Results of the ZPR Senior Invitational can be seen here while you can play through the games here. If you would like to see the games in person, the event is being held in the Press Room of Buswells Hotel, right in the center of Dublin - opposite the Dail.
Round 1
Paul Cassidy gave a quick account of day one.
Everything went very well today. Very friendly attitude between the players and no acrimony at all (there were two games unfinished when I left after the first time control).
I got bad opening and was happy to draw. Colm Egan played very well against Eamonn Keogh and won quickly in about 2 hours.
Jim Murray had a very good win as Black against Ray Byrne. He had the isolated pawns in a rook ending but Ray started to play passively. When I left after the first time control I thought Jim had the initiative but I was not sure he could win.
I thought Tim Harding had much the better position against Frank McMahon and I was almost certain he was going to win when I left. But clearly Frank had resources.
One thing is clear after the first round. There will be no easy games and it would be a brave person who would predict the winner at this stage.
Ivan handled things smoothly and professionally and in a very relaxed and friendly manner.
Similar reports were given of Ivan during the Irish Championships and it is clear he turning into one of Ireland's top arbiters.
Indeed, playing through some of the games it is clear that quick draws are not really on the menu. The play has been aggressive and caution has often been thrown to the wind in the hope of finding breakthroughs.
As already mentioned, Colm Egan played very strongly against Eamon Keogh and took a first round win. Eamon is top seed (using ICU ratings) and outrated Colm by around 250 points so this result really laid down a marker to the rest that this is a wide open event. This is of course Eamon's second week-long+ event this month after recently competing in the Irish Championship.
Next to finish were Paul Cassidy and Patrick Daly who both fought hard for their draw. Patrick, Jim, Ray and Tim are of course coming into this event having just competed in the 65+ World Senior Team Championship 2016.
The third game to finish was Tim Harding and Frank McMahon. Frank had carried a lead into the endgame but Tim managed to find a trick to swing the game back toward a draw at the last second and that's how the game finished.
In the last game finished, and second shock of the round, Jim Murray defeated Ray Byrne. Ray was another member of the senior team which traveled to Dresden but was also part of this year's winning Armstrong team for the second year running.
Round 2
Lucan clubmates Patrick Daly and Jim Murray played out a draw to start the second round but elsewhere there was no quarter given.
Paul Cassidy was happy with his position early on but Tim Harding proved too strong in the middle game and went on to win the game around the 2 hour mark. Tim lamented a few mistakes in round 1 but vowed to try to regain his form from earlier this month and move up the gears throughout the tournament. With that win, he joined Jim in first on 1.5/2.
Eamon Keogh's opponents did not let up on the former Irish Champion with Frank McMahon managing to capture a piece inside the first ten moves. Eamon fought on bravely but Frank's early advantage proved too much and he sealed the win at the three hour mark.
That left Colm Egan and Ray Byrne fighting it out on board 4 and the result of that game could have had a huge impact on the direction of the event. Could Colm move to 2/2 and potentially end Ray's challenge after just 2 rounds? It would seem difficult for Ray to recover from 0/2 with tough games ahead. Or could Ray get back to 50% and push Colm back to 50%? As the game wore on, it seemed like a draw was likely with Colm holding a very slight edge in a double rook, knight and seven endgame. However, Ray prevailed in a close ending and moves back into contention in a result which opens up the tournament even more.
Round 3
The third round on Tuesday, July 19th (the hottest day of 2016) sees the battle heating up (apologies) with the leaders competing on board 3. Tim takes on Jim Murray there and the winner will move into outright first if Frank McMahon fails to win against Paul Cassidy. Elsewhere, top seed Eamon Keogh will hope to get a point on the board against the resurgent Ray Byrne. The final game of the round sees Colm Egan face off against Patrick Daly - both currently on 1/2.
In the big game of the round, Tim Harding found the form which won him the Veteran's title in 2015 and defeated Jim Murray. The other co-leader at the start of the round, Frank McMahon, was held to a draw by Paul Cassidy which means that Tim goes into outright first on 2.5/3. Patrick Daly earned his third draw of the tournament; this time against Colm Egan. They both move to 1.5/3 and are very much still in contention. Ray Byrne beat Eamon Keogh in the other game of the day and so he moves to 2/3 while unfortunately, Eamon is still to get off the mark.
