Rathmines Juniors Winning

A report by Maura Osborne
Read even more news for Junior chess club at their new website: www.rathminesjuniorchessclub.wordpress.com

The Leinster Junior Chess Championships took place over two weekends in the Stillorgan Park Hotel. Congratulations to all the Rathmines Juniors who took part, with great success.

U10′s 2nd place went to Matthew Gallagher, with Tom Grennell 3rd, Alex Mulligan 4th Stephen Higgins 5th, Cillian Scallan 6th on 4 out of 5 points. John Carton scored 3.5 out of 5.
U11′s Ist Place went to Michael Higgins with Fiachra Scallan in 3rd place.
U12′s Fiachra Scallan came 5th and David Halpenny 8th.
U14′s Peter Cooke, the first member of the Rathmines Junior Club came 1st. Michael Higgins 7th, Fiachra Scallan 9th and David Halpenny 11th.
U16′s Scott Mulligan came 8th

BODLEY LEAGUE
Following on from a great victory 3.5 to 1.5 away to Balbriggan, Rathmines Juniors had an another successful outing away to St. Benildus A.
The Bodley Team, Scott Mulligan, Liam Coman, Fiachra Scallan, Michael Higgins and Oscar Twomey had a fantastic 3-2 victory over St. Benildus A.
Leading the team on Board 1, Scott , won a piece early against Andrew Kyne-Delaney to get our first win of the night. this puts Scott on 3.5 out of 5.
On Board 2 Liam had a very exciting game, after losing a piece early he came back to a piece for 3 pawns but came under great pressure from the in form Tom Kearney. Tom went on to win a very complicated position.
Oscar Twomey, who was on 3 out of 3 in the Bodley, was paired with James Kearnes.In a very instructive game, James, after winning 2 pawns showed fantastic technique and end game play to convert his advantage.

Michael Higgins first match for the Bodley was pretty even for most of the opening but once in the middle game Michael outplayed his opponent and trapped his rook in the middle of the board, winning with a clever back rank mate threat.
Top scorer in the Bodley League on 4.5 out of 5, Fiachra Scallan. had the last game of the evening to finish clinching the win for Rathmines Juniors. In a very impressive performance he forced his opponent to resign in a King pawn ending with Fiachra having the only piece, a Knight, on the board.

A great night was enjoyed by everyone. Many thanks to our hosts and players.

Game of the Year 1962?

The Irish Times reports that they’ve found a silver chess trophy from 50 years ago, uncovered during a spring clean at Weir’s jewellers. Seems a pity to leave it unclaimed! The last winner was one V. Maher. Anyone have any remembrance of this trophy (I’m way too young to have a clue…)?

Rathmines Juniors Success

Great news from the Juniors at the Leinster Junior Championships.
Peter Cooke won the Leinster u14s title(jointly with Padraig Hughes)
Michael Higgins won the Leinster u11s title
Mattew Gallagher came 2nd in the u10s
Many of the Rathmines juniors were highly placed in the various age groups.

A full report will be coming shortly.

In the meantime, well done Juniors! You’ve done yourselves and Rathmines Junior CC proud.

Master Chess

Youtube now features all the old BBC series of Master Chess matches…some great all-time players, such as Karpov, Korchnoi, Short, Nunn, and Larsen. All circa 1981/1982. Well worth a look!

But I can’t figure out who this English player is…he seems like a lost genius…anybody know who he is and where I can get his games?

Blitz Results

Table – with winners of sections A and C in bold and the four winners of B in italics.

1 Killian, Delaney 2051 7.5 
2 Leon, Fagan 1888 6.5
3 Manuel, Gardenes 2172 6
4-7 Tony, Scannell 1812 5.5
Mindaugas, Janusaitis 1850 5.5
Mel, O Cinneide 2182 5.5
John, Maher 1386 5.5 
8-12 Tomasz, Skzypnik 1877 5
Jack, Killane 1756 5 
Ken, Moore 1572 5 
Tony, Bermingham 1754 5 
James, Burke 1661 5
13-16 John, Burns 1776 4.5
David, Goggins 1733 4.5
Shahram, Nikrow 1140 4.5
Atanas, Kouhtev 1459 4.5
17 Ian, Moloney 1702 4
18 James, Osborne 1436 3
19-21 Arda, Balkanay 1000 2
Una, O´Boyle 1199 2
Ciaran, Byrne 1241 2

