Author Archives: David McAlister

Korchnoi in Newtownards

Posted on May 21, 2024 by David McAlister

Mike Clarke left a comment to our post Korchnoi and the car about William Collins, and more specifically sought information about Viktor Korchnoi’s simultaneous exhibition at Newtownards in early February 1981. From 1982 to 1993 Collins authored a highly-regarded chess … Continue reading →

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Memories of Morphy

Posted on May 15, 2024 by David McAlister

No, not that Morphy. These memories are of the Dublin chessplayer John Morphy. In his Evening Herald chess column for Saturday 30 July 1932, the editor T.P. Donnegan shared a small reminiscence of chess in times past. MORPHY’S DIVAN We … Continue reading →

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Irish players at the 1948-49 Hastings Congress

Posted on July 23, 2023 by David McAlister

The 24th annual international Xmas congress of the Hastings Chess Club was officially opened at 3.45 p.m. on Thursday December 30th, 1948 by Neil Cooper-Key Esq., M.P. for Hastings, supported by the Mayor and other important members of the municipality. … Continue reading →

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Irish Championship 1951

Posted on June 13, 2022 by David McAlister

A report on the 1951 Irish championship has been added to the tournament pages here. The championship was held in University College, Cork from the 16th to the 24th July. Eighteen players participated over eight rounds with the Swiss pairing … Continue reading →

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Wenman-O’Hanlon, Hastings 1945-46

Posted on May 8, 2022 by David McAlister

Sean has recently posted about a couple of newly rediscovered O’Hanlon games in A Lively Skirmish: O’Hanlon – Scott, British Championship 1921 and O’Hanlon – Seitz, British Championship Major Open B 1938. The nine-time winner of the Irish Championship lost … Continue reading →

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Chess at the 1957 FISEC Games in Dublin

Posted on February 3, 2022 by David McAlister

“For some 280 youths, representing eight countries, tonight is their big night when the curtains go up on their ” Little Olympics ” — the International Catholic Students’ Games — in Dublin. The Irish officials have, through hard work, brought … Continue reading →

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The Road to Tel Aviv, or the misadventures of a photojournalist

Posted on October 14, 2021 by David McAlister

I suspect I had as much fun on the road to Tel Aviv as ever Bob Hope had on any of his “Roads”. – Beth Cassidy, The Road to Tel Aviv Beth Cassidy played for Ireland in the very first … Continue reading →

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The Irish Pawn Centre

Posted on September 11, 2021 by David McAlister

English Grandmaster Tony Miles identified “a revolutionary new concept” – the Irish pawn centre (or IPC) – in his report on the 1978 FIDE West European Zonal in Amsterdam. That report appeared in the Number One issue of the short-lived … Continue reading →

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Barker and Marshall

Posted on April 6, 2021 by David McAlister

In the previous post Malcolm Barker, Sean had queried Barker’s attribution of a photograph of him in play against Walter Marshall (and being watched by Sir George Thomas and W. Ritson Morry) to the 1949 Glorney Cup, because the contemporary newspaper reports had … Continue reading →

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Littleton at the 1969 Praia da Rocha Zonal

Posted on February 14, 2021 by David McAlister

In his post on the high quality photograph of Michael Littleton playing at the World Championship Zonal at The Hague in 1966, Sean pointed out the much improved result Littleton achieved in the following World Championship qualifying process at the 1969 Zonal at … Continue reading →

Posted in Games, Irish champions, Tournaments | 1 Comment