The Irish Women’s Championship was held at the Talbot Hotel Stillorgan over the weekend. Twelve players competed, including defending champion Antonina Góra, former champion Diana Mirza, and last year’s first place finisher (though then ineligible for the title) and top seed Diana Mats.
The event was more competitive than in some past years, and there were some upsets. Mats lost her first round game against Stella Li, and Mirza lost in round 2 against Nemhain Doolin.
After four rounds, only Góra was on full points, with Mats one point behind. The decisive last round game between these two was well won by Mats, who became Irish Women’s champion for the first time, on tie-break. (I’m not sure whether this was “Direct Encounter” or a playoff.) Congratulations!
A full report has been added to the tournament pages here.
The Irish Championship has been running since last Saturday, August 3, at the Talbot Hotel Stillorgan in Dublin, and concludes tomorrow.
A full report, with all games from the first eight rounds and pairings for the ninth, has been uploaded to the tournament pages here.
The event started with a field of 52, tying the all-time record set in 2007, and added an extra player in round 3 in Gavin Sheahan, taking the field to an all-time record. There were 19 players playing in their first Irish championship, but this fell just short of the record of 20 set in Belfast, 1966.
A major feature has been the live commentary on all rounds by Mark Quinn and Jonathan O’Connor on Mark’s Twitch channel. Highly recommended!
After eight rounds, David Fitzsimons leads on 7 points, a full point clear of Alexander Baburin and Kavin Venkatesan on 6. Only these are still in contention; Oisín O’Cuilleanain is in clear fourth on 5½, followed by a group of 11 players on 5.
In tomorrow’s last round (which commences earlier, at 12.30pm local time), O’Cuilleanain has white against Fitzsimons, Baburin plays white against Colm Daly, and Venkatesan plays black against Atharva Paibir. (The last of these pairings is puzzling to me.)
[Update, August 11, 2024: The report has been updated with the final round games. David Fitzsimons needed only a draw in his final round game, and drew without any difficulty, for his first Irish title. Congratulations! Baburin beat Daly to finish clear second, while Venkatesan drew with Paibir to finish clear third. Five players shared fourth place.]
The ICU website has two brief items dealing with the 1947 Irish champion. The longer one, by Enda Rohan, includes the photo at right, taken at the Irish Championship in Belfast in 1950, describes him as a principal officer at the Department of Posts and Telegraphs who was active in Irish Chess Union and Leinster Chess Union organisation, and says he withdrew from organisation completely as a result of sniping by Dónal O’Sullivan at an LCU general meeting.
The second one, by Joe Keenan, consists of just two sentences, saying that by the end of the 1950s he had withdrawn from active participation in chess events.
Nothing else seemed to be known. However, in putting together the report on the 1947 championship, I found considerably more, including some very helpful information on a genealogical website. In particular, there is an interesting backstory to his disappearance from Irish chess.
His parents were John Duignan, born in 1870 in Derrinisky, Co. Roscommon, and Julia, née Naughton (alternatively Norton), born in 1890 in Kilroe East, Co. Galway. John served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army from 1904-1913, and they married in Manhattan, New York, in 1913.
Patrick Alphonsus Duignan was born at Derreenavoggy, Arigna, Co. Roscommon on February 26, 1916. His birth cert shows his birth was registered much later, on September 26, 1918.
At some point, the family moved to Dublin, and Paddy went to O’Connell School on North Richmond Street.
A profile in the Irish Independent shortly after he won the championship said that he entered chess circles in 1941, and was only playing in senior, i.e., highest level, competitions for three years at the time he became champion. During that time he had won Leinster Intermediate and Senior Championships, the Irish Civil Service Championship, and the Oireachtas Cup.
