Month: Feb 2016

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Last Night’s Results

A Championship:

JOHNSTON, Michael     1-0     McDONNELL, Paul

With only one game being played in the A Championship, Michael availed of the opportunity to apply a bit on pressure on defending champion Pat Coleman.  In a truly absorbing match neither player gave an inch and it always looked like one slight advantage would lead to victory. That’s exactly what happened and Michael’s extra pawn was sufficient to land the win.  He now moves to the top of the table level with Pat Coleman, Joe Reid and Brendan Corrigan.  Unfortunately, he only has one match to play against Pat, who has three to play.  Watch this space!

B Championship:

THOMSON, Andrew       0-1     MCDONNELL, Paddy

Paddy cements his position at the top of the table as he makes it six wins from six matches.  It what was always going to be a tight match he ground out a much deserved win against his good friend Andrew to maintain his unbeaten run.  With just two matches to play, a point and a half will suffice for Paddy to take the title.  However, one of those matches is against Alan Dee, who is still the dark horse.

PENTONY, Frank       0.5-0.5     ROTTIERS, Nick

An extremely lucky result for Frank as he was absolutely destroyed in the opening. He recovered his poise in the middle game, but then lost the exchange and was a rook down for a knight.  He battled on and put Nick under some pressure resulting in equalizing the piece count. However, he was unable to push on and allowed Nick take command again. An unforced error in the end game resulted in an agreed draw. Phew!

C Championship:

SCANLAN, Pat          :      SIMA, Sonia

The clash of the top two was eagerly anticipated and Sonia looked strong early in the match.  She was a rook up for a bishop at one stage but Pat has a pair of passed pawns.  These were to prove decisive as he swapped everything off and marched them in.  This win all but secures the championship for Pat.  Well done!

WATSON, Andrew.  :       REILLY, Ben

Andrew seems to be coming with a late run, as he makes it 2 wins in consecutive weeks. In what was a tough match, both players went for it ‘hell for leather’. Andrew remained calm and secured the win with some clever play in the end. This win moves him to 3rd in the table.

EVANS, Keith.           :        KANE, Adam

Keith continues his unbeaten run and secured his first win of the championship.  After last weeks draw against his flying Sonia, he was determined to build on the momentum gained. He started aggressively and put Adam king under severe pressure forcing it to go ‘walk about’ which is never a good idea.  As Adam pressed on the queen side Keith maneuvered his king side attack and the outcome was inevitable!

 

 

 

 

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BEA Update

A win or at least a share of the points against Dublin on Saturday next will move us back to 4th place in the league table with an outside chance of catching St Benildus? With both teams scheduled to play Portmarnock (3rd) and Naomh Barróg (4th) in our last matches, the results of these matches may be the deciding factor. However, the current focus is on Dublin on Saturday and team captain Cillian Howlett hopes to have a full strength squad available. Go get them lads.

Div 5  BEA Cup  2015 – 2016
Team MP GW GD GL Def Pts
1 Enniscorthy 7 25 4 6 0 27
2 St Benildus 8 23 6 11 0 26
3 Portmarnock 7 17 8 10 0 21
4 Naomh Barróg 7 15 11 9 0 20 ½
5 Finglas 8 10 17 13 0 18 ½
6 Drogheda 7 13 10 12 0 18
7 Dublin 7 11 11 13 0 16 ½
8 Inchicore 7 13 6 16 0 16
9 Curragh 7 8 15 12 0 15 ½
10 Phibsboro 8 9 12 19 0 15
11 Rathmines 7 10 6 19 0 13
12 Balbriggan 8 8 10 22 1 12
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BEA Cup

Cillian Howlett’s BEA Cup team entertain Dublin on Saturday and this is what Cillian had to say about the standings:

As the first three Round 8 results are in, there has been some movement in the table.  The three results are as follow:

1) Balbriggan 2.5 – 2.5 Phibsboro (Sat – 13th February) (LCU Website)
2) St. Benildus 3.0 – 2.0 Finglas (Wed – 10th February) (LCU Website)
3) Enniscorthy 5.0 – 0.0 Curragh (Sat – 13th February) (Boards.ie)
Balbriggan has avoided defeat for the first time this season when they held their visitors (Phibsboro) for a share of the points.  Finglas appeared to have pulled off yet another good result when they travelled to the southside to bag 2 points – yes, it’s a defeat but a very respectable one considering that St. Benildus are now second promotion front runners.  According to a source on Boards.ie, it appears that Enniscorthy has carried out yet another milling – this time at home to the Curragh.  However, the same source stated that the scoreline in no way reflected the match – a  match where all games apparently went to the wire.
 
The table after the first three Round 8 games are computed:
 
01. 32.0 / 8 rounds – Enniscorthy
02. 26.0 / 8 rounds – St. Benildus
03. 21.0 / 7 rounds – Portmarnock
04. 20.5 / 7 rounds – Naomh Barrog
05. 18.5 / 8 rounds – Finglas
06. 18.0 / 7 rounds – Drogheda
07. 16.5 / 7 rounds – Dublin 
08. 16.0 / 7 rounds – Inchicore
09. 15.5 / 8 rounds – Curragh
10. 15.0 / 8 rounds – Phibsboro
11. 13.0 / 7 rounds – Rathmines
12. 12.0 / 8 rounds – Balbriggan
The home teams in the said three matches (in blue) are the main beneficiaries in terms of points following match victories for Enniscorthy and St. Benildus and a draw for Balbriggan – their best result to date.  Enniscorthy are seriously tightening their grip on pole position as they open the gap to a massive 6 points over St. Benildus who in turn are tightening their grip on second promotion spot.  Portmarnock have a game in hand, but would need an unlikely 5-0 win in a home northside derby with Naomh Barrog in order to get on even terms with St. Benildus.  A draw on the northside would in fact see the gap to St. Benildus open a little – watch this space!  Balbriggan have closed the relegation gap a little for now, but Rathmines who have a game in hand are likely to get a respectable score when they visit Inchicore.
 
