SUMMER TEAM TOURNAMENT Final Round

SUMMER TEAM TOURNAMENT Round 3
Team F ( 4 pts.) v. Team B ( 4.5 pts.)
Pat Mc Evoy 0-1 Michael Kennedy
Paul Mogerley 0-1 Peter Bishop
Dee Mowlds 0-1 Peter Cooke
Total 4 pts. Total 7.5 pts.

Team E ( 3 pts.) v. Team D ( 3.5 pts.)
Peter Lynch 1-0 John Crowley
Joe Flood 1-0 Una O’Boyle
Johannah 0-1 Pat O’Brien
Lowry-O’Reilly
Total 5 pts. Total 4.5 pts.
J.Crowley sub for Elizabeth O’Shaughnessy

Team C ( 2 Pts.) v. Team A ( 1 pt.)
James Burke 0-1 Jack Killane
Rob Wilson 0-1 Andrew McGrath
Frank Cooke 0-1 Shane Hall
Total 2 pts. Total 4 pts.

Round 4 (FINAL) Tues. 30th June
B v. D , A v. E , C v. F

STANDINGS
Team B – 7.5 points
Team E – 5 points
Team D – 4.5 points
Team F & Team A – 4 points
Team C – 2 points

SUMMER TEAM TOURNAMENT Round 2

Team F ( 2.5 pts.) v. Team E ( 1.5 pts. )
Pat Mc Evoy 0-1 Peter Lynch
Paul Mogerley 0.5-0.5 Joe Flood
Dee Mowlds 1-0 Johannah Lowry
O’Reilly
Total 4 pts. Total 3 pts.

Team B ( 1.5 pts. ) v. Team C ( 2 pts. )
Michael Kennedy 1-0 James Burke
Peter Bishop 1-0 Rob Wilson
Peter Cooke ?-? Frank Cooke
Total 3.5 pts. Total 2 pts.

Team D ( 1 pt.) v. Team A ( 0.5 pt. )
Elizabeth 1-0 Jack Killane
O’Shaughnessy
Una O’Boyle 1-0 Andrew McGrath
Pat O’Brien 0.5-0.5 Shane Hall
Total 3.5 pts. Total 1 pt.

Round 3 Tues. 22nd :
F v. B , E v. D , C v. A .

Elisabeth O’Shaughnessy vs. James Burke, REPLAY GAME HERE
Round 1 of the team tournament, Tuesday 9th June 2009.
Annotated by James Burke

1.e4 c5 2.c3 Alapin’s move – perhaps inspired by Sam Collins’ recommendation…!?
2…d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bb5 Nf6 6.d4

Given the circumstances, as shown in the next note, better might have been 6.Na3 with 6…Bg4 the most likely move.

Read the rest of this entry »

Results from the first round – played last Tuesday 9th June.

SUMMER TEAM TOURNAMENT Round 1

TEAM A V. TEAM F
Jack Killane 0.5-0.5 Pat Mc Evoy
Andrew McGrath 0-1 Paul Mogerley
Shane Hall 0-1 Dee Mowlds
Total 0.5 pts. Total 2.5 pts.

TEAM E V. TEAM B
PeterLynch 0-1 Michael Kennedy
Joe Flood 1-0 Peter Bishop
Johannah 0.5-0.5 Peter Cooke
Lowry-O’Reilly
Total 1.5 pts. Total 1.5 pts.

TEAM C V. TEAM D
James Burke 1-0 Elizabeth O’Shaughnessy
Rob Wilson 0-1 Una O’Boyle
Frank Cooke 1-0 Pat O’Brien
Total 2 pts. Total 1 pt.

Round 2 Tuesday 16th: E v. F, B v. C, D v. A.

All the results are now posted for Seniors, Intermediates, and Juniors.

Seniors – Winner: Tony Scannell, Runner-up: Jack Killane/Michael Kennedy (?)

