Glorney Cup 1956

Posted on October 24, 2021 by Sean Coffey

The Glorney Cup 1956 was held at Liverpool C.C., from August 1-2, 1956. Once again, four teams participated, and again, only match results counted.

In the morning of the opening day, England beat Ireland 5 – 1, and Scotland drew with Wales.

England Ireland
R. Payne 1 – 0 M. McMahon
W. S. Deeth 1 – 0 R. Grogan
N. E. Lewis 0 – 1 T. M. Alcorn
B. J. McGreevy 1 – 0 A. Coldrick
C. F. Girling 1 – 0 D. Kennedy
J. C. Dore 1 – 0 D. Déiseach
5 – 1
Scotland Wales
M. Fallone ½ – ½ A. J. Davies
G. Dickson 1 – 0 P. M. Perry
J. Hennigan 0 – 1 F. S. Wusteman
J. A. Phillips ½ – ½ D. P. Bryon
P. McLaren 1 – 0 W. Gough
J. O’Sullivan 0 – 1 B. D. Josephson
3 – 3

In the evening, England drew with Scotland; this was the first time in Glorney Cup history that England had failed to win a match. Ireland and Wales also drew.

England Scotland
R. Payne ½ – ½ M. Fallone
W. S. Deeth 0 – 1 G. Dickson
N. E. Lewis 1 – 0 J. A. Phillips
B. J. McGreevy ½ – ½ J. Hennigan
C. F. Girling ½ – ½ P. McLaren
B. R. Ewart ½ – ½ J. O’Sullivan
3 – 3
Ireland Wales
M. McMahon ½ – ½ A. J. Davies
R. Grogan ½ – ½ P. M. Perry
T. M. Alcorn 0 – 1 F. S. Wusteman
D. Déiseach 0 – 1 D. P. Bryon
A. Coldrick 1 – 0 B. D. Josephson
J. McMahon 1 – 0 M. J. Mears
3 – 3

On the second day, England beat Wales 4 – 2, while Ireland beat Scotland 3½ – 2½.

England Wales
R. Payne ½ – ½ A. J. Davies
W. S. Deeth 1 – 0 P. M. Perry
N. E. Lewis 1 – 0 F. S. Wusteman
B. J. McGreevy ½ – ½ D. P. Bryon
B. R. Ewart 0 – 1 M. J. Mears
J. C. Dore 1 – 0 W. Gough
4 – 2
Ireland Scotland
M. McMahon 0 – 1 G. Dickson
R. Grogan 1 – 0 M. Fallone
T. M. Alcorn 1 – 0 J. A. Phillips
D. Déiseach 0 – 1 J. Hennigan
D. Kennedy 1 – 0 P. McLaren
J. McMahon ½ – ½ J. O’Sullivan
3½ – 2½

So England won yet again, though the BCM reported that “it was a less convincing win than in previous years due to the considerable improvement in the standard of play that has taken place in the other countries competing”. Ireland finished second, while Scotland and Wales tied for third and fourth places.

eng irl sco wls mp gp
England . 5 3 4 5 12
Ireland 1 . 3½ 3 3 7½
Scotland 3 2½ . 4 2 9½
Wales 2 3 3 . 2 8

No games are available.

The Irish team was Michael McMahon (O’Connell’s School, Dublin & Kevin Barry C.C.), b. 1938, Irish Schoolboys’ champion 1956 (biographical note), Richard Grogan (Synge St. C.B.S., Dublin), 1938-2016, Irish Schoolboys’ champion 1954, Leinster Schoolboys’ champion 1956 and Olympiad team member 1956 (obit.), Tom M. Alcorn, 1940-2003 (Royal Belfast Academical Instiution & C.I.Y.M.S. C.C.), Ulster Schoolboys’ champion 1956, Art Coldrick (O’Connell’s School, Dublin & Phibsboro C.C.), b. 1941, Olympiad team member in 1972, David Kennedy (Terenure College, Dublin), Donal Déiseach 1938-2018 (Coláiste Mhuire, Dublin, & Clontarf C.C.), Irish Schoolboys’ champion 1955, and John McMahon (O’Connell’s School, Dublin & Kevin Barry C.C.), 1940-2021. Of these, Alcorn, Coldrick, and John McMahon made their débuts. Michael and John McMahon are brothers; this was the first time that two brothers had played for the same Glorney Cup team. The manager was Tom Conlon, who had played in 1949 and 1950.

The English team was Roland Payne (Southend), ca. 1938-2014, London Boys’ champion 1956, William Stanley Deeth (Harrow County School), London Schoolboys’ champion 1955, Neil E. Lewis (Birmingham), Bruce John McGreevy 1938-2020 (Liverpool), Clive F. Girling (Gravesend, Kent), joint British Boys’ champion 1956, John C. Dore (Birmingham), and Brian R. Ewart (Wallasey, Merseyside), b. 1939. Payne, Girling, Dore, and Ewart made their début.

The Scottish team was Michael Fallone (Our Lady’s, Hamilton), b. Bellshill, Lanarkshire, 1938, later Scottish champion (1963), Olympiad team member in 1956, 1964, and 1966 (biographical sketch), George Dickson (Edinburgh), 1938-2017, Scottish Boys’ champion 1955 (obit., biographical sketch, photo, 2015), John Hennigan, John Andrew Phillips (Edinburgh), b. 1938, P. McLaren (Edinburgh), and J. O’Sullivan. Of these, Hennigan, McLaren, and O’Sullivan made their début. John Hennigan is the father of IM Michael Hennigan, British champion in 1993.

