Our annual Christmas dinner was held on Dec. 2 in the beautiful function room of the United Arts Club and was attended by some 30 members and partners. It provided a suitable opportunity to present trophies and prizes to the various winners of events held both online during the Covid lockdown and our Club Championship which was run over the board during the Summer. A selection of photos from the dinner event can be viewed below.At the AGM held on Nov. 3rd. the following were elected to serve on the committee.
President: Eddie O'Connor, Hon. Secretary: Rory Broderick, Hon. Treasurer: Ronan Nolan. Members: Daniel Otero, Malachy Hevehan, Luke Hayden, Vihanga Gamage. The club's Summer tournament this year had all games played over the board - a welcome return from online chess.
Robert Murtagh was the very worthy winner of the Senior Section which is the Club Championship, winning all of his matches in the process. Robert has now won this tournament three times in a row - a remarkable achievement. Patrick Spillane won the Intermediate Section - also without dropping a match and earning full points. The Junior Section attracted a lot of entries, many of them being new unrated members. It was split into two sections. David Gevorkyan won Section A and Conor Flynn topped Section B with David prevailing in the final between the two. A blitz event was held in the club on Aug. 24 for new non fully rated members wishing to play on our Bodley team panel in the coming league. This was to assist our Bodley captain Malachy Hevehan in composing his panel of league players.
Vikas Ojha was the outright winner with a score of 7/7. David Gevorkyan was the runner-up on 6/7. These lessons have been postponed until early in 2023 when a new notice will appear on this site. In a welcome return to over the board team chess, Dublin CC entered two teams into the LCU Cup competitions just completed. Our first team, captained by Martin Schmidt, played in the Branagan where they enjoyed a fine 4 - 2 win in the final against Gonzaga on June 18.
Our second team, captained by Vihanga Gamage, made it to the semi-final of the Killane where they were beaten by Dundalk in a close 3.5 - 2.5 result. An intriguing title for a special presentation made to the club by Jonathan O'Connor last evening. Only Winnie the Pooh fans will understand the significance of the title.
Jonathan's presentation was based on two chapters from Simon Webb's book "Chess for Tigers" in which the author discusses how to beat strong players by playing into murky positions, and how to beat weaker players by playing sensible sound chess. Jonathan illustrated these approaches with examples from his own games. Members who attended gained valuable insights into this strategy and much enjoyed the evening. The Chess Club experienced a large intake of new members in the months after reopening in February. A reception was held on May 25 in the UAC bar to welcome these and to allow meeting with the established members away from the chess board. DCC provided the liquid refreshment and the United Arts Club kindly supplied the eateries. President Eddie O'Connor welcomed all and introduced the chess committee to the newcomers. He also presented Vihanga Gamage, winner of the 2021 Intermediate Summer Club Tournament, with his trophy. Following the reception, some 16 members retired to the chess room for a blitz event organised by Jonathan O'Connor. Run in two sections, Martin Schmidt was the winner in section A and new member Mohammad Parouare won section B.  Members refreshing in the UAC Bar  Vihanga with his Trophy Our club entered three teams in the LCU Winter league where the matches were run online due to Covid precautions.
Our first team, captained by Martin Schmidt, comfortably won Division 1 in finishing a clear 7 points ahead of the field. Our second team, captained by Vihanga Gamage, finished in a very respectable second position in Division 2. Malachy Hevehan captained our third team which finished mid table in Div. 3 Congratulations to the captains and players for a very successful campaign. |