The Irish National Club Championships were held over the weekend of June 29th at the Maryborough House Hotel in Douglas in Cork. The teams competing were Phibsboro and Kilkenny from Leinster, Douglas from Munster and Galway from Connacht. The usual format of all play all, 6 board matches was used and top seeds Douglas were red hot favourites with a very powerful team which included a GM, an IM and an FM, Simon Williams, Chris Baker and Alex Lopez respectively. Second seeds Kilkenny had a few titled players themselves, Mark Quinn IM and Mark Heidenfeld. With two slots in this year's European Club Championships in Greece up for grabs, play was always going tough and as we got under way, the first round matches looked like this.
Round 2 saw Phibsboro almost hold Douglas to a draw while Kilkenny inflicted a heavy defeat on Galway.
The final round saw the long awaited clash of the titans and no one in the room was as nervous as Kevin O' Shea, Douglas team captain, and he wasn't even playing in this round. The result of this match was in the balance for over 3 hours and it featured the game of the event, Mark Quinn vs Simon Williams. Simon sacrificed a lot of material for an attack and eventually won in fine style but neither player was really sure that the sac was sound until the computer confirmed later that it was.
Annotated games, including the Quinn-Williams encounter. Also see photo below of winning team.
So Douglas and Kilkenny both qualify for the European Club Championships in October, congratulations and a special thanks to our host, Kevin O'Shea for organising the very enjoyable event.
Round 1
| Douglas | Galway | |||||||||
| Bd. | PLAYER | ICU No. | Rating | Result | PLAYER | ICU No. | Rating | Result | ||
| 1 | Simon Williams | W | 7732 | 2432 | 1 | Yury Rochev | B | 7293 | 2385 | 0 |
| 2 | Chris Baker | B | 10562 | 2388 | 0.5 | Gabor Horvath | W | 16706 | 0.5 | |
| 3 | Alex Lopez | W | 5157 | 2370 | 1 | Marek Goban | B | 9595 | 2106 | 0 |
| 4 | Mel O'Cinneide | B | 720 | 2193 | 1 | Lorcan OToole | W | 3217 | 1829 | 0 |
| 5 | Kieran O'Driscoll | W | 2887 | 2058 | 1 | Zaidan Zulkipli | B | 6858 | 1780 | 0 |
| 6 | Kevin O'Shea | B | 1328 | 1943 | 1 | Hashem Mehrjoo | W | 10536 | 1850 | 0 |
| Total | 5.5 | Total | 0.5 | |||||||
| Phibsboro | Kilkenny | |||||||||
| Bd. | PLAYER | ICU No. | Rating | Result | PLAYER | ICU No. | Rating | Result | ||
| 1 | Stephen Jessel | W | 4790 | 2239 | 0.5 | Mark Quinn | B | 1402 | 2383 | 0.5 |
| 2 | Paul Dempsey | B | 3661 | 2114 | 0 | Mark Heidenfeld | W | 4017 | 2388 | 1 |
| 3 | Richard O' Donovan | W | 1263 | 2065 | 0 | Ryan-Rhys Griffths | B | 6897 | 2100 | 1 |
| 4 | Kevin Butler | B | 141 | 2013 | 0 | Eamon Keogh | W | 731 | 2026 | 1 |
| 5 | Sebastian Rosse | W | 10512 | 1919 | 0 | Sean Bradley | B | 6756 | 1711 | 1 |
| 6 | John Nolan | B | 1182 | 1929 | 1 | Maurice Buckley | W | 119 | 1688 | 0 |