The Welsh team was Anthony J. Davies ([Bishop Gore School,] Swansea), P. M. Perry ([St. Illtyd’s College,] Cardiff), Frederick Stephen Wusteman (St. Illtyd’s College, Cardiff), D. P. Bryon ([St. Illtyd’s College,] Cardiff), W. Gough (Whitchurch G.S., Cardiff), B. D. Josephson (Cardiff High School), and M. J. Mears (St. Illtyd’s College, Cardiff). (Here, square brackets denote school affiliations from the previous year.) Of these, Gough, Josephson, and Mears made their débuts.

The top scorers for each team were Dore (England), 2/2, (Payne, Deeth, Lewis, and McGreevy scored 2/3), Alcorn (Ireland), 2/3, Dickson (Scotland), 3/3, and Wusterman and Bryon (Wales), 2/3.

A photo of all players and officials was given to the players and appeared in CHESS the following month. (See the Scottish Teams in the Glorney Cup page in the Chess Scotland web pages for a much higher resolution copy of the picture.)

Glorney Cup 1956 players

The key lists two players as ‘McMahon’. Many thanks to their brother, and later Glorney Cup player himself, Frank, who identifies 1 as John McMahon and 19 as Michael McMahon. The other Irish players in rough board order are Richard Grogan at 17, Tom Alcorn at 21, Dónal Déiseach at 2, Art Coldrick at 15, and David Kennedy at 14. The Irish manager Tom Conlon is at 5.

(In this photo, who is McWheeney, who appears at 8? He looks as if he is a player, but his name does not appear on any scorecards.)

  • Sources:
  • BCM 1956 p. 234 (all match scorecards)
  • CHESS, vol. 21, September 8th, 1956 p. 313 (match results, photo of all participants with key)
  • Ficheall, no. 6, January 1957, p. 8 (summary report with match point totals, overall outcomes of Ireland’s matches, and team composition; Alcorn Ulster Schoolboys’ champion 1956 and top scorer, his score given as 2½/3)
  • Belfast News-Letter, April 11, 1956 p. 7 (Alcorn club)
  • Belfast Telegraph, February 27, 1956 p. 10 (Alcorn Ulster Schoolboys’ champion 1956, Alcorn school, photo of Alcorn and Harry Harte), August 2, 1956 p. 10 (summary report on first day’s matches, with some inaccuracies)
  • Cork Examiner, August 2, 1956 p. 11 (partial match scores after round 2), August 3, 1956 p. 11 (final game totals, and corresponding places if game totals had counted, i.e., Scotland – Wales – Ireland, and with incorrect total for Ireland)
  • East Kent Times & Broadstairs Mail, May 2, 1956 p. 9 (Payne London Boys’ champion)
  • Evening Herald, August 2, 1956 p. 3 (scores of matches from first two rounds)
  • Harrow Observer, July 21, 1955 p. 1 (Deeth school, London Schoolboys’ champion)
  • Irish Independent, January 13, 1956 p. 12 (Coldrick club), April 7, 1956 p. 16 (Grogan Leinster Schoolboys’ champion 1956), July 6, 1956 p. 13 (schools of Coldrick, Déiseach, Kennedy, John McMahon, details of qualifying tournament), July 14, 1956 p. 14 (Michael McMahon Irish Schoolboys’ champion 1956; Déiseach earns place via qualifying tournament), August 1, 1956 p. 11 (Irish team, Michael McMahon Irish Schoolboys’ champion, Alcorn Ulster Schoolboys’ champion, incorrectly giving F. McMahon instead of John McMahon), August 2, 1956 p. 9 (scorecards for Ireland’s first two matches), August 3, 1956 p. 10 (final scores, scorecard for Ireland’s last match)
  • Irish Press, March 6, 1956 p. 11 (club of Michael and John McMahon), August 1, 1956 p. 8 (Irish team, Michael McMahon Irish Schoolboys’ champion, Alcorn Ulster Schoolboys’ champion), August 2, 1956 p. 9 (scorecards for rounds 1 and 2), August 3, 1956 p. 10 (final scores, scorecard for round 3)
  • Irish Times, July 5, 1956, p. 11 (initial selection, including Michael McMahon, Alcorn, Grogan, and Con Deasy, who later dropped out), July 19, 1956 p. 5 (Michael McMahon Irish Schoolboys’ champion, Coldrick and Déiseach earn places from qualifier), August 2, 1956 p. 6 (scorecards of Ireland’s first two matches), August 3, 1956 p. 7 (scorecard of Ireland’s last match), August 9, 1956 p. 6 (tournament review)
  • Lancashire Evening Post, August 31, 1956 p. 12 (Girling first name, joint winner of British Boys’ championship, occupation)
  • Sunday Independent, July 15, 1956 p. 17 (Coldrick earns place via qualifying tournament)
  • The Scotsman, August 2, 1956 p. 8 (partial results of four matches, partial scorecards of Scotland – Wales and England – Scotland)
  • Western Mail & South Wales News, April 4, 1956 p. 7 (schools of Wusteman, Gough, Mears), April 5, 1956 p. 8 (same, plus Josephson), August 3, 1956 p. 10 (final game totals, and corresponding places if game totals had counted, i.e., Scotland – Wales – Ireland, and with incorrect total for Ireland), August 21, 1956 p. 5 (Wusteman Welsh Boys’ champion 1956; Dore city)
  • 9th Glorney Cup: Liverpool (ENG), 1956, OlimpBase (match scores)
  • Scottish Teams in the Glorney Cup (ed. Alan McGowan), Chess Scotland history archive web pages (Scottish team; first name of Hennigan plus link to Michael Hennigan; photo of participants)
  • 43rd British Chess Championship, BritBase (ed. John Saunders) (Girling joint British Boys’ champion 1956, first names and cities for Deeth, Dore, Ewart, city for Wusteman)
  • 76th Varsity Match, BritBase (ed. John Saunders) (Deeth full name)
  • Harrow County School for Boys C.C. web page (re Deeth)
  • The nitrogen metabolism of Azotobacter vinelandii : with special reference to the mechanism of fixation, Frederick Stephen Wusteman, Ph.D. thesis, Imperial College London, 1962 (Wusteman full name) (note: name often given incorrectly as “Wusterman” in contemporary chess sources)
  • 42nd British Chess Championship, BritBase (ed. John Saunders) (cities for Deeth, Ewart, McLaren, McGreevy)
  • 1956 British Chess Federation (BCF) Grading List, BritBase (ed. John Saunders) (McGreevy first name)
  • John McMahon, Tom O’Neill, Fank McMahon, The Glorney Cup: Early Years 1948 – 1963, ca. October 2020 (Conlon manager).