 

Crosstable

No Name Feder Rtg 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1 Killian, Delaney 2051 17:W 5:W 8:W 2:W 10:W 4:W 3:L 6:D 9:W
2 Leon, Fagan 1888 12:W 9:W 4:D 1:L 14:W 3:L 8:W 11:W 5:W
3 Manuel, Gardenes 2172 14:W 4:L 6:W 10:L 17:W 2:W 1:W 5:D 8:D
4 Tony, Scannell 1812 18:W 3:W 2:D 8:L 13:W 1:L 9:L 16:W 10:W
5 Mindaugas, Janusaitis 1850 16:W 1:L 12:W 14:D 15:W 8:D 10:W 3:D 2:L
6 Mel, O Cinneide 2182 11:D 13:W 3:L 20:W 8:L 9:D 12:W 1:D 14:W
7 John, Maher 1386 13:L 17:L 0:W 12:W 11:W 10:L 16:D 15:W 20:W
8 Tomasz, Skzypnik 1877 10:W 19:W 1:L 4:W 6:W 5:D 2:L 9:L 3:D
9 Jack, Killane 1756 15:W 2:L 10:L 11:D 19:W 6:D 4:W 8:W 1:L
10 Ken, Moore 1572 8:L 21:W 9:W 3:W 1:L 7:W 5:L 13:W 4:L
11 Tony, Bermingham 1754 6:D 14:L 18:W 9:D 7:L 15:W 13:W 2:L 17:W
12 James, Burke 1661 2:L 18:W 5:L 7:L 20:W 0:W 6:L 19:W 21:W
13 John, Burns 1776 7:W 6:L 16:W 15:D 4:L 14:W 11:L 10:L 0:W
14 David, Goggins 1733 3:L 11:W 19:W 5:D 2:L 13:L 20:W 0:W 6:L
15 Shahram, Nikrow 1140 9:L 0:W 17:W 13:D 5:L 11:L 21:W 7:L 19:W
16 Atanas, Kouhtev 1459 5:L 20:W 13:L 17:L 0:W 21:W 7:D 4:L 18:W
17 Ian, Moloney 1702 1:L 7:W 15:L 16:W 3:L 18:L 0:W 21:W 11:L
18 James, Osborne 1436 4:L 12:L 11:L 0:W 21:L 17:W 19:L 20:W 16:L
19 Arda, Balkanay 1000 0:W 8:L 14:L 21:L 9:L 20:L 18:W 12:L 15:L
20 Una, O´Boyle 1199 0: 16:L 21:W 6:L 12:L 19:W 14:L 18:L 7:L
21 Ciaran, Byrne 1241 0: 10:L 20:L 19:W 18:W 16:L 15:L 17:L 12:L

Killian Delaney Lecture & Christmas Blitz

REMINDER!!!

Killian Delaney tells us how to “win games, analyse your games” on Thursday. Next Monday we have the traditional Christmas blitz.

Details here.

Rathmines A vs. Elm Mount A result

Manuel 1-0 David Fitzsimons
John D. 1/2 – 1/2 Ciaran Quinn
Mel 1/2 – 1/2 Zygimantas Jakubauskas
Killian 1/2 – 1/2 Gerard MacElligot
Darren 1-0 Matthias Rahneberg
Tomasz 1/2 – 1/2 Liam Porter
Tony 1-0 Bernard Boyle
Leon 1/2 – 1/2 William Ffrench

Rathmines again went undefeated on every board as they recorded a 5.5 to 2.5 win over Elm Mount’s finest. The result was sealed at the death when Manuel, superstar, beat David Fitzsimons on board 1. There were wins too for Darren and Tony, with all other games being drawn.

The result was tighter than the final result suggests. Certainly, Leon was in a losing position for most of his game, Manuel was worse out of the opening, and Tony was in a very complex game that could have gone either way. But as in soccer, where a game lasts 90 minutes, chess requires concentration over all phases, and all three were able to capitalise on mistakes from our opponents.

Well done to the team, who now head into the New Year top of the table.

Leinster Junior Chess Championships in January

Read all about it in the

Leinster Schools Chess A4 FA HQ.

