Armstrong A overcome Trinity but B team in trouble

Here’s the scorecard from Dublin University vs Rathmines A (Armstrong), played 25-Jan-2011
 

Bd.	Dublin University	ICU#	Rating	Result	Rathmines A	ICU#	Rating
1	Tim Harding	541	2048	0.5 – 0.5	Sam Osborne	6252	2084
2	Liam Normoyle	6143	1975	0 – 1	Killian Delaney	5104	2010
3	Stephen Moran	5388	1929	1 – 0	DJ O’Donoghue	5028	1853
4	Zbigniew Zdziarski	N/A	1500	0 – 1	Leon Fagan	406	1818
5	Ger Reilly	5886	1562	0 – 1	Tony Scannell	1533	1822
6	Karl Fitzmaurice	3781	1496	0 – 1	Michael Kennedy	3955	1821
7	Alan Collins	5281	1460	0 – 1	Jack Killane	740	1793
8	John Shanley	5752	1034	1 – 0	David O’Connell (SUB)	3647	1492
				2.5 – 5.5

 

The B team, meanwhile, were well-beaten by Kilkenny last Saturday.
Round 8 Sat 22 Jan 11
Rathmines B 1 – 7 Kilkenny

1 Skrzypnik, Tomasz 2048 0 – 1 Griffiths, Ryan-Rhys 2252
2 Kalam, Abul 1827 0 – 1 Quinn, Mark 2378
3 Janusaitis, Mindaugas 1846 0 – 1 McPhillips, Karl 2281
4 Aherne, John P. 1759 0 – 1 Polimac, Darko 1989
5 Bermingham, Tony 1772 0 – 1 Courtney, John 1949
6 Goggins, David 1751 ½ – ½ Jayadev Menon, Aravind 1821
7 Burns, John 1736 0 – 1 Keogh, Eamon 1900
8 Moore, Kenneth 1604 ½ – ½ Bradley, John 1732

The league table shows just how perilous the B team’s position is. They do have a game in hand however, which is necessary in order to leap-frog Malahide. Kilkenny look to be heading for a league win, ironically given that this is the first year for many years that they are playing without GM Baburin.

Div 1 Armstrong Cup 2010 – 2011

Team MP GW GD GL Def Pts
1 Kilkenny 8 36 18 10 0 45
2 Bray / Greystones 8 29 17 18 0 37 ½
3 Phibsboro 8 28 16 20 0 36
4 Rathmines A 7 26 19 11 0 35 ½
5 Elm Mount 7 27 15 14 0 34 ½
6 Gonzaga 6 22 13 13 0 28 ½
7 Dublin 8 21 18 25 2 28
8 Dublin University 8 16 19 29 0 25 ½
9 St Benildus 6 14 19 15 0 23 ½
10 Malahide 8 9 21 34 0 19 ½
11 Rathmines B 7 11 16 29 0 19
12 Dun Laoghaire 7 4 27 25 0 17 ½

Blitz results

Players preparing for the next round

Killian Delaney showed his complete command of the art of blitz with a masterful 9/9 in the greatly delayed Rathmines Annual Christmas blitz last Thursday night. He had to beat such contenders as Sam Osborne (second on 7/9) a 2084-rated board one Armstrong player, Tomasz Skrzypnik, a 2048-rated player, and board one on the Armstrong B team, plus many 1800-rated players. If his estimated rating is slightly ludicrous (2792!), nevertheless the gulf in class between Killian and the rest is apparent. There is already talk of handicapping him next year by forcing him to play with rook odds…even queen odds are being discussed. I’d try forcing him to play blindfold personally…:-)

After Sam came Mindaugas Janusaitis (ahead on tie-break) and Tony Scannell on 6/9.

Ken Moore won the second tier, with 5.5/9. In our game (Scannell vs Moore) we both missed each others hanging queens for three moves, until Ken stopped the mutual nonsense by capturing mine. Blunder of the night? Apparently not, as many players reported having to snap off kings amid the time scrambles. Second and third in the B section were James Burke and John Crowley.

