The Drogheda Congress was held over the June Bank Holiday weekend, comprising four sections with 131 players in all. Very admirably, essentially all games in all sections were broadcast. A full report on the Thomson Masters has been posted to the tournament pages here.
Third seed Jacob Flynn earned a convincing first place, a point ahead of Stephen Brady and Colm Daly, conceding only draws to those two, and agreed a draw against the latter in a winning position in the last round. Brady was also undefeated but conceded four draws, while Daly lost in the second round to Lara Putar.
There were several interesting games. Juan Calvo-Sotelo featured in several. His second round game against Alex Goss reached the diagrammed position:
Position after 21. Nxb6
Black may have planned 21… Bg3, but this loses to 22. Qxh7!. After the game’s 21… Bxh2+ 22. Qxh2 Qxg2+ (there is nothing better) 23. Qxg2 Bxg2 24. Nxa8, White won easily.