As the sun sets on the 2015-16 season (with the exception of several important foreign events such as the ECU and Jugendschach EU Youth Championships 2016, Turda Saltmine Cup - International Chess Tournament for Children and European Youth Championship 2016), we look ahead to the new season and upcoming events. As part of that shift of attention to the new season, 2016-17 ICU Subscriptions can now be made with membership running from September 1st to August 31st. However, 2015-16 subs can still be paid by post if needed. The ICU AGM 2015-16 will be held at 3pm on Sunday 25th September in the Academy Plaza Hotel.
The Ulster Championships 2016 and Dun Laoghaire Rapidplay
The Ulster Championships 2016 take place from 27-29 August in the Europa Hotel, Belfast. The important footnote for this event is that it will be ICU rated - the first UCU event to be ICU rated in over 10 years. With a noticeable uptick in the number of events held in 2015-16, tournament clashes have become slightly more prevalent and this is again the case with the Ulster Championships clashing with Dun Laoghaire Rapidplay. However, the number of tournaments are only growing as there is the demand for them with a fast-growing membership so we envisage both events attracting large numbers of participants. Dun Laoghaire Rapidplay takes place on 28 August in Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire.
42nd World Chess Olympiad 2016
The 42nd World Chess Olympiad 2016 kick-starts the season, running from September 1st to 14th and sees many of our top players pit themselves against the world's elite. The open team features Alexander Baburin, Mark Heidenfeld, current Irish champion Stephen Jessel, Conor O'Donnell and Colm Daly while the women's team is made up of Diana Mirza, Alice O'Gorman, Poornima Menon, Karina Kruk and Gearóidín Uí Laighléis. The teams are captained by Jonathan O'Connor and Pippa O'Gorman. I hope you'll join us in wishing our two teams the very best of luck!
The Irish Veterans Championships 2016
Following the popular ZPR Senior Invitational, our veterans will turn their attention to the The Irish Veterans Championships 2016 which takes place on the first weekend in September - 2nd-4th. Due to renovations the event has been moved from its traditional home in the Boyne Valley Hotel to the Church Hall in Drogheda. Contact Andrew Thomson at 041 9836110 for more information about the event which was won by Tim Harding in 2015.
The City Of Dublin 2016
The City Of Dublin 2016 will take place from 9-11 September in the Gresham Hotel on Lower O' Connell Street. Online entry is available here. Last year, the FIDE-rated Masters event was won by Colm Daly with 4 points out of 5. He lost to second placed Stephen Moran in round 2 after refusing several drawing options but won his other games. Third place was shared by Conor O’Donnell, Gordon Freeman, Anthony Fox, Killian Delaney and Tom O’Gorman on 3 points. The Major section for players rated 1600 to 2000 was won by Mindaugas Janusaitis and Ravshan Khaydarov on 5 points out of 6, with the former taking the trophy on tiebreak. The Challengers section for players rated 1200 to 1600 was won by Gabriel Mirza on 5.5 points out of 6. The Junior section was won by Gabrielius Pocevicius on 5.5 out of 6. In all 146 players competed in four sections.
The Munster Championships 2016 and The Munster Junior Championships 2016
These two events will run side by side over the weekend of the 16th-18th September in the West County Hotel, Ennis. The Munster Championship 2015 was won by Paul Walsh. Rory Quinn was second. Then Irish Champion - Philip Short and Orison Carlile were joint third. Diarmuid Reidy won the Joe Browne Cup (Under 1500).
The Irish Rapid and Blitz Championships 2016 and The ICU AGM 2015-16
September closes with The Irish Rapid and Blitz Championships 2016 and The ICU AGM 2015-16. The Easystream Irish Blitz Championships and EasyStream Irish Rapidplay Championships were both won by Sam Collins with Stephen Moran finishing runner-up on both occasions also. It is hoped that the central location will provide a boost to numbers on this occasion and establish this event in a relatively quiet part of the calendar - compared to the usually busy spring calendar where it was run earlier in the year. Further details relating to the 2015-16 ICU AGM are published here.
General Meetings of August 7th, 2016
The general meetings of August 7th were attended by 34 members. After an hour long discussion on the motion put forward by Mervyn Honner and related matters, a vote was called and the motion was defeated by 20-13 votes (17-13 was declared at the time, but this was corrected as it excluded the votes of those sitting at the top of the room). This meeting was then adjourned and the second meeting followed about 15 minutes later. In this meeting, Ted Jennings was invited to speak about the Code Of Conduct he drew up with the help of Sam Collins, Charlie Talbot and previously with Herbert Scarry. Several comments were made relating to the document and it was suggested that it should add a social media section and also direct readers to the Child Protection document.
The meeting was adjourned when there was no any other business raised by the floor.