NCC 2019

Tim Harding

Is the National Club Championship (supposedly 5-7 April somewhere in Leinster) still unconfirmed?
It's getting rather late for ICU to seek entries...

If a venue has been booked for that, maybe the leagues could finish that weekend and the NCC round times rescheduled around it?

cdeb

Going to split this out from the Armstrong and give it its own thread.

Dates now confirmed on the ICU website; venue still tbc. Presume entry will open shortly.

ECC this year is in Budva in Montenegro; dates were originally Weds-Tues, but it's now been moved to Sat-Sun.

cdeb

Venue now confirmed as Gonzaga and entry now open.

It's a 5-round event this year, with one round on the Friday evening.

https://www.icu.ie/events/867

sodacat11

Any Rathmines players interested in us entering a team for the NCC? Two of our Armstrong team want to play but we need seven or eight players.

Retd.LoyolaCpt

Discount entry rates end tonight for the NCC. Current rate is 50 which will rise to 75 thereafter.

Enter here: https://www.icu.ie/events/867

Tim Harding

Still only five entries. It takes time to organise squads, I suppose, or the late announcement could have affected entries.

So far we have Gonzaga, Trinity, Bray/Greystones, St. Benildus and Elm Mount.

Where are the rest of "the usual suspects"?

As it stands, this will be an all-play-all with a bye in each round. That would be better than a Swiss with few teams, though.

sodacat11

If there is an uneven number why not let a composite team make up the numbers? There are probably quite a few people like me who would like to play but whose club aren't entering.We could make up a team to even the numbers and avoid byes.Obviously our team would not be allowed to win or qualify for anything but at least we'd get to play.

Tim Harding

Dun Laoghaire and Ballinasloe in now; still no Adare, Balbriggan etc.

I wouldn't be in favour of allowing a scratch team against the rules. It is the CLUB championship.

cdeb

So entry closes tonight and we're up to 8 teams. Bit of a disappointing entry really, especially given the great efforts by the ICU exec to revamp the competition in recent years. 8 is the same as we had last year in Athlone, and is 5 fewer than competed in 2017, the last time it was held in Dublin.

It looks like Bray, Gonzaga, Dún Laoghaire (or Adare?), Trinity, Ballinasloe, St Benildus, Elm Mount and - is Sam O'Neill entering for Gonzaga again? That would be against the tournament rules though. Or I had heard UCD were putting a team in; is this them?

Won't know what sort of team clubs have for this until closer the time, and with that the seedings.

It really is a great prize on offer - granted, it mayn't suit all the entrants, but I'm sure a club could find some players to sub in - and it's a shame more clubs don't enter. Rathmines, Kilkenny, Blanch, Balbriggan, Malahide, Enniscorthy, Celbridge, Curragh, Inchicore and Phibsboro are all absent from the Armstrong/Heidenfeld alone, and then there's Galway and the Munster teams.

Anyways, let battle commence. In ten days' time.

Past_Pawn_99

cdeb wrote: »

It looks like Bray, Gonzaga, Dún Laoghaire (or Adare?), Trinity, Ballinasloe, St Benildus, Elm Mount and - is Sam O'Neill entering for Gonzaga again? That would be against the tournament rules though. Or I had heard UCD were putting a team in; is this them?

Sam’s entry is for UCD

cdeb

First round draw is up

Retd.LoyolaCpt

Live boards with engine analysis:

https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2019-irish-national-club-championships

Live boards without engine analysis:

http://view.livechesscloud.com/8f8ee5b9-650c-4961-bfc9-1caaec80f54b

All 24 boards should be online from tomorrow morning.

Retd.LoyolaCpt

All boards now online - engine analysis on chess24 as well as chessbomb

cdeb

No live games for round 3?

Edit - running now

Tim Harding

Round 3 started very late because of an almost 100-move game Collins-DeVerdier which didn't end until 4.50pm and delayed the draw and live boards set-up.
O'Connell v Moran was almost as long.

Only live at http://view.livechesscloud.com/8f8ee5b9-650c-4961-bfc9-1caaec80f54b
Round 4 at 10am tomorrow