The hugely successful Gonzaga Charity Classic 2017 took place over the weekend of the 27-29 of January with a record-breaking 220 entrants. This represented a huge increase in entrants for the 15th addition of the popular event which up to this point had only seen 150 entrants. This huge increase in entry was first and foremost down to the incredible work done by the transition year students in Gonzaga College who managed to lure 4 GMs, 2 IMs and several FMs to an event which was struggling for numbers in the top section only a few years ago.
The 15th Annual Gonzaga Charity Classic 2017's Master section was upgraded this year with a showroom in the school's theatre for the top 4 boards while the remainder of the masters' game were played in the school's library. The showroom's boards were broadcast live to the web and also projected on a screen behind where the games were played so that players/onlookers could watch the action from the seats below.
Round 1 on the show-boards saw 6 nationalities represented with Ireland's Peter Cafolla facing off against top seed GM Normunds Miezis; 2nd seed GM Alexander Baburin playing Zdravko Manojlovic; IM Sam Collins drawing Dublin CC's newest member - Kilkenny Major Champion Stanley Yin while GM Keith Arkell was drawn with another Dublin CC member, Gerardo Artola. Those games went to form although GM Arkell was made to work for his win with the game lasting more than 100 moves. The event's fourth GM, Bogdan Lalic, also won, defeating Blanchardstown's Luke Scott. Shocks were few and far between in round one but there were a couple with Jan Heinrich downing 2400+ FM Joachem B. Nilsen and Tomasz Skrzypnik defeating Ireland's number 2 junior, Henry Li.
With the seeds holding firm on their boards, their challengers for round 2 were Renzo Ramondino, Carlo Marzano, James Moreby and Stephen Moran while defending champion, David Murray, took on GM Bogdan Lalic on board 5. However, this time around the top seeds didn't get off quite so easily with Ireland's top 2 players surrendering draws on boards 2 and 3. However, 3 Irish players remainded perfect on 2/2 following the round: Conor O'Donnell, Killian Delaney and Tom O'Gorman - the latter having an impressive win over FM Reinhold Mueller in round 2 after a win against his sister, Alice, in round 1.
The final round of day 2 was sure to set the tone with a plethora of players still on 2/2 and a chasing pack by no means out of contention on 1.5/2. The top 3 boards saw GMs Miezis, Arkell and Lalic play FM O'Donnell, FM Kvisla and Delaney while IM Eggleston was drawn against Tom O'Gorman. GM Baburin and IM Collins led the group of players on 1.5/2 and played Daniel Abrahams and Helge Magnussen.
Board 3 was the first to finish with Delaney accepting a draw in a better position early on against GM Lalic. Next was another surprise draw on board 5 with GM Baburin accepting a draw while significantly behind on the clock. Board 3 went to seeding with Eggleston seeing off O'Gorman - although it wouldn't be the last we'd see of Tom on the showboards thankfully. That left 3 big games still in progress with Arkell and Collins in serious trouble and Miezis and O'Donnell locked in a tight ending.
Arkell became the first GM of the weekend to lose with Kvisla taking the Nowegian contingent's tally to 5/6 for the weekend at the close of day 2. Collins somehow pulled his game out of the bag which meant that the game on board one was last to finish. Eventually, O'Donnell and Miezis agreed to a drew - an impressive result for Ireland's top junior.
Those results left 2 players on a perfect 3/3 - IM David Eggleston and FM Johannes Luangtep Kvisla - and they would meet bright and early on day 3. Elsewhere, the championship section was led by up-and-coming junior, Denis Ruchko and Terry Creighton who were on a perfect 4/4 while the challenger section was led by 3 players on 4/4: Leo Phelan, Rohan Devereux, and Vihanga Urala Gamage.
In round 4, all eyes were on the two players left leading the tournament but a draw would see the 9 players on 2.5/3 come back into play for the lead going into the final round. The pressure was quickly put on those two men with wins for the seeds on boards 2-5 including GMs Miezis and Lalic, IM Collins and FM O'Donnell ensuring that the final round would be tight no matter what outcome. The pressure may have told as a draw was eventually agreed - meaning that 6 players shared the lead going into round 5.
Terry Creighton took a stranglehold on the Championship section with a win over Galway-junior, Denis Ruchko but he would still need to win in round 6 to ensure himself outright first as 3 others were just half a point behind.
Similarly, Leo Phelan wrestled control of the challengers going into round 6 with a win over school-mate Rohan Devereux but again, he would need to win in the last round to secure outright first.
And so the scene was set for the final round with each section still to play for and any one of ten possible winners of the masters section. Board one would see Miezis take on Eggleston, clubmates Collins and O'Donnell would face off on two while Kvisla and Lalic would play on 3. High-flying juniors, Tom O'Gorman and Gavin Melaugh would play Baburin and Arkell on boards 4 and 5 respectively. However, there were plenty of other exciting games to be played with a masters of 50+ players
Board 4 was first to finish with O'Gorman earning a terrific draw against GM Baburin - forcing a perpetual out of the opening. Lalic and Kvisla were next to finish with another draw agreed, making them clubhouse leaders on 4/5 but with no chances of outright first. Keith Arkell and Gavin Melaugh played out an interesting game with Arkell sacrificing a few pawns for a devastating attack which would eventually prove fatal.
That would leave boards 1 and 2 as the last to finish of the crucial games and everything still on the line. Collins and O'Donnell couldn't find a breakthrough and a draw meant they joined Lalic, Arkell and Kvisla on 4/5. A draw on board 1 would mean a 7-way tie for first but luckily, from an organisers perspective, Miezis was in no mood for a draw, eventually seeing off Eggleston and claiming his first Gonzaga Classic Title.
In the championship, Creighton was unable to come away with a sixth straight win, agreeing a draw against Ravshan Khaydarov but more importantly leaving the door open for those on board 2 to pull level. Grzegorz Pawlowski took advantage of the open door to pull level with Terry but defeating Paul Higgins and moving to 5.5/6. With his draw on board 1, Khaydarov would share third with Kevin Burke and Tony Bermingham. 12 year old Muhtarim-Ul Haque picked up a grading prize in the section with a score of 4.5/6 - a great score for the youngster bringing him to a peak rating of 1623.
Vihanga Urala Gamage would stage a come-from-behind victory by defeating Leo Phelan in round 6 of the challengers section and claiming the title. However, Phelan would still share second with several others: Sean Conor O'Neill, Hugh Moran, Hugh O'Connor, and Cian Bergin.
All that was left was for our masters to take their prizes and those involved to get the credit they deserved; namely the transition year students, Daniel Lynch, arbiters Ivan Baburin and Gerry Graham, the sponsors CPR, MHL and Queen's University Belfast and Herbert Scarry - the longtime arbiter of the event who was unfortunately unable to attend this year.
The responsibility for running the event now passes to the next group of incoming transition years and they will be delighted to welcome you all back in 2018!