Important Diary Dates

We are closed on Thursday next, 1st April because of Easter.

The Rathmines Club Championships begin on Monday, April 12th and run for six weeks after that, except for the May bank holiday, May 3rd, when matches will be played on the Thursday. The sections are Seniors (>=1600 rating), Intermediates (1300-1599 rating), and Juniors (<1300).

The championships are followed by the summer team tournament, now renamed the Paul Mogerley Memorial. We are trying to squeeze in all four rounds of the team tournament before the World Cup begins. This consists of teams of 3 players, one senior, one intermediate, and one junior.

The club are entering two teams in this year’s Branagan Cup, open to any player from the Armstrong and Heidenfeld teams. We are entering one team into the Brennan Cup. If you want to play in one of these events, please contact Jack Killane.

Kieran Cranny Blitz – Final Results

Tomasz and Leon shared honours in the final round, with Tomasz comfortably securing his overall win, despite an early loss to Leon in round 3. His only other dropped points was a draw against Tony in the last round. John Crowley put in a very good performance – as we know from the past that he can – with only two losses in a 7/9. One of his wins was over Leon, who otherwise had a flawless performance.

The most exciting game of the night was undoubtedly the struggle between James Burke and Atanas in round 4, where James was down to two seconds when he mated Atanas. At nine seconds to go, he was calmly trying to work out the best way to mate! And this was straight after dithering over a similar decision in the previous round against Roland when he managed to lose on time. Very cool! (Or daft?!)

The night (and whole event) was largely a success due to the efficient management of Michael Kennedy, who organised each round using John Crowley’s software. He even managed to compete in each round himself and be ever the gracious player at all times. I owe him for pointing out that my king was in check in our game, when he could just have taken it.

Final Table – Round 3
1 – 2 Skrzypnik, Tomasz 2057 7.5
Fagan, Leon 1790
3 Crowley, John 1613 7
4 Kalam, Abul 1995 6
5 – 6 Killane, Jack 1860 5.5
Scannell, Tony 1856
7 – 12 Moore, Ken 1657 5
Byrne, Ciaran 1328
Maher, John 1353
Osborne, James 1357
Gaffney, John 1409
Burke, James 1718
13 – 15 Kouhtev, Atanas 1367 4
Kennedy, Michael 1838
McCrann, Roland 1156
16 Cooke, Frank 846 3
17 – 18 Cooke, Peter 700 2.5
Kavenga, Patrick 1000
19 – 20 McEvoy, Pat 1586 0
Mowlds, Dee 700 0 30 35 0

A very convincing victory for Tomasz! He ended a clear 4.5 points ahead of Abul and Ken in second place.

Overall Standings after all three rounds
1 Skrzypnik, Tomasz 2057 7 7.5 7.5 22
2 – 3 Kalam, Abul 1993 6 5.5 6 17.5
Moore, Ken 1657 6 6.5 5 17.5
4 Scannell, Tony 1866 5.5 5.5 5.5 16.5
5 – 8 Byrne, Ciaran 1328 4 5 5 14
Fagan, Leon 1790 6.5 0 7.5 14
Gaffney, John 1409 5 4 5 14
Maher, John 1353 4 5 5 14
9 Killane, Jack 1888 0 7 5.5 12.5
10 Osborne, James 1357 4 3 5 12
11 Cooke, Peter 700 4 4.5 2.5 11
12 McCrann, Roland 1156 4 2.5 4 10.5
13 O’Brien, Cormac 1475 6 4 0 10
14 Kennedy, Michael 1838 0 5 4 9
15 Kouhtev, Atanas 1367 4.5 0 4 8.5
16 McEvoy, Pat 1586 4 4 0 8
17 – 18 Crowley, John 1613 0 0 7 7
O’Brien, Pat 960 4 3 0 7
19 Cooke, Frank 846 3 0 3 6
20 Ahern, John 1760 5.5 0 0 5.5
21 Burke,James 1718 0 0 5 5
22 Kavenga, Patrick 1000 2 0 2.5 4.5
23 Mowlds, Dee 700 1 0 0 1
24 Boyle, Paul 1150 0 0 0 0
25 Prost, Arthur 1000 0 0 0 0

Group B – A three-way tie for first place!
1 – 3 Byrne, Ciaran 1328 4 5 5 14
Gaffney, John 1409 5 4 5 14
Maher, John 1353 4 5 5 14
4 Osborne, James 1357 4 3 5 12
5 O’Brien, Cormac 1475 6 4 0 10
6 Kouhtev, Atanas 1367 4.5 0 4 8.5
7 McEvoy, Pat 1586 4 4 0 8
8 O’Brien, Pat 960 4 3 0 7
9 Cooke, Frank 846 3 0 3 6