Collins IM defeated as Gonzaga crushed

Rathmines won in spectacular fashion last night, Dec 1st, by beating the Armstrong leaders, Gonzaga, 7-1, with six wins and two draws. Even with one or two strong players missing, Gonzaga put out a very strong team.

The team was put out with Manuel on board one in order to “sacrifice” him, to maximise our chances on the lower boards. We thought that Sam Collins – Ireland’s #3 ranked player and IM – would inevitably defeat whoever we put against him. But Manuel turned out to be the star of the night, beating Sam and sending a ripple of shock and delight through the club. Aside from being a brilliant personal triumph, it sent a rush of adreniline through Rathmines.

Killian – last to start and first to finish – racked up a win early, even before his opponent had managed to castle. Leon followed up with another win and we were 3-0 up.

Darren looked to have messed things up against Ray Byrne (although I am sure he’ll claim otherwise) in a R+B+4Ps vs. 2B+6Ps ending. White had a passer on d6 which looked ominous. But Darren reached a B+4Ps vs. B+4Ps ending with a tiny edge which he skillfully exploited.

Tomasz looked to have a massive attack against Eoghan Casey, while Tony was comfortable against Carl Jackson. Mel had a distinctly better position in his game against John McMorrow, while I couldn’t see any advantage for either Sam Osborne or Gordon Freeman on board 2. In the time scrambles that followed, Tony went a piece up, almost lost to a counter-attack, then entered a winning endgame 2 pawns up, which was converted. Mel won, cooly converting his advantage.

Tomasz lost the thread somewhere and looked worse right near the end. With both of them in massive time-trouble, a draw was offered and accepted. Times: Tomasz 12 secs, Eoghan 4 secs! 

I didn’t see the end of Sam’s game, but it also ended in a draw.

The result puts Rathmines A clear on 28 points at the top of the board, with Gonzaga down to 24.5 points. We’ve played Dublin, Dublin University, Bray/Greystones and Gonzaga, out of five matches, so the opponents have been strong. There are 3 strong opponents left – Kilkenny, Phibsboro, and Elm Mount A. But we fancy our chances now of winning the league.

Lecture and Christmas Blitz

The next Chess Lecture will be presented by Killian Delaney in the club on Thursday, 15th December, 2011, at 8pm. The working title is “How to win at chess / How to analyse your games“. All members are invited to attend.  There will be a nominal charge of €2 for this talk.  All proceeds will again go towards Rathmines Junior chess club. For those of you who don´t know Killian: he hails from the illustrious Delaney clan of former Irish Champions.  He’s a long standing member of our top Armstrong team with a rating of 2051.  I’m sure this will be a fascinating insight into how a strong player thinks about chess.

The Annual Christmas Blitz tournament will take place in the club on Monday, 19th December, 2011, at 8pm.  All members welcome.  Free entry.  As usual, it´s sure to be great fun with generous prizes of wine, chocs, etc. up for grabs for players of all standards.  Note that this will be the last club night of the year, as we will be shut right through the Xmas/New Year period.  Further details to follow.

Michael Kennedy,

Club President.

John Delaney Lecture

We are delighted to announce that FIDE Master, former four-time Irish Champion and Rathmines club member John Delaney will give a chess talk in the club on Thursday, 13th October, 2011, at 8pm.

The topic will be “Beating the 1.e4 player – some practical ideas”.

All members are invited to attend!
There will be a nominal charge of €2. All proceeds will go towards Rathmines Junior Chess Club.
I hope to see you all there.

Michael Kennedy
President, Rathmines Chess Club

Captains meeting

There will be a meeting for all captains of teams on Monday 26th of September at 8.00pm. This is to choose teams for the up-coming league season, which kicks off soon.

Chess Lecture

Andrew McGrath
Secretary Rathmines Chess Club

Please note that Darren McCabe is giving a chess lecture this Thursday on
Rooks in the opening and middle game. This lecture follows on from Darren’s
successful lecture on bishops and knights in the middle game. The cost of
the lecture will be €5 and it will be a great lecture with plenty of detail
and examples.

The lecture will take place at 7.30 in the club on Thursday the 22nd of
September and will go on for approximately two hours. All are welcome to
attend.

Blitz Results – Another Belgian Victory!

Place	Name            	Feder	Rtg 	Loc 	Score	M-Buch.	Buch.	Progr.

