Category Archives: News

Sheffield Masters 2024

Posted on April 23, 2024 by Sean Coffey

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 →

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A Varsity Match record

Posted on April 11, 2024 by Sean Coffey

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 →

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The internment of John O’Hanlon

Posted on June 10, 2022 by Sean Coffey

On June 10, 1922, one hundred years ago today, John O’Hanlon, Irish champion since 1913, was arrested in Portadown. A report appeared in the Belfast News-Letter the following Monday (page 5): ARRESTS IN PORTADOWN In the early hours of Saturday … Continue reading →

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Conor Murphy qualifies for IM title

Posted on August 13, 2021 by Sean Coffey

Martin Crichton points out that Conor Murphy has just made his third IM norm at the Muswell Hill IM norm event, which concludes today. Since he had already crossed the 2400 mark, this fulfils the last requirement for the title. … Continue reading →

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ICU games archive update

Posted on March 19, 2018 by Sean Coffey

The ICU games archive has been updated and significantly expanded: see the notice and article on the ICU web site. Among other items, this update includes the IRLchess games collection as it stood at the end of 2017. Going forward, … Continue reading →

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Glorney Cup 2016

Posted on July 23, 2016 by Sean Coffey

The Glorney Cup 2016 has concluded with a victory for the Irish team (Tom O’Gorman, Henry Li, Luke Scott, Ross Beatty, Scott Mulligan), retaining the trophy from last year, and finishing clear first for the first time since Cardiff 1958 … Continue reading →

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Joe Ryan achieves final IM norm

Posted on July 7, 2016 by Sean Coffey

Congratulations to Joe Ryan who has achieved his third and final IM norm at the 4th Montcada IM Tournament near Barcelona, June 25 to July 3. Many thanks to Daire McMahon and Martin Crichton for supplying the news; so far … Continue reading →

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5 years of IRLchess

Posted on June 15, 2016 by Sean Coffey

Today marks the fifth anniversary of IRLchess. The very first post was a short one, to whet the appetite, before moving to more substantial topics. Many thanks in all this to my co-author David McAlister, who has contributed many articles … Continue reading →

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Glorney Cup 2015

Posted on July 23, 2015 by Sean Coffey

Congratulations to the Irish Glorney Cup team, who won the Cup for the first time since 1963! Full coverage is available at the tournament web site. By all accounts it was a very well organized tournament, with live boards for … Continue reading →

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IM norms

Posted on April 30, 2015 by Sean Coffey

The ICU web sites report that Stephen Jessel has recorded his second IM norm. Congratulations! This reminds me of something that puzzled me some time back. Two years ago it was widely reported that Ryan-Rhys Griffths had recorded his second … Continue reading →

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