Glorney Cup Under 18
Glorney Team - L to R Hugh Doyle, Oisin Benson, Mark Berney, Kieran O'Riordan, Oissine Murphy
Oisin Benson (Dublin) Mark Berney (Gorey) Hugh Doyle (Cork) Kieran ORiordan (Cork) and Oissine Murphy (Galway) represented Ireland. On ratings Ireland were seeded fourth behind England, Scotland and Wales. The team preformed really well and were challenging right up to the final round where Ireland faced England and needed a big win to overtake both England and Scotland. Oisin Benson turned what looked like a losing position into a win on board one and with the Scots clearly winning on all five boards against Wales it looked like Scotland were in pole position. Ireland would have needed a 4-1 win for victory but that sort of result against the number one seeds was just a little out of reach as Oissine and Mark both had to settle for draws when in good positions.
In the end the final round score was Ireland 2.5 England 2.5, a draw against the top seeds being a great result. In the end England just squeezed past Scotland by half a point, 19.5 for England 19 for Scotland with Ireland in third on 17.5 Other highlights were a 5-0 win against Wales and a 3-2 win against Scotland. There were some good rating point gains for Irish players here and Hugh Doyle should edge over the 2000 mark with his Irish rating. Again a fine performance from a relatively young Irish team especially 13 year old Oissine Murphys 4/6.
Gilbert (formally Faber) Cup Under 18 Girls
Sarah Jane Hearne (Kilkenny) Ruth Cormican (Galway) and Catherine Hearne (Kilkenny) represented Ireland. The Irish girls were facing an average 500 rating point gap over their opponents so it was a matter of looking for individual highlights rather then an expectation of success. A first round 3-0 loss to England seemed to suggest that it would be a struggle but things really got going with a 1.5-1.5 draw with Wales in round 2. Even better was to come with a remarkable 1.5-1.5 draw with England in round 4, despite an average 660 ratings point gap. The Girls left the best until last when they shocked Wales with a 3-0 win. All three games were interesting with Catherine Hearne nabbing her opponents Queen with a poisoned pawn. Ruth Cormican went to 93 moves to defeat her opponent in an absorbing game and Sarah Jane Hearne needed just 27 moves to overcome a 600 point ratings gap for a clean sweep.
Gilbert Team pictured to the right - L to R Ruth Cormican, Sarah Jane Hearne, Catherine Hearne
Bernadette Stokes Cup Under 14
Irish Under 14 Team are pictured left - L to R - Sean Guinan, Jack McKenna, James Danaher, Liam Murphy, John Cormican, Richard Flynn
John Cormican (Galway) Liam Murphy (Adare) Richard Flynn (Limerick) James Danaher (Shannon) Sean Guinan (Ballinasloe) and Jack McKenna (Ballinasloe) represented Ireland. Just like the girls this was going to be all uphill with the Irish team being on average 450 points lower than their opponents. Just like the Girls it started with a 6-0 loss to England. Round two was better with John Cormican, Liam Murphy and James Danaher picking up draws against Scotland. Round three saw our first win and it was on board one for John Cormican who overcame a 500 point gap to defeat the Welsh captain. Round four against England didnt look too promising a prospect but John Cormican upset the form book again and won against the English number one, this time bridging a 550 point gap. Jack McKennas opponent was a full 750 points higher but Jack levelled the match with a win to make it 2-2 and it looked like a major upset could be on the cards, however England just squeezed through on the final two boards to win 4-2. That proved to be the high point as Ireland lost their last two matches by the same score of 4.5-1.5
John Robinson Cup Under 12
Irish Under 12 Team are pictured to the right - L to R - Billy McKenna, Geoffrey Keating, Ronan Magee, Conor O'Donnell, Eoin Minnock, Paula Eglite
Ronan Magee (Tralee) Conor ODonnell (Bray/Greystones) Eoin Minnock (Kilkenny) Billy McKenna (Ballinasloe) Geoffrey Keating (Limerick) and Paula Eglite (Galway) represented Ireland. Ireland were third seeds in this competition but preformed well to come a comfortable second to England, who won on 25.5 points from Ireland on 19 points. Ireland started with a 4-2 win over a slightly higher rated Welsh team with all Irish players registering a score. The highlight here was a round 5 encounter with top seeds England and the Irish held them to a 3-3 draw with wins for Ronan Magee and Eoin Minnock and draws for Conor ODonnell and Billy McKenna, a really impressive result. The gap at this level between Ireland and England was much narrower than in recent years which was really encouraging.
There were special prizes for the best Irish performers in each team which were won by Oisin Benson (Glorney) Ruth Cormican (Gilbert) John Cormican (U14) and Eoin Minnock (U12). Bowling was put on for the players on Wednesday night and Sean Guinan won the Bowling prize.
Conclusion
The Irish Glorney & Glibert Group 2010
In general all Irish teams preformed better than their seeding and challenged England closely in the Glorney Cup. Many thanks to John Delaney who was Coach to the team and will be issuing a report on the standard of chess from the four teams when he has analyed the games. There was a great team spirit amongst all the players and parents and all the Irish players will have gained invaluable experience from the event.
Full results are available on the Welsh Chess Union website at Welsh Chess Union website or South Wales Chess website