Irish Championship 1997

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Information

[ Basic data | Tournament review | Interesting games]


Basic data

Irish Championship 1997
Dates July 12-20, 1997
City Dublin
Venue The Teachers' Club, 36 Parnell Square West, Dublin 1
Tournament Director Michael Crowe
Players participating 18
Games played 81
Competition format 9-round Swiss
Eligibility Rating 1900+
Tie-break Not explicitly stated but probably unchanged from 1996: two players who tied for first would share the title, while in the case of a tie between three or more players, a tie-break (probably the ICU 1990 rules, i.e., starting with Buchholz) would apply to produce a singe champion.
Time control 40 moves in two hours, 20 moves in the next hour, and 30 minutes for all remaining moves
Schedule Rounds 1-8: 3.00pm-finish; round 9: 10.30am-finish
Sponsor Morris Insulations
Prize fund 1st £500; others unknown
Games available All 81
Concurrent events
  • Irish Interrmediate Championship 1997, July 16-18. 1st Brian Fitzpatrick. 6 rounds.
  • Irish Junior Chammpionship 1997, July 14-16. 1st Michael Dooley.
  • Irish Novices Championship 1997, July 17. 1st M. McGuire.
  • Irish Championship Summer Weekender 1 1997, July 12-13. 1st-2nd Kevin Butler, Stephen Morris.
  • Irish Championship Summer Weekender 2 1997, July 18-20. 1st-5th Kevin Butler, P. Murtagh, Ronan Dunne, Roland McDermott, Tom O'Brien. 5 rounds.
References Sources and notes. If you have any other documents, reports, references, biographical information, annotations or (in particular) photos, please .


Tournament review

"The 1997 Irish champion is 28 year old Dubliner Joe Ryan who finally prevailed after an amazing nine round dogfight with former two times (91/92) champion Stephen Brady.

After drawing their individual game in round 2, Ryan and Brady each beat second seed Colm Daly in consecutive rounds before setting about the rest of the challengers. Up to the last day, both players had still dropped only a half point.

In the final round on Sunday, Ryan beat Danny Roberts leaving Stephen Brady needing to match him for a share of the title. When, after six and a half hours of trying to convert a Q and opposite colour bishop ending a pawn up, Stephen let Tony Fox in for a perpetual check, the title went outright to Joe.

18 players took part in this year's championship. Notable absentees included Ireland's only IM Mark Orr, and norm holders Brian Kelly (ELO 2390) - concurrently representing Ireland at the World Juniors in Poland - Mark Quinn (ELO 2375) who returned from a year's studies in Italy during the event, and Conor O'Shaughnessy.

FINAL RESULTS:
Morris Insulations 1997 Irish Championship,
July 12-20, Teachers Club, Dublin
lst Joe Ryan 2245 8.5/9
2nd Stephen Brady 2325 8
3rd Colm Daly 2310 7
4th Daire McMahon 2215 5.5
5th Gerry O'Connell 2170 5
18 played"
—John Hurley, TWIC 141

Irish Championships 1997, Colm Daly, Irish Chess Journal, vol. 9, no. 4, August-September 1997, pp. 12-21.



Interesting games

         Cafolla, Peter – Brady, Stephen      0-1

         Clarke, Tom – Joyce, John      0-1

         Daly, Colm – Keogh, Eamon      1-0

         McMahon, Daire – Dempsey, Paul      0-1

         O'Kearney, Seán – Cafolla, Peter      1-0

         Clarke, Tom – O'Connell, Gerard      1-0

         Salter, David – McMahon, Daire      ½-½

         Brady, Stephen – Daly, Colm      1-0

         Cafolla, Peter – Salter, David      1-0

         O'Donovan, Richard – Ryan, Joe      0-1

         Daly, Colm – McMahon, Daire      1-0

         McMahon, Daire – Ryan, Joe      0-1

         O'Rourke, Ray – Clarke, Tom      0-1

         Daly, Colm – O'Kearney, Seán      1-0

         Fox, Anthony – Brady, Stephen      ½-½