Author Archives: Sean Coffey

S. Moran – O’Donnell, Irish Championship 2019

Posted on April 3, 2020 by Sean Coffey

S. Moran – O’Donnell, Irish Championship 2019 30. ? Another game from the sixth round of the 2019 Irish championship, and another missed opportunity. Stephen Moran now played 30. Rxg6+? and the game soon ended in a draw. He could … Continue reading →

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FIDE ratings, April 2020

Posted on April 2, 2020 by Sean Coffey

The FIDE record ratings page, recording the all-time peak ratings of Irish players, has been updated to account for the April 2020 rating list. I expected that there would be no change this month, given world events. But in fact … Continue reading →

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O’Connell – G. Melaugh, Irish Championship 2019

Posted on March 29, 2020 by Sean Coffey

O’Connell – G. Melaugh, Irish Championship 2019 35. ? In this round 6 game, Gerard O’Connell had fought back from a losing game to reach the diagrammed position. He now saw nothing better than 35. Nxf8, and the game soon … Continue reading →

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Irish Championship 2019

Posted on March 26, 2020 by Sean Coffey

A report on the Irish Championship 2019 has been added to the Tournaments sections here. The championship has been going from strength to strength, with each of the last three years bringing a stronger field. This year had in addition … Continue reading →

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Windmill

Posted on March 16, 2020 by Sean Coffey

Some considerable time ago, we had an example of a double seesaw/windmill here, in a game between Oliver Dunne and Pat Fitzsimons. The theme arises again, and once again in a game of Oliver Dunne’s. This time he’s on the … Continue reading →

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Bunratty Masters 2020

Posted on March 13, 2020 by Sean Coffey

A report on the Bunratty Masters 2020 has been added to the Tournaments pages here. Nigel Short won for the third time in the past five years; it’s strange to think he had never won before then. The organisers did … Continue reading →

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Inscription

Posted on March 9, 2020 by Sean Coffey

My local club, the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco, has an excellent chess library, with about 2,000 books, along with complete runs of the British Chess Magazine, Informator, New in Chess, and others. I have meant for some time to … Continue reading →

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FIDE ratings, March 2020

Posted on March 1, 2020 by Sean Coffey

The FIDE record ratings page, recording the all-time peak ratings of Irish players, has been updated to account for the March 2020 rating list. Three players reached new personal highest ratings: Tarun Kanyamarala 2349 → 2376, =21st → 18th; Henry … Continue reading →

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Two knights versus a pawn

Posted on February 23, 2020 by Sean Coffey

The celebrated ending of two knights versus a pawn is the hardest of the ‘basic’ endings, and was exhaustively analyzed long before the tablebase era. Interesting though it is, its importance is mostly theoretical, as the ending is very rare … Continue reading →

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Glasgow Invitation 1968

Posted on February 18, 2020 by Sean Coffey

The Chess Scotland History pages have excellent coverage of many old Scottish tournament series. One such is the Glasgow Congress series that started in the early 1960’s. It included at various times a principal ‘Invitation’ tournament and a Glasgow Junior … Continue reading →

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