A major life change came in 1964, when he was seconded for a year as a United Nations advisor to the Arab Postal Union, and he departed to Cairo with his wife and three children. The initially reported year seems to have turned into a much longer commitment, though at some point his wife and children returned to Ireland, due to school quality. Paddy was reported as returning to Ireland in March 1967 after his posting, but was back in the region again in 1973, when he made the front pages, having been caught up in the Yom Kippur war:
“The wife of an Irishman heading a United Nations postal development in Damascus, whose home was destroyed in the Israeli bomb attack, was waiting last night in Dublin for confirmation that her husband was safe.” (Irish Press, October 10, 1973, p. 1)
The report said that he had been in Damascus for the previous 18 months, as project manager for the Arab Postal Institute, having previously spent two years with his family in Cairo. A front page report in the same day’s Evening Herald reported that Mrs. Duignan had received a telegram from her husband saying that he and a friend were safe.
Paddy Duignan returned to Dublin, where he died on September 2, 1997.
The Irish Championship 1947 was held in Cork, for the first time ever, at the C.C.Y.M.S. Hall in Castle Street. The event was structured as a 14-player all-play-all, with the provincial unions each nominating three players, and with another place for the defending champion. In the event, the defending champion Barney O’Sullivan played instead in the Hilversum Zonal. Leinster nominated a replacement, and, perhaps to avoid a bye, a fifth Leinster player was included.
This was only the second Irish championship since the event resumed after the war, and the only former champion competing was John O’Hanlon, 71 years old. He had played in 20 previous championships, whereas the rest of the field combined had competed in 11.
The Leinster contingent consisted of O’Hanlon, Paddy Duignan (Irish Civil Service champion), Warwick Nash of Athlone (a veteran, along with O’Hanlon and William Minnis, of the previous Olympiad, Buenos Aires 1939, and twice previously Irish correspondence champion), Dónal J. O’Sullivan (who would go on to win three championships), and John Casey of Rathmines, the 1944 Leinster champion, who seems to have been a late addition to the event.
Munster nominated Austin Bourke (a future Irish champion, then working at Shannon Airport), John C. Hickey of Templemore (North Munster champion 1947, and another former Irish correspondence champion), and Con O’Leary of the host club (South Munster champion 1947).
Ulster nominated A. L. Davies (Ulster champion in 1944), G. A. Kearney, and William Minnis (of the Olympiad 1939 team, and Ulster champion in 1939 and 1945).
Connacht nominated Pat Diskin, Frank Killeen, and (Dr.) Michael O’Donnell (Connacht champion).
(There is a link with the previous post: John C. Hickey emigrated a couple of years after this event, and spent over twenty years in Singapore and Malaya, before returning to Ireland. He played board 1 for Phibsboro in the Armstrong Cup 1980-81.)
Paddy Duignan was on form, and won his first six games in succession. Adjournments clouded the issue though: the first session for outstanding adjournments came after round 7. Dónal O’Sullivan also won his first six games once his adjournments were eventually played out. O’Sullivan lost to Bourke in round 8, but the event was thrown wide open with Duignan’s loss to Nash in round 9. This left Duignan and O’Sullivan sharing the lead on 7½, with Bourke and Nash on 7, at the end of play on Friday, though again these were the scores after all adjournments had been played out.
The crucial day was the Saturday, with rounds 10 and 11. In the morning, O’Sullivan and Bourke each lost, to O’Leary and O’Donnell respectively, and Nash drew against Davies, while Duignan beat Kearney. The critical game happened that evening, when Duignan played O’Sullivan, with Duignan eventually prevailing in an ending. This left Duignan on 9½, with Nash on 8½ and Bourke, O’Hanlon, and O’Sullivan a further point back on 7½, again after resolution of adjournments.
After the rest day, Duignan won his round 12 game against Killeen, and could afford to draw against Diskin, who finished last, in the last round, to finish on 11/13, a full point and a half ahead of Nash in second, with O’Sullivan third. Bourke and O’Hanlon shared fourth place on 8½. This was Duignan’s only Irish championship.