And so, after 3 rounds, the standings are thus:
Round 4
There are some interesting pairings scheduled for Wednesday with the standout probably being Colm Egan (with white) playing Tim Harding. Colm, a former veteran champion himself, will hope to cause an upset and join Tim on 2.5 while Tim will see this as a chance to consolidate or even extend his lead as we move toward the halfway point of the event.
Frank McMahon will be looking to put the pressure back on Tim but in his way is Jim Murray, who he shared the lead with after two rounds. Both players seem to be in good form after wins against higher seeds in earlier rounds. Similarly, Ray Byrne will be hoping that a third win on the trot for him will keep Tim looking over his shoulder - Ray faces Patrick Daly. The other game in round 4 sees this event's highest FIDE rated players face off - Paul Cassidy (2007) and Eamon Keogh (2021).
Ray Byrne was indeed able to secure a third win on the bounce, this time against Patrick Daly. That win briefly catapulted Ray into outright first with Tim and Colm still playing as well as the other matches. Colm held Tim to a draw which means that Tim joins Ray on 3/4 with three rounds to play. Frank and Jim also drew while Eamon Keogh won the battle of the top seeds to get off the mark and join Paul on 1/4.
In other news, the trophies have arrived courtesy of Awards And Gifts!
One last note for the day - on the day when Ireland secured their second successive Glorney Cup! - is a look back to the Irish Glorney Cup Winners, 1963 which featured three men in this event! Frank McMahon (captain), Ray Byrne and Paul Cassidy (manager). However, it took them several years to achieve the feat and you can two other pictures of them here. Great to see that they haven't lost the fighting spirit 53 years later!
Round 5
Again, this round will see the leaders meet with Ray Byrne, thrust into first on the back of 3 victories in a row, facing Tim Harding. However, they are by no means running away with the event and Frank McMahon, only 0.5 behind, will be hoping that he can catch and pass them both. Frank faces Colm Egan who himself is only another half point behind on 2/4. Another man on 2/4 is Jim Murray who plays Paul Cassidy in round 5, while Eamon Keogh and Patrick Daly meet in the other game of the round.
There was one early result in Thursday's games with Colm Egan and Frank McMahon playing out a draw - that draw sees Frank join Ray and Tim (for now) in joint first place on 3 points. Meanwhile, Colm remains on 50% after his third draw in three games.
The second game to finish saw Eamon Keogh continue his revival following a difficult start to the event. Eamon defeated Patrick Daly with black and now leapfrogs him into 6th place on 2/5 after his second win in as many days.
Both of those games finished around the two hour mark while on board 4, Jim and Paul had not even even reached the endgame. The big tie of the round featuring the co-leaders, Tim and Ray had progressed to the endgame with Tim holding what could be a decisive lead in a Bishop and six versus knight and six ending. See below.
Ray (black) then played g takes f5 and Tim quickly took on h5. You can play through the rest of the game here. Rather than push his h pawns, Tim elected to push Ray's King back with his bishop which seems to have given Ray enough time to develop some counter-play on the Queenside. Once Ray's knight was freed up from its defense of his a-pawn, Tim's position became more fragile and although he still seemed to hold an advantage - Ray did just enough to earn a draw moving both men onto 3.5/5.
Things were a little bit more straight forward on board 4 where Paul managed to trap Jim's queen and soon after converted that advantage into a win. With that, Paul joins a group now on 2/5 which includes Jim and also Eamon. A little bit of daylight has opened up between the top four in the standings and the bottom four with Tim, Ray, Frank and Colm on 2.5 or better while Paul, Eamon, Jim and Patrick are a little further behind. However, that doesn't mean there isn't time for one of those four to jump into the placings with two rounds to go. Paul and Patrick will face two men each from the top four in the last two rounds which could represent swings games as they aim to get into the top 3.
Round 6
Friday's games see several interesting encounters with Ray and Frank's game perhaps being the most important to the outcome of the tournament. The '63 Glorney teammates are currently sitting in joint first and third respectively and may see this as a must-win if they want to keep their destinies in their own hands. Ray will have the advantage of being white against his former captain. Tim, the other co-leader will face Patrick on board 4 while Colm will face Paul. Board 1, which is yet to see a draw all tournament, will play host to Eamon (who is also yet to draw a game) and Jim.
