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.

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.
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This timetable is not definitive as some changes may be done due to working issues of the instructor. If
you are not able to attend some of the lessons, the materials will be provided through email.

More exercises of the topic covered in the lesson will be provided after each lesson together with the
lesson materials.

Price: The cost of attending the course is shown in the table below. This is equivalent to a very reasonable
€8.1 per hour. An approximately 10% discount is available for Dublin Chess Club (DCC) or United Arts Club
(UAC) members, even if you join the club at the start of the course.
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If you are interested or you have any question please contact Daniel Martinez Otero at
daniotero93@gmail.com or Ph. 083 8477712 (Whatssap if possible)
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​Our Wednesday club nights start up again on Feb. 16, 2022 after a long Covid closure. Our members will once again be able to enjoy over the board live chess. Visitors are also welcome from 7.30 PM on these club nights but, due to capacity constraints, must pre-book their attendance. Submit the email form on our contact page and indicate the Wednesday evening date you wish to visit. You will get a reply. Mask wearing and is required for all members and visitors until further notice.

​Our 2021 club tournament started in May and attracted 19 entrants from our members. It was run online as in 2020 and split into three graded sections. In all some fifty matches were played. The three sections have now concluded with the following results;
Senior Section: Robert Murtagh was the worthy winner and so remains Club Champion having won all of his matches. Martin Schmidt was the runner-up.
Intermediate Section: This was won by Vihanga Gamage with Darren McLean in second place.
Junior Section: The winner was Thomas Lavelle and Andrew Whelan secured second place.

This online rapid tournament was run Wednesday evenings over the January to March period for our club members. Ten players competed and points were accumulated week by week based on standings and the number competing each week.
The clear overall winner was Joe Durkan (Shaicabero) with 39 points. There was a close finish for second place with Darren McLean (deemac4) on 27.5 edging out Denis Dempsey (Donnachad) on 24.5.

The online club ladder, run over the Winter, finished on March 14. The different category winners were as follows;
 - Climber of most rungs on the ladder.    John Lucas
 - Finished top of the ladder.                       Robert Murtagh
​ - Played most matches.                               Shared between Martin Schmidt, Uffe Balslev & Robert Murtagh. 

​Congratulations to these four winners who will receive token prizes.                  

Jonathan, our top rated player, ran an online simul against seven of our members on Dec. 9. Using the Lichess host and also Zoom, he was able to show the board positions as he played and also offer lively comments and banter about each game which could also be viewed and heard by the players and some members who were just spectating. He won five of the seven games and lost to Robert Murtagh and Davide Cesaro. The simul was followed by some fascinating interactive analyses of the different games. All very enjoyable and worth repeating.