Intermediates – Winner: John Gaffney, Runner-up: Nick Pierce (on tie-break from Atanas Kouhtev)

Juniors – Winner: Una O’Boyle (on tie-break), Runner-up: Andrew McGrath

Reminder

Ratings

No  Name                    Feder Loc Id Loc  Score Exp. Chg*K Rav Rprfm

1.  O'BOYLE, UNA                  5196   1123 5.0/6 5.16    -2 810  1083
2.  McGRATH, ANDREW               6937   1107 4.0/5 4.15    -2 830  1070
3.  O'BRIEN, PAT                  12057  938  3.5/6 4.50   -10 743   800
4.  WILSON, ROBERT                10735  858  4.0/6 2.82    12 879  1004
5.  COOKE, FRANK                  10771  765  4.0/6 2.04    20 883  1008
6.  HALL, SHANE                   3312   726  2.5/6 2.22     3 822   765
7.  MOWLDS, DEE                   6904   703  0.5/5 0.95    -5 950   584
8.  COOKE, PETER                  12169  702  1.5/5 1.50     0 850   701
9.  LOWRY-O'REILLY, JOHANNA       5535   701  1.0/3 0.54     5 968   843
10. O'RAW, MARION                 12113  700  0.0/4 1.64   -16 763     0

Results

No Name                   Result   Name          

 1 O'BOYLE, U (1)           0:1    COOKE, F (5)
 2 O'RAW, M (10)            -:+    McGRATH, A (2)
 3 LOWRY-O'REILLY, J (9)    0:1    WILSON, R (4)
 4 MOWLDS, D (7)            0:1    O'BRIEN, P (3)
 5 HALL, S (6)              1:0    COOKE, P (8)

Standings

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

 1-2  O'BOYLE, UNA                      1123 5        12.5  18.0   20.0
      McGRATH, ANDREW                   1107 5        11.5  17.5   18.0
 3-4  COOKE, FRANK                      765  4        12.5  18.5   15.0
      WILSON, ROBERT                    858  4        11.5  17.5   14.0
  5   O'BRIEN, PAT                      938  3.5      11.0  16.0   11.0
  6   LOWRY-O'REILLY, JOHANNA           701  3        10.5  16.0   11.0
  7   HALL, SHANE                       726  2.5      10.5  16.5    5.0
 8-9  MOWLDS, DEE                       703  1.5      14.5  22.0    5.0
      COOKE, PETER                      702  1.5      12.5  18.5    6.0
 10   O'RAW, MARION                     700  0        13.0  19.5    0.0

Cross Table

No  Name                    Feder Rtg  1    2    3    4    5    6  

1.  O'BOYLE, UNA                       6:W  4:W  8:W  2:W  7:W  5:L
2.  McGRATH, ANDREW                    9:W  7:W  5:W  1:L  4:W 10:+
3.  O'BRIEN, PAT                       8:D  6:W  9:L  4:L  5:W  7:W
4.  WILSON, ROBERT                     7:W  1:L 10:W  3:W  2:L  9:W
5.  COOKE, FRANK                      10:W  8:W  2:L  6:W  3:L  1:W
6.  HALL, SHANE                        1:L  3:L  7:D  5:L 10:W  8:W
7.  MOWLDS, DEE                        4:L  2:L  6:D  9:+  1:L  3:L
8.  COOKE, PETER                       3:D  5:L  1:L 10:W  9:-  6:L
9.  LOWRY-O'REILLY, JOHANNA            2:L 10:+  3:W  7:-  8:+  4:L
10. O'RAW, MARION                      5:L  9:-  4:L  8:L  6:L  2:-

Ratings

No Name             Feder Loc Id Loc  Score Exp. Chg*K  Rav Rprfm

1. O'CONNELL, JOHN        1232   1475 3.0/6 3.84    -8 1369  1369
2. PIERCE, NICHOLAS       1371   1432 2.5/5 3.00    -5 1357  1357
3. FREER, PATRICK         460    1431 2.0/5 3.20   -12 1328  1256
4. KOUHTEV, ATANAS        5571   1405 2.5/5 2.85    -4 1357  1357
5. MAHER, JOHN            834    1402 2.0/5 2.55    -6 1392  1320
6. BISHOP, PETER          3335   1400 3.0/6 3.48    -5 1339  1339
7. BYRNE, CIARAN J        2314   1324 2.0/5 2.15    -2 1373  1301
8. FLOOD, JOE             443    1249 1.5/4 1.08     4 1427  1340
9. GAFFNEY, JOHN          10737  1154 4.5/5 1.00    35 1398  1764

Results

No Name              Result   Name          

 1 GAFFNEY, J (9)      1:0    KOUHTEV, A (4)
 2 O'CONNELL, J (1)    1:0    PIERCE, N (2)
 3 BISHOP, P (6)       1:0    FREER, P (3)
 4 MAHER, J (5)        1:0    FLOOD, J (8)
 5 BYRNE, C (7)        1:0    BYE