Regarding the teams that played away, Finglas have temporarily taken 5th spot above the Drogheda and Dublin teams who in turn have each other for their match in hand – this Battle of the Boyne takes place on the coming Saturday and it’s very hard to say how the match will play out.  The Curragh are likely to be fighting relegation after their 5-0 loss to Enniscorthy while Phibsboro (who drew with Balbriggan) will slip back into the relegation zone should Rathmines avoid defeat.  The Curragh and Phibsboro teams are due to play each other for Round 10 and the outcome of this match could have a major bearing regarding who gets relegated in April.
All very interesting and the score  on Saturday will result in either Dublin or Drogheda jumping at least one and maybe two places in the standings!
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Revised C Championship Fixtures

The following are revised fixtures for tomorrow night:

SCANLAN, Pat          :      SIMA, Sonia

WATSON, Andrew.  :       REILLY, Ben

EVANS, Keith.           :        KANE, Adam

The usual arrangements still apply.

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Tuesday’s Dramatic Action

Another night of dramatic chess as the Championships near conclusion. It has certainly been a funny championship with results almost impossible to predict especially in the B Championship.

A Championship:

MURPHY, Eoin      0.5-0.5     JOHNSTON, Michael

Magic Mike continues to astound as he takes his score to 3 points and holds his own in 4th place in the standings.  The fact that he has a game in hand over Joe and Brendan above him should not be lost.  Anyway, back to the match against Eoin, which was extremely tight but intoxicating?  Eoin started well and attacked from the outset, but Michael defended stoutly and looked for some counter attacking opportunities.  An impasse was reached after 37 moves and both players were happy to share the spoils.

DOYLE, John              0-1         CORRIGAN, Brendan

Brendan put on an arsenal-like performance to pick up a valuable point with a comfortable win over John.  He looked to be in control from the openings, and never seemed in any danger of losing.  John put up a good fight, but it wasn’t to be his night.

HOWLETT, Cillian    0-1         REID,  Joe

Joe’s challenge is back on track but unfortunately out of his hands. He needs Pat Coleman to drop points as well as defeating him next week.  Cillian put his best foot forward, but Joe looked like a player looking to restore his pride after two poor results in recent weeks.

MCDONNELL, Paul  0-1         COLEMAN, Pat

The defending Champion stumbles towards retaining his title, but not without an occasional scare.  Paul provided the excitement this week as he went a piece up and looked to be in a good position. As usual, Pat fought back and equalised the position. It wasn’t pretty but it was effective.

B Championship:

MCDONNELL, Paddy     1-0     CUMMINS, Sean

This one went literally to the wire with Paddy claiming the win on time.  Sean put up a tremendous fight and hauled himself back into the game after Paddy looked to be in control.  An interesting endgame ensued with chances on both sides, but the clock was Sean’s downfall in the end.

PENTONY, Frank             0-1     SOMERVILLE, Colm

Frank dropped a soft pawn in the opening and never really recovered, despite putting pressure on Colm’s king side.  The capture of a couple of wayward pawns and a very active pair of rooks proved decisive in the end.  Colm marches on and once again Frank licks his wounds.

ROTTIERS, Nick                1-0    THOMSON, Andrew

Shock of the night as the man from Belguim blew wide open the B Championship.  In fairness to Andrew, he completely overlooked a rook and Nick accepted the free piece without blinking an eyelid!  This win probably ends Andrew’s ambitions but raises Nick’s hopes of a high finish and helps his rating points.
C Championship:

AHERN, Justin            0-1        KANE, Adam

Young Adam proved his worth and worked hard to engineer a passed pawn.  He then proved himself more than capable of marching his pawn to the end line an claimed his prize. This win moves him within a point of the leader Pat Scanlan with 2 matches to play.

EVANS, Keith            0.5-0.5    SIMA, Sonia

Sonia missed an opportunity to draw level with Pat Scanlan, when she was held to a draw by Keith.  Keith had been finding the going tough and despite being in contention in many of his matches, his end game let him down.  Not tonight Sonia as he engineered a drawn position and the outcome was inevitable.

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Alarm bells in O’Hanlon Cup

Unfavorable results elsewhere has resulted in Drogheda dropping two places to 10 place, but much more worrying just one point above the relegation zone.  Despite losing to Inchicore, Aer Lingus move 1.5 points ahead. St. Benildus secured a valuable 4-2 win over Elm Mount and also moved above us.  However, we have a match in hand against  4th placed Ballinasloe on March 5th and this now takes on significant importance.  The key match may yet be against Celebridge on 19th March.

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C Championship Fixtures 23.02.16

The following are the C Championship fixtures for Tuesday 23rd February 2016:

SCANLAN, Pat          :     SIMA, Sonia

WATSON, Andrew   :     REILLY, Ben

EVANS, Keith            :     AHERN, Justin

The usual arrangements regarding unavailability, etc.

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B Championship Fixtures 23.02.16

The following are the B Championship fixtures for Tuesday 23rd February 2016:

THOMSON, Andrew       :     MCDONNELL, Paddy
PENTONY, Frank            :     ROTTIERS, Nick
CHURCHILL, Adam        :     MITCHELL, Philip
DEE, Alan                          :     CUMMINS, Sean          POSTPONED
SOMMERVILLE, Colm   :     BYE

The usual arrangements regarding unavailability, etc.