Sam Collins has done it!

Sam Collins has achieved his second grandmaster norm. In the last post I mistakenly claimed he needed one point from his last two games. Thankfully I was wrong - Kevin O'Connell on the Leinster Chess Blog cleared it all up and showed that only half a point was required against the right opponents.

Well he did it, now to complete the grandmaster requirements Sam requires a third norm and a rating of 2500. No pressure, but he has a chance in the Dun Laoire Tournament at the end of the month and also at the Olympiad.

Here is the game which helped Sam achieve the second grandmaster norm.

Hopefully it won't be too long before we can say he has achieved his third and final norm.

Sam Collins getting closer to the Grandmaster goal!

IM Sam Collins is having a fantastic performance at the 2010 Artic Chess Challenge, held in Norway!

After seven rounds his score stands at an undefeated 5.5/7. This after playing one Woman International Master and five Grandmasters!! The talk is that if he achieves one point out of his last two games he could get his second grandmaster norm.

I don't think I will ever have to worry about these formula so I will just cross my fingers for Sam and hope he achieves whatever is required. 

Against the five Grandmasters Sam scored three draws and two wins. I provide below his fine win against GM Ivan Ivanisevic (2611)

I for one will be following Sams performance for the rest of the tournament. You can to at the following link provided by Alex Lopez.

These feel like magical times for Irish Chess - between the fine performances at the British Championship, the closed tournaments in Dublin at the end of the month, the plans John Delaney and others have for junior chess, and now maybe a home grown Irish Grandmaster. I hope this leads to an Irish chess explosion.

The Irish at the British

Well the British championship concluded tonight and I must say that the Irish players did very well.

Firstly, in the under 13 championship, Ronan Magee took clear second with a score of 5.5/7 - and a performance rating of 175 BCF (2125).

Pete Morris had a great performance in the Senior championship and finished on 4.5/7. He final score does not reflect how close he was to winning.  He was in with a shout till the very last round - he played on board two in this round. He had some good wins against J. Dodgson (2125) in round two and Jim Vickery (2135) in round six. (Many thanks to Pat Twomey for bringing this to my attention.)

In the championship proper Ryan R Griffiths was unlucky in the last round: in trying to avoid a draw by repetition he walked into a mating net. I think Ryan will be glad to see the back of this championship as he didn't appear to be firing on all cylinders. His performance at the last Hastings tournament shows he is capable of so much more than this. Definitely better things to come.

You can view their individual results at the following link. Well done to all those who took part - you did us proud!

Chess Puzzle

Today's mental exercise:


It took White some time to spot a win in this position. White has sacrificed a knight for the attack; how should he continue?

Solution to the last puzzle:
Partos - Planin
Balkaniade, 1974
Plannic got the draw on his grandmaster reputation. After 1...Rxd4 White has a forced win by 2.Kxd4 a1(Q) 3.Rxa1 Nc2+ 4.Kc3 Nxa1 5.Kb2 Kg6 6.h4 Kh5 7.Kxa1 d4 8.Kb1 when White's king can catch the black pawn and then help his own pawns to queen.

Griffiths takes Grandmaster Scalp!

Today in the British Championship in Canterbury, Ryan Griffiths played a fine game and beat GM Summerscale (2428). This is a great result and must be some consolation for Ryan who appeared to be playing well below par so far in the championship.

 

Well done Ryan, and best of luck in the rest of the championship.

Chess Puzzle

Here is another puzzle to flex your chess muscles:


(Black, to move) played 1...Rxd4. His opponent, pondered, then offered a draw, which Black accepted.
Was White justified in offering a draw, and did Black act wisely in taking it?

Solution to the last puzzle:
If Black, whose opponent was the great player Samisch, expected Bxd6+ and exchanges, and a draw (since both Kings control both opposing Pawns) he was disappointed.
What happened was:
1.Rxd6 Rxd6 and now there is no hurry about recapture. Immediate recapture is automatism.
2.f6+! Ke6 3.Bxd6 Kxd6 4.c5+! and now one of White's Pawns will be uncontrollable.

Chess Puzzle

Today's puzzle:


White to play. What result?

Solution to the last puzzle:
Schone - Nunchert
Potsdam, 1982
The solution given actually loses to the brilliant 2...Nb3+!!. Now there are only 3 possibilities: (a) 3.axb3 Rd1+ 4.Kc2 Rc7 mate. (b) 3.Kc2 Rc7+ 4.Kb3 Be6+ 5.Ka3 Ra4 mate. (c) 3.Kb1 Rd1+ 4.Kc2 Na1+ 5.Kc3 Rc7+ 6.Kb4 Rd4+ 7.Ka3 (7.Kb5 Rc5 mate) Ra4 mate.

Sorry about the slow posting of late. Destroyed my laptop during the week and trying to get myself organized again.