Standings

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

  1   GAFFNEY, JOHN              1154 5.5      11.5  17.0   18.5
 2-3  PIERCE, NICHOLAS           1432 3.5      11.0  18.5   14.0
      KOUHTEV, ATANAS            1405 3.5      10.5  18.0   14.0
 4-8  BYRNE, CIARAN J            1324 3        12.0  20.0   10.5
      FREER, PATRICK             1431 3        12.0  19.5   12.5
      MAHER, JOHN                1402 3        12.0  17.5    8.5
      O'CONNELL, JOHN            1475 3        11.0  16.5    9.0
      BISHOP, PETER              1400 3        10.5  18.0    9.0
  9   FLOOD, JOE                 1249 2.5      11.5  17.0    9.0

Cross Table

No Name             Feder Rtg 1   2   3   4   5   6  

1. O'CONNELL, JOHN            6:D 7:L 8:D 5:W 4:L 2:W
2. PIERCE, NICHOLAS           7:D  :W 5:W 9:L 3:W 1:L
3. FREER, PATRICK             8:D 9:D  :W 4:W 2:L 6:L
4. KOUHTEV, ATANAS            5:D 8:+ 7:W 3:L 1:W 9:L
5. MAHER, JOHN                4:D 6:D 2:L 1:L  :W 8:W
6. BISHOP, PETER              1:D 5:D 9:L 7:D 8:D 3:W
7. BYRNE, CIARAN J            2:D 1:W 4:L 6:D 9:L  :W
8. FLOOD, JOE                 3:D 4:- 1:D  :W 6:D 5:L
9. GAFFNEY, JOHN               :W 3:D 6:W 2:W 7:W 4:W

Rathmines played Bray in the final of the Branagan Cup last Thursday, 28th May (sorry for the late result, but I was away in sunny Galway for the week!). They drew 2.5 to 2.5, but lost on tie-break. Congrats to Bray/Greystones on winning the competition.

Rathmines vs. Bray/Greystones
1.John Delaney  318 2236   0-1   Colm Daly 295 2264
2.Peter Cafolla 159  2036   0.5-0.5 John Joyce 658 2172
3.Killian  Delaney 5104 1984  1-0  Eric Bennett  2741 1868
4.Darren McCabe 5722 1883  0-1  Pat Reynolds  1430 1889
5.Mindaugas Janusaitis  12148 1955  1-0  Brian Gaines 466 1672
 
Match  Result    :         Rathmines 2.5  – 2.5  Bray/Greystones
 
On tie-break Bray/Greystones win ( after elimination of Board 5 result).

RELAY GAME HERE

French Defence, Winawer Variation
Jack Killane (1827) vs. Peter Lynch (1578)
Rathmines Senior Club Championships, Round 5.

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nge2
Slightly unusual-looking defence, although a book move.
4…Ne7 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Nxc3 Nd7 7. Bf4 O-O 8. Be2 a6 9. Bf3 Nf6 10. e5 Nd7 11. O-O c5 12. Ne2 c4?

I don’t like this move, personally. It takes the pressure off d4 and commits black to expanding on the queenside instead. Better would be Ng6 or taking on d4 and following with a quick f6 to dissolve white’s centre and accompanying space advantage.

13. Qd2 b5 14. Ng3 f6 15. exf6 Nxf6 16. Rae1 Ng6 17. Be5

This seems to throw away white’s advantages.
17…Nxe5 18. Rxe5 Bd7 19. Qg5 Qb6 20. c3 a5 21. Nh5 Nxh5 22. Bxh5 Rf6

23. Qd2 White misses the trick Rxd5!, winning the pawn, because exd5?? loses the rook on a8 to check.

23…b4 24. axb4 axb4 25. Ree1 Ra2 26. cxb4 Rf8 27. Bg4 Rfa8 28. Qe3 R8a6 29. Qc3 R2a4 30. Re2 Qxb4 31. Qh3 Qb6 32. Rfe1 Qxd4 33. Bxe6+

The critical point. What does black do? It looks like the e6 pawn has been lost with no compensation, plus white’s rooks are threatening to win the game very quickly down the open e-file. The bishop is en prise, which means the king cannot move out of check. What to do?

