Some information received from Vinny O Donnell about this years Paddy Hennessy chess blitz. This event will take place on Saturday 25th February in its customary venue Henry McCarthys bar in Kilfinane. The entry fee is a bargain at only 8 euro.
Time Control: Length of each match is 20 minutes. 10 minutes a side for players of equal rating. There is a time handicap in place to level the playing field. For every 100 points rating difference between the players 1 minute is taken from the higher rated players allotted playing time and added to the lower rated players. This is subject to a maximum limit of 18 minutes vs 2 minutes. For example Player A 1200 rating points vs player B 1400 rating points (rating are rounded to the nearest 100th number) the time for Player A in this scenario would be 12 minutes and player b would have 8 minutes.
General rules
1) Touch a piece move a piece.
2) In the event of players finishing on the same points total in their groups, players will have a 2 minute aside playoff and no time handicap applies in this scenario.
3) The onus is on the lower rated player to verify the time handicap.
4) Any unforseen events shall be clarified by the tournament organisers Vincent and Michael O Donnell.
Contact Vinny on 087 7434182 with any queries or if you need more information.
I am in Copenhagen at the moment so I missed the Ennis Munster League matches yesterday but John Cassidy has kept me uptodate by text. The A team lost to Sarsfield 3-2 and beat Charleville 3-2. The B team are starting to get motoring after their slow start to the season and had 2 draws yesterday against the same opposition. Hopefully a report will follow from one of the players shortly.
