The 2012 Glorney Cup (and associated events) took place at Daventry, England. The event ran over three days from 18th to 20th July. Organiser's website (including games and results). Pictures. A day by day analysis follows.
Day 1
In the Glorney Ireland are currently sitting in second place just 1½ points behind England who they meet in this morning's live game. John Cormican emerged from yesterday's two games on maximum score against strong opposition. In the other events the going is tough but Ireland are still very much in contention. In the Stokes Cup Jeffrey Alfred had a great day finishing on 2/2 against average opposition over 300 points above his own rating.
Day 2
A tough start today for the Glorney team against England which saw us lose 5-0. A nice winning Queen sac on board one, unfortunately by the English player. Round 4 saw the Irish team bounce back with a win over Wales to go into the final round just a half point off second place. The girls on the Gilbert had a good day today scoring match draws against both the Welsh and the highly regarded English teams with Diana Mirza leading the way on a perfect 2/2 for the day.
In the Robertson Cup (U14) the team performed very well today losing only narrowly to England and beating the Welsh results helped by both Scott Mulligan and Peter Cooke each scoring two wins for the day. Our boys in the Stokes Cup are now in clear second behind England with Ross Beatty winning both games today and Jeffrey Alfred on an unbeaten 3 from 4 to date.
Day 3
In the Glorney Ireland slipped to two defeats on the final day finishing the event in joint third with the Scottish. In the end the English team were just far too strong finishing on 22/30 and a long way clear. Lots of positives for Ireland to take from the event. John Cormican finished on 5/6 on board 4 against average opposition of 1945 FIDE. Conor O'Donnell faced tough opposition on board 1 (added to a little tiredness after the gruelling Scottish Championships perhaps) but has another 4 or 5 years to win his board prize. Hugh Doyle, Oissine Murphy and Keegan O'Mahony all also played their part and worked very hard for the team.
The Irish girls on the Gilbert came in a respectable third place in a closely contested event. Sarah Jane Hearne from Kilkenny had tough opponents on board 1 finishing on 1/6 but not losing any rating points due t the strength of the opposition. Ruth Cormican of Galway on board 2 ended the event unbeaten amazingly drawing all 6 games. Diana Mirza from Adare on board 3 had another strong tournament finishing on 4/6 with only one defeat. She also has many years left to play in the Gilbert and is a hot tip for a board prize on board 1 in years to come.
In the Robertson (U14) Ireland finished at the wrong end of a fairly tight table with just 4½ points separating first and last places. Eoin Minnock on the top board came up against some strong opposition but finished nicely with a draw against the top English player. On board 2 Geoffrey Keating finished strongly on 1.5/2 after struggling in the opening two days. Good team contributions also came from Rory Ellard (3/6) and Catherine Hearne (1½/6) and Scott Mulligan (3½/6). On board 6 Peter Cooke from Rathmines put in an excellent performance with only one loss in his 4½/6.
The Stokes Cup (U12) was another event completely dominated by the English team (26/36). The Irish team finished somewhat off the pace on 14 points. The points came from every board though with Padraig Hughes (1½), Tom McGrath (1½), Michael Higgins (2) and Fiachra Scallan (1) all working hard for their points. Excellent performances from both Jeffrey Alfred and Ross Beatty who finished the event on 4/6.
The ICU would like to thank all the competitors, parents and organisers for making this event a success. Special thanks go to David Fitzsimons and Ryan Griffiths, who gave their time to travel with the teams and help them to achieve their best.