Cork City Libraries third annual ‘Festival of Chess’ took place at Mayfield Library on Saturday, December 20th.

This years six teams of five players per team arrived in the library from a wide range of city locations – Mayfield, Hollyhill, Blackpool and Douglas all seeing representation, supplemented by more far-flung Blarney and Carrigaline.

The round robin tournament was overseen by Irish Youths international Mark McGrath, and team formation was entirely random apart from the consideration of age. A 13- or 12-year-old led each team, and 10 was by far the most common age, accounting for as many as one-third of the participants.

The teams were then given their pre-prepared names (some of which were met with sceptical looks), the draws were made, and play commenced for the Pernickety Pawns, Catastrophic Castles, Knutty Knights, Blasphemous Bishops, Quacked Queens and Krazy Kings.

Each team played three rounds with one point awarded for a team win. In a good test of sportsmanship, a player could in theory win all his or her individual games and still end up on the last placed team.

The Krazy Kings, captained by Laura Winiarska, emerged as the strongest force and eventual champions with 2.5 points. Second and third positions couldn’t have been closer with the Blasphemous Bishops and Quacked Queens on 2 points each, the decision going to the Queens as they had defeated the Bishops in their pairing. The Catastrophic Castles were just that, catastrophic, scoring zero points. But captain Cathal Sexton was philosophical, and he and his team gracious in defeat, sharing out a tub of Heroes Chocolates with humour and the same good spirit they played their matches in.

The Kings received the ‘Festival of Chess’ perpetual silver cup and €25 vouchers each. Christmas jumpers were mandatory and Henry Draper collected a €20 voucher for the best example on the day, while James Donoghue received the same for the best Christmas accessory (reindeer antlers).

The Krazy Kings, with representatives from Mayfield, Blackpool and Carrigaline, were - Laura Winiarska, Yong Wen He, Paul McSweeny, Oscar Grahame and Anna Diachenko.