[Update, March 12, 2022: Updated John McMahon’s biography to reflect his passing, shortly after this post; modified Coldrick’s biographical sketch to add Olympiad.]

[Update, June 20, 2022: corrected Déiseach’s name (deleting fada in first name), based on his own rendition in Family Life Education in Canadian Schools, Canadian Education Association, June 1977.]

[Update, May 25, 2024: added first name for McGreevy; added reference to The Scotsman; updated entries for Alcorn and Déiseach.]

[Update, May 29, 2024: added middle name and vital dates for McGreevy, based on cited post by Jon D’Souza-Eva at the English Chess Forum.]

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(Fr. / Canon) Séamus Cunnane 1929-2021

Posted on October 16, 2021 by Sean Coffey

Canon Séamus Cunnane of Carlow died last week in Cardigan, Wales, aged 92. His name will not be familiar to most readers, as he spent most of his life in Cardigan, where he was a parish priest from 1962 until his retirement in 2004 [but see note below]. He returned to Ireland to play in two Irish championships, 1968 and 1969, scoring 4½/9 and 4/9 respectively.

Like many Irish clerics before him, he played correspondence chess with distinction, and he won the Welsh correspondence championship three times, in 1969-70, 1972, and 1974.

He had the distinction of winning a world championship, of sorts, finishing first in Division 3 of an ICCF World Cup, run from 1974 to 1977, according to regional newspapers in Ireland at the time, though I have no other information about this event.

I can only find two games of his in the databases, one an over-the-board loss in a league game after his retirement, and one draw against Wolfgang Heidenfeld in a Wales v. Ireland correspondence match, run from 1970 to 1972. I would be very interested in any more of his games that might survive, particularly from his correspondence event wins.

He was a co-founder of Cardigan C.C. in the 1960’s, probably around the middle of the
decade, along with Iolo C. Jones, later FM, who played in the Irish championship in 2011. (In a sad coincidence, Iolo Jones predeceased Canon Cunnane by a few weeks.) He had played at Carlow C.C. from 1945 to 1948, but gave up when he started to study for the priesthood, only returning to the game in the mid-1960’s; with this background he turned in a very creditable performance in the Irish championships.

I had only recently connected Canon Cunnane with the player who played in the 1968 and 1969 championships, and attempted to contact him for any recollections he might have. Sadly, he was already very unwell.

A tribute from a local historical society can be found here. A brief biographical summary has been added to the Players page here.

[Update, October 17, 2021: Correction: Canon Cunnane retired in 1999, not 2004.]

[Update, October 19, 2021: Another game of Séamus Cunnane, and a notable scalp, is given in a nice tribute on the Welsh Chess Union website. In a club game at Cardigan C.C. in 2005 against Howard Williams, the following position was reached with Black to play:

Cunnane - Williams, Cardigan C.C. 2005
Cunnane – Williams, Cardigan C.C. 2005
33… ?

This position is trickier than it looks, and readers are invited to consider what Black should play here. I’ll just say that Williams’ suggested improvement for Black here might not actually be best. The game continued 33… a5? 34. bxa5? (a letoff; 34. h4! immediately wins) 34… Kxa5? (34… Kc5 is enough to draw) 35. h4! (“flashed out”) and Williams resigned: the black king has wandered too far and the h-pawn can’t be stopped.]

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The Road to Tel Aviv, or the misadventures of a photojournalist

Posted on October 14, 2021 by David McAlister

I suspect I had as much fun on the road to Tel Aviv as ever Bob Hope had on any of his “Roads”. – Beth Cassidy, The Road to Tel Aviv

Beth Cassidy played for Ireland in the very first FIDE Women’s Olympiad at Emmen, The Netherlands in 1957. Sometime after that (the precise year is unknown to us) she moved to New York, where in the 1960s she worked at the Manhattan Chess Club and for Chess Life, the official magazine of the United States Chess Federation.

It was through her work at Chess Life that she accompanied the U.S. Delegation to the 1964 Olympiad in Tel Aviv. An article on her experiences in Israel appeared in the January 1965 edition of the magazine. Here are a couple of Beth’s misadventures, retailed in her trademark humorous style.

A brush with officialdom

The long flight to Tel Aviv arrived at 9 p.m. Israel time but Cassidy nearly didn’t make it out of the airport.

