Italian job helps Jones to victory

ENNIS-based teenager Gawain Jones finally captured top spot this season, winning the Cork Chess Congress MASTERS section with an impressive 5.5 points.

International Master Jones had tied with fellow Ennis Chess Club member Rory Quinn at the Limerick Open back in November, and with FM Alex Lopez at the Mulcahy Cup in Cork in January – only to miss out on the top prize on both occasions (in a speed playoff loss to Quinn and on tiebreak to Lopez).

This time, at the 14th annual Cork event held from March 24 to 26, he made no mistake, with only FM Phillip Short able to avoid defeat against the 18-year-old Englishman over the weekend that marked the 60th anniversary of the death of world champion Alexander Alekhine. Short was on the back foot throughout his game as Jones won an early pawn in the French Tarrasch against Short’s 3. ...Be7 (a trendy line made popular by Russian GM Alexander Morozevich, who, incidentally, had a part to play in the blitz tournament on Sunday night – see note at end of this article). But Short won the pawn back at the cost of an IQP, and some inspired defensive play in a rook and pawn ending (while low on time, it must be added), enabled him to grab the initiative and a nasty-looking passed a-pawn. However, Jones stayed cool and the game was soon drawn. As GM Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch once said: “All rook endings are drawn” Mmmmm. If only that was the case!

Jones’s fellow IM Mark Heidenfeld was not so successful in his game with the overall winner. Facing a surprising Qd6 Scandinavian, the Irish international player swiftly allowed Jones equality, and later blundered when he hung a rook.

Jones won his last-round game and then joined the huge crowd clustered around the Heidenfeld-Short clash as their game threatened to open up in a time scramble. However, the blocked nature of the position meant neither side could make significant progress, and Short’s draw forced him to settle for second place on 5/6.

Four players – William Place, Alex Lopez FM, Paul Kiely and Alberto Giminez – tied for third place on 4.5/6.

There were grading prizes for Stephen Roe, Kevin O’Flaherty, Sam Osborne, David Smith, Tom Healy and Tony Fox. And no-one looked happier than Smith, who received a great ovation as he executed a truly impressive bow upon receipt of his prize from Cork Chess Club Honorary Life President Joe Brown. Afterwards, the popular Cork player was still on a high as he explained to me in the bar why he was so delighted. “I had to fight for every square and battle like hell over every move,” he said. He took a first-round, half-point bye and lost a heartbreaker in the second round (“The game had everything,” he said. “A great fight in the opening, a complex middle game, a tough ending. I really enjoyed it, even though I lost”).

He then finished with 3.5 points from his remaining four games, a great run that made up for the disappointment of failure in round two.

In the MAJOR section, first prize went to Fabio Biancalana on 5.5/6 ahead of Donal O’Hallahan on 5/6. Five players tied for third position with 4.5/6 – Michael Normoyle, Jamie Flynn, Niall O’Higgins, Laurent Olivier, and John O’Connor – and there were grading prizes for Anthony Kiely, James Vaughan, Peter Meier, David Normoyle, Phillip Foenander and Michael O’Donnell.

Things were even tighter in the MINOR section, with five players tying for first position on 5/6 – Cian O’Riordan, Daniel Cashing, Andrew O’Donoghue, Gearoid Veale and Hugh Doyle. O’Riordan had the best tiebreak to take the trophy and title. Grading prizes went to Mark O’Hallahan, Killian Long, Diarmit McCarthy, Alan Lane, Jason Hurley and Diarmud Mulvey.

Tournament Director Michael Burniston thanked the team who had helped him stage the event – “if anything has gone right it's down to them. If it’s gone wrong it’s down to me,” he said at the prizegiving ceremony.

He also thanked ICU Secretary John Alfred, who supplied prizes for the top woman finisher in each section – Gearoidin Ui Laighleis in the Masters, Una O’Boyle in the Major, and Nicola Benson in the Minor – and GM Alexander Baburin, who turned up with his popular bookstall on Sunday morning (another 60 euro of my money gone!), and donated gift vouchers for four special prize winners in the Minor section – Luke Delaney, Una Mulvey, Shane Jackson and Keld Pedersen.

Playing conditions at the pleasant Gresham Metropole Hotel were excellent, particularly in the Masters section where all the sets, boards and clocks were supplied by the organisers. And the Cork congress, of course, also benefits from being staged practically in the centre of Ireland’s second-largest city, with a whole bundle of restaurants and shops just a five minute walk away across the River Lee, including the stunning English Market.

Conditions were also good for spectators; let’s face it, between moves we all occasionally like to wander around and look at some of the other games, particularly the top boards. That’s how I managed to get a good handle on Gawain Jones’s opening strategy throughout the tournament, particularly when white against the Sicilian Defence. Admittedly, it wasn’t easy at times – Jones spent some time with his family in Italy a few years back and he uses Italian notation! That confused me at first until he explained that C is for knight, A for bishop, T for rook, D for Queen and R for King. Thanks, too, Gawain, for a couple of tips you’ve given me about facing black’s most popular reply to 1. e4. Now if you promise not to tell anyone else, I won’t reveal what you look like in your school uniform!

Puzzled? Well, so was I when I saw a familiar figure in a crowd of students during a lunchtime exit from their Ennis school. It was just after 12.30pm on Monday and I was midway through my 200-mile journey home to Co. Sligo, and there was Jones, ambling along the pavement as I waited at a red light. I don’t know who was most surprised; me, at seeing him, or him, at hearing me shouting his name from the passenger window. Nice sweater, Gawain!

MOROZEVICH NOTE: A notice inviting players to enter the Sunday night blitz tournament drew much mirth when the Russian blitz expert’s name appeared on it.

RESULTS

MASTERS

• 1 Gawain Jones IM 5.5/6
• 2 Phillip Short FM 5/6
• 3-6 William Place, Alex Lopez FM, Paul Kiely, Alberto Giminez 4.5/6 • Leading woman: Gearoidin Ui Laighleis • Team prize: D.J. O’Donoghue, David Path, Steven Short • Grading prizes: Stephen Roe, Kevin O’Flaherty, Sam Osborne, David Smith, Tom Healy, Tony Fox

MAJOR

• 1 Fabio Biancalana 5.5/6
• 2 Donal O’Hallahan 5/6
• 3-7 Michael Normoyle, Jamie Flynn, Niall O’Higgins, Laurent Ollivier, John O’Connor 4.5/6 • Leading woman: Una O’Boyle • Grading prizes: Anthony Kiely, James Vaughan, Peter Meier, David Normoyle, Phillip Foenander, Michael O’Donnell • Team prize: Jamie Flynn & the O’Connor twins (John and Fergus)

MINOR

• 1-5: Cian O’Riordan (first on tie break – trophy & title), Daniel Cashin, Andrew O’Donoghue, Gearoid Veale, Hugh Doyle 5/6 • Leading woman: Nicola Benson • Merit awards: Luke Delaney, Una Mulvey, Shane Jackson, Keld Pedersen • Grading prizes: Mark O’Hallahan, Killian Long, Diarmit McCarthy, Alan Lane, Jason Hurley, Diarmud Mulvey • Team prize: The Seasiders ( Dungarvan players)