The Irish Women’s Championship was held in Dublin last month, and a full report has now been uploaded here.
The field of 13 spanned huge rating gaps, but as has happened in previous instances of this event, lower-rated players rose to the challenge in many cases, and posed significant problems for their higher-rated opponents.
Diana Mats, who has recently transferred to IRL registration, finished first on 4½/5, though this included several hard-fought games, including her round three win against Lara Putar, in which she was clearly lost.
Because Mats was deemed ineligible for the title of Irish Women’s Champion (see the report), the title came down to the last round clash between Putar and Antonina Góra, who had each lost to Mats but won their other three games. This interesting game ended with an emphatic win for Góra, who thus became champion for the first time.
One interesting moment from the event is shown below, with player names omitted.
87… ?
White had been manoeuvring for 27 moves since the last capture, when the pawn was also at g5, and her efforts should now have paid off, as Black now played 87… Bc7??. White could now have won via 88. Nf8+ Kg7 89. Ne6+, but instead missed the opportunity via 88. Bc2+??. A draw was agreed a few moves later.