Irish Championship 2018

Tim Harding

Result in Daly-Manojlovic probably 1-0 but not showing.

It looks like there's no late night entertainment tonight unless Collins v Murray provides it.

Tim Harding

namenotavailabl wrote: »

But if 29 c6 Qe3; 30. c7 what does Black then play? The pawns look extremely strong. There's probably something I'm missing but I'd definitely prefer to be playing the White side!

That's probably why Alex is a GM and we aren't. When we get the PGN we can look at it.
After 29 c6 maybe Qe3 is not the best reply but the diagonal is open for future reference and surely at best that pawn is only going to win back the sacrificed piece?

namenotavailablE

True!

It's possible that 29.c6 is well met by ..g4. I'm looking at that currently.

cdeb

Decisive results in all 6 of the live boards finished so far. Which is presumably because I started predicting draws on the top two board...

macelligott

Jessel has made work for himself :-)

Joedryan

5.5/6 is some start from Lopez.
Still all to play for mind.

namenotavailablE

Board 10, white to play move 44- an interesting position. Was there any drawing discovered check move available for White?

I can't see one myself- in some lines (when a discovered check is played by moving the knight), it appears that Black can play ..f6! to create a bit of 'luft' and wriggle out at the cost of some material but still retaining a material advantage.

macelligott

I think Bourachad’s position v Jessel was drawable but lost now

namenotavailablE

Agreed- Black will end up in zugzwang.

macelligott

Crucial board 1 pairing tomorrow Lopez - Baburin

Tim Harding

macelligott wrote: »

Crucial board 1 pairing tomorrow Lopez - Baburin

Yes if Baburin hopes to win the event. From Lopez's point of view, a draw would be just dandy and as he has White he may be able to shut it down early. I doubt if any of his possible last round opponents (Moran, Murray and Murphy), with all respect to them, would worry him much.
Short might be a concern but unless he wins tomorrow he's not likely to get close enough to get paired with Alex, and Stephen Jessel is even further back.

Conor O'Donnell's likely opponents in the last two rounds (if he is still in contention after tomorrow) include Sam Collins and Colm Daly; he's very likely to get at least one of those.

Board 2 is therefore also a very big game, both for Conor's IM norm hopes as well as to keep the Championship race alive. With Black and needing (probably) 1.5/3 for a norm he may not want to risk too much in round 7.

We shouldn't forget Stephen Moran who could upset Conor's apple-cart and is heading for a rating above 2200 for the first time. An IM norm is still possible for him as he has met four FMs and the GM. He would need to meet IMs in both the last two rounds and of course score enough points. Stephen will probably be hoping to win against Conor tomorrow, which would pretty much guarantee a round 8 pairing with Lopez; that must be with Black. He would then hope for White against Wall or Collins in the final round. There is no guarantee that pairings would fall right, though.

Everything will be a lot clearer after tomorrow.
I won't be contributing further to these discussions as I'm a deputy arbiter for the Open over the weekend. Instead I'll enjoy being close to the action.

macelligott

It could be risky for Lopez to try and settle for a quick draw. Baburin might have other ideas. Also O’Donnell is only a half point behind and must be clear favourite to win his game today.

Retd.LoyolaCpt

Update as yesterday changed the permutations quite a bit:

Conor O'Donnell likely needs 1.5/3 (or 2/3 worst case, if average opponent is less than 2385 - I think he'll play Sam and Gavin which would be 1.5/3). Himself and Stephen M have a lot of draws in the past but you have to think he'll be all out for a win today.

Dave Murray likely needs 2/3 but he has already played the 3 IMs and 1 GM. For 2/3, he will need to play opponents of 2271 avg rating after today (anything less and he'll need 2.5/3 for 6.5/9).

Stephen Moran needs 2.5/3 as he's played 2 sub 1900s - he'll also need to play 1 IM in the last 2 rounds.

Peter Carroll likely needs 3/3 and to play a titled player and an FM.

Murphy 3/3 and to play 2 titled players.