Only one game survives from the event, the round 9 game between Duignan and Nash, Duignan’s only loss. There was a mystery here: the game was available in the ICU games archive, but strangely it did not show up in any searches of newspaper archives; where did it come from? David McAlister has traced it to the second batch of games he sent in 2004 to Mark Orr for “TICAbase”, an early predecessor of the ICU games archive, and has even provided his original notes of the game and annotation. In those days before newspaper archives could be searched online, tracking down information and games required painstaking and seriously time-consuming work in libraries with microfilm records.
Duignan – Nash, Irish Championship 1947 15. ?
In the diagrammed position, 15. Qb3 Qd7 16. Qxb7 O-O would leave chances about equal. Instead Duignan blundered with 15. Nc4? and was surprised by 15… Nxe4!, threatening mate. Objectively Black was then winning, but over the next few moves both players missed the strongest continuations. Nash emerged an exchange and two pawns up, but then ran short of time and permitted a three-fold repetition. Duignan missed his chance to claim the draw, and resigned a few moves later.
Many congratulations to Dublin Chess Club, who won this season’s Armstrong Cup decisively (final table). This broke a run of seven consecutive wins by Gonzaga, itself an all-time record.
But even more notably, perhaps, it broke a 43-year famine for Dublin, which last won in the 1980-81 season.
The Chess League website records go back only as far as the 2003-04 season. However, we are fortunate to have essentially complete season results via John Gibson’s excellent records.
In 1980-81, twelve teams competed, but the competition was organised as a two-part series of six-team all-play-alls. The top three teams in the two sections qualified for another six-team all-play-all for the Armstrong Cup, while the other six teams played an all-play-all for relegation. (According to the Armstrong Cup page at David McAlister’s Irish Chess History website, this was the first second year this system was used; I think it lasted until the 1984-85 season.)
The initial sections were labelled A and B, but seem to have been intended to have the same strength. In section A, Kilkenny made history as the first team outside Dublin to play, having been promoted from the Heidenfeld. The defending champions U.C.D. were assigned to this section, but failed to field a team and did not make another appearance in the Armstrong until 1998-99. It was a strange end to a highly successful run, after UCD teams won in 1973, 1974, 1976, and 1977.
In the end, a single point covered the top four teams, with Raheny, Rathmines, and Phibsboro qualifying for the championship playoff and Sandymount and Kilkenny assigned to the relegation section.
rah
rat
phi
san
kil
ucd
total
Raheny
.
5½
4
3½
5
–
18
Rathmines
2½
.
4
4½
6½
—
17½
Phibsboro
4
4
.
4½
4
–
17½
Sandymount
4½
3½
3½
.
5½
–
17
Kilkenny
3
1½
3
2½
.
–
10
U.C.D.
–
–
–
–
–
.
–
In section B, Dublin finished comfortably first, but again the remaining places were hotly contested, with ½ point covering the next three places. Rathmines finished second, but Dundrum and Collegians tied for third and fourth places on 21. Dundrum qualified for the championship playoff, possibly by virtue of winning the individual match between the teams.
dub
rat
dun
col
tcd
por
total
Dublin
.
4½
5
4
4½
5½
23½
Rathfarnham
3½
.
3½
3½
6½
4½
21½
Dundrum
3
4½
.
5
4
4½
21
Collegians
4
4½
3
.
6
3½
21
Dublin Univ.
3½
1½
4
2
.
6
17
Portmarnock
2½
3½
3½
4½
2
.
16
In the championship playoff, Dublin won by a comfortable margin in the end, for their first Armstrong since the 1970-71 season. However, Raheny actually led by a point (after accounting for all adjourned games) heading into the last round, and it was Dublin’s decisive 6-2 win against them that decided the title.
dub
rah
dun
raf
ram
phi
total
Dublin
.
6
3½
6
5
7
27½
Raheny
2
.
4½
4½
7
6½
24½
Dundrum
4½
3½
.
2
4½
6
20½
Rathfarnham
2
3½
6
.
4½
3
19
Rathmines
3
1
3½
3½
.
3½
14½
Phibsboro
1
1½
2
5
4½
.