33…Bxe6?? 34. Rxe6 Ra1 35. Re8+ Kf7 36. R8e7+ Kg6 37. R7e6+ Kf7 38. Qh5+
Mate follows in a few moves 1-0

Looking back to move 33, Black should have taken advantage of the pin through to the queen on h3, and the weak back rank, with the saving move 33…Rxe6!! (see diagram below) with a draw the likely result.

Here is a possible sequence:
33…Rxe6!! 34. Rxe6 Ra6! protecting the sixth rank and threatening to win with Bxe6 or Rxe6 next… 35. Re8+ Bxe8 36. Rxe8+ Kf7 37. Qd7+ This looks very dangerous, but the black rook and queen are protecting important squares around their king, plus there is the constant threat of mate against white’s weak back rank. 37…Kg6 38. Re6+ Rxe6 39. Qxe6+ Kh5 40. Qf5+ Kh6 41. h4 etc…

So, an opportunity missed for Peter to draw. In fairness, it was a tough one to see!

John Burns (1774) vs. James Burke (1712)
Round 6 of the Rathmines Senior Club Championships
Queen’s Gambit Declined

REPLAY GAME HERE

All comments by James Burke

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.cxd5

There was an improvement for Black in the Exchange Variation a few years ago, which I believe was featured in the relevant Dangerous Weapons book but, as we’ve approached it from a different move order…

Read the rest of this entry »

Results for Round Six
1 McEVOY, P (11) 0:1 SCANNELL, T (5)
2 KENNEDY, M (4) .5:.5 KILLANE, J (3)
3 CROWLEY, J (9) 0:1 JANUSAITIS, M (2)
4 BURNS, J (6) 0:1 BURKE, J (8)
5 LYNCH, P (10) 0:1 DOYLE, P (7)

Final Standings
1 SCANNELL, TONY 1790 5.5

2-3 KENNEDY, MICHAEL 1796 4
KILLANE, JACK 1829 4

4 JANUSAITIS, MINDAUGAS 1857 3.5

5-6 McEVOY, PAT 1535 3
BURKE, JAMES 1712 3

7 BURNS, JOHN 1774 2.5

8-9 CROWLEY, JOHN 1634 2
DOYLE, PHILIP 1733 2

10 LYNCH, PETER J. 1578 1.5

Cross Table
No Name Feder Rtg 1 2 3 4 5 6

1. KALAM, ABDUL 9:L 4:- : : : :
2. JANUSAITIS, MINDAUGAS 7:W 6:W 4:D 5:L 8:L 9:W
3. KILLANE, JACK 8:W : D 5:L 10:W 6:W 4:D
4. KENNEDY, MICHAEL : D 1:+ 2:D 11:W 5:D 3:D
5. SCANNELL, TONY 10:W 9:W 3:W 2:W 4:D 11:W
6. BURNS, JOHN 11:W 2:L 10:D 7:W 3:L 8:L
7. DOYLE, PHILIP 2:L 11:L 8:W 6:L 9:L 10:W
8. BURKE, JAMES 3:L 10:L 7:L 9:W 2:W 6:W
9. CROWLEY, JOHN 1:W 5:L 11:L 8:L 7:W 2:L
10. LYNCH, PETER J. 5:L 8:W 6:D 3:L 11:L 7:L
11. McEVOY, PAT 6:L 7:W 9:W 4:L 10:W 5:L

Ratings
1. KALAM, ABDUL 16042 2059 0.0/1 0.93 -9 1634 635
2. JANUSAITIS, MINDAUGAS 12148 1857 3.5/6 3.96 -5 1740 1797
3. KILLANE, JACK 740 1829 3.5/5 3.20 3 1730 1879
4. KENNEDY, MICHAEL 3955 1796 2.5/4 2.24 3 1753 1848
5. SCANNELL, TONY 1533 1790 5.5/6 3.72 18 1705 2106
6. BURNS, JOHN 137 1774 2.5/6 3.54 -10 1707 1650
7. DOYLE, PHILIP 367 1733 2.0/6 3.42 -14 1682 1557
8. BURKE, JAMES 1819 1712 3.0/6 2.82 2 1734 1734
9. CROWLEY, JOHN 277 1634 2.0/6 1.80 2 1781 1656
10. LYNCH, PETER J. 813 1578 1.5/6 1.80 -3 1729 1536
11. McEVOY, PAT 10307 1535 3.0/6 1.56 14 1718 1718

(Note: will post Junior and Inter results once the last two games are played on Thursday.)