I was trailing through Immigration in the wake of the U.S. delegation when I was stopped. “You cannot come in,” the Official said flatly. “You have an Irish passport and you need a visa; this will cost you money,” he added triumphantly, “the Visa Office is closed for the night.” He held onto my passport and let me loose in a small pen from which I frantically tried to hail one of the team. Another Official who was watching my performance with interest asked what the trouble was. I explained, and when I told him I was with the chess group he moved with alacrity. “I’m supposed to be looking after you people,” he said, and with that he hopped over the barrier and two minutes later returned with my passport complete with visa. It appears the Immigration Officer was also the Visa Office and he had apparently closed himself for the night. The nice Official handed me my passport with a bow saying, “You are our guest, there is no charge. Be happy in our country.”

Petrosian and the wannabe paparazza

Cassidy was the Official Press Photographer to the U.S. Team but in an encounter with the World Champion she cheekily exceeded the limits of her authority to take photographs during play.

Photographers, who had to have a Government pass, were permitted to work for the first 15 minutes of play, and then only from outside the ropes. I managed to get inside and photographed each of the Russians as they commenced to play. When I came to him, Petrosian was sitting just about ready to make his first move. I hissed his name and when he looked up I whispered to him to smile. For my pains I got the filthiest look I ever received and he looked away, refusing to move till I was hustled out if the arena. I got a good profile picture though!

Petrosian, photo by Beth Cassidy

Sources:
The Road to Tel Aviv by Beth Cassidy at pages 4, 5 and 7 of Chess Life, January 1965.
An abridged version of the article appears at pages 8-9 of the Official Book of the event, XVI Chess Olympiad Tel Aviv November 1964 by Moshe Czerniak.
Beth Cassidy: HER REMARKABLE LEGACY OF CHESS PHOTOJOURNALISM FROM A GOLDEN AGE by Tom Braunlich Oklahoma Chess Monthly July 2019.

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Irish Championship 1982

Posted on October 10, 2021 by Sean Coffey

A report on the Irish Championship 1982 has been added to the tournaments pages here. 16 of the 99 games are included; there are currently none in the ICU games archive.

The event, sponsored by IBM Ireland, took place (mostly) in the City Hall, Cork, from July 10-18. The field of 23 players included the defending joint champions David Dunne and Philip Short and three time champion Alan Ludgate, along with John Delaney, Colm Barry, and Keith Allen, in a young field.

The fourth seed Colm Barry unexpectedly lost in the first round to Gerry MacElligott and never really recovered, while fifth seed Alan Ludgate saw several half points slip away midway through the event, and also dropped out of contention. The event came down to a struggle between the top three seeds Dunne, Delaney, and Short, with no more than half a point separating any of them at any stage. Heading into the last round, Delaney and Short led with 6½, with Dunne on 6. Dunne won against Gerard O’Connell, while Delaney drew against Ludgate. This left Philip Short needing to win as Black against Keith Allen to finish clear first; a draw would leave him in a three-way tie, and losing out on tie-break.

Allen - Short, Irish Championship 1982

Allen – Short, Irish Championship 1982 (9)
Spectators: John Quigley (controller), David Dunne, David Leech (IBM Ireland)
(via ICU web site)

Philip reached the ending of King and Queen versus King and Rook. Though adjournments were in place for the event, that was only for the first eight rounds: the last round had to be played to a finish in a single session. This was only a few years after Walter Browne’s unexpected struggles with this ending in a 1978 challenge against the BELLE computer (Browne failed to win the first game within 50 moves, and succeeded in the second only on the 50th move (see Müller & Konoval, 2021)). It’s fair to say that the ending is one of trickier ones amongst the endings with so little material.

The game lasted from 10 in the morning until shortly before midnight. It had to be moved from City Hall to a hotel, probably the Imperial Hotel, South Mall, which had been booked for the prizegiving. After 128 moves, then a record for the Irish championship, an exhausted Philip ran into the 50 move rule and the game ended in a draw.

As a result, David Dunne was declared winner under sum of opponent’s scores, and was awarded the trophy and the title of Irish champion.

But wait—the entry form had specified a different method:

Irish Championship 1982 tie break method

Under this method, John Delaney would win. John accordingly appealed, and in early December the Irish Chess Union upheld the appeal and ratified John as champion, for his first title.

Gerry MacElligott, who was playing in his first Irish championship, and who was admitted into the event very late on, had an outstanding tournament and finished clear fourth, for his best ever result. Keith Allen finished clear fifth, followed by a group of five players sharing 6th.

(This championship was an unusually difficult one to reconstruct. No contemporary sources give even the correct final scores, let alone the pairings; for example, the Evening Echo report cited by the ICU tournament page has Gerry MacElligott and Keith Allen tied for 4th-5th; but since those scores added up to 108, if half a point was subtracted from Keith, where did it go? Newspaper reports gave many details, but sometimes listed only leading pairings, and adjournments always present problems. The reconstruction was only possible via Alan Ludgate’s scoresheets, which gave some more details of fixtures and intermediate scores, combined with Gerry MacElligott’s recollections and some detailed discussions with David McAlister; the trove of material provided by John Gibson was very helpful in supplying many details, including the entry form, tie-break rules, and ratings. The missing half-point is accounted for by John Kennedy missing the last round to travel to Scotland for the Glorney Cup which began on July 20, and receiving a half point bye rather than a full bye. Many thanks to all!)

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Lyons – MacElligott, Kilkenny Open 1982

Posted on October 4, 2021 by Sean Coffey

I was delighted to receive a comment and a separate email from Guy Lyons, whom I well remember from my playing days, not least because he beat me once, in a game that will appear here in due course. He was rated 30th in the country in the ICU list of July 1983, which would have been around the time he left Ireland for Scotland.