14
The decisive match was played in the Dublin clubrooms at 20 Lincoln Place, on Tuesday, March 3, 1981 (Irish Press, March 4, 1981 p. 14). The scorecard was:
Dublin
Raheny
J. Murray
1 – 0
P. Delaney
R. Pye
0 – 1
J. Delaney
P. Carton
1 – 0
A. Delaney
J. J. Walsh
1 – 0
C. Quinn
P. Cassidy
½ – ½
J. O’Nolan
B. Palmer
½ – ½
A. Cronin
B. Canton
1 – 0
M. Delaney
C. O’Hare
1 – 0
C. Brady
6 – 2
In the relegation playoff, two teams were intended to be relegated, but since U.C.D. automatically took one, only one team faced the drop. In the end, Kilkenny were a long way adrift.
col
por
tcd
san
kil
ucd
total
Collegians
.
5
4
6½
6
–
21
Portmarnock
3
.
3
4
7½
—
17½
Dublin Univ.
4
5
.
3½
4
–
16½
Sandymount
1½
4
4½
.
6
–
16
Kilkenny
2
½
4
2
.
–
8½
U.C.D.
–
–
–
–
–
.
–
The winning Dublin team in board order was Robert Pye, John Murray, Pat Carton, J. J. Walsh, Paul Cassidy, Brian Canton, Bernard Palmer, and Ciarán O’Hare, with subs Brian Beckett, Brian McKenna, and Jonathan O’Connor.
Dublin team results
The results are arranged in John Gibson’s notebook in the style above. Results for other teams are as follows:
The sole link with this year’s winning team is Jonathan O’Connor, who in a very long and distinguished career has never otherwise played on an Armstrong Cup-winning team. Congratulations to him and all this year’s team!
[Update, May 31, 2024: Brian McKenna’s first name was added, based on Colm Egan’s identification, via Gerry MacElligott, and the timeline for the new tournament structure was corrected based on a note by David McAlister. Many thanks to all for the information.]
Mike Clarke left a comment to our post Korchnoi and the car about William Collins, and more specifically sought information about Viktor Korchnoi’s simultaneous exhibition at Newtownards in early February 1981.
From 1982 to 1993 Collins authored a highly-regarded chess column in the Saturday edition of the Belfast Telegraph. Originally I thought that this ruled out him having reported on Korchnoi’s display at Newtownards Town Hall. However I then remembered that before his Telegraph column he had contributed semi-regular articles in the Telegraph’s sister publication, Ireland’s Saturday Night.
So, Mike and our other readers, here is Collins’s report in the ISN for the 7th February 1981 on that Korchnoi simul.
KORCHNOI – he lost only one game!
THIS HAS been an historic week for Ulster chess. Nobody in their dreams could have envisaged the massive coverage devoted to the game over the last few days.
Clearly we backed a winner by bringing Victor Korchnoi here.
Korchnoi’s short tour was a resounding success. He gave two simultaneous displays against a total of 72 players, and in the process lost only one game. Here are the details:
Armagh played 40, won 35, lost 1 (F. Coll), drew 4 (T. Clarke, D. Blair, S. McCrea, W. Hegarty).
Newtownards played 32, won 29, lost 0, drew 3 (R. Devenney, D. Murray, J. Strawbridge).
Spectators and contestants alike were impressed, not only with Korchnoi’s play, which was of the highest standard, but also his manner. He couldn’t have been more courteous or friendly. Korchnoi is also a wonderful raconteur. Those who met him after the display were enthralled with stories about his encounters with Spassky and Karpov. He talked far into the night about his preparation the next World title match against Karpov, and explained why be preferred Europe as a venue. He was prepared to discuss other leading players, and his opinions were liberally interspersed with anecdotes.
On Fischer: “My first impression – good. Second impression – he is crazy. Two years later – he is wise.” His favourite player: Paul Keres. ‘I could never obtain a better position against him, let alone beat him.” Michael Stean (his second): “A gentleman, but his health is not good. Tony Miles: “Not a gentleman but I beat him every time.” The new Soviet star Kasparov: “There is already tension between Karpov and Kasparov. I like Kasparov’s annotated games.”
