Irish Championships 2018

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John McMorrow
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Irish Championships 2018

Post by John McMorrow » Sun Jun 24, 2018 6:41 am

Dublin will host the 2018 Irish Championships which take place from August 3-12 with 7 events in all. The only event which is IRL-only is the Irish Championship itself which runs from August 4-12 with one round per day.

The supporting events ensure that any player rated under 1900 can play 15 FIDE rated Classical games and 18 FIDE rated blitz games in 10 days.

The first weekend features 2 five round weekenders for players rated u1300 and from 1200-1900: https://www.icu.ie/events/990

There will then be a 5 round Open from August 6-10 played each morning before the main event starts at 3pm. (https://www.icu.ie/events/1111)

The second weekend, August 10-12, features an Open 5-round Weekender with a few titled players already signed up to play. https://www.icu.ie/events/991

Apart from the classical events, there will also be a 9 round blitz each Sunday evening with a €600 prize fund in each.
https://www.icu.ie/events/1112
https://www.icu.ie/events/1113

The prize fund for the entire week comes close to €9k.

benedgell
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Location: Somerset

Re: Irish Championships 2018

Post by benedgell » Sun Jun 24, 2018 9:26 am

Hi John, under notes on the flyer it says all entrants must be current members of the ICU. Is that correct for the second Weekender?

John McMorrow
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Re: Irish Championships 2018

Post by John McMorrow » Sun Jun 24, 2018 1:27 pm

benedgell wrote:
Sun Jun 24, 2018 9:26 am
Hi John, under notes on the flyer it says all entrants must be current members of the ICU. Is that correct for the second Weekender?
That doesn't apply to non-Irish residents so no problem there.

benedgell
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Location: Somerset

Re: Irish Championships 2018

Post by benedgell » Mon Jun 25, 2018 8:48 am

Thanks.

John McMorrow
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Re: Irish Championships 2018

Post by John McMorrow » Thu Jul 05, 2018 8:36 pm

The turnout for the main event is so far very encouraging with 12 of Ireland's top 15 players confirmed and 32 entrants overall.

We will be aiming to broadcast over 300 classical games over the ten days and possibly games from the blitz events too.

Roger de Coverly
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Re: Irish Championships 2018

Post by Roger de Coverly » Thu Jul 05, 2018 8:43 pm

John McMorrow wrote:
Thu Jul 05, 2018 8:36 pm
The turnout for the main event is so far very encouraging with 12 of Ireland's top 15 players confirmed and 32 entrants overall.
There's an overlap with the second weekend of the British Chess Championship Congress, but top Irish players rarely play the British.

Martin Crichton
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Re: Irish Championships 2018

Post by Martin Crichton » Fri Jul 06, 2018 7:25 am

Hi Roger
I spotted that too and yes there is something here that needs clarification! (IMO)
John, has Conor Murphy requested byes for the first two rounds of the Irish ch? if so will he be getting half point byes or zero point byes? Perhaps you could contact David FitzSimons and offer him a similar deal as he and Conor are both playing in the British ch. Personally I think David has made a poor decision here but perhaps he made his decision a long time ago and had no inkling the Irish Ch. this year would turn out to be the strongest Irish Championship in history.
https://www.icu.ie/events/986
Regards
Martin.
Member of "the strongest amateur chess club in London" (Cavendish)

my views are not representative of any clubs or organisations.

LawrenceCooper
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Re: Irish Championships 2018

Post by LawrenceCooper » Fri Jul 06, 2018 8:21 am

Martin Crichton wrote:
Fri Jul 06, 2018 7:25 am
Personally I think David has made a poor decision here but perhaps he made his decision a long time ago and had no inkling the Irish Ch. this year would turn out to be the strongest Irish Championship in history.
https://www.icu.ie/events/986
Regards
Martin.
Speaking as his 4NCL captain I think players looking to move out of their comfort zone and play stronger players should be applauded not criticised. Three IM norms in successive seasons in the 4NCL suggest that the approach has worked well for him. It's also worth commenting that there is no GM norm opportunity in the Irish Championship with only one GM playing.

Martin Crichton
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Re: Irish Championships 2018

Post by Martin Crichton » Fri Jul 06, 2018 9:25 am

Lawrence
Quote"Speaking as his 4NCL captain I think players looking to move out of their comfort zone and play stronger players should be applauded not criticised." Unquote
sorry but you are simply wrong here. David would not be at all comfortable playing in this years Irish ch. and David has never won the coveted title...he came close in 2013 but up against this years field he would have little chance...but David is still an improving player and hopefully some day he will get his name on the coveted trophy. David will have to get a very good result in the first 3 /4 rounds in the British to get to play titled players and have a GM norm chance...on balance he is much more likely to be playing strong players in this years Irish ch than this years British ch. IMO
Member of "the strongest amateur chess club in London" (Cavendish)

my views are not representative of any clubs or organisations.