But a clear winner in the Junior section – a fantastic win for the young Peter Cooke over Roland McCrann.
Group C
1 Cooke, Peter 700 4 4.5 2.5 11
2 McCrann, Roland 1156 4 2.5 4 10.5
3 O’Brien, Pat 960 4 3 0 7
4 Cooke, Frank 846 3 0 3 6
5 Kavenga, Patrick 1000 2 0 2.5 4.5
6 Mowlds, Dee 700 1 0 0 1
7 – 8 Boyle, Paul 1150 0 0 0 0
Prost, Arthur 1000 0 0 0 0

League Round-Up

Well done to the Rathmines O’Hanlon Cup team, who won their final match on Sunday last and, with it, the title. John Maher was the standout player on 9/11, winning a board prize. Well done John! But the entire team scored better than 50%, with James Osbourne on 7.5/11, John Gaffney on 7/11, and Atanas on 5.5/9, being the main contributors to the win. Liam King also scored a very good 3/4.

Meanwhile, the Heidenfeld A team came second, earning the right to promotion to division one next year, the Armstrong. Again, strong individual performances were everywhere – with John Burns (8/9), Michael Kennedy (8/10), and Leon Fagan (8/11) all just missing out on a board prize by the narrowest of margins. But their other players also chipped in with some fine percentage scores, such as Philip Doyle on 3.5/4, John Crowley on 4/6, and Lukasz on 4.5/6. Not to be forgotton was the fine last-round win by the Rathmines B team, of 4.5-3.5, over Drogheda. This helped the A team come second. However, it wasn’t enough to prevent the B team slipping down themselves.

In the Armstrong, the Rathmines team finished very strongly, with three match wins in their last three, to finish comfortably mid-table. At one point, we were hovering dangerously near the drop zone, but managed to finish 7 points above relegation in the end.

The BEA Cup team finished just below the promotion places in third. The Bodley Cup team finished joint bottom of their table, over a short season of only 6 games. But it is an important starting ground for players to gain some experience, so it is more about enjoying the learning than winning.

Reminder: Blitz Round 3 – Monday 22nd March

The final round of the Kieran Cranny Blitz tournament is being held on Monday next, March 22nd. All players are welcome! There is no requirement that you have competed in any round before now, although of course you won’t be in for a prize if you haven’t competed already.

The standings are:

Overall Standings
1 Skrzypnik, Tomasz 2057 7 7.5 14.5
2 Moore, Ken 1657 6 6.5 12.5
3 Kalam, Abul 1993 6 5.5 11.5
4 Scannell, Tony 1866 5.5 5.5 11
5 O’Brien, Cormac 1475 6 4 10
6-8 Byrne, Ciaran 1328 4 5 9
Gaffney, John 1409 5 4 9
Maher, John 1353 4 5 9
9 Cooke, Peter 700 4 4.5 8.5
10 McEvoy, Pat 1586 4 4 8
11-13 Killane, Jack 1888 0 7 7
O’Brien, Pat 960 4 3 7
Osborne, James 1357 4 3 7
14-15 Fagan, Leon 1790 6.5 0 6.5
McCrann, Roland 1156 4 2.5 6.5
16 Ahern, John 1760 5.5 0 5.5
17 Kennedy, Michael 1838 0 5 5
18 Kouhtev, Atanas 1367 4.5 0 4.5
19 Cooke, Frank 846 3 0 3
20 Kavanga, Patrick 1000 2 0 2
21 Mowlds, Dee 700 1 0 1
22-23 Boyle, Paul 1150 0 0 0
Prost, Arthur 1000 0 0 0

Good news!

Congratulations to Peter Bishop on finding a new job. Unfortunately for Rathmines Chess Club, Peter’s job is in Waterford. His contribution over the years has been immense and he’ll be missed. He has been captain of several teams, often simultaneously, while also acting as a very able secretary and general committee member. Well done to Peter and let’s hope he keeps in touch!

Michael Kennedy is a father for the first time, with a new baby boy Hector, born Tuesday. All the best to Michael, his girlfriend, and little Hector!

Lastly – Rathmines’ Armstrong team won their bottom-of-the-table clash against Elm Mount B on Monday night by a convincing 6-2, which virtually guarantees that we won’t get demoted this year. It leaves us on 32.5 points after 10 rounds, a solid five points ahead of Elm Mount B. The last round is on Sunday 14th March.

Round 10
Mon 01 Mar 10
Elm Mount B 2 – 6 Rathmines
1 Porter, Liam 1911 0 – 1 Delaney, John 2211
2 Loughran, John 1723 0 – 1 Cafolla, Peter 2035
3 Murphy, Sean 1715 1 – 0 Skrzypnik, Tomasz 2057
4 Vernor, Karl 1697 0 – 1 Delaney, Killian 1980
5 Fitzsimons, Pat 1638 0 – 1 Janusaitis, Mindaugas 1869
6 Tyrrell, Alec 1675 0 – 1 Scannell, Tony 1856
7 Armstrong, Fred 1668 ½ – ½ Killane, Jack 1860
8 Barry, Gerry K. 1703 ½ – ½ Kennedy, Michael J. 1838