The penultimate round saw no early finishes with the stakes now raised and the impressive trophies in full view for all to see. After two hours of play, only one game appeared to be nearing a conclusion with Tim holding a clear lead over Patrick - whose position was tied up in knots. Tim was able to make that advantage count and won a piece on move 29 which led to Patrick extending his hand in resignation. That win put Tim in pole position for the title with only one round to play and his nearest rival, Ray, in close game with Frank. At that time, Ray had given up a pawn for a positional advantage. Paul and Colm were next to finish with Paul making it two wins in two days and moving back to 50% - leapfrogging Colm who remains on 2.5/6 but not quite out of contention for third.
On board 1, Eamon Keogh continued to fight off draws at all cost and recorded his third win in a row to complete a remarkable recovery from 0/3 to return to 50% after 6 rounds. He now has a legitimate chance of placing at the event which seemed inconceivable just three days ago. The top seed's win did however end any chance Jim had of finishing in the top three whose score of 2/6 is half a point ahead of club-mate Patrick - so there are still bragging rights on the line tomorrow!
The last game to finish was the aforementioned match-of-the-round between Frank and Ray who were in first and third place before round six commenced. Ray's early gambit seemed to pay off against Frank as he had a strong position at times in the middle game - however Frank was possibly still happy with his pawn advantage and felt if he could just hold off Ray for long enough, he would emerge with a favourable endgame. As it turned out, Ray was able to capitalise on his better placed pieces and gained a two pawn advantage in a rook and 2 against rook endgame. Running low on time, Ray went to advance his second pawn after the first was successfully blocked by Frank's King. This proved to be a slight miscalculation as it allowed Frank enough time to win one pawn and still have time to get back and block the other. A draw was agreed and so Ray and Frank go into the final round sitting in second and third place respectively.
Round 7 - Final Round
The draw for the final round has fallen nicely so that every player still have something to play for, however unlikely the permutations are! The Lucan club-mates will be battling to finish ahead of each other. Colm, Paul and Eamon will be pressuring the top three for podium places while Frank, Ray and Tim are all still in the hunt for the title. Board 1 sees an interesting match-up between Tim and Eamon who both came into the tournament on the back of week-long events. Frank will face Patrick on board 2. Armstrong rivals Paul and Ray face each other on board 3 while Jim and Colm play on board 4.
By the hour mark of the final round - it was clear that there would be no Grandmaster draws to close the event. In fact, many of the most competitive and longest games occurred in round seven. The first to finish had fairly serious repercussions for the rest of the games with Frank and Patrick agreeing to a draw after three hours of play. This pushed Frank into a share of second place with Ray and guaranteed him at least a share of third. This may have had a psychological impact on Ray as at the time - he had a slight edge over Paul. However, Ray's position became somewhat undone soon after the draw on board 2 was agreed and their game also petered out into a draw also. That draw guaranteed Ray at least second place and pushed him into a temporary share of first with Ray pending the result on board 1. With 2 games still playing, the standing were:
Tim Harding (still playing), Ray Byrne - 4.5
Frank McMahon - 4
Paul Cassidy - 3.5
Eamon Keogh (still playing) - 3
At that time, Tim held a large lead over Eamon and seemed on the verge of picking up a material advantage. As time went on, Eamon slowly edged his way back into the game. An hour passed and eventually it appeared that only Eamon had the winning chances which he duly converted! That completed a remarkable comeback for Eamon who went all the way from 0/3 t0 4/7 for a share of third with Frank McMahon (with Frank claiming the third place trophy on tie-break). Ray Byrne claimed first on tie-break from Tim Harding with both picking up an equal cheque for first place.
But before we could hold the prizegiving, there was still one game running between Colm and Jim. After 5 hours of play, Colm eventually succumbed and Jim picked up his second win of the tournament to finish on 3/7 (and leapfrog Patrick for bragging rights).
At the prize-giving, several players thanked Ivan who did another terrific job while Tim spoke about his friend Max (from ZPR) who made all of this possible with his generous donation. Below is a picture of the three 1963 Glorney members who were the last Irish to win before our win in 2015.