| Total | 1.5 | Total | 4.5 |
Round 2
| Phibsboro | Douglas | |||||||||
| Bd. | PLAYER | ICU No. | Rating | Result | PLAYER | ICU No. | Rating | Result | ||
| 1 | Stephen Jessel | W | 4790 | 2239 | 0 | Simon Williams | B | 7732 | 2432 | 1 |
| 2 | Paul Dempsey | B | 3661 | 2114 | 0.5 | Chris Baker | W | 10562 | 2388 | 0.5 |
| 3 | Richard O' Donovan | W | 1263 | 2065 | 0 | Alex Lopez | B | 5157 | 2370 | 1 |
| 4 | Kevin Butler | B | 141 | 2013 | 1 | Mel O'Cinneide | W | 720 | 2193 | 0 |
| 5 | John Nolan | W | 1182 | 1929 | 1 | Kieran O'Driscoll | B | 2887 | 2058 | 0 |
| 6 | Sebastian Rosse | B | 10512 | 1919 | 0 | Tom Healy | W | 5429 | 1823 | 1 |
| Total | 2.5 | Total | 3.5 | |||||||
| Kilkenny | Galway | |||||||||
| Bd. | PLAYER | ICU No. | Rating | Result | PLAYER | ICU No. | Rating | Result | ||
| 1 | Mark Quinn | W | 1402 | 2383 | 1 | Yury Rochev | B | 7293 | 2385 | 0 |
| 2 | Mark Heidenfeld | B | 4017 | 2388 | 1 | Gabor Horvath | W | 16706 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Ryan-Rhys Griffths | W | 6897 | 2100 | 0.5 | Marek Goban | B | 9595 | 2106 | 0.5 |
| 4 | Eamon Keogh | B | 731 | 2026 | 1 | Hashem Mehrjoo | W | 10536 | 1850 | 0 |
| 5 | Sean Bradley | W | 6756 | 1711 | 1 | Lorcan OToole | B | 3217 | 1829 | 0 |
| 6 | Maurice Buckley | B | 119 | 1688 | 0 | Zaidan Zulkipli | W | 6858 | 1780 | 1 |
| Total | 4.5 | Total | 1.5 | |||||||
Round 3
| Kilkenny | Douglas | |||||||||
| Bd. | PLAYER | ICU No. | Rating | Result | PLAYER | ICU No. | Rating | Result | ||
| 1 | Mark Quinn | W | 1402 | 2383 | 0 | Simon Williams | B | 7732 | 2432 | 1 |
| 2 | Mark Heidenfeld | B | 4017 | 2388 | 0.5 | Chris Baker | W | 10562 | 2388 | 0.5 |
| 3 | Ryan-Rhys Griffths | W | 6897 | 2100 | 0.5 | Alex Lopez | B | 5157 | 2370 | 0.5 |
| 4 | Eamon Keogh | B | 731 | 2026 | 0.5 | Mel O'Cinneide | W | 720 | 2193 | 0.5 |
| 5 | Sean Bradley | W | 6756 | 1711 | 0.5 | Kieran O'Driscoll | B | 2887 | 2058 | 0.5 |
| 6 | Maurice Buckley | B | 119 | 1688 | 0 | Tom Healy | W | 141 | 1823 | 1 |
| Total | 2 | 4 | ||||||||
| Galway | Phibsboro | |||||||||
| Bd. | PLAYER | ICU No. | Rating | Result | PLAYER | ICU No. | Rating | Result | ||
| 1 | Yury Rochev | W | 7293 | 2385 | 0.5 | Stephen Jessel | B | 4790 | 2239 | 0.5 |
| 2 | Gabor Horvath | B | 16706 | 0 | 1 | Paul Dempsey | W | 3661 | 2114 | 0 |
| 3 | Marek Goban | W | 9595 | 2106 | 1 | Richard O' Donovan | B | 1263 | 2065 | 0 |
| 4 | Pete Morriss | B | 5983 | 1895 | 1 | Kevin Butler | W | 141 | 2013 | 0 |
| 5 | Lorcan OToole | W | 3217 | 1829 | 0 | John Nolan | B | 1182 | 1929 | 1 |
| 6 | Zaidan Zulkipli | B | 6858 | 1780 | 1 | Sebastian Rosse | W | 10512 | 1919 | 0 |
| Total | 4.5 | Total | 1.5 | |||||||
Douglas Team, L to R, Tom Healy, Alex Lopez FM, Kevin O' Shea, Kieran O' Driscoll, Simon Williams GM and Chris Baker IM - missing is board 4 - Mel O' Cinneide