The Irish Chess Championships began today in the Kilmurray Lodge hotel in Limerick. The seedings look like this:
1. GAWAIN JONES FM 2453 ENGLAND 2. JOSEF MUDRAK FM 2391 CZECH REPUBLIC 3. STEPHEN BRADY FM 2365 PHIBSBORO 4. MARK ORR IM 2338 SCOTLAND 5. PHILIP SHORT FM 2298 GALWAY 6. JOE RYAN FM 2294 DUBLIN 7. JOHN A. JOYCE 2271 WICKLOW 8. STEPHEN JESSEL 2238 FRANCE 9. KARL Mc PHILLIPS 2172 KILKENNY 10. PAUL WALLACE 2171 ENGLAND 11. ALAN BEVERIDGE 2138 SCOTLAND 12. ANTHONY FOX 2123 DUN LAOIRE 13. EAMON KEOGH 2122 KILKENNY 14. GORDON FREEMAN 2066 GONZAGA 15. KEVIN WHITE 2062 ENGLAND 16. EDMUND SOH 2049 ENGLAND 17. RORY QUINN 2047 GALWAY 18. PAUL WALSH 2012 LIMERICK 19. RAY BYRNE 1941 GONZAGA 20. TOM HEALY 1902 CORK
Play got underway at 12:30pm, as scheduled but Philip Short was nowhere to be seen. A quick mobile phone call revealed that Philip was under the impression that the championships began at 2:00pm. His opponent sportingly agreed to halt Philip's clock for 45 minutes while he rushed to the hotel. It is, as yet unknown whether or not he incurred any speeding fines on the way. I'll keep you posted.
The first round results went as follows:
No Name Total Result Name Total 1 ALAN BEVERIDGE [0] 0:1 GAWAIN JONES FM [0] 2 JOSEF MUDRAK FM [0] ½:½ ANTHONY FOX [0] 3 EAMON KEOGH [0] 0:1 STEPHEN BRADY FM [0] 4 MARK ORR IM [0] 1:0 GORDON FREEMAN [0] 5 KEVIN WHITE [0] ½:½ PHILIP SHORT FM [0] 6 JOE RYAN FM [0] 1:0 EDMUND SOH [0] 7 RORY QUINN [0] 0:1 JOHN A. JOYCE [0] 8 STEPHEN JESSEL [0] 1:0 PAUL WALSH [0] 9 RAY BYRNE [0] 0:1 KARL Mc PHILLIPS [0] 10 PAUL WALLACE [0] 1:0 TOM HEALY [0]
Gawain Jones, who many may remember from this year's Bunratty Masters, is now resident in Ennis, Co. Clare and he wasted little time in winning his first game with black.
Anthony Fox very nearly pulled off a giant killing feat when he played fearlessly to reach an almost winning position against a very strong opponent but it wasn't to be. He had to be content to share the point in the end.
These two games are given below. I will give some of the other games during the week, the Wallace - Healy game being a particularly exciting affair.
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.c3 b6 4.Bf4 Bb7 5.e3 d6 6.Nbd2 g6 7.h3 Bg7 8.a4 a6 9.Be2 0-0 10.0-0 Nc6 11.Re1 Re8 12.Bh2 Qc7 13.Nc4 Rab8 14.Bf1 Na5 15.Nfd2 Nxc4 16.Nxc4 Bd5 17.Nd2 cxd4 18.cxd4 Qb7 19.Qe2 b5 20.axb5 Qxb5 21.Qxb5 axb5 22.Bd3 Be6 23.Rec1 Nd5 24.Ra5 Bd7 25.Rf1 Red8 26.Re1 Nb4 27.Be2 Ra8 28.Ra3 Rxa3 29.bxa3 Nd5 30.Bf3 Be6 31.Be2 Ra8 32.Bxb5 Rxa3 33.Bc4 h5 34.Nf3 Bf6 35.Nd2 Nb4 36.Rb1 Nd5 37.Ne4 Kg7 38.Nxf6 Kxf6 39.Re1 Nb4 40.Be2 Bd5 41.Kf1 Na2 42.Ra1 Rb3 43.Bg1 Rb2 44.f3 Nc3 45.Ba6 Nb1 46.e4 Nd2+ 47.Ke1 Nb3 48.Rd1 Rxg2 49.Bf2 Be6 50.h4 Rh2 51.d5 Bh3 52.Bd3 Rh1+ 0-1
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.g3 e6 4.Bg2 Be7 5.0-0 0-0 6.c4 c6 7.Nc3 Nbd7 8.b3 b6 9.Bb2 Ba6 10.Nd2 b5 11.c5 b4 12.Na4 Bb5 13.a3 a5 14.Re1 Qc7 15.Qc2 h6 16.f4 Ng4 17.e4 dxe4 18.Nxe4 Ngf6 19.Nf2 Rfe8 20.Qd2 Bxa4 21.bxa4 Rab8 22.axb4 axb4 23.Nd3 Nd5 24.Qc2 Qa5 25.Qb3 Bf6 26.Kh1 Rec8 27.Rec1 g6 28.Bf3 h5 29.Rc4 h4 30.Bc1 hxg3 31.hxg3 Kg7 32.Bd2 Rh8+ 33.Kg2 Rh7 34.Rh1 Rxh1 35.Kxh1 Qd8 36.Kg2 Qh8 37.Ne5 Qh7 38.Nxd7 Rh8 39.Kf2 Qh2+ 40.Bg2 Rh3 41.Ne5 Rxg3 42.Qxg3 Bh4 43.Qxh4 Qxh4+ 44.Kg1 b3 45.Bxd5 exd5 46.Rb4 Qg3+ 47.Kf1 f6 48.Nxc6 Qd3+ 49.Ke1 Qb1+ 50.Ke2 b2 51.Rb7+ Kh6 52.f5+ g5 53.Ne7 Qe4+ 54.Be3 Kh5 55.Ng8 Qc2+ 56.Bd2 Qe4+ 57.Be3 Qc2+ 58.Bd2 Qe4+ 59.Be3 1/2-1/2
More tomorrow !
Gerry Graham.