The visit will be remembered for a long time. Yet even before Korchnoi had left, tour organiser John Flynn was considering ideas for his next big venture. This could involve bring two or three Grandmasters to the Province.
Finding this report re-opens the issue of the precise results of the Korchnoi Newtownards simul. At our Simuls page we had reported them in the same terms as Collins in the ISN article. However, in six consecutive comments at that Simuls page starting here and also in Mike Clarke’s comment referred to above, various pieces of recollection differ.
The possible differences amount to Korchnoi losing at least three games in Newtownards (two of these being against Damien Artt and Desmond Forson) and conceding draws to Sam Livingston and to Collins.
I do not wish to take issue in any way with the genuine belief in the various recollections but could there be a way of resolving this puzzling situation.
Perhaps the answer might involve Michael Stean, Korchnoi’s second in two world championship matches with Anatoly Karpov.
In GM Michael Stean on the BBC we posted about Stean giving a simul at Newtownards Town Hall in June 1979 with the GM winning 32 games, drawing 2 and losing 6. As Collins and Livingston were both members of the Newtownards Chess Club, I suspect their draws may have been against Stean, but the Korchnoi connection has somehow created conflation or confusion in people’s memories.
Moving on to possible Korchnoi losses, a similar effect may exist – in my subsequent comment to the Stean post I had added the results of a Stean simul at CIYMS Chess Club in January 1982. Among the five winners against the GM on that occasion were Artt and Forson.
No, not that Morphy. These memories are of the Dublin chessplayer John Morphy.
In his Evening Herald chess column for Saturday 30 July 1932, the editor T.P. Donnegan shared a small reminiscence of chess in times past.
MORPHY’S DIVAN
We don’t suppose there are many now of our chess circle who remember Morphy’s Chess Divan in Grafton Street, Dublin, adjacent to St. Teresa’s Carmelite Church. In our fathers’ and grandfathers’ time it was a noted chess rendezvous. There the “creme de la creme” of Irish players were wont to fraternise; and many were the foreign masters of the game who were entertained and played, aye, and sometimes defeated too.
Our grand old man, Mr. Frank Hobson, remembers it well, and had many interesting stories to tell thereof from out the rich store of his reminiscences, during a call which he favoured us with the other day. He reminded us of the Phoenix Chess Club which used to meet there regularly; and we got this bit of colourful rhyme off him for our readers’ entertainment. We are not aware of the date of its publication, but, judging from the printed matter at back of the cutting, it was when the proceedings of the Parnell Commission on the Pigott forgeries were being reported.
We offer here only the first verse and refrain from MORPHY, MY BOY.
Of Pipes he can offer a charming variety,
His “mixture” is smoked by the height of society,
And I may tell ye, without impropriety,
If you want a good “weed”, then J. Morphy’s your man.
Here’s a health to you Morphy, my boy,
The smokers’ delight and the chess-players joy.
Poets and Preachers, and Doctors and Teachers,
You’ll find them hobnobbing in Morphy’s Divan.
Mention of the Parnell Commission dates the cutting to the late 1880s and we are able to provide an exact date for the opening of Morphy’s Divan from the advertisement (below) that appeared in the (Dublin) Sport newspaper on 30 June 1888.
Negotiations with “one of the greatest professional masters” were successful and James Mason could be found at the Divan daily for about a week at the end of July. His residency there included a match with J.A. Porterfield Rynd (or “a strong Dublin amateur”as the Dublin newspapers coyly put it).
Sometime later in 1888 Morphy and Hobson played respectively Boards 2 and 3 for the Phoenix Chess Club at Morphy’s Divan in the first-ever Armstrong Cup match.
Indeed, there were very few major events held in Dublin that escaped Morphy’s attention in a golden period for Irish chess between 1885 and 1892. He competed in the 1st Irish Chess Association Congress in 1885, finishing third behind W.H.K. Pollock and Porterfield Rynd.
