Reminder – club shut on Thursday March 20th

Blitz results

The last round of the Rathmines blitz tournament was held last night, March 18th. There was a large turnout of 19 players for the nine games, including one new player, Steve Song. The main interest was over the destination of the top prize for winner of the senior section.

Michael Kennedy: season report for Armstrong B team

Summing up a successful season for Rathmines B in the Armstrong:

The main goal of the Rathmines B Armstrong team at the start of the season was to avoid relegation. Mission accomplished. It was pretty clear that we were home and dry following our comprehensive victory over rivals Phibsboro B in round 9.

The secondary objective was to achieve good individual performances across the team. This was largely mission accomplished too, as most of the guys performed higher than their ratings. Well done lads! Peter Cafolla was our top performer. He scored a healthy 4.5/8 with a performance 2150+. On the next rating list he’ll be back well over 2000 again. Jack was our other star player. It was great to see him back in good form: he was our top scorer with 6/11, losing only one game. He’ll surely gain 40-odd points on the next list. David Goggins and John Burns both weighed in with a credible 5/11 against average opposition 1900-2000. I reckon both will gain 30-40 points on the next list. Lukasz scored 2/4 and Mindaugas pulled in 2/3, both against higher rated opposition. Both will gain points. Though I finished on -2 with only 4.5/11, I expect I’ll still pick up a few points.

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of captaining a top-flight team for the first time. It wasn’t all plain sailing, though. Amazingly, we didn’t field the same 8 players more than once in the whole season! It wasn’t easy pulling together a full team for each round. Luckily, our subs were always willing to step in (or out) at a moment’s notice. I’d like to thank John Crowley, John Maher, Peter Bishop, Pat McEvoy and Dave O’Connell for this. A key to our survival was the return of Lukasz Goralski and the arrival of Mindaugas Janusaitis mid-season. Without them, I’m sure we’d have been relegated. All in all, there are plenty of positives to take forward into next season.

Heidenfeld, Last round results

Rathmines vs. Malahide A, Heidenfeld, Round 11, 09 March 2008.
1 Philip Doyle 1709 0.5 – 0.5 Frank McMahon 2004
2 John Crowley 1682 0.5 – 0.5 Paul Reilly 1756
3 Peter Lynch 1630 0 – 1 Paul Taaffe 1712
4 Pat McEvoy 1566 0.5 – 0.5 Gerry Smith 1688
5 John Maher 1443 0.5 – 0.5 Kevin McGrane 1678
6 Pat Freer 1393 0.5 – 0.5 Gerard Buckley 1654
7 Paul Mogerley 1341 0 – 1 Vincent Bissett 1639
8 Ed Cunningham 991 1 – 0 Carsten Meussig 1575    
Result: 3.5 – 4.5
 

General Notices

The third and final round of the Blitz tournament is next Tuesday 18th March. (Even if you haven’t competed in the previous rounds, you can still play in this round. Nine games per round.)

The club will be shut on Holy Thursday, 20th March.

The committee have decided the dates and terms of the Rathmines Club Championships. (There is a flyer attached in the posting below this one.)

The Summer Team Competition will be held on four June nights: Tuesday 3rd, 10th, 17th, and 24th. Teams of 3 players split by grading.

We are forming two Brannigan Cup teams and one Killane Shield team. The Branagan Cup teams are open to all members who played in the recent Armstrong Cup or Heidenfeld league teams. The Killane Shield team will be open to members who played in the Ennis or O’Hanlon. If you are interested in playing, please contact Peter Bishop or Michael Kennedy.

GAMES

I am always looking for annotated games to put up on the website. If you have played an exciting or interesting game this season, whether in the leagues or a tournament, please feel free to send it to me for publication. Annotating your own games is one of the most recommended ways for players to improve their knowledge of chess. No games (especially not for us amateurs) are perfect. Mistakes are often very enlightening too, so please do not hesitate just because there are mistakes in your games!

