The City of Dublin Chess Championships took place recently over the weekend of 2nd-4th September 2011 in the Teacher's Club in Dublin city centre. There were 116 competitors playing in 4 different sections, the highest number of participants in the event since 2005. A software glitch on Friday evening delayed the start of the first round, but once this was resolved, the tournament got underway somewhat later than anticipated.
The Masters section had 10 competitors and was won outright by John Delaney FM (right in the photo, in his game against Ronan Magee) on an unbeaten score of 5½/6. The runner up was Tony Fox of the Dunlaoghaire Chess Club on a score of 4.5 with DJ O'Donoghue of Rathmines chess club finishing in 3rd position on 3½.
The Majors Section had 30 competitors and was won by Eamonn Walls from Belfast on a score of 5½/6. The runner up with a score of 5/6 was 12 year old Conor O'Donnell from Bray Chess Club. There was a seven way tie for 3rd place with each player scoring 4/6! Gareth Annesley finished 3rd on tie break from Ray Byrne, Mindaugas Janusaitis, Pearse Dunne, Eric Bennett, Valentine Kalinins (who won a grading prize) and Lukasz Kwiatek. John Loughran, Terry Creighton and Christopher Johnson also won grading prizes.
The Challengers Section had 38 competitors and there was a tie at the top with no less than 4 players scoring 5/6. The winner on tie break was Naomh Barrog's Airidas Tolkus with Stephen Kelly finishing in second place. Elm Mount's William Ffrench and Eugene McMorrow finished 3rd and 4th respectively. The four grading prizes went to Mark Finnegan and Rory Ellard, both from Bray and Martin Kelly and Stephen Danaher.
The Juniors Section also had 38 competitors and was won outright by Gerard Wallace on a score of 5½/6 with Patrick Young second on 5/6. Sam O Neill and Ben Cullen finished 3rd and 4th respectively, both scoring 4½/6. The ladies prize was won by Diane Mirza and the following players won grading prizes, Tom Butler, Michael Donnelly, John Connolly, Mark McKenna and Alexander Gillett.
More pictures. Games. Cross tables to follow.