Then at the 3rd ICA Congress in 1889 Morphy played in both the Masters tourney, won by Amos Burn, and a subsequent Handicap tourney for the Irish Championship (for which only players not receiving odds were eligible for the title), won by George Soffe. Morphy’s Divan (evening sessions) shared hosting duties for both events with the Dublin Chess Club (mornings).
Stephen Fitzpatrick -v- John Morphy Irish Chess Association Masters (Round 2) Morphy’s Divan, Dublin, 5th March 1889 [Source: Dublin Evening Mail, 14th March 1889]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Be7 6.d4 exd4 7.cxd4 d6 8.Bb2 Nf6 9.Nbd2 Nxe4 10.d5 Nxd2 11.Qxd2 Ne5 12.Nxe5 dxe5 13.Bxe5 0-0 14.0-0 Bf6
14…Bd6 would have been better 15.f4! Qe7 16.Qe3 Re8 17.Rae1 a6 18.Qf2 Bf5 19.Bxf6
The start of a faulty plan, which hands a clear advantage to Morphy. 19…Qxf6 20.Rxe8+ Rxe8 21.Qa7 g6 22.Qf2
If 22.Qxb7 then 22…Qd4+ picks up White’s Bishop. 22…Qd6 23.Bb3 Rd8 24.Qf3 Qb4 25.Rd1 a5 26.g4 Be4 27.Qf1 a4 28.Bc4 Qc5+ 29.Qf2 Qxc4 30.f5 Bxd5 31.h3 Qe4 32.Qh2 Qe3+ 33.Qf2 Qxh3 0-1
By 1892 Morphy again competed when the title of Irish champion was on the line when a new body, the Hibernian Chess Association had appeared on the scene and organised a Championship Congress. One curiosity here was that the game between Porterfield Rynd and Morphy was postponed but when Rynd was guaranteed first place and the title, their game was left unplayed.
Two years later Morphy decided on a considerable life change, as announced by Thomas Rowland in his Dublin Evening Mail chess column for 19 April 1994.
THE MODERN MORPHY.
If there is one person in Dublin who has done more for the cause of chess than another that one is Mr J Morphy. His valuable services date from the earliest days of the Dawson street YMCA Chess Club (1874), and since then he has ever and always been foremost in every movement that promoted the welfare of our game. His quiet, unobtrusive and friendly way has endeared to him many friends, and although a player of the highest order, ranking next to the champion of Ireland, nothing ever gave him more pleasure than a tilt with a beginner or novice. Today very many strong players owe to his teaching the knowledge of chess they possess. It is with regret, therefore, that we announce that Mr Morphy, having decided to leave for a permanent residence in New York, will be lost to us. That loss will be a serious one to Dublin chess. In leaving for the New World, in placing thousands of miles between him and his old home and his many friends, Mr Morphy should carry with him some recognition of the friendship and esteem held for him. For this purpose we would be glad to receive suggestions as to the formation of a committee for the purpose of giving the matter practical form.
Rowland returned to the idea of presenting Morphy with a farewell gift in his 10 May column.
Mr J Morphy leaves Dublin for New York on June 1st. It is proposed to present him with some small token of the appreciation and esteem which is held for him by Dublin chess players, Those desirous of contributing to such will please communicate with the hon secretary of the City Chess Club, 6 Townsend street.
However it seems that other Dublin players were not quite so enthused by the idea. Perhaps there is a note of reproach to them in Rowland’s final farewell in his 24 May column.
Mr J Morphy leaves Dublin this week for Brooklyn, N.Y., where he intends to reside permanently. It is a matter for regret that he leaves without some recognition of his valuable services on behalf of chess, in the form of a testimonial, for, possibly, he may never again visit Ireland, the land of his birth. While taking leave for the New World we tender him our best wishes for success, and assure him that the many pleasant recollections of his quiet and gentle way, in conjunction with his great skill over the board, will never fade. Adieu.
The Malahide Millennium Tournament, incorporating the Leinster Championships, took place at Dublin Airport over the weekend.