Thanks to the ICU, we have a new ratings list for club members.

318 Delaney, John (FM) 2236 (Our new No. 1)
159 Cafolla, Peter 2036 (+49 points, rising back over 2000)
16042 Kalam, Abdul 2015
5104 Delaney, Killian 1984 (+62 points)
12148 Janusaitis, Mindaugas 1955 (+98 points after a tremendous league season)
5722 McCabe, Darren 1883
740 Killane, Jack 1852 (leaving the 1700’s behind him again…)
3955 Kennedy, Michael J. 1824 (+28 points)
497 Goggins, David 1817
406 Fagan, Leon 1790
10298 Goralski, Lukasz 1787
1533 Scannell, Tony 1786
137 Burns, John 1761
9 Aherne, John P. 1731
367 Doyle, Philip P. 1727
1819 Burke, James 1712
16385 Moore, Kenneth 1657
4984 Walsh, Graeme 1624
277 Crowley, John 1604
813 Lynch, Peter J. 1564
10307 McEvoy, Pat 1540
1232 O’Connell, John 1460
3647 O’Connell, David 1452
3335 Bishop, Peter 1441 (+41 points, a large rise for Peter)
1371 Pierce, Nicholas 1427
460 Freer, Patrick 1412
834 Maher, John 1408
5571 Kouhtev, Atanas 1402
6055 Osborne, James 1382
900 Mogerley, Paul 1339
2314 Byrne, Ciaran J. 1323
12273 Gruel, Thomas 1290* 6
6250 Walsh, Kevin 1262
5196 O’Boyle, Una 1144
6937 McGrath, Andrew 1121
10357 McCrann, Roland 1042
10474 Cunningham, Edward 1035 (+102 points, a very large rise from 933)
12057 O’Brien, Pat 981
10735 Wilson, Robert 923
10771 Cooke, Frank 760* 17
12169 Cooke, Peter 747
3312 Hall, Shane 737
5535 Lowry-O’Reilly, Johanna 700
6904 Mowlds, Dee 700
12113 O’Raw, Marion 700

Here’s a King’s Indian between James Burke and Mindaugas Janusaitis from round 5 of the Senior championships. All comments are from James.

REPLAY GAME HERE

Here is the pgn text:
Burke (White) vs. Janusaitis (Black)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d6 4. e4 Bg7 5. f3 O-O 6. Bg5 h6 7. Be3 e5 8. Qd2 Nbd7 9. O-O-O exd4 10. Bxd4 Qe7 11. Nge2 Nc5 12. Nf4 Be6 13. Ncd5 Bxd5 14. Nxd5 Nxd5 15. Bxg7 Kxg7 16. Qxd5 Qg5+ 17. Qxg5 hxg5 18. b4 Ne6 19. g3 a5 20. b5 Nc5 21. e5 dxe5 22. Rd5 b6 23. Rxe5 Rfe8 24. Re2 Rad8 25. Kc2 f5 26. h4 gxh4 27. Rxh4 Ne6 28. Kc3 g5 29. Rh5 Kg6 30. Reh2 Kf6 31. Rh6+ Ke5 32. Re2+ Kd6 33. Bh3 g4 34. fxg4 Kd7 35. gxf5 Ng5 36. Rd2+ Ke7 37. Rxd8 Kxd8 38. Kd3 Re1 39. f6 Nxh3 40. Rh8+ Re8 41. Rxh3 Kd7 42. Rh7+ Kd6 43. g4 Re1 44. g5 Rf1 45. f7 Ke7 46. g6 Rd1+ 47. Kc2 Rd8 48. f8=Q+ 1-0

Full game with comments
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d6 4.e4 Bg7 5.f3 O-O 6.Bg5

Normally I’d play 6.Be3 here but have taken to playing this as a means of “throwing” KID players – it’s usually played either with Nf3 (Averbakh) or in the Exchange Variation after …e5; de, de; Qxd8, Rxd8; Bg5 with the idea of Bxf6, Bxf6; Nd5 winning either the bishop or the exchange (Ra8). In the latter variation, after Bg5, Black has a choice of …c6, …Na6 or …Re8, preparing Bxf6, Bxf6; Nd5, Bd8}

6…h6 7.Be3 e5 8.Qd2 ( 8.dxe5 dxe5 9.Qxd8 Rxd8 10.Nd5 ) 8…Nbd7
Countering, rather than playing the defensive 8…Kh7. 8…Nc6 or 8…exd4 9.Bxd4 Nc6 10.Be3 were also possible.) 9.O-O-O exd4 10.Bxd4 Qe7

