
It was a family affair at the recent Drogheda Congress, as the Mad Bad Dinosaur with Piotr & Emilliana all headed northwards. They really should re-name this event the Malahide Holiday Vacation Weekend as it seemed all the Malahide players were taking part, far out-numbering every other represented Club.
The first day saw the Dinosaur lead with a short draw, followed by a straightforward win. Piotr outplayed the tournament winner but missed an opportunistic mating attack from Hugh Moran of Gonzaga, and another good position in the next game was ruined with a large error. Emilliana showed good improvement, but despite competing well, both the kids were 0/2.
Day 2 saw another short draw from the Old Dinosaur, followed with a fortunate win in a crazy game. which was drawish. James McConville found that taking a pawn with his knight led to trapping his own king and mate in one came next….3/4 and that was as good as it was going to be. Piotr roared back with a sharpish win over home player Paul McDonnell, before outlasting Cathal Murphy in an endgame ..now on 2/4, A good day for the young man, as he beat 2 players who had previously beaten him. Emilliana celebrated her first ever tournament win with a Queen snatch and murdering the centre before giving experienced Oliver Gaynor a good run for his money in her 2nd game…..1/4 for her.
Day 3 led to dominant performances from the Dinosaur all round, but hanging a Rook killed the first match, before outplaying Junior Internationalist Adam Murphy in a Ratoath Derby…..once again missing the win, and having to accept a perpetual gave a final score of 3.5/6. Not a good day chess-wise. Piotr drew his early game and a lovely Bishop Sac carved open his young opponent in the afternoon and he ended also with 3.5/6. Emilliana fought hard, losing a nice match to the 2nd seed before tiredness contributed to a quicky loss in her final game …1/6 seemed a bit harsh, but improvement & fun were the winners. She’ll be back………………
A big thank you to Frank, Pat and all the Drogheda Club for their welcoming friendliness………….it’s a nice tournament to play in.
Before I go, some of the Malahide players read this Blog, or whatever they want to call it…………and they are really trying to take over the Irish Chess World……………….How else can you explain having nearly a Quarter of all the available contestants playing, coming from the seaside town………………..What is in the local fish & chips that makes them go Chess Crazy? ……………we may never know!!!
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