The top section attracted 14 players. The top seed by a considerable margin was IM Gediminas Sarakauskas of Lithuania, but he suffered an early reverse when losing in spectacular style as White to Shane Melaugh in round 2.
White was already uncomfortable in the diagrammed position. After 20. Qc3 d4, he started to go astray with 21. Qc2?! (21. Qd3 leaves Black only moderately better), but after 21… Be3, 22. Bxe3?? was disastrous (22. Be2 Rf2 with advantage to Black was essential). After 22… dxe3 23. Qc3 Rxf1+! it was all over, and White resigned a few moves later.
The second seed, and only former Leinster champion, Colm Daly also suffered a serious and uncharacteristic reverse in round 2 against Will Sidney, and lost again in round 3.
After round 5, Shane Melaugh was on 5/5 and two clear points ahead of the field, and became the 2024 Leinster champion for the first time. Congratulations! Despite a last-round loss as Black against Colm Daly, he played an outstanding tournament.
A full report has been added to the tournament pages here.
[Update, May 9, 2024: A full report for the Intermediate event (1st and Leinster Intermediate champion Maxim Lorigan) has been uploaded, with 11 of the 159 games.]
[Update, May 14, 2024: A full report for the Junior event (1st and Leinster Junior champion Saiansh Biswal) has been uploaded, with 12 of the 104 games.]
John Loughran has written to update the page on the British European Airways Cup here, which had not been updated since 2016. In addition to adding recent winners, John corrected the entry for 1992, which was previously “Jobstown (?)”, to Elm Mount, based on the winner engraved on the trophy.
John is having the trophy repaired and the names of all winners added, and he provided a photo, for which many thanks:
The page as originally posted and as updated by John had some gaps, denoting years where no one seems to know who won. However, after consulting the archives I received from John Gibson, I am able to fill one of these gaps: Finglas won in 1992-93.
Finally, I stated in the original post introducing the page here that I had never played in the B. E. A. Cup myself. This turns out not to be true, and in fact I made my Leinster Leagues début in this competition. Gerard O’Connell reminded me that I was invited to fill in as a sub for Sandymount in one match sometime in the mid-1970’s, when I was 10 or 11, and managed to draw.
The National Club Championship took place at the Talbot Hotel Stillorgan over the weekend, ending today. Congratulations to Elm Mount, who won for (I think) the first time ever.
The event attracted 15 teams, and was hotly contested all along. Going into the last round, five teams were in strong contention: the leaders Malahide, with 7 match points, followed by Elm Mount, Ennis, Galway, and Gonzaga with 6 match points each.
In the last round, Ennis beat Malahide 3½-2½, and Galway beat Gonzaga by the same margin. Elm Mount beat the out-of-contention St. Benildus, also by 3½-2½, to finish in a three-way tie for first with Ennis and Galway, winning on game points (Elm Mount 20, Galway 18½, Ennis 16).
One of several crucial moments occurred in the last round game between Lara Putar (St. Benildus) and Harry Braine (Elm Mount).
La. Putar – Braine, National Club Championship 2024 38. ?
In the diagrammed position, White is in complete control and clearly winning, and the simple 39. Nb5 wins a piece after the forced 39… Qd5 40. Qxd5 Nxd5 41. c6 Rc8 42. c7 Nxc7 43. Nxc7.
Instead the game continued with the mysterious 39. Kf3?, allowing Black a glimmer of counterplay with 39… e5. White’s best would now be 40. Qc4+ Kh8 41. Kg2, which should still be winning, but instead she played 40. Nb5?, throwing away the win.
There followed 40… Qd1+ (40… Qh3, threatening … Rxf4+, also gives equal chances) 41. Kg2 fxg3, and now White made the final error with 42. hxg3?? (42. Bxg3=). After 42… Qf3+ 43. Kh3 Qxf2 material was level, but the white king was horribly exposed, and was mated a few moves later.
If White had won or drawn, Galway would have been champions instead.
