Irish Championship 2019

[John McMorrow]

For those in need of some chess viewing after the British... The Irish Championship enters day 5 today with plenty of fascinating games over the past few days. All games are broadcast here: https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tourn ... 2019/5/1/1

Fiona Steil-Antoni will be commentating from the venue for the remainder of the event from 5.30pm daily and probably all of Sunday. Her stream is embedded on the chess24 link above. Chess results page here: http://chess-results.com/tnr440181.aspx?lan=1&art=0

For those who don't know any of the players - we've a preview here: https://www.icu.ie/articles/827

After 4 days, Alex Lopez has put himself in pole position to become the first player to win the event 3 times in a row in over 90 years. However, there are plenty of other subplots including debutants Trisha and Tarun Kanyamarala (13 and 14 years old) who've torn through some of Ireland's top players and look in good shape for norms; a WIM would be Trisha's third and enough for the title. Conor O'Donnell will be hoping to get to 7/9 to claim the IM title while Stephen Moran is also nicely placed for this first IM norm, probably needing 6.5/9.

[LawrenceCooper]

For those in need of some chess viewing after the British... The Irish Championship enters day 5 today with plenty of fascinating games over the past few days. All games are broadcast here: https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tourn ... 2019/5/1/1

Fiona Steil-Antoni will be commentating from the venue for the remainder of the event from 5.30pm daily and probably all of Sunday. Her stream is embedded on the chess24 link above. Chess results page here: http://chess-results.com/tnr440181.aspx?lan=1&art=0

For those who don't know any of the players - we've a preview here: https://www.icu.ie/articles/827

After 4 days, Alex Lopez has put himself in pole position to become the first player to win the event 3 times in a row in over 90 years. However, there are plenty of other subplots including debutants Trisha and Tarun Kanyamarala (13 and 14 years old) who've torn through some of Ireland's top players and look in good shape for norms; a WIM would be Trisha's third and enough for the title. Conor O'Donnell will be hoping to get to 7/9 to claim the IM title while Stephen Moran is also nicely placed for this first IM norm, probably needing 6.5/9.

Sam Collins has the unusual ending of rook & knight against bishop and knight with no pawns on either side. My only experience of it is losing with the bishop & knight against Nick Pert in 2002

[Alex Holowczak]

For those in need of some chess viewing after the British... The Irish Championship enters day 5 today with plenty of fascinating games over the past few days. All games are broadcast here: https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tourn ... 2019/5/1/1

Fiona Steil-Antoni will be commentating from the venue for the remainder of the event from 5.30pm daily and probably all of Sunday. Her stream is embedded on the chess24 link above. Chess results page here: http://chess-results.com/tnr440181.aspx?lan=1&art=0

For those who don't know any of the players - we've a preview here: https://www.icu.ie/articles/827

After 4 days, Alex Lopez has put himself in pole position to become the first player to win the event 3 times in a row in over 90 years. However, there are plenty of other subplots including debutants Trisha and Tarun Kanyamarala (13 and 14 years old) who've torn through some of Ireland's top players and look in good shape for norms; a WIM would be Trisha's third and enough for the title. Conor O'Donnell will be hoping to get to 7/9 to claim the IM title while Stephen Moran is also nicely placed for this first IM norm, probably needing 6.5/9.

Sam Collins has the unusual ending of rook & knight against bishop and knight with no pawns on either side. My only experience of it is losing with the bishop & knight against Nick Pert in 2002

Look at the bright side. At least you didn't lose with the rook & knight?

[Geoff Chandler]

I Like to sleep late but today at 9:17 I sat bolt upright in bed.

'Somewhere out there, there has been a blunder!"

I have a team of spies (my blunder hunters) who inform me of such events.

Cup of coffee, open email, and there it is.

Round 5 2019 Irish Championship, Alexander Baburin - Killian Delaney. (Black to play)

8/8/q7/P7/3Q4/k7/2K5/8 b - - 0 70

...Qe2+ probably draws. Black instead took the a-pawn.

OK. back to bed. I'll get up at 11 o'clock and post.

[IM Jack Rudd]

I checked this with Lomonosov, and you're right; 1...Qe2+ is the only drawing move.

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi Jack,

Process of elimination. Every other check allows the Queens off and here

8/8/q7/P7/3Q4/k7/2K5/8 b - - 0 70

I have to admit my first choice was ....Qc4+ QxQ Stalemate. Yippee what a find.
Coffee kicked in and of course Qc3+ is 1-0.

But hold the praise for saying Qe2+ is a probably a draw. (I aint suddenly got good)
'probably' means it's a draw if it was anyone else but me playing Black.

I was only emailed the link: with the heading: 'Oops moment in Irish Championship game today'

https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2019-ir ... ey_Killian

No other text, which is how I like em coming. No time for chit-chat with my Blunder Hunters.
I do not care if they have moved house, changed jobs or got married. I just want lemons...feed me lemons.

And if you click on the link you can see a box eval saying 70...Qe2 + 0.00 = to me, 'probably a draw.'

[Reg Clucas]

But hold the praise for saying Qe2+ is a probably a draw. (I aint suddenly got good)
'probably' means it's a draw if it was anyone else but me playing Black.

'Should be' a draw might be more accurate. It must be a nightmare finding a non-losing move (50 times) in such a position on 30 second increments.

[Matt Mackenzie]

Of course Black took the pawn thinking White "had" to play Qa1+, when Kb4 should draw.

However, he doesn't have to move his Q as far down that diagonal......

Whoops!

[LawrenceCooper]

A nicely calculated king march in a queen and pawn ending against Sam Collins gives Conor Murphy the lead going into the last round. http://view.livechesscloud.com/2b53aad0 ... 5d622d123f

[Tim Harding]

A nicely calculated king march in a queen and pawn ending against Sam Collins gives Conor Murphy the lead going into the last round. http://view.livechesscloud.com/2b53aad0 ... 5d622d123f

Not nicely calculated, if you look with Stockfish it was a comedy of errors.

Sam made losing blunders at moves 46, 50 and 58.
Conor returned the compliment at moves 48 and 53.

Sam made the last mistake so Conor is now in pole position to take the title.

[Tim Harding]

For some reason (some competitors are blaming air conditions in the room) there have been many surprising blunders in this event as well as some good play.
The slow time limit (initial 105 minutes instead of 90, then 30 minutes extra after move 40) means players are more tired than normal in long endgames. One round which started at 1500 did not end until 2145.

[NickFaulks]

if you look with Stockfish it was a comedy of errors.

I have to say that I find this summary of a complicated Q&P ending in which the players missed a few computer moves to be utterly absurd.

[LawrenceCooper]

A nicely calculated king march in a queen and pawn ending against Sam Collins gives Conor Murphy the lead going into the last round. http://view.livechesscloud.com/2b53aad0 ... 5d622d123f

Not nicely calculated, if you look with Stockfish it was a comedy of errors.

Sam made losing blunders at moves 46, 50 and 58.
Conor returned the compliment at moves 48 and 53.

Sam made the last mistake so Conor is now in pole position to take the title.

Given that all but one of those moves was before the sequence I referred to I'm not sure what relevance they have to my comment.

[Tim Harding]

I didn't look to see what position Lawrence referred to; I was following the game live and checking with Stockfish at the same time.

Such positions are of course hard to play when tired and the pressure of the occasion.

Conor Murphy has just won the Irish title with 7.5/9 after a dramatic last round game where he stood well at first and then was losing.

It all turned on Black's 48th move when, down to increment, his opponent played his rook to the wrong square (Rfg7 would have won for Black, forcing a playoff, but Rh7 lost).

https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tourn ... 2019/9/1/1