Speaking of time scrambles, DJ O’Donoghue managed to mate Tomasz with the barest of margins, Tomasz having six seconds on his clock, with DJ down to even less. Cooly repositioning his rooks for the inevitable mate of the king against the back rank, it was an impressive show of cool. In the end, having turned up late for round one, DJ was only stopped in his tracks by Killian in round 7.

Ciaran Byrne rounded off as winner of the C section, with James Osborne second and Roland McCrann third.

The entire night was most ably administered by Michael Kennedy, who even graciously gave up his place in the competition after round one, to even up the numbers. Every round proceeded smoothly. It is no mean feat collecting results from so many tables and getting the draw ready for the next one. Thanks Michael!

Prizes!

 

	Group A	Rating	Score
1	Delaney, Killian	2010	9
2	Osborne, Sam C.	2084	7
3	Janusaitis, Mindaugas	1838	6
4	Scannell, Tony	1822	6
5	O’Donoghue, Dennis J.	1853	5.5
6	Skrzypnik, Tomasz	2048	5.5
7	Fagan, Leon	1818	5.5
8	Killane, Jack	1793	5
9	Bermingham, Tony	1733	4
10	Moloney, Ian	1768	4
	Group B	Rating	Score
1	Moore, Kenneth	1590	5.5
2	Burke, James	1699	5
3	Crowley, John	1614	4.5
4	Gaffney, John P.	1407	4.5
5	Cosgrove, Pat	1517	4
6	Maher, John	1397	4
7	Kouhtev, Atanas	1365	3.5
8	Lynch, Peter J.	1549	3
	Group C	Rating	Score
1	Byrne, Ciaran J.	1318	5
2	Osborne, James	1356	4.5
3	McCrann, Roland	1234	4
4	White, Adrian	1000	4
5	Cooke, Peter	1029	3.5
6	Butler, Thomas	1000	2.5
7	O’Connell, John	1344	1
8	Prost, Arthur	1000	0

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

1. |Osborne, Sam         |2088|14:W| 8:W| 5:W| 3:L|10:W|13:W| 6:W| 4:L| 2:W
2. |Skrzypnik, Tomasz    |2048|15:W|10:W| 7:D| 6:W| 3:L| 4:L|13:W|22:W| 1:L
3. |Delaney, Killian     |2010|16:W|11:W|13:W| 1:W| 2:W| 5:W| 4:W| 8:W| 7:W
4. |O’Donoghue, DJ       |1853|  : |19:W|11:W|13:D| 7:W| 2:W| 3:L| 1:W| 5:L
5. |Janusaitis, Mindaugas|1838|17:W|12:W| 1:L| 7:W|15:W| 3:L| 8:L|16:W| 4:W
6. |Scannell, Tony       |1822|19:W|13:L|14:W| 2:L|21:W|10:W| 1:L|15:W| 8:W
7. |Fagan, Leon          |1818|20:W|22:W| 2:D| 5:L| 4:L|15:W|18:W|11:W| 3:L
8. |Killane, Jack        |1793|21:W| 1:L|12:W|15:L|14:W|11:W| 5:W| 3:L| 6:L
9. |Moloney, Ian         |1768|22:L|25:W|15:L|18:L|20:W|12:L|23:W|21:L|14:W
10.|Bermingham, Tony     |1733|23:W| 2:L|26:W|22:W| 1:L| 6:L|15:L|18:W|11:L
11.|Burke, James         |1699|25:W| 3:L| 4:L|19:W|22:W| 8:L|21:W| 7:L|10:W
12.|Crowley, John        |1614|26:W| 5:L| 8:L|21:L|24:W| 9:W|22:L|19:D|18:W
13.|Moore, Ken           |1590|24:W| 6:W| 3:L| 4:D|18:W| 1:L| 2:L|17:W|15:W
14.|Lynch, Peter         |1529| 1:L|24:W| 6:L|20:W| 8:L|21:L|26:L|25:W| 9:L
15.|Cosgrove, Pat        |1517| 2:L|21:W| 9:W| 8:W| 5:L| 7:L|10:W| 6:L|13:L
16.|Gaffney, John        |1407| 3:L|18:D|22:L|23:W|17:L|25:W|24:W| 5:L|20:W
17.|Maher, John          |1397| 5:L|23:D|19:L|26:W|16:W|18:L|25:W|13:L|24:D
18.|Kouhtev, Atanas      |1365|27:L|16:D|23:W| 9:W|13:L|17:W| 7:L|10:L|12:L
19.|Osborne, James       |1356| 6:L| 4:L|17:W|11:L|26:W|22:L|20:W|12:D|23:W
20.|O’Connell, John      |1344| 7:L|26:L|25:W|14:L| 9:L|24:L|19:L|23:L|16:L
21.|Byrne, Ciaran        |1318| 8:L|15:L|24:W|12:W| 6:L|14:W|11:L| 9:W|22:W
22.|McCrann, Roland      |1238| 9:W| 7:L|16:W|10:L|11:L|19:W|12:W| 2:L|21:L
23.|Cooke, Peter         |1029|10:L|17:D|18:L|16:L|25:W|26:W| 9:L|20:W|19:L
24.|Butler, Thomas       |1000|13:L|14:L|21:L|25:W|12:L|20:W|16:L|26:L|17:D
25.|Prost, Arthur        |1000|11:L| 9:L|20:L|24:L|23:L|16:L|17:L|14:L|26:L
26.|White, Adrian        |1000|12:L|20:W|10:L|17:L|19:L|23:L|14:W|24:W|25:W
27.|Kennedy, Michael     |1821|18:W|