After some thought. Black decides it’s best to remove the queen from the latent pin on the d-file. The pressure exerted by the queen and rook battery on d6 means that Black has to be careful lest he allow White to advance either the c- or e-pawns, potentially winning material.
11.Nge2 Nc5
11…Ne5 followed by 12…Be6 would be more usual.
12.Nf4 Be6 13.Ncd5
13.h4 is more thematic with h5 14.Kb1 a5 15.Be2 a4 16.Bxc5 dxc5 17.Nxe6 Qxe6 18.Nb5 Rad8 19.Qxd8 as one possibility. 13…Bxd5 During the post-mortem, I expressed my astonishment that he’d chosed to exchange off his white-squared bishop, as this is one of the main goals for White in the KID. Mingdaugus did point out that the position was closed, however. Nevertheless, I’d have expected the Nf6 to capture first …
14.Nxd5 Nxd5 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.Qxd5
16.cxd5 would be more normal, in this sort of position, as he also pointed out during the post-mortem but I wanted to keep the d-file open since the pressure exerted on it had worked well so far.
16…Qg5+ Perhaps Black wanted to get rid of the troublesome duo – even at the cost of doubling the g-pawns!? Another possibility was 16…a5 17.Qd4+ f6 18.h4 h5 19.g3 a4 20.Bh3 a3 21.b3 Na6 22.Kb1
17.Qxg5 hxg5 18.b4?

I was worried about him playing 18…f5 intending to exchange on e4, either winning the e-pawn or isolating it, thus compensating for his doubled and isolated g-pawns. The open f-file along with the half-open e- and h-files would give him plenty of targets for counterplay. 18.Bd3 Nxd3 19.Rxd3 f5 isn’t much better as I’d have to either undouble his g-pawns with 20.ef gf or play something on the lines of 20.Re1 Rae8 21 Rde3. Another, better, possibility was 18.Rd5 Ne6 19.g3 Rh8 20.h3 a6 21.Kc2 Rad8 22.Kc3 c6 23.Rd2 c5 24.Bg2

18…Ne6 19.g3 a5 20.b5 Nc5 21.e5!?
Still worrying about …f5. If a file was to be fully opened, I wanted it to be the one I already controlled. Also, 21.Bg2 Rh8 22.h3 Nd7 23.Kc2 Rae8 24.Rhf1 b6 25.Rfe1 Nf6 26.Rg1 Re5 was a possibility.
21…dxe5 22.Rd5 b6 23.Rxe5 Rfe8
Obvious, once he played it! I hadn’t considered this, favouring either 23…Ne6 or 23…f6 – or even 23…f5, as 24.Re7+ is met with 24…Rf7. Clearly 24.Rxg5? is out of the question – I instantly dismissed it due to 24…Re1+ followed by 25.Ke2 Ra1, and Black has a straight run through with his passed a-pawn. Equally, White’s bishop and rook in the corner would be unable to do anything – if the king had gone to b2, playing Bg2?? to exchange the rooks on the back rank could be met with the simple …Re2+ winning the bishop. The problem was finding a decent square for the rook. During the post-mortem, Mindaugus also pointed out that 24.Rxg5?? is even more simply met with 24…f5 and 25…Ne6 winning the hapless rook. I trust that I would have spotted this had the rook invasion to the back rank not been a possibility!

