A report on the Irish Championship 2021 has been added to the tournament section here.
Yet another outstanding championship—the last five have never been surpassed in the history of the event, it seems to me—saw Mark Heidenfeld win for the second time, twenty years after he last competed, finishing a point clear of Conor E. Murphy, and 1½ points clear of a large group sharing third place. Along the way, he managed to win a drawn ending against David Murray, win from a lost position out of the opening against Conor Murphy, outplay Colm Daly from a level position out of the opening, dramatically win from another lost position against Conor O’Donnell, win an ending against Tarun Kanyamarala after the latter erred or overpressed, and finished in style with a crushing miniature against Seán J. Murphy in the last round. His only setback was a round 4 loss against Tom O’Gorman, and he also had a short draw against Alexander Baburin.
The Irish Times featured an interesting video (5 m., 9 s.) with footage taken throughout the week and several interviews, including one with the new champion.
13. ?
Heidenfeld’s round 3 win against Conor Murphy featured a bizarre opening in which Heidenfeld, as White, had a lost position very early on. From the diagrammed position, he continued 13. Qa6? (13. Qe4 with a slight advantage for Black was essential), when 13… Bxe3 14. Kxe3 e4! would have given Black a winning position, e.g., 15. Nd4 Rxb2 or 15. Ned2 f5. The game’s 13… O-O left Black much better or winning, but he was comprehensively outplayed from there.