Author Archives: Sean Coffey

Irish Championship 2024

The Irish Championship has been running since last Saturday, August 3, at the Talbot Hotel Stillorgan in Dublin, and concludes tomorrow. A full report, with all games from the first eight rounds and pairings for the ninth, has been uploaded … Continue reading

Posted in Tournaments | Leave a comment

Patrick Alphonsus Duignan 1916-1997

The ICU website has two brief items dealing with the 1947 Irish champion. The longer one, by Enda Rohan, includes the photo at right, taken at the Irish Championship in Belfast in 1950, describes him as a principal officer at … Continue reading

Posted in Irish champions, Players | Leave a comment

Irish Championship 1947

The Irish Championship 1947 was held in Cork, for the first time ever, at the C.C.Y.M.S. Hall in Castle Street. The event was structured as a 14-player all-play-all, with the provincial unions each nominating three players, and with another place … Continue reading

Posted in Games, Irish championships, Tournaments | 1 Comment

Armstrong Cup 1980-81

Many congratulations to Dublin Chess Club, who won this season’s Armstrong Cup decisively (final table). This broke a run of seven consecutive wins by Gonzaga, itself an all-time record. But even more notably, perhaps, it broke a 43-year famine for … Continue reading

Posted in Armstrong Cup, Tournaments | 2 Comments

Malahide Millennium Senior & Leinster Championship 2024

The Malahide Millennium Tournament, incorporating the Leinster Championships, took place at Dublin Airport over the weekend. The top section attracted 14 players. The top seed by a considerable margin was IM Gediminas Sarakauskas of Lithuania, but he suffered an early … Continue reading

Posted in Leinster championships, Tournaments | Leave a comment

B. E. A. Cup

John Loughran has written to update the page on the British European Airways Cup here, which had not been updated since 2016. In addition to adding recent winners, John corrected the entry for 1992, which was previously “Jobstown (?)”, to … Continue reading

Posted in B. E. A. Cup, Photos, Tournaments | Leave a comment

National Club Championship 2024

The National Club Championship took place at the Talbot Hotel Stillorgan over the weekend, ending today. Congratulations to Elm Mount, who won for (I think) the first time ever. The event attracted 15 teams, and was hotly contested all along. … Continue reading

Posted in Games, National club championships, Tournaments | Leave a comment

Sheffield Masters 2024

Congratulations to Tom O’Gorman, who recorded his second IM norm last weekend, at the Sheffield Masters 2024. He finished clear first with 6½/9. His only loss was to Trisha Kanyamarala, who finished with 4½/9, in round 6, leaving him requiring … Continue reading

Posted in News, Norms and titles | Leave a comment

A Varsity Match record

The “Varsity” matches between Oxford University and Cambridge University go back to 1873 in an almost complete sequence, broken only by World Wars. The latest in the sequence took place last month at the Royal Automobile Club, Pall Mall in … Continue reading

Posted in Games, News | 2 Comments

Dublin International 65+ Championship 2024

The third event in the recent Dublin International Festival was the 65+ Championship. This attracted 21 players, including two from Iceland (there was a sizeable Icelandic contingent across the entire Festival), and resulted in a four-way tie for first, on … Continue reading

Posted in Tournaments | Leave a comment