50th ANNIVERSARY CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS TOURNAMENT
Our 50th anniversary tournament, which has just concluded, lived up to and indeed exceeded all our expectations.
From the opening ceremony, where we were honoured with the presence of Desmond Beatty of the Irish Chess Union, Richard Carolan and Tom Byrne of the Eblana Club which had very generously donated a magnificent cup to the winner, and John O’Riordan, the founder of our club, to the nail biting finish 3 days later everything went without a hitch. This was in no small measure due to our excellent Tournament Controller Ivan Baburin, who oversaw proceedings with his customary efficiency and professionalism. It was also due to the attitude and sportsmanship of the 8 participants. Chess players, particularly those of a very high calibre such as those who participated in our event, can sometimes be somewhat temperamental, especially while under intense pressure. There was nothing of that in this tournament which was played in a very sporting manner throughout with not a hint of rancour between the players.
We were promised a very high standard of chess from the 8 participants- GM Alex Baburin; IMs Mark Heidenfeld, David Fitzsimons and Tom O’Gorman; Fide Masters Colm Daly, Joe Ryan and John Delaney; and National Master Eamon Keogh. That is precisely what we got. There were some really wonderful games and nearly all the games were very competitive and closely fought.
David Fitzsimons started off in great style and won his first four games. Some of these games were of very high calibre. In the first round he had a very nice win against Mark Heidenfeld and followed that up with two convincing wins against Alex Baburin and Joe Ryan. In both of these games David played chess of an extremely high standard and indeed he won the brilliancy prize (adjudicated by Jonathan O’Connor) for his game against Joe Ryan.
At the start of the fifth round David was one and a half points ahead of his nearest challenger Colm Daly against whom he was drawn to play in that round. He looked the odds on favourite to win the tournament as he had White in the game. But Colm, fresh from an excellent win against Tom O’Gorman (which the brilliancy prize adjudicator considered the second best played game in the tournament), had other ideas. He won two pawns, defended very well against David’s attempts to build up an attack in compensation and forced David’s resignation when the attack petered out.
This left Colm half a point behind David with two rounds to go. In the next round he caught David, who drew against Tom O’Gorman coming back into form after a somewhat shaky start, by beating Mark Heidenfeld in a nice game. Both Colm and David were thus joint leaders with 4.5 points each coming into the last round and, except in the very unlikely event that both lost in that round, the title was clearly between them.
The final round was a tense and dramatic affair. Colm had a relatively quick win against Eamon Keogh which meant the David, who was White, had to beat John Delaney to tie with him. His game with John was very hard fought. John put up a tremendous resistance and late into the middle game was equal in a blocked position where it was extremely difficult, if not impossible, for David to break through. John could have probably sat on the position and obtained a draw but he bravely decided to go for a win himself. This opened up the position giving chances for both sides. In a very tense finish David managed to outplay his opponent and bring home the full point.
We thus had a tie between David and Colm on 5.5 points each with Tom O’Gorman a point back on 4.5 points. Alex Baburin was next with 4 points, followed by Joe Ryan on 3.5 points, Mark Heidenfeld on 2.5 points, John Delaney on 2 points and Eamon Keogh on 0.5 points. Eamon, whose half point came from his draw with GM Alex Baburin, had sportingly played in the tournament despite not being in the best of health after a long stay in hospital.
The rules of the tournament were that there would be a two game blitz playoff to decide the overall winner in the case of a tie. Following discussions with the two players the organising group, after some cogitation, agreed that the title would be shared.
A share of the title was probably the fairest outcome. Both David and Colm had played the best chess in the tournament. David had played some brilliant games after a blistering start and some of his chess was of the highest class. His style of play is very pure and direct and he is a very principled player. Colm, who had come very close to finishing in at least a tie for this year’s Irish Championship, had clearly come to this tournament with serious intent. He beat the three IMs in the tournament, drew with the GM and was the only unbeaten player. His chess throughout was of the highest calibre and it was absorbing to watch him and to see with what intensity and determination he conducted a game.
And so ended a memorable tournament. We were very grateful to the 8 participants who took it very seriously and gave their all. Ivan Baburin conducted proceedings with his usual quiet efficiency, Jonathan O’Connor (in addition to acting as brilliancy prize adjudicator) worked extremely well with Mark Quinn in providing absorbing live commentary, videos and interviews, while Desmond Beatty was a great supporter in turning up nearly every day of the tournament. The organising committee, led by Liam Farrell and also comprising Tony Fox, Brian O’Gorman and Paul Cassidy, put in a lot of work in planning the tournament and making sure it ran smoothly. The Rochestown Lodge Hotel responded quickly and efficiently to all our requests throughout the tournament. Not least, we were grateful to those members of the Dun Laoghaire Chess Club who were very supportive of the tournament and also those who contributed generously to its not inconsiderable costs.
We can now look forward with confidence to the next 50 years!