Category Archives: Puzzles

An instructive ending

Posted on January 17, 2019 by Sean Coffey

In the diagrammed position, taken from the game between David Fitzsimons and Peter Cafolla in the 2010 Irish championship, it is Black to play. Fitzsimons – Cafolla, Irish Championship 2010 47… ? At the end of the event Peter commented … Continue reading →

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Where and when?

Posted on May 16, 2018 by Sean Coffey

As far as I am aware, there is only one Olympiad in which Ireland finished ahead of Great Britain / England. Where and when? Answer in a few days.

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Bunratty Festival 2018

Posted on March 14, 2018 by Sean Coffey

This year’s Bunratty Festival, the 25th in the series, was, as has been very widely reported, the largest ever, with 362 players across 4 sections. All 155 games from the Masters were made available on the tournament website almost immediately … Continue reading →

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A puzzle

Posted on July 24, 2017 by Sean Coffey

“You can never have enough puzzles”, I read in a recent article. It’s hard to argue with that! In that spirit, and also in an attempt to remain true to the theme of this site, you may like to compare … Continue reading →

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Opportunity and chance, contd.

Posted on January 17, 2017 by Sean Coffey

From the position in the last post, after 1…. Qg3+!! 2. Kh1, Black could have won by 2… e3!!. The immediate threat, which is enough to account for White’s tries 3. Be2 and 3. Ra3, is 3… Qh3+ 4. Kg1 … Continue reading →

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Opportunity and chance

Posted on January 13, 2017 by Sean Coffey

From Chess Combination as a Fine Art (Pitman, 1976) by Golz and Keres, which we’ve mentioned here before, another Irish game and a puzzle: Oliff – Keogh, Dublin 1964 We’ll take up the story as Golz and Keres present it: … Continue reading →

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Brian Tomson, series helpmate in 26

Posted on June 20, 2016 by Sean Coffey

We’ve written previously here about the Irish player and problemist Brian Tomson. He played in the Glorney Cup, Armstrong Cup (for T.C.D.), finished equal 4th in the Irish championship in 1965, and represented Ireland in the Student Olympiad in 1967, … Continue reading →

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A famous ending—epilogue

Posted on June 10, 2016 by Sean Coffey

I had never seen the original article in “the Irish chess magazine” that Golz and Keres quoted, but now it has been supplied by David McAlister, for which many thanks. The article appeared in Chess in Ireland, September 1959, p. … Continue reading →

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A famous ending—III

Posted on June 7, 2016 by Sean Coffey

J. J. Walsh has scorebooks covering all of his games, going back to the late 1940’s, and in the collection is included the full score of the game from the last two posts. White was Barney O’Sullivan, and the event … Continue reading →

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A famous ending—II

Posted on June 5, 2016 by Sean Coffey

The ending in the last post was given in the excellent book Chess Combination as a Fine Art by Werner Golz and Paul Keres (Pitman 1976), a compilation of puzzles originally published by Kurt Richter in Schach. On p. 149 … Continue reading →

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