I took office on the 10th of December 2012 and since then there have been 8 committee meetings. Minutes and agendas for these meetings are available to all the executive committee. The meetings took place primarily on Skype however some meetings took place in person, with Skype for those unable to physically attend the meeting. The Executive Committee members were Jonathan O'Connor (Chairman), Colm Daly (Vice-chairman), Kevin O'Flaherty (secretary), Noel Keating (treasurer and membership officer), Mark Orr (ratings), Kevin O'Connell (FIDE/ECU delegate), Rory Delaney (Tournament Director and Leinster Delegate), Una O'Boyle (PRO), Gary O'Grady (development), Gearóidín (Women's Officer), Darko Polimac (Junior Officer), Pete Morriss (Connaught delegate) and John Cassidy (Munster Delegate).
Tournaments
Bunratty Chess Congress took place from the 27th of February to the 3rd of March with an extra all-play-all title norm event. The Cork Chess Congress took place on the 19th-21st of April with an increase in numbers. A very successful Irish Chess Championships took place in the University of Limerick this year. 5000 was given from the ICU to cover a prize-pool. With the exception of the unexpected heat; it was quite a successful Irish Championships with 7 different chess tournament and 3 courses for coaches. 21 players competing in the senior championships with Colm Daly ending up as the outright winner with Diana Mirza winning the Irish Women's Chess Championships. Congratulations to both players.
International Participation
3 juniors participated in the European Union Youth Championships in Austria; Tom Gorman, Diana Mirza and Daniel Dwyer. Diana Mirza won the Girls u13 European Union Youth Championships in August; congratulations to her.
4 junior players have been selected to represent Ireland at the European Youth Chess Championships in Budva which started on the 28th of September. We wish Michael Higgins, Stephen Higgins, Deirdre Turner and Eoghan Turner the very best of luck.
Disciplinary committees
Following an emergency meeting of the ICU executive on the 24th of April; two disciplinary sub-committees were formed as a result from instances at the Cork Chess Congress. The ICU also issued the following statement on our website; "Each sub-committee is empowered to gather evidence, to interview the principals in the case and to decide what, if any, chess laws and guidelines have been broken. Each sub-committee is also empowered to decide on any appropriate sanction.".
- The first was sub-committee consisted of the following individuals to investigate an instance of cheating: Charlie Talbot,Rory Delaney and Kevin O'Flaherty.
- The second sub-committee investigating an instance of alleged force on a minor comprised of: Gary O'Grady, David McAlister and John Delaney.
The first sub-committee has concluded and decided on the following: "The Disciplinary Sub-committee found that the player had indeed cheated at the tournament, by consulting a programme on an electronic device outside the playing area whilst the game was in progress. The player admitted the offence. Because the player is a minor, the player is not being named by the ICU. The Disciplinary Committee decided that, taking all the circumstances into account, the player should be subject to a four-month ban on playing in tournaments rated by the Irish Chess Union, starting from 21 April 2013, with the ban suspended during the same period."
Thanks
I would like to thank everyone on the executive committee and everyone on every sub-committee for their time and dedication to Irish chess and their hard work over the past year.