Daly cannot now get a norm as he's played too many non-titled players.

Joedryan

I sense blood in the air in Murray-Daly, the Black king looks a bit bare now, time for some sacrificing soon.


Update -Rxe6 and now Rxh5!!. That is very nice.

Joedryan

on board one they will soon have to play a lot of moves in not much time....

update - Rxd5!! is it going south for Baburin?
Alex Lopez did this against me too, he lets his clock run down but then uncorks the tactics just when you start to feel confident.

macelligott

David Murray’s norm chances looking better all the time.

Retd.LoyolaCpt

looking good for Dave but he missed 27. Rh6 which was a clean win..

Joedryan

macelligott wrote: »

David Murray’s norm chances looking better all the time.

wasnt 27.Rh6 just game over.
I mean what he played should be winning also (I think) but some calculation now

Joedryan

Retd.LoyolaCpt wrote: »

looking good for Dave but he missed 27. Rh6 which was a clean win..

snap

Retd.LoyolaCpt

Piece for 2 pawns ending, ball back in Colm's court

Joedryan

What has Murray done now? swapped the Queens?? Its Jean van de Velde stuff this and will be a Houdini effort from Colm.

Edit - probably shouldnt be so critical sitting here on the sofa

Retd.LoyolaCpt

Results posted for boards finished from 11-19. http://chess-results.com/tnr357006.aspx?lan=1&art=2&rd=7

Gordon missed a win on move 31, still an exchange up against Brady.

Retd.LoyolaCpt

Draw on 1, surprising they didn't give it a go until the time control. Will keep things tight at the top, although it looks like COD won't do much better on 2 in rook and 5 vs rook and 5 ending.

Joedryan

A well timed draw offer from Baburin on board one looks like. He must still be worse there surely.
Edit - not by much I suppose and its tricky, draw seems fair.

Retd.LoyolaCpt

Joedryan wrote: »

on board one they will soon have to play a lot of moves in not much time....

update - Rxd5!! is it going south for Baburin?
Alex Lopez did this against me too, he lets his clock run down but then uncorks the tactics just when you start to feel confident.

Bizarrely - in what was a fantastically bizarre game - colm thought he’d made it to move 40 but hadn’t and lost on time...

Murray’s norm chances live on!

namenotavailablE

I was wondering how on earth the scoreline in that game read 1-0!

Retd.LoyolaCpt

1 from 2 required for Murray’s norm. Of course, he’s also not out of the title picture yet either but will need someone to do a job on Lopez.

This could have the knock on effect of damaging O’Donnell’s chances as they may played in round 8 (or 9). Conor will need another IM at some stage - maybe Gavin will float up ahead of Dave however if Gavin can win.

Joedryan

oops, dont think I have ever done that, what a bizarre game of ups and downs

macelligott

Only one move for Moran to draw, I’d say.

namenotavailablE

Black position looking precarious on board 6.

macelligott

Moran played passive 41.Rd2. Needed to play active Rc7

Joedryan

Is Murphy just winning against Sam now on board 3?
I like his 44.h5, the rooks are going to come in............

namenotavailablE

His position looks excellent for the rooks. Incidentally, instead of 25. Bf1, I think 25.h5 by him would have been an interesting possibility - worth evaluating later.

Joedryan

We will get the play on for the spectators finish in Moran-ODonnell

sodacat11

How was it a win for Murray? Daly looks to be a piece up in the final position?

namenotavailablE

Apparently a win on time due to a misunderstanding by Colm Daly about whether or not he had made his 40th move on time.

Joedryan

Murray missed a simple win in one move earlier mind, mad stuff

Joedryan

Draw now Moran-O'Donnell. They must have been too tired to play on until KvK

Retd.LoyolaCpt

Retd.LoyolaCpt wrote: »

Update as yesterday changed the permutations quite a bit:

Conor O'Donnell likely needs 1.5/3 (or 2/3 worst case, if average opponent is less than 2385 - I think he'll play Sam and Gavin which would be 1.5/3). Himself and Stephen M have a lot of draws in the past but you have to think he'll be all out for a win today.

