Category Archives: Puzzles

Dublin International Open 2024

Posted on April 2, 2024 by Sean Coffey

The Dublin International Festival concluded yesterday at the Talbot Hotel Stillorgan. Three seven-round events were held: the Open (77 players, 1st Stephen Jessel), the 40+ Championship (18 players, 1st John Delaney), and the 65+ Championship (21 players, 1st-4th Gerry MacElligott, … Continue reading →

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Problems and studies: Robert Pye web site

Posted on August 5, 2023 by Sean Coffey

Robert Pye writes to say that there is a new web site, chessproblems.ie, dealing with his problems and studies, and also available to other chess problemists and study composers, born in the Republic of Ireland, who wish to make their … Continue reading →

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From the Galway Blitz 2023

Posted on July 20, 2023 by Sean Coffey

The (first?) Galway Blitz Championship, held last Saturday, attracted a field of 87 players, who contested 18 rounds. Tarun Kanyamarala finished first on 15½, ahead of Jacob Flynn on 15 and Oleg Gubanov on 14½. (See full results.) The top … Continue reading →

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Delaney – Ludgate, Irish Championship 1983

Posted on May 24, 2023 by Sean Coffey

The position in the puzzle set in the last post is from the last round game between John Delaney and Alan Ludgate in the Irish Championship 1983. It arose just after the time control, but as it was the last … Continue reading →

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1… Kc_, ?

Posted on May 22, 2023 by Sean Coffey

In the following position, it’s Black to play. How should he continue? To narrow it down, suppose that his next move is to play the king to the c-file. Where should it go, and why? 1… Kc_, ? The solution … Continue reading →

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A controversial draw

Posted on July 9, 2021 by Sean Coffey

Richtig und Falsch: Praktische Endspielkunde, by Kurt Richter and Hans-Hilmar Staudte was originally published by Walter de Gruyter Verlag in 1962 and has been reprinted several times since then, most recently last year. On page 39 (via a Google Books … Continue reading →

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A stalemate puzzle

Posted on February 10, 2020 by Sean Coffey

The recent Dublin Blitz Championship 2020 (Gonzaga College, February 2) featured a game in which one player had the misfortune to resign in a position where he could force an almost immediate draw by stalemate. Well, these things happen: it’s … Continue reading →

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Gonzaga Charity Classic 2020

Posted on January 30, 2020 by Sean Coffey

The annual Gonzaga Charity Classic was held last weekend, and it seems to have surpassed all previous versions. There were 201 players across three sections, with 532 games. The very strong Masters section was won by Tarun Kanyamarala via a … Continue reading →

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Spackman – Annesley, Ulster Masters 2019

Posted on December 5, 2019 by Sean Coffey

The Ulster Masters 2019 took place on November 23-24 in Bangor, with 34 players competing across two sections. The top section finished in a three-way tie between Gareth Annesley, Calum Leitch, and Danny Roberts. A full report has been added … Continue reading →

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Karsten Müller on Adair – Fitzsimons

Posted on January 23, 2019 by Sean Coffey

Karsten Müller has a puzzle this week at ChessBase.com that features an Irish game. As with the last post, this features David Fitzsimons and a missed draw, but this time he was on the wrong side of it. See if … Continue reading →

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