1. ?

Posted on May 8, 2016 by Sean Coffey

puzzle-2016-05-08In this position, from an Irish game, it’s White to play.

(i) How should White continue and what should the result be with best play?

(ii) What happened in the game?

Not too hard, but neat. Answer in a couple of days.

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Moulton-Crichton, Mulcahy Memorial 1988

Posted on April 30, 2016 by Sean Coffey

Congratulations to Martin Crichton, who recently finished equal first in a small FIDE Open tournament in London, the Colin Crouch Celebration Congress Weekender. Always good to see IRL at the top of the leaderboard!

This was a decade since his last tournament win, also a joint first, in the Malahide Millenium 2006, and almost three decades since his first win, a clear first ahead of Philip Short in the Maurice Fitzgibbon Memorial in 1987.

Many thanks to Martin for sending several games: three from the Colin Crouch Celebration, one from the Maurice Fitzgibbon Memorial, and six from the Mulcahy Memorial 1988.

moulton-crichton-1988In the game referred to in the title above, he recorded an emphatic victory as Black against the English player Paul Moulton, then rated 2255. The diagrammed position is barely out of the opening and already White is in serious difficulties.

There followed 13. b4 exd3 14. Bxd3 c5 15. bxc5 Qxc5 and Black wins a safe pawn, but it’s not clear White had anything much better.

White (rather optimistically) offered a draw after 32. Bxb4, which momentarily restored material equality, but was efficiently finished off. [Click to replay the full game.]

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Irish Junior Championships 2016

Posted on April 9, 2016 by Sean Coffey

Congratulations to the winners in this year’s Irish Junior Championships, held last weekend in Killiney: Conor O’Donnell (Gonzaga), U19; Diana Mirza (St. Michael’s), U16; Henry Li (Gonzaga), U14; Danny Dwyer (Blanchardstown), U12, and Con Kirby (Limerick), U10.

(I understand there was an under-8 championship as well, but have not seen any results posted.)

Though the top section had a small field, the overall participation was very healthy, with 105 players across the five sections. There were live boards for one game in each of the top four sections, plus one partial game from the U10 championship: see the playable games.

coffey-mchugh-1980The diagram at right comes from a much earlier event, the U19 championship back in 1980, held in St. Joseph’s School for the Blind in Drumcondra (1st-2nd Keith Allen, John Kennedy (both Fisherwick)). This was one of the later rounds, I think, from board 2, and Kevin McHugh, playing Black, is about to play his 8th move against me. The Petroff is generally a very safe opening. But not always!

[Click to replay the full game.]

[Update, April 21, 2016: many thanks to Herbert Scarry, who has provided pairings and results for the U8 championship.]

Posted in Games, Junior events | 1 Comment

“An unexpected move”

Posted on March 22, 2016 by Sean Coffey

Rynd - Morphy and Soffe, consultation game 188723. ?

In the position at right it’s White to play: how should he continue?

The position arose in a casual consultation game played around 1887, probably somewhere in Dublin, between J. A. “Porterfield” Rynd (White) and John Morphy and George D. Soffe (consulting on Black), which recently appeared in Edward Winter’s Chess Notes (C.N. 9771, February 29, 2016).

[Click to replay the full game.]

There’s an interesting twist: a few days later Chess Notes, citing David McAlister, reported that there was a second game, between the same players, that had also reached the diagrammed position, as given by Rynd in Chess Monthly, July 1888, p. 347. See C.N. 9777, March 2, 2016, which has copies of both of the original articles.

[Click to replay the second game.]

It’s unclear what really happened. These are both given as “casual” games in the original articles, so perhaps after completion of one game, the players agreed to return to the diagrammed position to allow Morphy & Soffe to try a different defence.

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Gonzaga Masters 2016

Posted on February 22, 2016 by Sean Coffey

Goss - Scott, Gonzaga Masters 2016Last month I wrote here that there were apparently going to be no games available from this year’s Gonzaga Masters. I’m delighted to report that the great majority of the games have now been made available, compiled by Ruth Redmond and Herbert Scarry; many thanks to Dylan Boland for forwarding them. They’ve now been compiled into a full tournament report.

There was much enterprising chess. One particularly interesting moment occurred in the last round clash between Alex Goss and Luke Scott.

In the diagrammed position, Black has just played the startling 22. … Rxb6!?, capturing an apparently protected pawn. Let’s pose this as a puzzle: can White safely recapture?

In lieu of an answer, see the full game.

[Note: updated March 30, 2016 to acknowledge Ruth Redmond’s work in compiling the games. Thanks to Herbert Scarry for the clarification.]

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Armstrong Cup 2015-16, continued

Posted on February 12, 2016 by Sean Coffey

Even at the beginning of the season the general consensus was that it would be hard to stop Gonzaga in this year’s Armstrong Cup, and so it has proved. With some of the 8th-round matches played, Gonzaga leads by 4½ points over St. Benildus ‘A’ with a match in hand, and realistically it will require an unlikely lopsided win for the latter in their round 9 match to alter the result.

Willow - Dunne, Armstrong Cup 2015-16This week Benildus had a narrow 4½-3½ point win at home versus fourth-place Elm Mount, and courtesy of Oliver Dunne we have the game from board 8.

Oliver, playing Black, sacrificed a piece for two pawns, but in the diagrammed position White, to play, has essentially consolidated. What do you think of the continuation 23. Bg4 Re8 24. Rxc7, as played?

