The league finals last Sunday held few surprises for Benildus.
The Bodley Bs completed their match vs Cavan in the morning with draws for Dan and Luke, meaning they finish the season in a well-deserved 3rd place.
The Bodley As had already played their finaly match in its entirety. I believe they finished 8th.
The BA Cup team only needed 2 points to secure promotion in second, and duly scored a 3-2 win. They will have to take on an extra player next year when they enter the O’Hanlon.
The Ennis needed a big result to have any chance of going up, and nothing went particularly right for them. The teams they needed to drop points didn’t, and their own match ended in a disappointing 3-3 draw for third place.
Finally, the Armstrong had nothing better to do than play kingmakers, losing spectacularly to Rathmines A which secured them the title. I had expected a defeat, but not 7-1!
My own game is below, and should entertain you for a few seconds.
J Healy (1741) v L Fagan (1881), Armstrong Cup, 01 Apr ’12
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 The Albin counter-gambit, rare but playable. 3.dxe5 d4 4.e3? 4.Nf3 is most common, though some people prefer 4.a3. 4…Bb4+ 5.Bd2 dxe3 6.Bxb4 My opponent pointed out 6.Qa4+ Nc6 7.Bxb4 but White seems in trouble after 7…exf2+ 8.Kxf2 Qh4+. 6.fxe3 is miserable. 6…exf2+ 7. Ke2 fxg1=N+!
8.Rxg1 Thomas pointed out 8.Ke1, which hangs on, but White’s position is terrible in spite of the balanced material. Still in shock at the underpromotion I’d missed, I didn’t even notice it. 8…Bg4+ 0-1 The queen is gone. It seems I’m in good company – a group of strong Russian players including Blumenfeld fell for this in a consultation game against Lasker, after whom the trap is named.
JH