The 2009 Irish National Chess Club Championships were held recently in the Carlton Shearwater Hotel in Ballinasloe. This excellent venue provided a great setting for the new format of the event. Up until now, the provincial leagues winners were the qualifiers to compete for the title of National Club Champions but this year, it was an open event. Any Chess club in the county could enter provided they could field a strong enough team. Six teams entered the event and Kilkenny were the top seeds with a powerful team whos average rating over the top six boards was 2200. Their top 3 players were Alex Baburin GM, Mark Heidelfeld IM and our own Radio Star Chess Nerd, Mark Quinn IM. They were going to be hard to beat.
The second seeds were Galway with an average rating of 1982, their top player, Yury Rochev is 2385. Ennis were a close third in the seeding, at 1980. Rathmines team at 1939 were fourth seeds and their top player was none other than John Delaney FM, a very welcome return to the Irish Chess scene. The fifth seeds were Dublin University who somehow managed to lose their top board, Karl McPhillips, this would leave them struggling as they were now competing with only 5 players. Limerick Chess Club were bringing up the rear with an average of 1707.
Play got underway at 1:00pm on Saturday 25th when John Delaney had to face Alex Baburin with the Black pieces this is what happened.
Baburin, Alexander—Delaney, John |
| John Delaney Welcome Back ! |
Video may have killed the radio star but Im afraid Killian Delaney couldnt do it:
Quinn, Mark—Delaney, KillianIn round 2, Kilkenny met Galway and helped by this Mark Heidelfeld win over Merek Goban, beat them 4½-1½.
Heidenfeld, Mark—Goban, MarekAt the half way stage, we had a slightly surprising looking leader board: Ennis 9½, Kilkenny 9, Galway 7½, Rathmines 3½, Limerick 3½ and Dublin University 3.
The leaders met in round 3 and we had some real fighting chess but we also had an incident of a players phone going off during the game which is a pity. Limericks no.1 player, Lasha Tsaboshvilli defaulted against Yuri Rochev in the Limerick vs Galway match. Galway won that match 6-0.
The Kilkenny Ennis match was the main event on the Sunday morning and boards five and six were drawn as was the top board clash. However, on board four, Ryan Rhys Griffiths beat Kieran O'Brien while Jan Sodoma was impressive in the following game on board 2: Heidenfeld, Mark—Sodoma, Jan
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| Jan Sodoma (Ennis) on form with Black! |
This left this important match being decided by the result of board 3, the battle of the mighty Quinns.
Quinn, Rory—Quinn, MarkIn the final round Kilkenny met Dublin University and while Kilkenny had done enough to guarantee them one of the two qualifying slots for the European Club Championships, they have not yet won the National Club title. The clash of Galway and Ennis would decide the second qualifying team and if either team could pull out a big win, they could overhaul Kilkenny to take win the competition.
In the end, Kilkenny were just too strong for the students and although Kevin Barry managed to share the point with Eamon Keogh, all his team mates lost and so Kilkenny are the 2009 National Club Champions.
The was the other little matter of the second qualifying place for the European Club Championships and Galway and Ennis were fighting hard for this. Rory Quinn (Ennis) was the first to strike with a win over David Path while their top boards drew. Jan Sodoma scored his fourth win of the event at the expense of Marek Goban and the other three boards went the full distance, all finishing within a minute of each other. John Cassidy's win over Lorcan O'Toole sealed a 4-2 victory and a place in Europe for Ennis.
Final Standings were: Kilkenny 18, Ennis 16, Galway 15½, Rathmines 12, Dublin University 6 and Limerick 4½.
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| Kilkenny Chess Team 2009 NCC Champions! |
For full results see table below.
| Round 1 | ||||
| Kilkenny | 4½-1½ | Rathmines | ||
| 2536 | Alexander Baburin | 1-0 | John Delaney | 2244 |
