Category Archives: News

William Armstrong B.L.

Up until recently little was known (at least to me) of the donor of the Armstrong Cup. He appears to have been well known as a philanthropist when the cup was donated, and he died in Dublin on August 5, … Continue reading

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Garry Kasparov in Dublin

The 13th World Champion is currently on the campaign trail as he bids to unseat Kirsan Ilyumzhinov from the Presidency of FIDE. His principal purpose in coming to Dublin was to meet delegates from Ireland and neighbouring Federations who will … Continue reading

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125 years of the Armstrong Cup

Today (20th October) marks the 125th anniversary of the first ever Armstrong Cup match. The cup was donated by William Armstrong B.L. as a challenge cup “for annual competition by the chess clubs of Dublin”. Its first season was 1888-89, … Continue reading

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EU Youth Championship 2013

Though there’s a lull in activity at a senior level in the summer, it’s the time when junior chess hits high gear. So many events are scheduled that it’s hard to keep up with them all. The Glorney Cup events … Continue reading

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Norms and titles

FIDE has recently issued a requirement that all old title norms and rating qualifications have to be re-registered by this July 31st or be lost forever: apparently the rules have changed so often that it imposes a strain on the … Continue reading

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Breaking news from 1906

Anticipation is building for the Irish Championship, to be held at the University of Limerick from July 6-14. It’s the centenary of the Irish championship as organised by the Irish Chess Union, and is shaping up to be an excellent … Continue reading

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Alex Montwill

J.J. Walsh has sent the news that Alex Montwill, who has been mentioned here several times, died two weeks ago, on April 18th. He was 78. As previously discussed here, he finished equal first in an Irish championship but was … Continue reading

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Jonathan O’Connor awarded CC-IM title

Colm Daly’s galling near-miss of an IM norm last month happened just as I was leaving for a trip to Shanghai–as I left the house I thought he had it in the bag. Disappointing! But that is the way with … Continue reading

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Stop press!

It isn’t often that Irish chess history makes the front page of the Irish Times, but we live in strange times indeed: today’s paper has a story, by Joanne Hunt, Game finally over after 50 years for silver chess trophy. … Continue reading

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