Kanyamarala wins Limerick Open

Well done to Tarun Kanyamarala on winning the Limerick Open last weekend scoring 5.5 from 6 and finishing ahead of FM Henry Li and FM Gabriel Voiteanu in joint second-third. First and second prize in the U1400 went to two Cork players, Atharva Paibir and Akshay Ranade. Ennis’ Dylan Murphy finished in third. Full results at Limerick Chess Club.

Limerick Open

This years Limerick Open takes place in the South Court Hotel, Limerick from October 26-28. Contact John Cassidy 087-2495913. Online entry is available via the Irish Chess Union website.

Results of Ennis Club League 2019

The results of the 2019 Ennis Club League are in. Yours truly won the event on 5 from 5. There were 8 players tied from 2nd to 9th, all on 3.5 points. These were Nick Larter, John Cassidy, Kieran O’Brien, Aaron Daly, Dylan Murphy, Azzizbek Shamsiddinov, Lukasz Daros and James O’Sullivan. Full list of results available here.

Thanks to John Cassidy for organising the League and Gerry Graham for controlling. Thanks also all who took part. It’s the first time in years there has been a club league and it was great to see so many participating.

Murphy wins Irish Championships

Well done to FM Conor Murphy who won the Irish Championships at the weekend on an excellent score of 7.5/9. A last round win over FM Conor O’Donnell meant he finished in outright first, a half point ahead of IM Alex Lopez and IM Sam Collins who finished in joint 2nd/3rd.

Brays Eric Bennett won the Major, Kevin Fitzpatrick won the Challengers and Ben Cullen won the Weekday Open. The quickplay events were won by IM Alex Lopez (Rapid) and Tarun Kanyamarala (Blitz).

2019 Irish Championships

The 2019 Irish Chess Championships gets underway in Dublin this weekend. There is a strong field competing for the Championship and there is coverage at the Irish Chess Union website. There are various side events running alongside the main event which continues until the 11th August.

Galway Rapidplay and Club League Update

A number of Ennis chessplayers travelled to the Galway Rapidplay today. Well done to Lukasz Daros who scored 5 out of 7 and won a share of the U1600 grading prize.

John Cassidy advises there was an error in the draw for Round 5 of the club league so the draw has been redone. None of the matches already played are affected but there are some changes to the pairings. Updated Round 5 draw

Last Round of Munster League

The postponed round of the Munster League was played today with both Ennis teams in action. The A team needed to at least match Sarsfields result to ensure second place. That we did with a comprehensive victory over Charleville meaning we finished in 2nd place for the season.

Ennis A 4.5 – 0.5Charleville
1. R Quinn 0.5 – 0.5 C Buenos
2. J Williams 1-0 PJ Rea
3. T Dunne 1-0 A King
4. N Larter 1-0 K Cole
5. G Casey 1-0 P Meskell

The B team had a narrow loss to Cork B in their match.
Ennis B 2-3 Cork B
1. D Murphy 0-1 M Watkins
2. L Daros 1-0 P Doyle
3. J Dunne 1-0 E Vaughan
4. C McGorrian 0-1 A Ranade
5. T Holland 0-1 S Sumanth

Vicas wins Ennis Open

Well done to Marijus Vicas who became the first untitled player to win the Ennis Congress outright since Valentine Kalinins in 2013. He started with five wins out of five and a last round draw was enough to take the title. FM Conor O’Donnell and FM Colm Daly finished in joint 2nd-3rd on five points. Theo Wallace won the U1400 starting with a draw before five successive wins gave him the title. Akshay Ranade and Hari Prasad finished a half point behind in joint 2md-3rd place.

Gradng prizes in the Open were won by Rafael Ninan Renji, Jana Solomatina and Con Kirby. Grading prizes in the Under 1400 were won by Tadhg Holland, Zoran Dragic,Sam Krawec and Scott Reilly. It was great to see so many promising juniors winning grading prizes.

Thanks to the West County Hotel for such a nice venue and sponsorship and also to Rochfords pharmacy and Clare County Council for their sponsorship. Thanks to Gerry and Mel Graham and Neal Kirby and everyone else who helped make the tournament a success, and especially main organiser John Cassidy.

Ennis Club League Round 5

The draw for the final round of the Ennis Club League 2019 has arrived courtesy of Gerry Graham. Round 5 draw.

Ennis Congress next weekend

The Ennis Chess Congress takes place next weekend in the West County Hotel. There is an Open section and an U1400 section. Contact John Cassidy 087-2495913 to enter either event.