Recently published games:

Scannell vs. Mahon

McCabe vs Cassidy

Burns vs McDonagh

Dixon vs. Koomvilai

Jack Killane games x 3

Rathmines Chess Club Championships 2008

Starts April 8th 2008. You can download the flyer here:
Rathmines Chess Club Championships 2008

Phibsboro A crush Rathmines B to win title

Rathmines B vs. Phibsboro A

1 Peter Cafolla 1976 0 – 1 Stephen Brady 2335
2 David Goggins 1834 0 – 1 Stephen Jessel 2246
3 John Aherne 1803 0 – 1 Paul Dempsey 2121
4 Lukasz Goralski 1752 0 – 1 Richard O’Donovan 2073
5 John Burns 1763 0 – 1 Kevin Butler 1967
6 Jack Killane 1747 0.5 – 0.5 John Nolan 1955
7 Michael Kennedy 1777 0 – 1 Dave Salter 1861
8 Ken Moore 1701 0 – 1 Xavier Xerxes Busig 1871
 Score:  0.5 – 7.5
 
REPORT FROM MICHAEL KENNEDY, Captain of Rathmines B Armstrong Team

Yesterday, Sunday 9-Mar-08, in the final round of the league, Phibsboro A mercilessly crushed Rathmines B 7.5 – 0.5 on their way to a first Armstrong title in three years.  What follows is a brief board-by-board account of how things went.

Scannell vs. Mahon

Tony Scannell (1786) vs. Ciaran Mahon (1742)
Armstrong Cup Round 11
I’m playing for a board prize, and since I needed a win, I had to play for complications. I made extremely hard work of it in the opening, not building any advantage at all, but I got some lucky breaks in the middle game and managed to squeeze the win I needed.

Sicilian, Nimzovitch defense
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. d4 d5

For the rest of the game, click here.

Final Round Armstrong report

Armstrong Cup: Round 11, 9th March 2008 
St Benildus vs. Rathmines A 
1 Gerry O’Connell 2120 0-1 Daire McMahon 2160
2 Pavel Madynski 2178 0.5-0.5 John Hurley 2033
3 Tim McCarthy 1868 0-1 Darren McCabe 1857
4 Brendan Lyons 1876 0.5-0.5 Killian Delaney 1999
5 John Gibson 1785 0.5-0.5 Derek Smith 2007
6 Oisin Benson 1824 0-1 Leon Fagan 1731
7 Ciaran Mahon 1742 0-1 Tony Scannell 1786
8 David Willow 1737 1-0 Trevor Rufli 1737
Match Result   5.5-2.5 for Rathmines  

For full report, click here

Report Card: Armstrong A team vs. Kilkenny

Played March 1st 2008

Home Team: Rathmines A, Away Team: Kilkenny
1 Daire McMahon 2160 0-1 Alexander Baburin 2554
2 Mel O’Cinneide 2205 0-1 Mark Heidenfeld 2386
3 John Hurley 2033 0.5-0.5 Mark Quinn 2364
4 Derek Smith 2007 1-0 Ryan Rhys Griffiths 2054
5 Killian Delaney 1999 0.5-0.5 Eamon Keogh 1993
6 Darren McCabe 1857 0-1 Darko Polimac 1938
7 Tony Scannell 1786 0.5-0.5 Fergal O’Dwyer 1875
8 Leon Fagan 1731 1-0 Sean Bradley 1694
Match Result   3.5-4.5  

Rathmines A vs. Kilkenny in the Armstrong

Rathmines played Kilkenny over various dates between Tuesday 26th February and Saturday 1st March. The match began with a win by Baburin over Daire McMahon and a draw between Killian and Eamonn Keogh on the Tuesday. John Hurley, on Thursday 28th, obtained a fine draw against IM Quinn, but Mel succumbed to another IM, Heidenfeld. With their titled players providing a 3-1 lead, it was for the remaining boards to slug it out yesterday, Saturday 1st March.