(The Players page is a work in progress, and omissions should be taken as my not having a chance to get around to it yet. New information for this page is always welcome.)

I was surprised to find that the IRLchess and ICU games archives had only one game of Guy’s, and a very incomplete one at that: his draw against Tom Clarke at the 1980 Irish championship. I think several more of his games survive. Here is one: a win against Gerry MacElligott from the Kilkenny Open 1982.

Lyons - MacElligott, Kilkenny Open 1982
Lyons – MacElligott, Kilkenny Open 1982
30… ?

From the diagrammed position, Gerry erred with 30… Kd6? (30… Kf7 seems to leave White with only a slight advantage), and after 31. Re2 Qf5 32. Qc1 Rc8 33. Qa3+, blundered with 33… Kd7??, allowing 34. Qe7 mate. Instead 33… Rc5 would have forced White to find the accurate 34. Re1!, when Black is lost; on the other hand, 33… Rc5 34. Qa6+ is much less clear, since White has to be wary of perpetual checks.

After 30… Kd6 31. Re2, the best chance was probably 31… Qf4!? 32. Qc2 Rc8, when White must be winning but the struggle goes on.

[Click to replay the full game.]

This was the 6th Kilkenny Open, which took place from December 3-5, 1982. The huge internationals still lay in the future, and 18 players played. Eddie O’Reilly (Raheny) finished first on 5/6, followed by four players sharing second on 4/6: Guy Lyons (Sandymount), Colm Barry (Rathfarnham), Michael Gaffney (Carlow), and Bernard Palmer (Dublin or T.C.D.).

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Porter – Griffin, Irish Championship 1978

Posted on October 1, 2021 by Sean Coffey

When I posted an initial report on the 1978 Irish championship here last year, I noted that there was one game that was known to survive, but was nevertheless missing: an annotation by John Griffin of one of his games, which appeared in CHESS in October 1980. My access to this was limited to a brief search engine ‘snippet’, so I did not even know who his opponent was.

David McAlister has very kindly provided the relevant pages, for which many thanks. In them, John annotates a fine win against the Czech IM Krzysztof Pytel, and also his win against Liam Porter from that Irish championship.

Porter - Griffin, Irish Championship 1978
Porter – Griffin, Irish Championship 1978
Position after 25… ?

From the diagrammed position, he continued 25… Bf5!, and after 26. Qxa8 (others also lose), 26… Bxd3+ 27. Ka1 Nb4. Now 28. Qxa7 and 28. Nc1 both lose, but Liam Porter’s choice was even quicker: 28. a3 Qb3 29. axb4 Qa4 mate.

[Click to replay the full game.]

I have updated the report to include this game. I’m not fully sure what round it appeared in—it must have been either round 2 or round 4—but I have been able to fill in many more details from the event via the full ICU rating list for May 1978, which was part of a huge trove of material I have acquired from John Gibson, for which many thanks. With all the ICU ratings, it is possible to reconstruct the full first round draw. Because of adjournments, it is difficult to carry this on beyond the first round, and there are still some unknowns among pairings and results from the first few rounds.

See the revised full report.

John finished equal third, with 5½/9, in what turned out to be his only Irish championship.

Posted in Games, Irish championships, Tournaments | 1 Comment

Irish Women’s Championship 2021

Posted on September 26, 2021 by Sean Coffey

The Irish Women’s Championship took place last week in Portlaoise. Congratulations to Alice O’Gorman, who won for the first time.

Though she was top seed, she did not have it all her own way, and in particular was clearly lost in her round 2 game against Dayna Ferguson and her round 4 game against Antonina Góra.

Two former champions played, of which one was the 1970 champion Elizabeth Shaughnessy. A very nice interview with her can be seen here.

A full report has been added to the tournament pages here.

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Burning the Midnight Oil

Posted on September 24, 2021 by Sean Coffey

David’s post on the Irish Pawn Centre brought to mind the game Kavalek – Fischer, Sousse Interzonal 1967, which at one time defined the main line of the Sicilian Najdorf Poisoned Pawn.

Kavalek - Fischer, Sousse 1967
Kavalek – Fischer, Sousse Interzonal 1967
Position after 19… fxe4

In this game, which long precedes Tony Miles’ fanciful report, White sacrificed a pawn on e5 and a knight on e4 to open lines to the black king.

Kavalek now continued 20. Qc3, and after 20… Qxa2 21. Bd1, Fischer erred with 21… Rf8?. The problem is that after 22. Bxh5+ Kd8 23. Rd1+ Bd7 24. Qe3, both f2 and c5 are covered, meeting the mate threat and also cutting out …Bc5-d4 for now. Instead 21… Bc5+! 22. Kh1 Rf8 23. Bxh5+ Kd8 24. Rd1+ Bd7 25. Rb7 Bd4 would have won, as Fischer reportedly pointed out to Kavalek shortly after the game, per the discussion here. The finish was 24… Qa5 25. Rb7 Bc5 26. Rdxd7+ Kc8 27. Rdc7+ Kd8 28. Rd7+ ½-½.

In my playing days long ago, I found a random issue of the German correspondence magazine Fernschach, I think from the late 1970s, and it contained analysis of the diagrammed position, covering White’s other tries 20. Kh1!?, 20. Qd1, and 20. Qc2 as well as 20. Qc3. The analysis indicated that 20. Qc2 was strong, with Black’s strongest response still leading to a clear advantage for White.

Engines have so completely altered the landscape that it is hard to recall just how slowly theory changed back then and how long it took to reach definitive conclusions. To give an indication, the diagrammed position appeared in a Hübner – Hort match in 1979, among other games at a high level, and close to fifty correspondence games.

