Polimac vs. Scannell

Played on Saturday, February 19th, 2011.
Armstrong Cup, Kilkenny vs Rathmines (board 6).
Polimac, Darko (1989) vs Scannell, Tony (1822)

Replay Game Here
Reti Opening or Nimzovich-Larsen attack

1. b3 Nf6 2. Bb2 d5 3. Nf3 c5 4. e3 Nbd7 5. Bb5 a6 6. Bxd7+ Bxd7

Black has the two bishops, which turns out to be decisive. But there’s a long way to go yet.

It was Short and it was not short

Four Rathmines players were involved in the Nigel Short simul on Tuesday night – Killian Delaney, Michael Kennedy, Ian Maloney, and myself, Tony Scannell. And what a night! Play started about 8.30pm, after a fascinating lecture from Nigel, and only finished around 1am. I sat for the entire time period and only had to play one game and yet was exhausted. Nigel looked shattered. He certainly gave good value for money. He won 26 of 30 games and drew just 4. Here’s one of the draws…(which could have been a win, but read on…)

Short Simul Wynns Hotel, 22nd February, 2011.
White: Short, Nigel, 2658 vs. Black: Scannell, Tony, 1822
Replay Game

Sicilian Scheveningen
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 Nc6 I wanted a relatively calm game, so this move avoids the current theory around 6… e5. 7. f4 Qc7 8. O-O Bd7 9. Be3 e6 10. Qe1 Be7 We have transposed into a Sicilian Scheveningen. White has lots of space but black still has his compact e6, d6 little centre.
11. Qg3

Position after 11. Qg3
11… g6 (11… O-O Castling into it is theory, but I didn’t fancy defending this position! 12. Kh1 b5 13. a3 Nxd4 14. Bxd4 Bc6 15. Rae1 Qb7 16. Bd3 b4 17. axb4 Qxb4 18. Ne2 is one sample variation)

Armstrong B get a great result vs Phibsboro

With every point required to avoid the drop, this win comes at just the right time. Fantastic result, with the bottom four boards proving to be the decisive factor.

Rathmines B vs Phibsboro
Played Monday 21st February.
T Skrzypnik 0-1 Stephen Brady
Abul Kalam 0-1 Richard O’Donovan
Mindaugas Janusaitis 1-0 John Nolan
John Aherne 0-1 Kevin Butler
Tony Bermingham 1-0 Stawomir Jurkiewicz
David Goggins 0.5-0.5 Anthony Duffy
John Burns 1-0 Tim Conlan
James Burke 1-0 Jim Sweeney

Result 4.5 – 3.5

Strong Kilkenny team overcome Armstrong A

Here´s the scorecard from Kilkenny vs Rathmines A (Armstrong), played Saturday 19th February, 2011.

Bd KILKENNY ICU no. Rating Result RATHMINES A ICU no. Rating
1 Alexander Baburin 7085 2482 1 – 0 Sam Osborne 6252 2084
2 Ryan Rhys Griffiths 6897 2265 1 – 0 Peter Cafolla 159 2022
3 Mark Quinn 1402 2363 0.5 – 0.5 Killian Delaney 5104 2010
4 Karl McPhillips 5243 2281 0 – 1 Darren McCabe 5722 1912
5 John Courtney 6882 1899 1 – 0 DJ O´Donoghue 5028 1853
6 Darko Polimac 6141 1989 0 – 1 Tony Scannell 1533 1822
7 Eamon Keogh 731 1909 0.5 – 0.5 Leon Fagan 406 1818
8 Aravind Menon 6717 1861 1 – 0 Ian Moloney 2346 1768
5 – 3

The final score looks more convincing than the actual match. Leon was two pawns up and in a probably winning position but suffered some nerves in trying to close it out against Eamon. And DJ lost a cliff-hanger against John Courtney, who had a winning end-game but an extremely low amount of time. John flashed out blitz moves and DJ was mated with just seconds remaining on his clock. Most notable were Darren’s win over Karl and Killian’s draw against IM Quinn. Overall – and despite the loss – it was a great team performance.

I am going to be publishing my game against Polimac sometime soon and am hoping to have another couple of games too.

This is an open invitiation to ALL players in Rathmines: if you have an interesting game that you’d like to see published on the site, just email me! scannell_tony@yahoo.co.uk  The ideal is to send a pgn file with embedded comments.

