The annual Glorney and Faber Cup Competitions, for chess players under 18 years of age, took place from 26th – 29th July 2005 in the Frances Mary Lescher Conference Room, Hope University, Liverpool.

Glorney Cup

The Glorney Cup competition involved six teams of five players each from Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, Belgium and the Czech Republic. The competition was run on an “all play all” basis. Ireland was represented by David Fitzsimons, Rory Delaney, Sam Osborne (all Dublin), Dara T. Murphy (Galway) and Calum Leitch (Belfast).

The Irish team opened their campaign against a strong Czech team and went down to a 1½–3½ defeat, but with three very creditable draws on Boards 1, 4 and 5. Next up, in round 2, were Belgium who proved to be a much tougher proposition than was the case in the 2004 Glorney Cup competition where Ireland had triumphed 3- 2 against them. On this occasion, the Belgians playing strength was on a par with the Czech team and they duly won the match against Ireland by 4 -1 with the most notable achievements of the Irish players being draws for Dara and Rory on boards 2 and 4, respectively, against significantly higher rated opponents.

There was no respite for the Irish in Round 3 against Glorney Cup holders and top seeds England who recorded an emphatic 4½ – 0½ win. The only highlight, from an Irish point of view, was Rory Delaney’s draw against a 2070 rated opponent on board 4.

This meant that Ireland went into their penultimate game against Scotland still searching for a win after 15 games. In the event, the Irish team got their first wins of the tournament where David and Dara won on boards 1 and 2 respectively although the team lost the match 3 -2 overall.

In the final round Ireland triumphed 3½ – 1½ over Wales to finish in fifth place overall in the competition. Best individual score came from Rory Delaney with 2½ points involving just one loss in his five games.

England retained the Glorney Cup in emphatic style by “whitewashing” the Czech Republic 5 – 0 in the final round. Indeed England only dropped 3½ points during the tournament.

While the overall result was somewhat disappointing from an Irish point of view, the experience gained will stand to the Irish players in the future, particularly as we had the youngest team in the tournament.

Faber Cup

The Faber Cup competition involved six teams of three players each from Ireland, England, Belgium and the Czech Republic. As Scotland and Wales did not enter teams, England fielded three teams, with the “England C” team being comprised exclusively of locally based Liverpool players. The competition was run on an “all play all” basis. Ireland was represented by Sarah Cormican (Galway), and Aileen Wallace and Susan Critchley, both from Munster.

The Irish team opened their campaign with 3 – 0 losses against the Czechs and England A. However, they fared better in round 3 against England B with a 1½ – 1½ draw, the highlight being Sarah’s draw against a 1600 rated opponent on Board 1. The team then recorded their first win of the campaign in round 4 with a 2 – 1 defeat of England C with Sarah and Aileen both winning. The highlight of a final round draw with the Belgians was Sarah’s win on board one against a 1730 rated opponent.

Thus the Irish team finished 4th overall with a total of 5 points up from the 1½ points obtained in the previous year’s Faber Cup. Best performance, from an Irish point of view, was Sarah’s 2½ points on board one. England A won the Faber Cup thus ensuring that England “did the double” on home ground.

A detailed cross table of the results of the Glorney and Faber tournaments and the individual results of the Irish players are set out below. A selection of games involving Irish players are also shown. Unfortunately, the round by round report of games, which is normally supplied by the host nation during the course of the tournament, was not available on this occasion.

Next year Wales host the Glorney and Faber Cups followed by Ireland in 2007. From 2006 onwards each country will be fully responsible for their own expenses, which will significantly ease the financial burden on the host nation of running the tournaments.

Glorney Cup 2005

         Cze Bel Eng Sco Wal Ire  Tot  Plc    
Czech R   ×   1½  0   3   5   3½  13    3   
Belgium   3½  ×   2½  3½  4½  4   18    2    
England   5   2½  ×   4½  5   4½  21½   1    
Scotland  2   1½  0½  ×   3½  3   10½   4    
Wales     0   0½  0   1½  ×   1½   3½   6
Ireland   1½  1   0½  2   3½  ×    8½   5

Faber Cup 2005

         Cze Bel EnA EnB EnC Ire  Tot  Plc
Czech R   ×   1½  1½  2   3   3   11    2
Belgium   1½  ×   0   3   1   1½   7    3
Eng. A    1½  3   ×   2½  3   3   13    1
Eng. B    1   0   0½  ×   2   1½   5   4-5
Eng. C    0   2   0   1   ×   1    4    6
Ireland   0   1½  0   1½  2   ×    5   4-5

Games: Glorney, Faber.