Gerry Grahams report on the National Club Championships held in the Red Cow is available here but I thought I would add a report from a player's perspective on the weekend. The tournament was held in Dublin for the first time in three years and it was hoped that there would be a larger turnout than in the two previous years. We were not disappointed as we had 10 teams playing for the title of National Club Champion 2016 and of course the coveted places in the European Club Championships which are held in Belgrade Serbia this November. A late change to the qualification criteria meant that this year 3 teams would qualify for the ECC, making it all to play for in the 4 round event. Some noticeable absentees this year included previous ECC qualifiers Ennis and Galway who unfortunately could not enter a team but hopefully we will see them again next year.

With Balbriggan entering a team at the last minute, it meant that there would be an even number of teams this year with 10 in total meaning there would be no team byes. Round 1 all went according to seeding but the results were not as clear cut during the course of the round. Top Seeds Gonzaga and Trinity came through matches against Rathmines and Balbriggan relatively unscathed only dropping a half point each. Blanchardstown also had a large victory beating Enniscorthy 5-1, while defending champions Adare overcame Elm Mount 4.5-1.5. The biggest upset came with Bernard Boyle winning on board 1 against Tony Fox. However the most exciting match was happening on board 5 where Bray were taking on a Ballinasloe team who had taken advantage of the lack of rating restriction on board order to put some of their higher rated players on lower boards. A tactic that could work out however Bray were still strong favourites on the top 4 boards. First blood though went to Ballinasloe when they got an unexpected win on board 1 when Brays top player Colm Daly missed the cut off time by a few minutes however the rest of his team dug in deep to rescue the match when it looked like it might end in a 3-3 draw but some good play on the lower boards meant that Bray would see out a 4.5-1.5 victory.

Round 2 was tighter in general than round 1 with Blanchardstown taking 1.5 points off top seeds Gonzaga and Ballinasloe beating higher seeds Balbriggan. Enniscorthy had a great round beating Elm Mount 5-1 but the result of the round was when second seeds Trinity beat 3rd seeds Adare 5-1. Adare looked at one point that an upset was on the cards but the students dug in deep and ended with a big result, their tactic of putting Tim Harding on board 1 working very well as Tim beat Tony Fox while pushing the rest of the team down a board. The upset of the round came about as Bray winners in round 1 floated down to play Rathmines. Bray were without their experienced board 2 Johnny Joyce until the Sunday so they were somewhat understrength and if there was a good time to play them then the Saturday was the time to do it and so it proved as Rathmines played a fine match and draw 3-3 with Bray. This meant there would only be two teams on Maximum match points on the Sunday morning while Bray would sit a half point further back.

Round 3 saw a tight game between Elm Mount and Balbriggan with Elm Mount edging it 3.5-2.5 while Adare and Rathmines bounced back with big 5-1 wins against Ballinasloe and Enniscorthy respectively. Another great performance from Blanchardstown saw them beat a strong Bray team 4-2 giving them a great chance to at least finish in the qualifying positions. But most eyes were on the top table where top seeds Gonzaga and Trinity met and while the clubs are good friends away from the board there is always a great level of competition between the teams and so it proved again! Trinity decided to play Tim Harding on 1 pushing the rest of their team down a board making Gonzaga favourites on board 1 and 6 on paper but the other boards could be won by either team. Trinitys tactics proved great again as Tim got a draw on board 1 against IM Sam Collins while Gelip-Delaney on board 3 was a quick victory for Trinity. Stephen Moran got a great position from the opening against Gordon Freeman and Gordon was the next Gonzaga player to fall giving Trinity a 2.5-0.5 lead. David Murray was the exchange down and had a draw offer but declined as it was unclear whether Conor O'Donnell was beating, drawing or losing to Karl McPhillips on Board 2. Carl Jackson beat Rory Delaney on board 6 and after the complications died down Conors game turned into a win tying the match at 2.5-2.5. Incredibly David Murray looked to have huge compensation for the exchange and had winning chances. All of a sudden it was Trinity who were fighting for a draw but with both players playing on increments mistakes were made and David dropped a pawn, however he was able to hold a draw and the match ended 3-3 with both teams relieved not to lose. This left Trinity half a game point ahead of Gonzaga and with a better head to head, while probably getting a lower rated opponent in round 4 which made them favourites to win the title. However both teams could still win while also a loss could see either failing to finish in the top 3.

This meant that an exciting end in round 4 with 4 teams in contention for the title and 6 teams fighting for the 3 qualifying positions. Trinity were favourites against Blanchardstown but with John Delaney on 1 and a host of very promising juniors there was a serious chance for an upset. Ionna Gelip registered another quick win but with a lot of other games not as clear Blanchardstown were very much still in the match! The format of this tournament and the prizes at stake meant that a strange dynamic was appearing as the teams chasing 3rd spot wanted Trinity to win while Gonzaga and Adare were hoping for an upset. However after Karl McPhilips held a tough position to draw with John Delaney and Christopher Young beat the promising Danny Dwyer, Trinity had won the match 4.5-1.5 and had guaranteed them a top two finish. The size of Trinity's victory meant that only Gonzaga could catch them but would need to beat Adare at least 5.5-0.5 and given Adare's strength and the fact Gonzaga had never managed to beat the Munster side a victory of that size seemed unlikely. Gordon Freeman and David Murray got early advantages against Jan Heinrich and Bernd Thee respectively and got an early 2 points to settle the nerves of the rest of the Gonzaga players, who then went on to produce their best performance of the tournament by going 5-0 up. As the game between Trinity and Blanchardstown on board 1 was still not over Gonzaga knew that if they could match that result they would be crowned champions with Henry Li a pawn up in a bishop ending against Diana Mirza, hopes were high that this could be achieved. As Karl McPhilips and John Delaney agreed a draw Henry showed the type of composure and maturity that makes him such a promising junior by asking his Captain what the final scores in the two matches were and realising a draw would seal the tournament win, he offered a draw on his next move which Diana immediately accepted. This meant Gonzaga managed to edge ahead of Trinity tying on 3.5 match points each but winning on game points 18.5-18. This left one last qualification spot in Belgrade to fight for between the remaining teams. With Adare and Blanchardstown losing, it meant that Bray and Rathmines were best placed to finish third but with Bray 1.5 game points ahead Rathmines were relying on Elm Mount causing an upset. This upset seemed unlikely early on as Elm Mounts board 1 had to pull out and as Elm Mount only had a 6 man squad it meant Bray got a walk over on bottom board. With Brays top heavy team a victory seemed assured but Bray did their best to keep it very exciting. Bray boasted a combined rating advantage of over 1250 points on boards 1,2 and 4 but proceeded to get into very poor positions in all 3 games. Shane Melaugh was the first to convert his advantage by beating Colm Daly and with Johnny Joyce in trouble against Joshua Redmond and Eric Bennett worse against Gavin Melaugh, Rathmines were getting excited that Bray may not win their match. This would allow Rathmines to leapfrog Bray. However Johnny showed his experience by creating a threat, which Joshua fell into and Johnny managed to get what had looked like an unlikely victory. This meant Bray would win the match at which point Gavin Melaugh offered a draw in a rook and bishop versus rook ending against Eric who rightly snatched his hand off! This gave Bray the final European Club Cup position and brought an end to another very enjoyable National Club Cup.