Dave Murray likely needs 2/3 but he has already played the 3 IMs and 1 GM. For 2/3, he will need to play opponents of 2271 avg rating after today (anything less and he'll need 2.5/3 for 6.5/9).

Stephen Moran needs 2.5/3 as he's played 2 sub 1900s - he'll also need to play 1 IM in the last 2 rounds.

Peter Carroll likely needs 3/3 and to play a titled player and an FM.

Murphy 3/3 and to play 2 titled players.

Daly cannot now get a norm as he's played too many non-titled players.

Conor O'Donnell needs 1.5/2 but must play Sam or Gavin in round 9.

Dave Murray needs 1 out of 2 as long as he avoids Moran I think.

Stephen Moran needs 2/2 - he'll also need to play Sam or Gavin in round 9.

Peter Carroll’s chances are gone but remarkable they lasted this long and another excellent draw today.

Conor Murphy needs 2/2 and to play Lopez or Gavin in round 9. Excellent win today.

Tim Harding

Unfortunately Luke Scott is unwell and has withdrawn from the last two rounds. He looked very poorly yesterday.
So Dermot Nolan has a bye today and one of the players on board 17 is likely to have it tomorrow.

sodacat11

Tim Harding wrote: »

Unfortunately Luke Scott is unwell and has withdrawn from the last two rounds. He looked very poorly yesterday.
So Dermot Nolan has a bye today and one of the players on board 17 is likely to have it tomorrow.

I've no doubt that his illness is genuine but it's funny how no one doing really well in a tournament ever falls ill.

cdeb

"It was old Burn, veteran British master of the ’90s, who was heard to remark plaintively towards the end of his long life that he had never had the satisfaction of beating a perfectly healthy opponent."

From The Treasury of Chess Lore by Fred Reinfeld

namenotavailablE

Just looking at board 6 yesterday [Carroll v Wall], white to play his 44th move- anyone with a chess computer program willing to see if there was any defence if white plays 44. Rc7 instead of 44. Ra6+.

It seems that Black would need to lose material to escape the multiple mating threats. For example:

(a) 44.. Rxg3+; Kh2 and it isn't clear that Ra6++ can be defended against
(b) 44.. Rb6; 45. Raa7 (threatens mate on e7) Re8; 46. Rxf7 (threatens Rf6++) when I can only see Black jettisoning the knight with ..Ne2+; 47. Kf2 d4 (to provide the king an escape square but losing the knight)
(c) 44.. Rhb8; 45. Raa7 (threatens e7 as above) and I don't see the checks by the black rooks being an issue as the bishop can cover the king-> ..Rb1+; 46. Kg2 R(either)b2+; 47. Bf2 and White seems to be safe while maintaining the mating net.

Anyone spot a defence?

macelligott

Brady v Cafolla
1.e4. 0-1
Was it loss by phone ?

cdeb

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 on the board now, so I'd say it's just a computer error?

cdeb

Also, my crude calculations show Peter Carroll is currently up 227 points from this tournament. Ending on 0/2 will only cost him 20 points or so. I would imagine this is a record gain for this tournament - and possibly for anyone above, say, 1500? (I remember one of our players winning Bunratty on 6/6 one year and gaining 398 points, but he did start at 677)

macelligott

Carroll throwing the kitchen sink at Daly.

Retd.LoyolaCpt

macelligott wrote: »

Carroll throwing the kitchen sink at Daly.

He looks better again in this game.. I guess I’m dropping a board on the Gonzaga team 😂 my chances of catching Murray also out the window for the foreseeable future

cdeb

Given he's already in bonus point territory, he stands to gain what - 90 points if he wins? 310 for the week.

Except that'd push him over 2100; I don't know if K-factor can change mid-tournament?

namenotavailablE

Daly is in massive time trouble according to the clock I'm seeing and has a poor position.

EDIT: OK- he's got another 30 minutes added but the position is still poor.