Conall Hegarty is Galway Winter League Winner

The Galway Winter League is over, and we have a new champion: Conall Hegarty.  In a play-off of two rapid games (one each with white and black) between the joint winners, Conall beat the reigning champion Joona Kiinski 2-0.  The games were extremely tense and exciting: two Sicilians, both featuring opposite-side castling (Conall castled queen-side in both games; Joona king-side), led to highly complex tactics which Conall navigated better both times, breaking through with mating attacks.

Conall is a deserved and popular champion.  Although he lost his first round game, to Carlos, he fought his way back to the top, on the way beating both the first and second seeds (Joona and Pete) by strong attacking play.  The closest Winter League ever has produced a worthy winner.

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