24.Re2 Rad8

Also 24…f5 25.Kc2 Rad8 26.Rxe8 Rxe8 27.Kd2 f4 28.Be2 Re3 29.Rb1 Ra3 30.Rb2 g4 is a possibility.
25.Kc2 f5 26.h4 I wanted the h-file open for another way into his position. The exchange with 26.Rxe8 Rxe8 with perhaps 27.Kd2 f4 28.Be2 Re3 29.gxf4 gxf4 30.Rc1 Kf6 31.Rc3 Re8 32.Bf1 Rh8 to follow, wasn’t appealing. 26…gxh4 Better, maybe, was 26…Rxe2+ 27.Bxe2 Rh8 28.Kd2 f4 29.gxf4 gxh4 30.Ke3 Kf6 31.Bd1 Nb7 32.Bc2 Nd6 33.Bd3
27.Rxh4 Ne6 I definitely began to feel happier about the position now that I’d solved the rook-in-the-corner problem! Black could also have tried 27…Re6 28.Rhh2 Red6 29.Rd2 Rxd2+ 30.Rxd2 Rh8 31.Kc3 Kf6 32.Kd4 g5 33.Ke3 Rh1 34.Bg2 )
28.Kc3 g5 ( 28…Nf8 was surely better.) 29.Rh5 Kg6
During the post-mortem, Mingdaugus indicated that he’d wanted to play 29…f4 30.gf Nxf4? but this loses a pawn to 31.Rxg5+ Kf6/Kh6 32.Rxe8) 30.Reh2 Kf6 ( 30…Nf8 31.f4 Re3+ 32.Kc2 Rxg3 33.Rh6+ Kg7 34.fxg5 Re8 35.c5 bxc5 36.Ra6 Ne6 37.Rxa5 is a mess!)
31.Rh6+ Ke5?

Rybka finally switched to positive figures! {+0.16} This leads to, at least, the win of a pawn. 31…Kf7(!) was best, with 32.g4 Nd4 33.c5 Re3+ 34.Kb2 bxc5 35.gxf5 Nxf5 36.Bc4+ Kg7 37.Rh7+ Kg6 38.Rxc7 a possible continuation.)
32.Re2+ Kd6 33.Bh3 Played instantly – I now “knew” I was winning. 33…g4 34.fxg4 Kd7
At the time, since I was winning a pawn, I didn’t really bother looking any further. During the post-mortem, I mentioned that I’d expected him to play 34…fg?? – which is, of course, a huge blunder – losing the knight. He very kindly pointed that out – obvious, once you actually bother looking at it. Oops!
35.gxf5 ( { +4.72} As If I needed Rybka to tell me I was winning! However, stronger was 35.Bg2 Nd4 36.Rxe8 Kxe8 )
35…Ng5 36.Rd2+ I didn’t want to exchange on the e-file as this would allow either …Ne4+ winning the g-pawn or …Re3+, with the same result.

comments removed by editor – win is straightforward from here!
36…Ke7 37. Rxd8 Kxd8 38. Kd3 Re1 39. f6 Nxh3 40. Rh8+ Re8 41. Rxh3 Kd7 42. Rh7+ Kd6 43. g4 Re1 44. g5 Rf1 45. f7 Ke7 46. g6 Rd1+ 47. Kc2 Rd8 48. f8=Q+ 1-0

Senior CC – Round 6
DRAW

1 McEVOY, P (11) : SCANNELL, T (5)
2 KENNEDY, M (4) : KILLANE, J (3)
3 CROWLEY, J (9) : JANUSAITIS, M (2)
4 BURNS, J (6) : BURKE, J (8)
5 LYNCH, P (10) : DOYLE, P (7)

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

1 SCANNELL, TONY 1790 4.5 10.5 15.5 19.0
2-3 KENNEDY, MICHAEL 1796 3.5 12.0 19.0 14.0
KILLANE, JACK 1829 3.5 10.5 16.5 13.5
4 McEVOY, PAT 1535 3 9.0 14.5 11.0
5-6 JANUSAITIS, MINDAUGAS 1857 2.5 9.5 15.0 13.0
BURNS, JOHN 1774 2.5 9.0 13.5 11.0
7-8 CROWLEY, JOHN 1634 2 10.0 15.5 8.0
BURKE, JAMES 1712 2 8.5 13.0 5.0
9 LYNCH, PETER J. 1578 1.5 11.0 16.5 7.0
10 DOYLE, PHILIP 1733 1 9.0 13.5 4.0
11 KALAM, ABDUL 2059 0 5.0 5.0 0.0

Cross Table
No Name Feder Rtg 1 2 3 4 5 6
1. KALAM, ABDUL 9:L 4:- : : : :
2. JANUSAITIS, MINDAUGAS 7:W 6:W 4:D 5:L 8:L 9:
3. KILLANE, JACK 8:W : D 5:L 10:W 6:W 4:
4. KENNEDY, MICHAEL : D 1:+ 2:D 11:W 5:D 3:
5. SCANNELL, TONY 10:W 9:W 3:W 2:W 4:D 11:
6. BURNS, JOHN 11:W 2:L 10:D 7:W 3:L 8:
7. DOYLE, PHILIP 2:L 11:L 8:W 6:L 9:L 10:
8. BURKE, JAMES 3:L 10:L 7:L 9:W 2:W 6:
9. CROWLEY, JOHN 1:W 5:L 11:L 8:L 7:W 2:
10. LYNCH, PETER J. 5:L 8:W 6:D 3:L 11:L 7:
11. McEVOY, PAT 6:L 7:W 9:W 4:L 10:W 5:

Intermediates

1 GAFFNEY, J (9) : KOUHTEV, A (4)
2 O’CONNELL, J (1) : PIERCE, N (2)
3 BISHOP, P (6) : FREER, P (3)
4 MAHER, J (5) : FLOOD, J (8)
5 BYRNE, C (7) 1:0 BYE

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

1-2 GAFFNEY, JOHN 1154 4 11.0 16.5 16.0
PIERCE, NICHOLAS 1432 4 10.0 15.0 15.5
3 KOUHTEV, ATANAS 1405 3.5 9.5 14.5 14.0
4-5 FREER, PATRICK 1431 3 12.0 17.5 12.5
BYRNE, CIARAN J 1324 3 11.5 17.0 10.5
6 FLOOD, JOE 1249 2.5 9.5 14.0 9.0
7-9 MAHER, JOHN 1402 2 10.5 16.0 7.5
O’CONNELL, JOHN 1475 2 10.0 15.0 8.0
BISHOP, PETER 1400 2 9.5 14.5 8.0

Cross Table
No Name Feder Rtg 1 2 3 4 5 6

1. O’CONNELL, JOHN 6:D 7:L 8:D 5:W 4:L 2:
2. PIERCE, NICHOLAS 7:D :W 5:W 9:D 3:W 1:
3. FREER, PATRICK 8:D 9:D :W 4:W 2:L 6:
4. KOUHTEV, ATANAS 5:D 8:+ 7:W 3:L 1:W 9:
5. MAHER, JOHN 4:D 6:D 2:L 1:L :W 8:
6. BISHOP, PETER 1:D 5:D 9:L 7:D 8:D 3:
7. BYRNE, CIARAN J 2:D 1:W 4:L 6:D 9:L :W
8. FLOOD, JOE 3:D 4:- 1:D :W 6:D 5:
9. GAFFNEY, JOHN :W 3:D 6:W 2:D 7:W 4:

JUNIOR – Round 6
DRAW
No Name Result Name

1 O’BOYLE, U (1) : COOKE, F (5)
2 O’RAW, M (10) : McGRATH, A (2)
3 LOWRY-O’REILLY, J (9) : WILSON, R (4)
4 MOWLDS, D (7) : O’BRIEN, P (3)
5 HALL, S (6) : COOKE, P (8)

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

1 O’BOYLE, UNA 1123 5 9.0 14.0 20.0
2 McGRATH, ANDREW 1107 4 10.5 15.5 17.0
3-5 WILSON, ROBERT 858 3 11.0 16.0 13.0
COOKE, FRANK 765 3 9.5 14.5 14.0
LOWRY-O’REILLY, JOHANNA 701 3 8.0 12.0 11.0
6 O’BRIEN, PAT 938 2.5 9.0 13.5 10.0
7-9 MOWLDS, DEE 703 1.5 13.0 19.5 5.0
COOKE, PETER 702 1.5 10.5 15.5 6.0
HALL, SHANE 726 1.5 8.0 13.0 4.0
10 O’RAW, MARION 700 0 11.0 16.5 0.0
Cross Table
No Name Feder Rtg 1 2 3 4 5 6

1. O’BOYLE, UNA 6:W 4:W 8:W 2:W 7:W 5:
2. McGRATH, ANDREW 9:W 7:W 5:W 1:L 4:W 10:
3. O’BRIEN, PAT 8:D 6:W 9:L 4:L 5:W 7:
4. WILSON, ROBERT 7:W 1:L 10:W 3:W 2:L 9:
5. COOKE, FRANK 10:W 8:W 2:L 6:W 3:L 1:
6. HALL, SHANE 1:L 3:L 7:D 5:L 10:W 8:
7. MOWLDS, DEE 4:L 2:L 6:D 9:+ 1:L 3:
8. COOKE, PETER 3:D 5:L 1:L 10:W 9:L 6:
9. LOWRY-O’REILLY, JOHANNA 2:L 10:W 3:W 7:- 8:W 4:
10. O’RAW, MARION 5:L 9:L 4:L 8:L 6:L 2: