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

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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.

Penultimate Round of Munster League

After todays results in the Munster League Cork A will be Division 1 Champions and Limerick B are looking good for Division 2. Ennis A were tied on match points with Cork A going into todays games but we were held to a draw by Limerick A in the first match.

Ennis A 2.5-2.5 Limerick A
1. R Quinn 0.5-0.5 R Delaney
2. T Dunne 1-0 D Chaudarov
3. L Scott 0.5-0.5 P Carey
4. M O’Donnell 0-1 J Solomatina
5. J Cassidy 0.5-0.5 R O’Brien

With Cork A having a comprehensive win over Sarsfields in the earlier round, it meant we were a half point behind them going into a winner takes all clash in the evening. Cork won the match to leave themselves 1.5 match points ahead with just a single round left.

Cork A 3-2 Ennis A
1. J Shanel 0-1 R Quinn
2. H Doyle 1-0 T Dunne
3. P Leichert 1-0 L Scott
4. H De Jonge 0.5-0.5 M O’Donnell
5. S Murphy 0.5-0.5 J Cassidy

Ennis B had a good result in the early round, holding Limerick B to a draw.They were beaten by Cork B in the second match.

Ennis B 2.5-2.5 Limerick B
1. D Murphy 0.5-0.5 P Foenander
2. J Dunne 0-1 D Fanning
3. L Daros 1-0 S Danaher
4. J O’Sullivan 1-0 T Dineen
5. P Timlin 0-1 H Prasad

Ennis B 1.5-3.5 Cork B
1. D Murphy 0-1 L Hackett
2. J Dunne 0-1 B Foran
3. L Daros 0.5-0.5 M Bradley
4. J O’Sullivan 1-0 M Watkins
5. P Timlin 0-1 S Shindji

Club League Round 4

The draw for Round 4 of this seasons Ennis Club League is now available – Round 4 draw.

Munster League 3rd March

Both Ennis teams had wins in the Munster League today. The A team had a good win over CCYMS. Luke Scott sealed the win in the last game of the match to finish, his queenside pawns proving too much for David Geaney O’Briens extra knight.

CCYMS 2-3 Ennis A
1. K Moynihan 0.5-0.5 R Quinn
2. P O’Donovan 1-0 M O’Donnell
3. D Geaney O’Brien 0-1 L Scott
4. P Twomey 0-1 N Larter
5. P Dowdall 0.5-0.5 G Casey

In other results from this round Charleville held Sarsfields to a draw. Cork A were also held to a draw by Limerick in a match that could have gone either way. With the match tied at 2-2, the game between Kevin O’Flaherty and Jaroslav Shanel was entering its final stages after over 4 hours play. It looked like Kevin should be winning but it was quite complicated and the Czech player managed to salvage a draw ensuring the match finished drawn.

The B team beat Dungarvan by the same score as in our match with CCYMS. Aaron Daly and Phil Timlin both getting wins.

Dungarvan 2-3 Ennis B
1. E Lambden 0-1 A Daly
2. M Basnake 1-0 L Daros
3. C Coughlan 0.5-0.5 C McGorrian
4. J Lucey 0.5-0.5 J O’Sullivan
5. P O’Mahony 0-1 P Timlin

The second round of the day which normally runs from 5pm to 9pm was postponed on account of heavy snow in Charleville earlier today. It will be played at a later date.

Bunratty 2019

English GMs Mark Hebden and Luke McShane finished in joint first place in the Bunratty Masters over the weekend. Both finished on 5 points. There were 6 players tied in third through to eighth place a half point back.

Ciaran Quinn won the Challengers outright a half point ahead of Stephen McQuillan, Luke Scott and Jonathan Peoples. Muhd Khairil Asyr Khairil won the Major on an impressive 6 out of 6. Theo Wallace and Sean Horan finished in joint first in the Minor. Theres a tournament report at the Irish Chess Union website and more details at Bunratty Chess

Ennis Club League – Round 3

The draw for the third round of the Club League is now available – Round 3 draw