No |Name                 |Loc |Score|Exp.|Chg*K| Rav|Rprfm

1. |Osborne, Sam         |2088|7.0/9|7.56|  -14|1804| 2024
2. |Skrzypnik, Tomasz    |2048|5.5/9|7.74|  -52|1741| 1821
3. |Delaney, Killian     |2010|9.0/9|7.02|   48|1793| 2792
4. |O’Donoghue, DJ       |1853|5.5/8|4.56|   21|1806| 1947
5. |Janusaitis, Mindaugas|1838|6.0/9|5.94|    2|1722| 1847
6. |Scannell, Tony       |1822|6.0/9|6.39|   -9|1666| 1791
7. |Fagan, Leon          |1818|5.5/9|6.39|  -21|1657| 1737
8. |Killane, Jack        |1793|5.0/9|5.40|   -9|1717| 1760
9. |Moloney, Ian         |1768|4.0/9|8.46| -108|1330| 1287
10.|Bermingham, Tony     |1733|4.0/9|6.84|  -67|1534| 1491
11.|Burke, James         |1699|5.0/9|6.12|  -26|1569| 1612
12.|Crowley, John        |1614|4.5/9|6.84|  -55|1408| 1408
13.|Moore, Ken           |1590|5.5/9|3.42|   50|1678| 1758
14.|Lynch, Peter         |1549|3.0/9|5.58|  -62|1459| 1334
15.|Cosgrove, Pat        |1517|4.0/9|1.89|   50|1748| 1705
16.|Gaffney, John        |1407|4.5/9|5.13|  -14|1358| 1358
17.|Maher, John          |1397|4.0/9|5.85|  -45|1287| 1244
18.|Kouhtev, Atanas      |1365|3.5/9|2.08|   33|1575| 1495
19.|Osborne, James       |1356|4.5/9|3.42|   26|1444| 1444
20.|O’Connell, John      |1344|1.0/9|4.77|  -91|1325|  974
21.|Byrne, Ciaran        |1318|5.0/9|1.80|   76|1556| 1599
22.|McCrann, Roland      |1238|4.0/9|0.72|   79|1640| 1597
23.|Cooke, Peter         |1029|3.5/9|0.99|   60|1374| 1294
24.|Butler, Thomas       |1000|2.5/9|0.90|   38|1358| 1192
25.|Prost, Arthur        |1000|0.0/9|0.99|  -24|1355|  356
26.|White, Adrian        |1000|4.0/9|1.08|   69|1336| 1293