  1  	Rogier, Jan     	BEL  	2107	2168	7.5  	   31.0	 38.5	  38.0
  2  	Janssens, Carlo 	BEL  	2106	2005	7    	   31.5	 39.5	  32.5
 3-5 	Meskens, Stefan 	BEL  	1848	1857	5.5  	   37.0	 48.5	  28.5
     	Killane, Jack   	     	2046	1756	5.5  	   36.5	 48.0	  26.5
     	Burns, John     	     	1936	1776	5.5  	   34.0	 42.0	  25.5
 6-7 	Verhasselt, Kris	BEL  	1959	1910	5    	   29.0	 37.0	  23.0
     	Moore, Ken      	     	    	1572	5    	   26.0	 32.0	  21.0
 8-9 	Aherne, John    	     	1987	1783	4.5  	   37.0	 45.0	  29.5
     	Burke, James    	     	    	1661	4.5  	   36.5	 44.5	  24.5
10-12	Gaffney, John   	     	    	1401	4    	   29.0	 34.5	  14.0
     	Maher, John     	     	    	1386	4    	   28.5	 36.0	  21.0
     	Osborne, James  	     	    	1436	4    	   25.0	 31.0	  17.0
 13  	Kennedy, Michael	     	1799	1793	3    	   28.0	 33.5	   9.0
 14  	McCrann, Roland 	     	    	1223	2    	   27.0	 34.5	  13.0
15-16	Moloney, Ian    	     	    	1702	0.5  	   31.0	 39.0	   3.5
     	Hall, Shane     	     	    	700 	0.5  	   28.5	 36.5	   3.5

No	Name            	Feder	Rtg 	 1  	 2  	 3  	 4  	 5  	 6  	 7  	 8  	 9  

1 	Rogier, Jan     	BEL  	2107	15:W	 5:W	 8:W	 6:W	 2:L	 3:D	 4:W	 9:W	16:W
2 	Janssens, Carlo 	BEL  	2106	 9:W	 3:D	 4:L	11:W	 1:W	 8:W	 5:D	14:W	15:W
3 	Meskens, Stefan 	BEL  	1848	12:W	 2:D	 6:L	 5:W	 7:W	 1:D	 8:D	 4:L	 9:W
4 	Killane, Jack   	     	2046	 7:L	12:W	 2:W	 8:L	 6:W	11:W	 1:L	 3:W	 5:D
5 	Burns, John     	     	1936	14:W	 1:L	 9:D	 3:L	15:W	 7:W	 2:D	 8:W	 4:D
6 	Verhasselt, Kris	BEL  	1959	11:W	 8:L	 3:W	 1:L	 4:L	14:W	 9:L	16:W	13:W
7 	Moore, Ken      	     	    	 4:W	 9:L	11:L	14:W	 3:L	 5:L	16:W	15:W	10:W
8 	Aherne, John    	     	1987	16:W	 6:W	 1:L	 4:W	 9:W	 2:L	 3:D	 5:L	12:L
9 	Burke, James    	     	    	 2:L	 7:W	 5:D	15:W	 8:L	12:W	 6:W	 1:L	 3:L
10	Gaffney, John   	     	    	 0: 	 0: 	 0: 	 0: 	13:W	16:W	11:W	12:W	 7:L
11	Maher, John     	     	    	 6:L	16:W	 7:W	 2:L	12:W	 4:L	10:L	13:L	14:W
12	Osborne, James  	     	    	 3:L	 4:L	14:W	16:W	11:L	 9:L	15:W	10:L	 8:W
13	Kennedy, Michael	     	1799	 0: 	 0: 	 0: 	 0: 	10:L	15:W	14:W	11:W	 6:L
14	McCrann, Roland 	     	    	 5:L	15:W	12:L	 7:L	16:W	 6:L	13:L	 2:L	11:L
15	Moloney, Ian    	     	    	 1:L	14:L	16:D	 9:L	 5:L	13:L	12:L	 7:L	 2:L
16	Hall, Shane     	     	    	 8:L	11:L	15:D	12:L	14:L	10:L	 7:L	 6:L	 1:L

Blitz Monday

A special blitz event is being held in the club on Monday 5th September, 8pm. We’ll have the four strong Belgian players (see below) so it’ll be well worth coming along.