Round 3 saw an unusually early winnable game as a quirk of the draw put us up against the second bottom seed. A 4-2 defeat was slightly above expected, but we can be slightly annoyed at not getting better. Elsewhere though, Slavko is leading the tournament after the Spanish side he was signed up for toppled the top seeds and former champions Alkaloid, while I’m beginning to regret introducing the t-shirt forfeit and the tournament came within an ace of one of the great chess upsets of recent years.
Continue ReadingRound 2 of the 2021 ECC was pretty much a repeat of round 1 – five titled players in the opposition, and Brendan Cooney stepped up to avoid us the whitewash.
Continue ReadingOur 2021 European Club Cup campaign got off to a respectable start when Brendan Cooney’s first titled draw avoided the dreaded round 1 whitewash against a French side with more GMs than any side we’ve faced since 1985 – but Constantin was left to carry out our new Euro forfeit for quickest defeat.
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The St Benildus team have – I presume – arrived in North Macedonia for our fourth ECC of the modern era. I say probably because I’m trapped in a captains’ meeting which is threatening to descend into anarchy and can’t actually get out of it to see if everyone else has arrived.
Continue ReadingThe LCU have sent the club an e-mail about the timelines for a return to leagues action – it’s reproduced below.
Restrictions on indoor activities remain until 22nd October at least, and it’s probable that the club won’t return before then, but we will advise any developments obviously.
Continue ReadingThe recent Irish Championships events were primarily about avoiding ratings minefields – players who have gained a few hundred points playing online during covid – but two of the best performances of the first tournaments back were ratings miefields of our own.
Continue ReadingColáiste Éanna will be hosting the City of Dublin and the Irish Junior Championships in the coming weeks – City of Dublin is from 10-12 September, and the Irish Juniors is from 23-25 October. The Irish Juniors flyer is here, while full details (including entry) are on the ICU’s Calendar page.
Cork and Kilkenny will not be happening this year, so the next weekender may be Gonzaga in January, while Bunratty is provisionally scheduled for 18-20 February 2022. There should be an update re the Leinster Leagues in the next few days as well.
The Irish Times has a video feature today on the 100th Irish Championships, with a number of familiar faces to be spotted!
The 2021 Irish Championships are underway in Coláiste Éanna – another sign that chess is slowly but surely getting back to normal again.
Continue ReadingThe new season of the online 4NCL is open for entry, with the deadline of 9th August ahead of a first round of 24th August, and every second week thereafter. While this may clash with the Leinster leagues (which touch wood will be back soon!), we will put teams in if there’s interest – which there is at present, albeit that it’s unlikely we’ll have four teams like last time. If you are interested in playing, let me know. Full details are here.