Ravenna Tournament one to look out for

Peter Lynch tells me a few Irish players are playing in this up-coming tournament, in early April 2011, so if you’re interested in it at all, talk to Peter.

http://ravennachessinternational.com/en/

http://www.icu.ie/events/display.php?id=351

Elm Mount well-beaten by Armstrong A team

Here´s the scorecard for Rathmines A vs Elm Mount in the Armstrong (10-Feb-2011)

Bd	Rathmines A	ICU no.	Rating	Result	Elm Mount	ICU no.	Rating
1	Mel O Cinneide	720	2182	0.5 – 0.5	David Fitzsimons	6236	2237
2	Sam Osborne	6252	2084	1 – 0	Zygis Jakubauskas	9277	2092
3	Peter Cafolla	159	2022	0 – 1	Ciaran Quinn	1398	2029
4	Killian Delaney	5104	2010	1 – 0	Gerard MacElligott	1078	1936
5	Darren McCabe	5722	1912	1 – 0	Bernard Boyle	3172	1867
6	DJ O´Donoghue	5028	1853	1 – 0	Liam Porter	1383	1888
7	Leon Fagan	406	1818	0 – 1	Matthias Rahneberg	17301	1807
8	Tony Scannell	1533	1822	0.5 – 0.5	Tomas Bajcar	10081	1757
				5 – 3

There was an extraordinary game on board 2, where Zygis Jakubauskas resigned after around 10 moves when under the mistaken impression that he was about to be mated. Mel on board one held off David Fitzsimons to score a second great draw. Again, our middle boards of Killian, Darren, and DJ proved to be very strong. Killian is now on 8/9 for the season. Overall, a 5-3 win is a very good performance against the reigning champions, but not enough to push Kilkenny at the top, who are up on Saturday week (Feb 19th).

Armstrong B lose to close rivals Malahide

Malahide vs. Rathmines B, Monday 7th Feb 2011

Justin Daly 0-1 T Skrzypnik
Gerry Buckley 0.5-05 A Kalam
V Bissett 0.5-0.5 M Janusaitis
F McMAhon 1-0 John Aherne
Melyvn King 1-0 Tony Bermingham
Alec Tyrrell 0.5-0.5 David Goggins
Paul Reilly 0.5-0.5 John Burns
Anton Whalley 1-0 Lukasz Goralski
Result 5-3

Philip Hogarty Memorial

Philip Hogarty Memorial Rapidplay Tournament

When?
May 14th, 2011.

Where?
The Academy Plaza
10-14 Findlater Place,
off Upper O’Connell St,
Dublin 1, Ireland.

On the same day, just after the event, will be the All Ireland Blitz Championships.

Entry fee will be €30 for the Rapidplay and €10 for the Blitz. If a player plays in both its €35.

Another win for Armstrong A

Here´s the scorecard from St. Benildus vs Rathmines A (Armstrong), played 2-Feb-11. We welcome back Mel O’Cinneide, for a couple of games, who drew at the end of a tense time scramble, in an endgame, a pawn down. The next three boards saw fine wins for Sam, Peter, and Killian. DJ looked to have a very promising position, with doubled rooks on the seventh and a dangerous bishop, but somehow managed to draw. Michael blundered, while I got smashed in a good game by Brendan Lyons. Leon drew early.
 

Bd	St. Benildus	ICU no.	Rating	Result	Rathmines A	ICU no.	Rating
1	Gerry O´Connell	1231	2105	0.5 – 0.5	Mel O Cinneide	720	2182
2	Pawel Madynski	10320	2113	0 – 1	Sam Osborne	6252	2084
3	Thomas Bittner	12292	2082	0 – 1	Peter Cafolla	159	2022
4	Oisin Benson	5884	2048	0 – 1	Killian Delaney	5104	2010
5	Tim McCarthy	1032	1909	0.5 – 0.5	DJ O´Donoghue	5028	1853
6	Brendan Lyons	482	1868	1 – 0	Tony Scannell	1533	1822
7	John Gibson	817	1788	0.5 – 0.5	Leon Fagan	406	1818
8	John Healy	4563	1768	1 - 0	Michael Kennedy	3955	1821
				3.5 – 4.5

Armstrong B team get vital points against reigning champs

Rathmines B vs. Elm Mount

1. Tomas Skrzypnik 0 – 1 David Fitzsimons
2. Abul Kalam 1 – 0 Z Jakubauskas
3. Mindaugaus Janusaitis 0 – 1 Ciaran Quinn
4. John Aherne 0.5- 0.5 Gerry MacElligott
5. Tony Bermingham 0.5 – 0.5 M Rahneberg
6. David Goggins 0.5 – 0.5 Liam Porter
7. John Burns 1 – 0 Bernard Boyle
8. Ken Moore 0 – 1 Tomas Bajcar

Final score 3.5 – 4.5