One significant merit of 20. Qc2 is that it does well against 20… Bc5+ 21. Kh1 Bd4: White continues 22. Qxe4, and then, suffice it to say, Black has to find an immediate ‘only’ move to survive at all, will still have to give up queen for rook, and will still end up defending a position where White has a clear advantage. If this is not obvious as you read this, well, you have some idea of how it looked to all of us back then.

I analysed this position and Fernschach‘s analysis endlessly, and discussed it at length with Jonathan O’Connor. The problem, as we soon realised, was that after 20. Qc2, Black plays 20… Qa5, and White has nothing. Fernschach must have said something that was superficially plausible about this, but whatever it was, it didn’t hold up.

Eventually I switched to looking at 20. Qd1, and concluded that this was more promising. If 20… Bc5+ 21. Kh1 Bd4, the continuation 22. Bxh5+ Kd8 23. Rf7 seemed promising, and then if 23… Qxc4, 24. Be2 Qc5 25. Qf1 seemed unclear but playable, and I managed to convince myself that White had better chances. Alas! Engines will have none of it, and White is lost.

I told Jonathan I had found improvements, but was vague on where they were, not wanting to give it away: the improvements were “around there”, and that kind of thing. Whether Jonathan picked up on these hints is another matter!

The next time we met over the board was in an Armstrong Cup match, Dundrum playing away against Dublin, in Dublin’s great premises at 20 Lincoln Place, in the 1982-83 season. We were on board 2, so I should have played Black, but by mutual agreement we swapped colours. We bashed out the first 19 moves, then after a slight pause, there came:

20. Qd1.

Jonathan gave me a searching look of unfathomable meaning, and started a long think.

20… Qa5?

This is wrong here, but the problem is buried several moves deep. After 21. Bxh5+ Rxh5 22. Qxh5+ Kd8 23. Rd1+ Kc7 24. Qe8 Qc5+ 25. Kh1, we reached the second diagrammed position, which was within my preparation, and now what can Black play?

Coffey - O'Connor, Armstrong Cup 1982-83, 25w
Coffey – O’Connor, Armstrong Cup 1982-83
Position after 25. Kh1

If 25… Rb8 26. Rd7+ and mate next move; similarly for 25… Ra7. On 25… Bf6 (or … Bg5 or … Bh4), 26. Rh3 is decisive. The best chance seems to be 25… e3, but White is still winning after 26. Rxe3. Jonathan, running out of time at this point (the time control was a straight 36 moves in 90 minutes), played 25… Bd6, and after 26. Rg3, he resigned (26… Qb6 27. c5!).

[Click to replay the full game.]

I wonder if 20. Kh1!? is playable?

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The Irish Pawn Centre

Posted on September 11, 2021 by David McAlister

English Grandmaster Tony Miles identified “a revolutionary new concept” – the Irish pawn centre (or IPC) – in his report on the 1978 FIDE West European Zonal in Amsterdam. That report appeared in the Number One issue of the short-lived magazine International Chess and Miles used two games featuring the Irish representative Eamon Keogh to illustrate the IPC concept of utilising tripled isolated pawns. [For good measure he also recommended a third game of Keogh’s for the Guinness book of records.]

International Chess Number 1 page 4

Miles was a little vague on the full characteristics of the IPC but its motif can be identified as tripled isolated pawns all in a neat little row with a humorous twist that they do not have to be on one of the two central files but can also exist on the adjacent c- or f-files. In an article on chessgames.com, whiteshark claimed that Miles should have termed the structure the Irish Pawn Formation because it can appear anywhere on the board and went on to claim that the “Irish school” was working in secret on a “Four-leaved Clover Formation” featuring quadrupled pawns.

I can however exclusively reveal that the IPC had been seen in exalted Irish chess circles some four decades earlier than the Keogh games and included not just three but four isolated pawns – and on the IPC’s likely debut the pawns were to be found on a true central file.

Thomas Cox [Dublin] -v- John J O’Hanlon [Blackrock]
Armstrong Cup, Board 1, Dublin, 26th November 1938
[Source: Saturday Herald, 12th December 1938]

The report on the game in the Saturday Herald started from the position in the diagram above, with Black standing better. 
1.Nd6 Ne4 2.Bxe4 dxe4 3.Qc2 Qc6 4.Rd1 Rd7 5.Qc3 Rad8 6.Qe5 Re7 7.Kg2 f6 8.Nf5 fxe5[And here O’Hanlon, a nine-time Irish champion, has just unleashed the IPC on Cox, the then current titleholder. Instead 8…Rxd1 would have lost after 9.Nxe7+ Kf7 10.Qh5+ with mate in two.]
9.Nxe7+ Kf7
[Despite Cox’s pyrotechnics, the IPC would probably have emerged victorious after 9…Kh7 10.Rxd8 Qc7 11.Rf8 (or 11.Rd1 exf4) Qd7 when the Queen can infiltrate along the d-file]
10.Rxd8
[According to the Herald report, O’Hanlon had been expecting 10.Nxc6 when 10…Rxd1 would have won for him.]
10…Qc7
[“The only move” – Herald]
11.Rf8+ Kxf8 12.Nd5+ Qc5 13.Bxc5+ bxc5 14.Nxe3 exf4 ½-½The Herald reported that the game was agreed drawn here. However the match report in the Irish Times for the 28th November 1938 provided a little more detail from which it can be deduced that the game was adjourned here but not resumed, probably because Dublin had already won the match by 4½-2½ with just this game left. If play had continued from the final position 15.gxf4 would have given Cox good winning chances. 

