This was the tenth in a series of chess tournaments run by transition year students at Gonzaga College, Ranelagh, Dublin 6. The goal is not just to provide a traditional weekend event, but to raise as much money as possible for charity, in this case the Habitat for Humanity Project in Zambia. Numbers entering were almost identical to last year. With their support and sponsorship from bank of Ireland, 2,000 was raised over the weekend.
The tournament was held over the weekend of 4-6 February 2011. The chief organisers were Devin OShea-Farren, Sam ONeill and Patrick Young, with assistance from Daniel Lynch.
Many players return to this event year after year. Last years Masters winner David Fitzsimons returned with another 100% score to take away the Philip Hogarty Cup. In the Championship section, last years joint third placers Pat Twomey and Sean Nolan both improved to joint first place. And one of last years organisers, Cormac OBrien, competed in the Masters section and came third.
The top scorers in each section were as follows:
- Masters
- 1. David Fitzsimons 5/5; 2 David Murray 4; 3 Cormac OBrien 3½; grading prize: Tom John 2½. Crosstable. Games.
- Championship
- 1-2 Pat Twomey, Sean Nolan 4½/6; 3-7 Colm Buckley, Justin Corry, Eddie Humphrey, William Ffrench, Tom Fitzpatrick 4; grading prize: Atanas Kouhtev 4. Crosstable.
- Challengers
- 1 Adrian White 6/6; 2-3 Cathal Murphy, Mark Halley 5; grading prizes Ben Cullen, Michael Morgan 4½. Crosstable.