LawrenceCooper
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Re: Irish Championships 2018

Post by LawrenceCooper » Fri Jul 06, 2018 9:47 am

Martin Crichton wrote:
Fri Jul 06, 2018 9:25 am
Lawrence
Quote"Speaking as his 4NCL captain I think players looking to move out of their comfort zone and play stronger players should be applauded not criticised." Unquote
sorry but you are simply wrong here. David would not be at all comfortable playing in this years Irish ch. and David has never won the coveted title...he came close in 2013 but up against this years field he would have little chance...but David is still an improving player and hopefully some day he will get his name on the coveted trophy. David will have to get a very good result in the first 3 /4 rounds in the British to get to play titled players and have a GM norm chance...on balance he is much more likely to be playing strong players in this years Irish ch than this years British ch. IMO
If "simply wrong" means that I have a different opinion to you then fair enough.

Your observation that he has never won the Irish and would have little chance this year doesn't appear to be the most persuasive of reasons to play. Another reason why he's better off playing in the British, than playing against players he has played numerous times already. Take a look at the two line ups and compare them. Of course a GM norm is extremely tough, but there's more chance in a tournament with 13 GMs than there is with 1. I love the atmosphere at Irish tournaments as much as anyone and there are strong players there who would probably have more titles if they lived elsewhere. When it comes to choosing between the two though I think his decision is entirely understandable.

https://www.britishchesschampionships.c ... ants-2018/
https://www.icu.ie/events/986

Roger de Coverly
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Re: Irish Championships 2018

Post by Roger de Coverly » Fri Jul 06, 2018 10:44 am

Martin Crichton wrote:
Fri Jul 06, 2018 9:25 am
David will have to get a very good result in the first 3 /4 rounds in the British to get to play titled players and have a GM norm chance...on balance he is much more likely to be playing strong players in this years Irish ch than this years British ch. IMO
He's down at the bottom of the first half, so only needs a win in round 1 to face a top quarter player in round 2. From then on it's down to results, but with more than half the field titled even scoring his rating is likely to get a fair few. There's a longish tail in the Irish Championship.

John McMorrow
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Re: Irish Championships 2018

Post by John McMorrow » Sat Jul 07, 2018 12:56 am

Martin Crichton wrote:
Fri Jul 06, 2018 7:25 am
John, has Conor Murphy requested byes for the first two rounds of the Irish ch? if so will he be getting half point byes or zero point byes? Perhaps you could contact David FitzSimons and offer him a similar deal as he and Conor are both playing in the British ch.
Conor has not requested byes. However, I did mention the idea of playing 7 rounds to David a few weeks ago. He thought it would just be a bit too tiring after having the Brits which is fair enough. He may feature in the Weekender and I’d say is open to playing the main event next year all things being equal. It’s his choice at the end of the day - they’re both good events and offer something different.

John McMorrow
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Re: Irish Championships 2018

Post by John McMorrow » Sat Jul 07, 2018 1:03 am

Roger de Coverly wrote:
Fri Jul 06, 2018 10:44 am
There's a longish tail in the Irish Championship.
I should point out that the ratings at the page mentioned are Irish Ratings - which generally are 50-100 points lower than the player’s FIDE rating with 2-3 exceptions (Lopez for instance).

Tim Harding
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Location: Dublin, Ireland

Re: Irish Championships 2018

Post by Tim Harding » Sat Aug 04, 2018 11:40 pm

This 36-player, 9-round Swiss started today.
Unfortunately no DGT boards were in operation today but I believe there are hopes to have the top boards live tomorrow (3pm).

First round results and round two pairings are here:
http://chess-results.com/tnr357006.aspx ... art=2&rd=1

With the usual top half v bottom half pairings, a few draws and an upset are to be expected. There were four draws while FM Stephen Jessel just failed to punch his clock in time after making move 40 on the board.
I'm afraid this is another symptom of the malaise that has prevented France-based Stephen from getting his IM title. His final norm was earned about two years ago but he will keep languishing around 2340 until he finds a cure for his zeitnot addiction.
Tim Harding
Historian and FIDE Arbiter

Author of 'Steinitz in London,' British Chess Literature to 1914', 'Joseph Henry Blackburne: A Chess Biography', and 'Eminent Victorian Chess Players'
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NickFaulks
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Re: Irish Championships 2018

Post by NickFaulks » Sun Aug 05, 2018 6:53 am

Tim Harding wrote:
Sat Aug 04, 2018 11:40 pm
FM Stephen Jessel just failed to punch his clock in time after making move 40 on the board.
I always find that a bit strange when there is a 30 second increment.
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