News

Galway Chess Club came second in the National Club Championship, held in Dublin on the weekend of 26-28 April. In fact we came first equal with two other teams (Elm Mount and Ennis), winning four matches and losing one. Although we beat both Elm Mount and Ennis (who didn’t play each other), the tie-break system used was game points scored, and in this we came second, just losing out to Elm Mount because they played much weaker teams than we did.  Our team consisted of Anand Kumar S, Maryna Petrenko, Pete Morriss, Diego Pereiro Rodriguez, Brian Gallagher, and Alex Drimbarean. Our match results were:

Round 1: Galway 3½ – Elm Mount 2½

Round 2: Galway 4 – UCD 2

Round 3: Galway 5½ – Ennis ½

Round 4: Galway 2 – Malahide 4

Round 5: Galway 3½ – Gonzaga 2½

Full individual results for the whole tournament can be found here.

The April Blitz Tournament, played on April 11th, ended with joint winners, Pete Morriss and Chris Jonker both scoring 6 points out of 7.  The rating prize, for the highest-finishing player rated in the lower half of the entries, went to Lorcan Heron, who also came fourth equal, on 4 points.  This was an excellent performance, as Lorcan left before the last round (for which he gets no points) and won all his games except against the two who finished in joint first place.

Our Spring Rapidplay tournament was completed on Thursday 4 April. The winner was Pete Morriss, who scored 8 points out of a maximum of 9. Second was Eoin Callinan on 7 points, and third John Farrell with 5½. The rating prize, for the best performance by a player in the lower half, was won by Adrienne Reich, on 4 points.

The blitz tournament held on Thursday 7 March, played at our faster rate of 3 minutes plus 2 seconds increment, was won by Brian Gallagher with 8 points out of 9. Second equal were Sam Cassels and Pete Morriss, on 7 points. The rating prize was won by Badr Salah who scored 6 points (which also made him fourth equal). There are two things here worth commenting on. First, Sam came all the way from the USA to play in this tournament. (OK: to be more truthful, he was here anyway, on holiday. We will be happy to welcome him back to the club when he returns to Ireland, which we hope is soon.) Second, Badr’s performance to win the rating prize was outstanding: he played all of the top three, and beat two of them, and did so convincingly.

The winner of the February Blitz, played on 8th February, was Simon Iwasaki, who scored 6/7. Second was Pete Morriss on 5½. The rating prize was won by Scott Reilly, with an excellent score of 5 points, whilst an honourable mention must go to Sophie Maher, who scored 4 points.

Some news of achievements by our members in tournaments elsewhere in Ireland.  First, two of our younger members braved Storm Isha in January to play in the Connaught Junior Championship in Sligo, and both achieved excellent results in the under-14 event: Cillian Bracken came outright second (with 4½ points out of 6), whilst Lorcan Heron came outright third on 4 points.

Then, on the weekend of 2-3 February, a different two members went again to Sligo to play in the Sligo Tournament (not restricted to juniors), both in the Major Section (for those with ratings between 1100 and 1600).  Here Jarek Wieczorek came fourth (equal) with 3½ points out of 5, and Luke Iwasaki came 12th equal on 3/5.  Luke is 15, and was playing, I believe, in his first adult tournament.  These are both very good performances, and Luke’s, at least, should certainly be good enough to win a rating prize.

The January blitz, held on 18 January, was won by Alex Drimbarean, with 6 points out of 7. Second equal were Luke Iwasaki and Pete Morriss on 5. The rating prize, for the best performance by a player seeded in the lower half, was won by Jack Crean, who was playing in his first tournament and finished with an excellent score of 3 points.

Thursday 14 December sees our year-ending Christmas Blitz tournament. In addition to providing the opportunity of playing seven games of chess, there will be seasonal offerings for you to consume. The seasonal offerings are yet to be decided, but the chess will be played at a speed of 5 minutes per player per game plus a 5 second increment per move. Play will start at 7.30 p.m. prompt; anybody who arrives after the pairings for the first round have been announced can be included from the second round. We expect the tournament to finish at about 10.00 p.m.

Our last 5+5 blitz, held in November, was won by Diego Pereiro Rodriguez, with 6 points out of 7; second equal were Denis Ruchko and Eoin Callinan, on 5½ points. The rating prize, for the highest-placed player rated in the bottom half, was won by Luke Iwasaki, with 4½ points.

Update: The December blitz was won by Pete Morriss, with 6 points out of 7. A close second was Eoin Callinan (who beat Pete in their individual game) on 5½. The rating prize, for the best performance by a player seeded in the lower half, was won by Elena Cavero, who was playing in her first tournament and finished with an excellent score of 3 points.

Our next event is a Puzzle Night, in which you will be shown a number of carefully chosen puzzles, ranging in difficulty from those suitable for beginners to ones requiring more skill to solve. Doing puzzles like these is one of the best ways of improving your chess, and there will be more experienced players on hand to talk you through them should you require assistance.

The club will also be open for members to play games against each other, should they prefer to create their own puzzles for themselves.

Our Autumn Rapidplay tournament concludes on Thursday 16th November. You can play in it whether or not you have played in previous rounds: just show up at our venue upstairs in the Bridge Centre, St. Mary’s Road between 7 and 7.20 p.m. to register. People who arrive later may not get to play in the first of the evening’s three rounds, but will be able to play in the remaining two.

As before, this tournament is particularly suitable for people who think of themselves as beginners, or who want to try out a chess club for the first time, as we will try to ensure that they play against others in the same position. (If they then win their first game or two, they will have the chance of a crack at some of our more experienced players.) That said, after the first six rounds there is currently a close contest at the top between some of the club’s leading players.