Posted in Armstrong Cup, Games, Puzzles, Tournaments | 1 Comment

Ballyfermot Open 1995

Posted on February 7, 2016 by Sean Coffey

Last year we had a photo from the Ballyfermot Open 1994, taken by Ray Woodhouse. He has now sent a set of newly discovered photos from the Ballyfermot Congress in 1995. It’s in the form of an A4 sheet with 30 photos, possibly used as a reference when storing negatives.

The 1995 Congress, sponsored by TSB, was held in the Mansion House on January 28-29, 1995, and had 220 competitors over four sections. One of the newly discovered photos shows the playing hall:

Ballyfermot Congress 1995: playing hall

The event had a tense and dramatic finish, well captured by another photo in the new set:

Daly-Baburin, Ballyfermot Open 1995

Is there any other game where such a scene would be possible? The spectators are practically leaning over the shoulders of the players. I’d like to see how Rory McIlroy would manage in similar conditions. [Click for larger version.]

Colm Daly won the game, inflicting only Baburin’s second defeat by an Irish player since he had arrived in Ireland eighteen months earlier. As a result John Joyce finished clear first on 4½/5, followed by 2-4. Daly, Kevin Butler, and Mark Quinn, 4/5, with Baburin on (we must infer) 3½.

The game appeared the following week in John Hurley’s column in the Sunday Tribune, of which David McAlister has provided a copy. [Click to replay]. It’s possible to pinpoint the exact moment in the game captured in the photo: Daly has just played 36. Qd8-d3 and is either about to press the clock or has just finished doing so: perhaps the latter since Baburin is writing down the move.

Chess photography is not easy and it’s rare to find the atmosphere captured so well. Many thanks to Ray Woodhouse for an outstanding set of photos.

[Update, February 16, 2016: Ray Woodhouse has produced a YouTube video from these and several other photos (‘loughnafin’, 2 m. 38 s., YouTube, February 7, 2016).]

Posted in Ballyfermot Congresses, Photos, Tournaments | 1 Comment

Gerry McCurdy 1946-2016

Posted on February 4, 2016 by Sean Coffey

I’d posted here a couple of years ago about Gerry McCurdy, originally from Belfast, who was a strong player in Ireland in the 1960’s, and who had recently returned to chess after a gap of decades with much of his old strength intact, no easy task. He was living in Prayssac in southwest France.

Gerry McCurdy (St. Mary's, Blackpool)

I’m sorry to have to report that he died last week (Tuesday, January 26). One of his former students broke the news (see comments on the page above), and now David McAlister has provided confirmation in a notice from the school he taught at in Blackpool in England (whence the photo above).

He represented Ireland in the Student Olympiads at Örebro 1966 and Harrachov 1967 and earlier at the 1964 Glorney Cup. He played in four Irish championships, 1966, ’70, ’71, and ’72, scoring 5½/8, 5½/9, 5/9, and 4½/9 respectively, finishing equal 3rd in 1966, a point behind Moles, and was runner-up in two Ulster championships, in 1968 and 1970.

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Enniscorthy Congress 2016

Posted on January 31, 2016 by Sean Coffey

On this web site we’re interested in chronicling all tournaments, no matter how old. But it’s always nice to have an entirely new event to report, and the organisers of the Enniscorthy Congress are to be congratulated on their inaugural event, which concluded today.

Live boards carried the top 4 boards in the Masters section (out of 6 overall), but unfortunately I was able to grab only three rounds’ worth. However these have now been compiled into a tournament report, and there’s also a new Enniscorthy Congresses page.

In this year’s top event David Fitzsimons and Oleg Korneev finished equal first on an undefeated 5/6, drawing with each other and also both with Alex Baburin. (It’s not clear on the information available whether a tie-break was used to declare a sole winner.)

Well done also to David Fitzsimons for reaching 2400 in the January 2016 FIDE list, thereby satisfying one of the requirements for an IM title. I don’t recall seeing mention of him having achieved this before.

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Gonzaga Masters 2012

Posted on January 25, 2016 by Sean Coffey

The 15th Gonzaga Classic concluded today; congratulations to David Murray who won the top event, and for the first time.

Apparently there will be no games available from this year’s event, but I’ve reorganized the Gonzaga Classics page here to add details of the top event in all years.

I’ve also added a full tournament report on the Gonzaga Masters 2012, for which all games are available. David Fitzsimons won for the third consecutive year, in what became a four-in-a-row sequence the following year.

Bermingham-Fitzsimons, Gonzaga Masters 2012The deciding game Bermingham–D. Fitzsimons from the last round showed yet again how difficult queen endings are. The diagram shows the position after White’s 62nd move. After the game continuation 62 … Qxh3 the position is within the range of the Nalimov endgame tablebases, which show that with best play the position is … a draw!

As it was Bermingham was unable to hold the game, due to a single inaccuracy. After 63. Qf2+ Qg2 64. Qh4+ Kg1 65. Qd4+ Kf1 he went astray with 66. Qf4+? after which the black king was eventually able to find safety on h7. Instead either 66. Qd1+ or 66. Qa1+ would have maintained the drawn-with-best-play evaluation.

If after 66. Qf4+ the white king stood on g8, h7, or h8, the position would (apparently) still have been drawn: I assume because the black king would no longer have the bolthole on h7.

But here’s a puzzle to conclude. Returning to the diagrammed position, in which it’s Black to play. Can Black win? Answer (based on the 7-piece Lomonosov tablebases) in a couple of days.

[Update, January 26, 2016: see comment below for solution.]

Posted in Games, Gonzaga Classics, Tournaments | 2 Comments