[Click to replay the game]

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Glorney Cup 1955

Posted on September 8, 2021 by Sean Coffey

The Glorney Cup 1955 was held at Newman House, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin, from July 27-28, 1955. The controller was Frank Maher, who had played in the 1949 event, and the chief organizer was Andrew O’Higgins. Once again, four teams participated, and again, only match results counted.

In the morning of the opening day, England beat Ireland 4½ – 1½, and Scotland beat Wales by the same margin.

England Ireland
B. J. Moore 1 – 0 T. O’Neill
N. E. Lewis 1 – 0 R. Grogan
J. M. Dawson ½ – ½ C. Deasy
W. S. Deeth 1 – 0 C. Kennedy
B. J. McGreevy ½ – ½ M. McMahon
A. J. Leggett ½ – ½ D. O’Connell
4½ – 1½
Scotland Wales
M. Fallone 1 – 0 W. B. Sullivan
I. Morton 0 – 1 D. K. Peters
W. Fleming ½ – ½ A. J. Davies
J. Blair 1 – 0 F. S. Wusteman
G. Dickson 1 – 0 P. M. Perry
J. McCann 1 – 0 M. Gronow
4½ – 1½

In the evening, England beat Wales 4 – 2, while Ireland and Scotland drew.

England Wales
B. J. Moore 1 – 0 W. B. Sullivan
N. Lewis ½ – ½ D. K. Peters
J. M. Dawson ½ – ½ A. J. Davies
W. S. Deeth 1 – 0 M. Gronow
R. Myers ½ – ½ F. S. Wusteman
B. J. McGreevy ½ – ½ D. P. Bryon
4 – 2
Ireland Scotland
T. O’Neill 0 – 1 M. Fallone
R. Grogan 0 – 1 I. Morton
C. Deasy 1 – 0 W. Fleming
C. Kennedy 0 – 1 J. Blair
M. McMahon 1 – 0 J. A. Phillips
D. Kennedy 1 – 0 J. McCann
3 – 3

On the second day, England beat Scotland 4½ – 1½ and Ireland drew with Wales.

England Scotland
B. J. Moore 1 – 0 M. Fallone
N. E. Lewis 1 – 0 I. Morton
J. M. Dawson 1 – 0 J. Blair
W. S. Deeth 1 – 0 W. Fleming
R. Myers 0 – 1 G. Dickson
A. J. Leggett ½ – ½ J. A. Phillips
4½ – 1½
Ireland Wales
T. O’Neill ½ – ½ W. B. Sullivan
R. Grogan ½ – ½ D. K. Peters
C. Deasy ½ – ½ A. J. Davies
C. Kennedy 1 – 0 P. M. Perry
M. McMahon ½ – ½ F. S. Wusterman
D. O’Connell 0 – 1 D. P. Bryon
3 – 3

So England won yet again, though the matches were closer than the previous year. The remaining teams were closely matched, with Scotland’s victory over Wales the only decisive result.

eng sco irl wls mp gp
England . 4½ 4½ 4 6 13
Scotland 1½ . 3 4½ 3 9
Ireland 1½ 3 . 3 2 7½
Wales 2 1½ 3 . 1 6½

No games are available.

The Irish team was Tom O’Neill (Synge St. C.B.S., Dublin, & Eoghan Ruadh C.C.), b. 1937, Leinster Schoolboys’ champion 1955, Richard Grogan (Synge St. C.B.S., Dublin), 1938-2016, Irish Schoolboys’ champion 1954 and Olympiad team member 1956 (obit.), Con Deasy (Synge St. C.B.S., Dublin, & Eoghan Ruadh C.C.), (Robert) Colin Kennedy (Campbell College, Belfast), Ulster Schoolboys’ champion 1955, Michael McMahon (O’Connell’s School, Dublin & Kevin Barry C.C.), b. 1938 (biographical note), Dermot O’Connell (St. Mary’s, Dublin), Leinster Schoolboys’ champion 1954, and David Kennedy (Terenure College, Dublin). Of these, Colin Kennedy, David Kennedy, and Michael McMahon made their débuts. (Donal Déiseach, Coláiste Mhuire, Dublin, & Clontarf C.C.), Irish Schoolboys’ champion 1955, instead played in the World Junior Championship, which clashed with this event.)

The English team was Brian J. Moore (Birmingham University), b. ca. 1937, Neil E. Lewis (Birmingham), J. M. Dawson (Bristol), Southern Counties Boys champion 1955 and West of England Boys champion 1955, William Stanley Deeth (Harrow County School), London Schoolboys’ champion 1955, Richard Myers (Preston Grammar School), b. ca. 1938, Bruce John McGreevy 1938-2020 (Liverpool), and (later Sir) Anthony James Leggett (Staines), b. Camberwell, South London, 1938. All of these players except possibly Leggett made their début.

Anthony James Leggett achieved notable distinction in another field: he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2003. He mentions the Glorney Cup in his Nobel Prize biography: “I had a brief moment of glory when some years later, I was picked for the English team to compete against Scotland, Wales, and Ireland in the (under-16) [sic] Glorney Cup”.

Anthony J. Leggett
Anthony J. Leggett

The Scottish team was Michael Fallone (Our Lady’s, Hamilton), b. Bellshill, Lanarkshire, 1938, later Scottish champion (1963), Olympiad team member in 1956, 1964, and 1966 (biographical sketch), Iain Morton (Glasgow) (biographical sketch), W. Fleming (Glasgow), James Blair (King’s Park, Glasgow), George Dickson (Edinburgh), 1938-2017, Scottish Boys’ champion 1955 (obit., biographical sketch, photo, 2015), John Andrew Phillips (Edinburgh), b. 1938 and J. McCann (Glasgow). All except Fallone and Blair made their début.