Blitz – Thursday, 20th January, from 7.30pm

Comments

I have changed the policy on the website, to make it so that comments must be approved before being viewable. I’d much rather not have to do this, but some recent comment exchanges have been descending into meanness and pettiness. I do not think it is in the interests of the club that personal exchanges take place on this website. If you have anything to say to another member that is less than fair, then have the courage and decency to say it directly to them (Although I’m not encouraging face-to-face fights either!). And remember, what may seem like a funny comment to you might actually cause offense to someone else.

Tony

National Club Championships

The National Club Championships are on the weekend of 12-13 February in the Green Isle Hotel – the same venue as last year.  There’s more info on the ICU website.  We’ll definitely enter one team anyway, plus additional teams if there’s enough interest.  Each team is 6 boards with max 2 subs. The average rating of the top 6 boards must be 1600+, but there’s no restriction on the strength of the subs.

It’s a leisurely 2 rounds each day and you don’t even have to play every game if your team has subs.  The opposition is generally very strong in the NCC.  The club will cover the entry fee.  The deadline for entering teams is 4-February. 

Can you let me know if you’re interested?

Regards, Michael Kennedy
President, Rathmines Chess Club

Rathmines Junior Chess Club

Rathmines Chess Club now have a Junior division. James Osborne told me last night that they’ve got a regular set of around 11 players, so it is building up gradually. 

It takes place on a Wednesday night, from 7pm until 8.30pm, in Kenilworth Bowling Club in Grosvenor Square. This venue is not the same as the regular Rathmines club venue, on Grosvenor Road! (note: Nor is the bowling club in Zimbabwe, as incorrectly reported before…!)

The cost is 5 euro per night. First night is free. Chess sets are provided and we will also run some small tournaments with prizes. If anyone would like to join, they can give Maura Osborne a call at 0858452008 or 4929152, or just pop down to the Junior club on Wednesday.

Armstrong A edge past Dublin

Played at home in Rathmines, Thursday, 13th. January 2011.

Bd. Rathmines A ICU# Rating Result Dublin ICU# Rating
1 Sam Osborne 6252 2071 0.5 – 0.5 Jonathan O’Connor 1243 2111
2 Killian Delaney 5104 2016 0.5 – 0.5 Martin Schmidt 7244 2013
3 Darren McCabe 5722 1892 0 – 1 Mark Collins 4977 1877
4 DJ O’Donoghue 5028 1867 1 – 0 Tom John N/A 1784
5 Tony Scannell 1533 1822 0.5 – 0.5 Colm Egan 393 1713
6 Leon Fagan 406 1818 1 – 0 Shannon Clements 4819 1667
7 Michael Kennedy 3955 1821 1 – 0 Ronan Nolan 1183 1617
8 Ian Moloney 2346 1768 0 – 1 Vitali Baranouski 12260 1434

Final result: 4.5 – 3.5

Armstrong B beat Dun Laoghaire

Dun Laoghaire vs. Rathmines B, Wednesday 12th. Jan, 2011.
Tony Fox 0.5-0.5 Tomas Skrzypnik
John Lane 0.5-0.5 Abul Kalam
Tony Dennehy 0-1 Mindaugas Janusaitis
Liam Hearns 0.5-0.5 John Ahern
Paul Cassidy 0.5-0.5 A Bermingham
Peter Jackson 0.5-0.5 David Goggins
Tom O’Neill 0-1 John Burns
Chris Johnson 0.5-0.5 Peter Lynch

Result 3-5

Christmas Blitz Rescheduled

As you all know, the original fixture was snowed out. Quite how an indoor chess tournament can be snowed out will be debated for years to come!

The rescheduled date is Thursday, January 20th, 2011. All members welcome, there are three sections (Senior, Inter, Junior) and there are plenty of great prizes for everybody. It is always the highlight of the year. And now I’ll just nip off and check the weather forecast…