The City Of Dublin 2008 took place in the Morrison Hotel on Ormond Quay over the weekend of Friday 29th August to Sunday 31st August. 106 players took part across four different sections, all of which were keenly contested. The attendance was considerably up on last year. There was a prize fund of 2,850.
16 players competed in the Masters section (2000+) with David Fitzsimons (Elm Mount) finishing in 1st place unbeaten with 5/6. Three players finished on 4½ for 2nd place with Gavin Wall IM taking it on tie break from Gerry OConnell (St. Benildus) and Ryan-Rhys Griffiths (Kilkenny), who finished 3rd and 4th respectively. Grading prizes went to Samuel Correa and Killian Delaney (Rathmines).
The Majors section (1999-1600) had 27 players with Nelman Lagutin coming in 1st with 5½/6. There was another three way tie for 2nd place in the Majors with Zaidan Zulkipli (Galway), Lukasz Kwiatek (Phibsboro) and Liam Porter (Inchicore) all finishing on 4½/6. Zaidan came 2ndon tiebreak and Lukasz 3rd. Grading prizes were won by Stephen Moran (Dublin University) and Melvyn King (Naomh Barrog).
There were 36 players in the Challengers (1599-1200) which resulted in a three way tie for 1st place between Shane Lee, Conor Pender (Tallaght) and Chris Millar (Queens University). Shane Lee won on tiebreak with Conor Pender in 2nd. There were 3 Grading Prizes in the Challengers going to Aligmantas Ogintas, Sarah Cormican and Cormac OBrien.
The Juniors section (Under 1200) was a keenly contested by 26 players with only 3 draws in the entire tournament. Shane Power came 1st on tiebreak from Aaron MacCulley, both finishing on 5/6. David Finan (Galway) finished third on tiebreak from John McKenna (Ballinasloe), with both scoring 4½/6. Grading prizes were won by: Roland McCrann (Rathmines), Conor Barrett (Ballinasloe) and Justin Corry (Naomh Barrog).