The Welsh team was W. B. Sullivan (Old Illtydians’ C.C.), (David) Keith Peters (later Sir Keith Peters) (Glan Afan Grammar School, Port Talbot), b. Neath, South Wales, 1938, Welsh Schoolboys’ champion 1955, Anthony J. Davies (Bishop Gore School, Swansea), Frederick Stephen Wusteman (St. Illtyd’s College, Cardiff), P. M. Perry (St. Illtyd’s College, Cardiff), M. Gronow (Cardiff H.S.), and D. P. Bryon (St. Illtyd’s College, Cardiff). Peters, Davies, Perry, and possibly Sullivan had played before.

The top scorers for each team were Brian J. Moore and William S. Deeth (England), 3/3, Michael Fallone, James Blair, and George Dickson (Scotland), 2/3, 2/3, and 2/2 respectively, Con Deasy and Michael McMahon (Ireland), 2/3, and Keith Peters (Wales), 2/3.

  • Sources:
  • BCM 1955 p. 266 (all match scorecards)
  • Belfast Telegraph, February 14, 1955 p. 10 (R. C. Kennedy school, Ulster Schoolboys’ champion)
  • Birmingham Daily Gazette, June 30, 1955 p. 4 (Moore first name, university, age, photo (lowish resolution))
  • Bognor Regis Observer, April 22, 1955 p. 3 (Dawson titles, city)
  • Evening Herald, April 7, 1955 p. 14 (McMahon school), July 27, 1955 p. 13 (Scotland – Wales scorecard; unfinished England – Ireland scorecard))
  • Harrow Observer, July 21, 1955 p. 1 (Deeth school, London Schoolboys’ champion)
  • Irish Independent, April 9, 1955 p. 16 (O’Neill Leinster Schoolboys’ champion; D. Kennedy school), July 1, 1955 p. 11 (D. Kennedy wins final place on Irish team after qualifying tournament), July 28, 1955 p. 11 (venue, scorecards for first two rounds; titles of O’Neill, Dickson, and Peters), July 29, 1955 p. 9 (photo of most or all players, plus officials) and p. 14 (scorecards for last round)
  • Irish Press, January 11, 1955 p. 9 (McMahon club), April 8, 1955 p. 13 (O’Neill Leinster Schoolboys’ champion, D. Kennedy school), June 22, 1955 p. 8 (McMahon, O’Connell, D. Kennedy in qualifying tournament), June 30, 1955 p. 9 (McMahon qualifies), July 28, 1955 p. 10 (venue, scorecards for first two rounds), July 29, 1955 p. 13 (scorecards for last round)
  • Lancashire Evening Post, May 16, 1955 p. 6 (Myers first name, city, age), September 20, 1955 p. 7 (Myers school)
  • Western Mail & South Wales News, April 16, 1955 p. 9 (Peters title), July 27, 1955 p. 7 (Welsh team, including school/club affiliations)
  • Tony Leggett, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign faculty profile (photo; see above)
  • 8th Glorney Cup: Dublin (IRL), 1955, OlimpBase (match scores)
  • Scottish Teams in the Glorney Cup (ed. Alan McGowan), Chess Scotland history archive web pages (Scottish team, including cities)
  • 43rd British Chess Championship, BritBase (ed. John Saunders) (first name and initial for Moore; first name for Deeth)
  • 76th Varsity Match, BritBase (ed. John Saunders) (Deeth full name)
  • Harrow County School for Boys C.C. web page (re Deeth).
  • Welsh Chess Union – First County Match, Pentyrch C.C. web site (photos of Sullivan, Wusteman, Perry) (via the Wayback Machine)
  • Port Talbot Chess Club History, Welsh Chess Union web pages (re Peters: Glorney Cup record, biographical sketch, photo in play c. 1949)
  • The nitrogen metabolism of Azotobacter vinelandii : with special reference to the mechanism of fixation, Frederick Stephen Wusteman, Ph.D. thesis, Imperial College London, 1962 (Wusteman full name)
  • 42nd British Chess Championship, BritBase (ed. John Saunders) (Powell initials, city)
  • John McMahon, Tom O’Neill, Fank McMahon, The Glorney Cup: Early Years 1948 – 1963, ca. October 2020 (Deasy, O’Connell first names).

[Update, September 9, 2021: added details on Phillips, based on information provided by David McAlister; corrected match scorecard of Ireland – Wales match, based on comment by Martin Crichton; and added Dickson to list of top scorers for Scotland. Many thanks to David and Martin. Also (added later the same day), added reference to biographical notes for Dickson and Morton.]

[Update, October 24, 2021: Corrected McGreevy’s name in England’s first match (previously given -ey), corrected Bryon’s initials (P. D. → D. P.), and added full first name and middle initial for Lewis.]

[Update, June 20, 2022: corrected Déiseach’s name (deleting fada in first name), based on his own rendition in Family Life Education in Canadian Schools, Canadian Education Association, June 1977.]

[Update, May 7, 2023: previous versions of this report (cf. archived version (May 7, 2023)) reported that “ D. Leggott” appeared in contemporary reports of the Glorney Cup 1954. However, I’m delighted to report that (Professor / Sir) Anthony James Leggett has kindly confirmed, by email, that he played in both events.]

[Update, May 29, 2024: added McGreevy’s first names and vital dates, based on cited post by Jon D’Souza-Eva at the English Chess Forum.]

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