The inaugural John Bolger Cup was held at Coláiste Éanna in Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin, from March 25-27. The event attracted 154 players across three sections. All games for the Masters section were broadcast via live boards, and a full report has now been added to the Tournaments pages here.
I have not seen any background information on the donor/honoree of the Cup, John Bolger.
The first round saw top seed Sébastien Mazé lose to the young Bulgarian player and FM Beloslava Krasteva, and second seed Matthew Turner had a quick draw on board 2. This scrambled the pairings, and after three rounds Leon Putar was in sole lead on full points, followed closely by his sister Lara and Kavin Venkatesan, plus Alexander Baburin and the Ukrainian IM Vladyslav Larkin, half a point behind. In round 4, Leon Putar lost to Larkin, Lara Putar to Baburin, and Venkatesan to Mazé. The last round saw a short draw between Baburin and Larkin to tie for first, joined by Jacob Flynn, on 4/5.
I’m never sure whether to mention blunders, as these are often painful for the players involved. I will just say that there was one for the ages in one round 2 game.
One interesting moment arose in the round 3 game between Colm Daly and the Dutch player Maxim Le Clercq.
47. ?
I have to guess that Colm was short of time, as he missed a straightforward win a few moves before the diagrammed position. Now it is appreciably more difficult, and after his next move he was lost. White has a startling resource here. What is it, and what should the result be with best play?
[Click to replay the full game (with the answer).]