1955, Anthony J. Davies (Bishop Gore School, Swansea), Frederick Stephen Wusteman (St. Illtyd’s College, Cardiff), P. M. Perry (St. Illtyd’s College, Cardiff), M. Gronow (Cardiff H.S.), and D. P. Bryon (St. Illtyd’s College, Cardiff). Peters, Davies, Perry, and possibly Sullivan had played before.
The top scorers for each team were Brian J. Moore and William S. Deeth (England), 3/3, Michael Fallone, James Blair, and George Dickson (Scotland), 2/3, 2/3, and 2/2 respectively, Con Deasy and Michael McMahon (Ireland), 2/3, and Keith Peters (Wales), 2/3.
- Sources:
- BCM 1955 p. 266 (all match scorecards)
- Belfast Telegraph, February 14, 1955 p. 10 (R. C. Kennedy school, Ulster Schoolboys’ champion)
- Birmingham Daily Gazette, June 30, 1955 p. 4 (Moore first name, university, age, photo (lowish resolution))
- Bognor Regis Observer, April 22, 1955 p. 3 (Dawson titles, city)
- Evening Herald, April 7, 1955 p. 14 (McMahon school), July 27, 1955 p. 13 (Scotland – Wales scorecard; unfinished England – Ireland scorecard))
- Harrow Observer, July 21, 1955 p. 1 (Deeth school, London Schoolboys’ champion)
- Irish Independent, April 9, 1955 p. 16 (O’Neill Leinster Schoolboys’ champion; D. Kennedy school), July 1, 1955 p. 11 (D. Kennedy wins final place on Irish team after qualifying tournament), July 28, 1955 p. 11 (venue, scorecards for first two rounds; titles of O’Neill, Dickson, and Peters), July 29, 1955 p. 9 (photo of most or all players, plus officials) and p. 14 (scorecards for last round)
- Irish Press, January 11, 1955 p. 9 (McMahon club), April 8, 1955 p. 13 (O’Neill Leinster Schoolboys’ champion, D. Kennedy school), June 22, 1955 p. 8 (McMahon, O’Connell, D. Kennedy in qualifying tournament), June 30, 1955 p. 9 (McMahon qualifies), July 28, 1955 p. 10 (venue, scorecards for first two rounds), July 29, 1955 p. 13 (scorecards for last round)
- Lancashire Evening Post, May 16, 1955 p. 6 (Myers first name, city, age), September 20, 1955 p. 7 (Myers school)
- Western Mail & South Wales News, April 16, 1955 p. 9 (Peters title), July 27, 1955 p. 7 (Welsh team, including school/club affiliations)
- Tony Leggett, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign faculty profile (photo; see above)
- 8th Glorney Cup: Dublin (IRL), 1955, OlimpBase (match scores)
- Scottish Teams in the Glorney Cup (ed. Alan McGowan), Chess Scotland history archive web pages (Scottish team, including cities)
- 43rd British Chess Championship, BritBase (ed. John Saunders) (first name and initial for Moore; first name for Deeth)
- 76th Varsity Match, BritBase (ed. John Saunders) (Deeth full name)
- Harrow County School for Boys C.C. web page (re Deeth).
- Welsh Chess Union – First County Match, Pentyrch C.C. web site (photos of Sullivan, Wusteman, Perry) (via the Wayback Machine)
- Port Talbot Chess Club History, Welsh Chess Union web pages (re Peters: Glorney Cup record, biographical sketch, photo in play c. 1949)
- The nitrogen metabolism of Azotobacter vinelandii : with special reference to the mechanism of fixation, Frederick Stephen Wusteman, Ph.D. thesis, Imperial College London, 1962 (Wusteman full name)
- 42nd British Chess Championship, BritBase (ed. John Saunders) (Powell initials, city)
- John McMahon, Tom O’Neill, Fank McMahon, The Glorney Cup: Early Years 1948 – 1963, ca. October 2020 (Deasy, O’Connell first names).
[Update, September 9, 2021: added details on Phillips, based on information provided by David McAlister; corrected match scorecard of Ireland – Wales match, based on comment by Martin Crichton; and added Dickson to list of top scorers for Scotland. Many thanks to David and Martin. Also (added later the same day), added reference to biographical notes for Dickson and Morton.]
[Update, October 24, 2021: Corrected McGreevy’s name in England’s first match (previously given -ey), corrected Bryon’s initials (P. D. → D. P.), and added full first name and middle initial for Lewis.]
[Update, June 20, 2022: corrected Déiseach’s name (deleting fada in first name), based on his own rendition in Family Life Education in Canadian Schools, Canadian Education Association, June 1977.]
[Update, May 7, 2023: previous versions of this report (cf. archived version (May 7, 2023)) reported that “ D. Leggott” appeared in contemporary reports of the Glorney Cup 1954. However, I’m delighted to report that (Professor / Sir) Anthony James Leggett has kindly confirmed, by email, that he played in both events.]
[Update, May 29, 2024: added McGreevy’s first names and vital dates, based on cited post by Jon D’Souza-Eva at the English Chess Forum.]