The round 4 draw has been made.
With five byes in the round, it’s a relatively depleted draw, though there’s still eight games down for decision in a fortnight’s time. A couple of games stand out, particularly the top board, where Gerry could more or less wrap up the title with victory over Mihailo, although in that event, Ciarán or Alex could force a blitz play-off by beating Gerry in the final round. I’m sure Mihailo will have something to say about that though!
Further down the draw, the family full house is completed as Zdravko takes on Anastasija. This actually only came about because I screwed up this evening, leading to Ross and Anastasija playing with colours reversed – the draw was correct, but I put the name tags at the wrong sides!!. Meanwhile, the rather surprising bottom board sees Paddy have black against John, who never did have much luck in the club championships anyway. Mark has the bye in this round but, as in previous rounds, a competitive friendly will be arranged.
| Seed | Name | Rating | v | Seed | Name | Rating |
| 7 | Mihailo Manojlovic (2½) | 1485 | v | 1 | Gerry O’Connell (3) | 2088 |
| 4 | Ciarán Ruane (2½) | 1657 | v | 6 | Kevin Burke (2) | 1551 |
| 10 | Dylan Boland (2) | 1421 | v | 8 | Odhrán McDonnell (1½) | 1456 |
| 11 | Eddie Gahan (1½) | 1410 | v | 12 | Stephen Cunningham (1½) | 1328 |
| 2 | Zdravko Manojlovic (1½) | 1896 | v | 13 | Anastasija Manojlovic (1) | 1224 |
| 20 | Des Carroll (1) | Unr | v | 14 | Ger Healy (1) | 1167 |
| 3 | John Healy (½) | 1869 | v | 19 | Paddy Power (½) | 796 |
| 17 | Mark Dennehy (0) | 1019 | 1-0 | Bye | ||
| 5 | Alex Byrne (2½) | 1599 | ½-½ | Bye | ||
| 9 | Ross Beatty (2) | 1438 | ½-½ | Bye | ||
| 15 | Desmond Beatty (2) | 1120 | ½-½ | Bye | ||
| 16 | Cal Nolan (½) | 1043 | 0-0 | Bye | ||
| 18 | Luke Hayden (1½) | 994 | ½-½ | Bye |
stbenilduschessclub 
Some of these matchings make me think there should be a prize for the poor sod who was the most outmatched in ratings points 😀
Like a David vs goliath prize?
I was thinking more of a “You poor b*****d” prize myself 😀
We were doing the draw mentally in the pub last night; we forgot one of the byes and it worked out that Mark was playing John (to match colours). Being seeded near the bottom, being on 0 and getting Mihailo, Zdravko, Eddie and then John is about as nasty a draw as it is possible to get in any tournament ever I think! The surprises have been, well, quite surprising.
Fairly sure the biggest mismatches have been Desmond v John, Anastasija v John and Stephen v Zdravko. All wins for the outrated player.
That would have been… surprising 😀
What are the odds of me vs Zdravko in the final round?
“Ciarán or Alex could force a blitz play-off by beating Gerry in the final round.”
Two wins give me the title outright, though maybe you’re not thinking about the first of those happening.
Oh yes. Got a bit confused by Alex being on 3/4 of course, but you aren’t. Yet.
Now to study my Latvian Gambit DVD
And if you think I’m messing, I’d ask you to recall what I played against you the only other time we met! :p