The ICU hosted the 2007 Glorney and Faber Cup competitions in Dublin City University (DCU) from 24th to 26th July. The competitions are for players aged 18 or under on 1st January 2007. The Glorney teams are comprised of 5 boys and the Faber teams are comprised of 3 girls. Teams from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England are competing.
At the same time the ICU also hosted a Four Nations Championships for teams of 6 players aged under 12 and under 14 from each of the countries listed above. Accordingly, over 100 junior chess players competed in these international events, the youngest of which was Shane Melaugh from Donegal, who was only 5!
Glorney
Congratulations to England (see photo) who retained the Glorney Cup for the umpteenth time, they have a powerful young squad. Games. Match results. Photos: England, Ireland A, Ireland B, Ireland C.
E A S C B W Pts Wns
England - 2½ 3½ 5 4½ 5 20½ 4
Ireland A 2½ - 3 4 4 4 17½ 4
Scotland 1½ 2 - 4 3½ 4½ 15½ 3
Ireland C 0 1 1 - 3 5 10 2
Ireland B ½ 1 1½ 2 - 3½ 8½ 1
Wales 0 1 ½ 0 1½ - 3 0
In R3 Ireland A faced Wales and needed a huge win to be in with a chance and got a 4-1 victory, David Fitzsimons being the unlucky Irishman to fall victim to the Welsh number 1, Carl Davies. England powered past Scotland 3½-1½ while Ireland B and C met, the C team winning 3-2.
R4 saw the Irish A lads face Scotland and this was their last chance before meeting the mighty English team in the final round. The Irish were victorious by the narrowest of margins to maintain slim hopes of winning the Glorney, Jan Mueller (Limerick) on B5 is playing particularly well, he's on 4/4.
The Irish B team were comprehensively beaten by the favourites 4½-½, the captain Stephen Moran impressively holding a rook and pawn ending which looked lost, acheiving the drawn position with a full 7 seconds left on his clock! Oisin Benson was on the losing end of a nice finish.
Another game to look out for is Ian McGregor vs Philip Makepeace: Black played 20...Rh3 and went on to win on move 48, but he could have won much quicker with a different 20th move, can you find it? If you can't, Fritz will find it for you, it did for me!
In the last round Irleand A did well to hold England to a draw to secure second place. All the games were hard fought and David Fitzsimons recovered well from a bad day yesterday to score a fine win on board one. Unfortuantely, Jan Mueller from Limerick lost, so no perfect score for him, but he still registered the highest score of the Irish A team on 4/5.
Faber
The Scots are Queens! England were the favourites, but they didnt win the Faber this year, that honour fell to Scotland by virtue of the fact that they had beaten England in their match. The Scottish girls, Amy Officer, Rhian Huges and Lynsey Shovlin (see photo) were understandably quite chuffed with this result. Games. Match results. Photos: Scotland, Ireland.
Final Standings:
S E I W Pts Wns
Scotland - 2 2 2½ 6½ 3
England 1 - 2½ 3 6½ 2
Ireland 1 ½ - 2 2½ 1
Wales ½ 0 1 - 1½ 0
Four Nations U14
Congratulations England, who won by a whopping margin of 9 points from Wales. Match results. Photos: Ireland A, Ireland B.
E W A S B Pts Wns
England - 6 5½ 5½ 6 23 4
Wales 0 - 4 5 5 14 3
Ireland A ½ 2 - 3½ 4 10 2
Scotland ½ 1 2½ - 4 8 1
Ireland B 0 1 2 2 - 5 0
Four Nations U12
Congratulations England again! Match results. Photos: Ireland A, Ireland B.
E A S B W Pts Wns
England - 2½ 5 5 6 18½ 4
Ireland A 1½ - 3½ 4½ 6 15½ 3
Scotland 1 2½ - 4½ 3½ 11½ 2
Ireland B 1 1½ 1½ - 3½ 7½ 1
Wales 0 0 1½ 2½ - 4 0