Category Archives: Players

Sir Horace Plunkett, circa 1920

Posted on June 7, 2020 by Sean Coffey

A group including Sir Horace Plunkett (front row centre), Trinity College Dublin, circa 1920. Image © UCD National University of Ireland, Dublin licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Last year, I posted on Sir Horace Plunkett, longtime … Continue reading →

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Maeve Binchy and the intricacies of chess

Posted on December 30, 2019 by David McAlister

In the Comments in the Simuls page Oisin McGuinness referred to an article on chess by the celebrated writer Maeve Binchy which had appeared in the Irish Times. He thought it might have been in connection with a Hecht simul … Continue reading →

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Title norms

Posted on September 11, 2019 by Sean Coffey

A new page has been added here on FIDE title norms achieved by Irish players (and by non-Irish players in events played in Ireland). The page also lists progress of Irish players towards titles. Many thanks to John McMorrow, who … Continue reading →

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Sir Horace Plunkett on Capablanca

Posted on September 5, 2019 by Sean Coffey

Sir Horace Plunkett kept detailed diaries over decades; they have been transcribed and are available online at the National Library of Ireland website. His diary for 1919 provides some background on Capablanca’s visit, and his stay at Plunkett’s house. The … Continue reading →

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Capablanca on Irish chess

Posted on September 3, 2019 by Sean Coffey

Capablanca scored +27 =12 -1 and +37 =2 -1 in his two Dublin simuls, on December 4 and December 5, 1919, respectively. Shortly afterwards, he recorded his impressions of Irish chess, in a letter to the Irish Statesman: ‘Señor Capablanca … Continue reading →

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Sir Horace Plunkett, P.C.

Posted on September 1, 2019 by Sean Coffey

The “Privy Council” is in the headlines all of a sudden; though the link from this to Irish chess is a very slight one, it leads to a very interesting character in Irish chess, and indeed in Irish history. Sir … Continue reading →

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Glorney -v- König

Posted on August 11, 2019 by David McAlister

The Glorney Cup was held last month at Carrickdale Hotel and Spa, Co Louth, 71 years after the initial competition between schoolboy teams representing Ireland and England took place in Dublin on the 26th and 27th August 1948. We have … Continue reading →

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Irish champions

Posted on August 9, 2019 by Sean Coffey

A new page listing all Irish champions, in descending order of number of championships won, has been added.

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P. B. Kennedy and the Irish Championship 1949

Posted on July 23, 2019 by Sean Coffey

The Irish Championship of 1949, held in Galway, ended 70 years ago today. The event was a 7-round Swiss—the first time the Swiss system was used for an Irish Championship–with 16 players. The field included the defending champion, Dónal J. … Continue reading →

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Brian Canton 1930-2019

Posted on July 19, 2019 by Sean Coffey

Brian Canton, formerly of Clontarf and Dublin C.C.s, died on July 7. He was a member of the Clontarf club that was founded in the early 1950’s and that won the Armstrong Cup twice, in 1953 and 1955, and the … Continue reading →

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