| 2391 | Mark Heidenfeld | 1-0 | Peter Cafolla | 1987 |
| 2349 | Mark Quinn | 1-0 | Killian Delaney | 1922 |
| 2145 | Ryan Rhys Griffiths | 1-0 | Mindaugas Janusaitis | 1857 |
| 1755 | Sean Bradley | ½-½ | Jack Killane | 1829 |
| 1502 | John Courtney | 0-1 | Michael J. Kennedy | 1796 |
| Dublin University | 0-6 | Galway | ||
| 1912 | Stephen Moran | 0-1 | Yury Rochev | 2385 |
| 1919 | Colin Menzies | 0-1 | Marek Goban | 2111 |
| 1827 | Rory Delaney | 0-1 | Dave Path | 1984 |
| 1678 | Paul O' Flaherty | 0-1 | Lorcan O'Toole | 1830 |
| 1606 | Kevin Barry | 0-1 | Ronan Duke | 1702 |
| 0-1 | ||||
| Ennis | 5½-½ | Limerick | ||
| 2458 | Petr Neuman | ½-½ | Lasha Tsaboshvili | 2038 |
| 2360 | Jan Sodoma | 1-0 | John Alfred | 1730 |
| 2065 | Rory Quinn | 1-0 | Kevin O'Flaherty | 1705 |
| 1643 | Kieran O'Brien | 1-0 | Gabriel Mirza | 1656 |
| 1683 | John Cassidy | 1-0 | Ray O'Brien | 1576 |
| 1668 | Nick Larter | 1-0 | Cezary Glegolski | 1538 |
| Round 2 | ||||
| Galway | 1½-4½ | Kilkenny | ||
| 2385 | Yury Rochev | ½-½ | Alexander Baburin | 2536 |
| 2111 | Marek Goban | 0-1 | Mark Heidenfeld | 2391 |
| 1984 | Dave Path | 0-1 | Mark Quinn | 2349 |
| 1881 | Pete Morriss | ½-½ | Ryan Rhys Griffiths | 2145 |
| 1702 | Ronan Duke | ½-½ | Sean Bradley | 1755 |
| 1700 | Marek Maslonka | 0-1 | John Courtney | 1502 |
| Rathmines | 2-4 | Ennis | ||
| 2244 | John Delaney | 0-1 | Petr Neuman | 2458 |
| 1987 | Peter Cafolla | 0-1 | Jan Sodoma | 2360 |
| 1922 | Killian Delaney | 0-1 | Rory Quinn | 2065 |
| 1857 | Mindaugas Janusaitis | 1-0 | Kieran O'Brien | 1643 |
| 1829 | Jack Killane | ½-½ | John Cassidy | 1683 |
| 1796 | Michael J. Kennedy | ½-½ | Nick Larter | 1668 |
| Limerick | 3-3 | Dublin University | ||
| 2038 | Lasha Tsaboshvili | 0-1 | Stephen Moran | 1912 |
| 1705 | Kevin O'Flaherty | 1-0 | Colin Menzies | 1919 |
| 1656 | Gabriel Mirza | 0-1 | Rory Delaney | 1827 |
| 1576 | Cezary Glegolski | 0-1 | Paul O' Flaherty | 1678 |
| 1439 | Kieran Young | 1-0 | Kevin Barry | 1606 |
| 1-0 | ||||
| Round 3 | ||||
| Ennis | 2½-3½ | Kilkenny | ||
| 2458 | Petr Neuman | ½-½ | Alexander Baburin | 2536 |
| 2360 | Jan Sodoma | 1-0 | Mark Heidenfeld | 2391 |
| 2065 | Rory Quinn | 0-1 | Mark Quinn | 2349 |
| 1643 | Kieran O'Brien | 0-1 | Ryan Rhys Griffiths | 2145 |
| 1683 | John Cassidy | ½-½ | Eamon Keogh | 2025 |
| 1583 | Gerry Casey | ½-½ | Sean Bradley | 1755 |
| Limerick | 0-6 | Galway | ||
| 2038 | Lasha Tsaboshvili | 0-1 | Yury Rochev | 2385 |
| 1705 | Kevin O'Flaherty | 0-1 | Marek Goban | 2111 |
| 1656 | Gabriel Mirza | 0-1 | Dave Path | 1984 |
| 1576 | Ray O'Brien | 0-1 | Pete Morriss | 1881 |
| 1538 | Cezary Glegolski | 0-1 | Lorcan O'Toole | 1830 |
| 1439 | Kieran Young | 0-1 | Marek Maslonka | 1700 |
| Dublin University | 2½-3½ | Rathmines | ||
| 1912 | Stephen Moran | 1-0 | John Delaney | 2244 |
| 1919 | Colin Menzies | 1-0 | Peter Cafolla | 1987 |
| 1827 | Rory Delaney | ½-½ | Killian Delaney | 1922 |
| 1678 | Paul O' Flaherty | 0-1 | Mindaugas Janusaitis | 1857 |
| 1606 | Kevin Barry | 0-1 | Jack Killane | 1829 |
| 0-1 | ||||
| Round 4 | ||||
| Kilkenny | 5½-½ | Dublin University | ||
| 2536 | Alexander Baburin | 1-0 | Stephen Moran | 1912 |
| 2391 | Mark Heidenfeld | 1-0 | Colin Menzies | 1919 |
| 2349 | Mark Quinn | 1-0 | Rory Delaney | 1827 |
| 2145 | Ryan Rhys Griffiths | 1-0 | Paul O' Flaherty | 1678 |
| 2025 | Eamon Keogh | ½-½ | Kevin Barry | 1606 |
| 1-0 | ||||
| Galway | 2-4 | Ennis | ||
| 2385 | Yury Rochev | ½-½ | Petr Neuman | 2458 |
| 2111 | Marek Goban | 0-1 | Jan Sodoma | 2360 |
| 1984 | Dave Path | 0-1 | Rory Quinn | 2065 |
| 1881 | Pete Morriss | 1-0 | Kieran O'Brien | 1643 |
| 1830 | Lorcan O'Toole | 0-1 | John Cassidy | 1683 |
| 1702 | Ronan Duke | ½-½ | Gerry Casey | 1583 |
| Rathmines | 5-1 | Limerick | ||
| 2244 | John Delaney | ½-½ | Lasha Tsaboshvili | 2038 |
| 1987 | Peter Cafolla | 1-0 | Kevin O'Flaherty | 1705 |
| 1922 | Killian Delaney | 1-0 | Gabriel Mirza | 1656 |
| 1857 | Mindaugas Janusaitis | 1-0 | Ray O'Brien | 1576 |
| 1829 | Jack Killane | 1-0 | Cezary Glegolski | 1538 |
| 1796 | Michael J. Kennedy | ½-½ | Kieran Young | 1439 |