One has to feel bad for Phillip Short who was playing so well throughout but he still finished the next best of the Irish with a very credible six points from nine games. Even Stephen was telling me after the game that he felt a bit bad, as it would have been nice to see Phillip either have won the event jointly or share the title of Irish Champion, even if it is now officially a rather meaningless and vacuous title. [I am just thankful I won mine when I did!]

Scandal and Fraud?

As was mentioned earlier there was some shocking twists too at this tournament. The eagle eyed tournament director Michael Crowe informed me of how, in a worrying development, there had been a bit of scandal uncovered from the first weekender event which was the Irish Intermediate Championships.

Apparently a player from the Philippines had caused a big fuss and controversy because it turns out that although the first weekender was only for players below 1900 this player who gave a rating of about 15?? is alleged to have a national rating of over 1900 and he won the tournament with 5/5. All of the details were not told to me but the picture I got was of a guy not having disclosed his true playing strength and rating and entering the event under false pretences.

Amazingly I apparently played him myself in the Bray rapid play event! There he won a rating prize and was the only player rated below 1800 to finish with more than 4 points from 6 games. My own recollection of playing him is that he was a dangerous player and certainly worth anything from 1700 to 2100, at least at rapid chess?

In any event, the ICU and the tournament director must be congratulated for the speed with which they were on top of this and the open way that they have acted upon this matter, so as to insure that there is trust in the integrity of our chess tournaments. The player concerned will apparently have the title taken off him and thereafter I don’t know what will happen. If it is the case that he knowingly gave an incorrect rating for the purposes of being able to play in, and win, tournament prizes, then I assume that would be regarded as fraud?

I hope they will be firm but compassionate in dealing with this person, as a similar thing occurred in the 2005 Galway event. Then a guy had tried to play in a tournament in which he was clearly not entitled to play in and he was caught after just two (one?) rounds. He gave a bogus rating but was found to have a fide rating of over 2100 and tried to play in an under 2000 (1900?) event.

The organisers then had showed great wisdom and humanity in dealing with a sensitive and very awkward situation. I think that when you consider that such players often come from countries in which a prize might be the same a monthly wage we have to have some understanding and compassion in dealing with such episodes. This is after all partly a human problem, which is not to say it is ok or people should get off scot free.

The other bit of minor scandal, sad to say, saw me being the victim of verbal abuse and the disgraceful conduct of my last round opponent Eamon Keogh. I will merely detail what happened and leave it for people to make up their own minds as to the seriousness of this new development, which I have never before encountered in all my years of playing chess.

When I mentioned this to various people, be they chessplayers or not, all were quite shocked. As one Irish international put it to me when expressing an opinion "Keogh is a nasty piece of work so it doesn’t surprise me - be good if other people could see his true colours"

Being a foulmouthed ungracious and cowardly loser, running away like a cry baby, was a thought that came into my head and did indeed seem about right to me at the time. Of course this being Ireland, there is always the B Flynn and M Lowry factor/phenomenon to contend with too. No wonder that Irish chess is in the doldrums and so many people have got out of chess. A fact also sadly witnessed by the very poor specator head count.

In any event my nephew was so appalled when I told him about what happened that he could not resist putting together his idea of an appropiate response to this sort of abuse. You can see it below, along with the fruits of his research.

As to exactly what happened? Well after a fairly one sided game, in which Black blundered in a hopeless position. Eamon Keogh resigned and then in a weird outburst told me that "you need to learn about sportsmanship" or words to that effect. I was so stunned that I did not think to retort that it sure as hell wouldnt be from him, and just signed my scoresheet, by which stage Mr Keogh was well gone from the playing hall.

A few moments later I decided to approach him to get some sort of explanation for this disgraceful and very unsporting outburst, but as soon as I did get to speak to him, in full view of the tournament controller, he then told me to "Fxxx Off!" And that "anything I had to say I could say it to him" (pointing at the tournament controller) then he was gone, scampering away as fast as his little feet would take him. Which is just as well because I would have given him a piece of my mind for sure. The sheer neck of the man is already legend but this sort of abuse I most certainly would not take, least of all from him.

When I then sought to speak with the tournament contoller about this I was informed he was busy at that moment. Later in the day I again tried to bring up this earlier incident but again he said not now,(to be fair he was busy with lots of last round stuff to take care off and I accepted this) but adding that there was two of us in it? I took exception to this particular remark and pointedly told the tournament arbiter that in fact there was not two people out of order here, but one. I had done absolutely nothing to warrant this sort of abuse from a sore loser.

I told the tournament arbiter that I had wanted to know just exactly what was Mr Keogh referring to when he made his outburst after the game. If only because I regard myself as among the most sporting chessplayer you are ever liable to meet and took grave exception to comments or allegations to the contrary. The tournament arbiter opinioned that it had something to do with me being late, but as I said to him, my being late was my business and not up for debate.

For a whole discussion on this very topic see my blog Time Keeping And Draws In Chess in which I offer plenty of opinions about this issue and related topics. It is perhaps also worth noting that during this game with Mr Keogh, there was a problem with the electronic clock at some point and when the arbiter had brought in a replacement clock and went about setting them up right I was as fair and relaxed as could be about it.

So much so, that when he actually made an error and was giving me about ten minutes too much I pointed this out straight away (I could have said nothing) oddly and with hindsight a possibly very revealing thing was that after I had just told the arbiter he was giving me too much time, Mr Keogh pointed out the same in a somewhat agitated state (though at the time I was not so sure he was so agitated)

Well the game resumed and the play was soon all in my favour. I almost felt a bit sorry for my opponent as the opening had seemed to go fine for him and it was quite unusual the way the position not merely became bad but was so hopeless in no time at all. I could even see during the game that my opponent was fuming inside and utterly devastated by the manner of his imminent defeat. Having being trashed the day before myself I know it can be pretty frustrating not to even get a game, or much of a look in so to speak, but that’s just the way things go sometimes and you have to be to be man enough to take the good with the bad?

In the case of ourselves, well I had recalled that to his credit, back in 2000 when I was having an even worse tournament I then had even lost to him in a most amusing manner. I had refused several draws in a very funny game, and he found a nice move when I was pushing the boat out in extremes and running my king up the board like crazy. Then when I did lose I had no complaints and merely decided then that in future I would never clown around to that extent again and so would never lose to him ever again. Not hard to insure when you are talking about such a weaker player than oneself.

Naturally since then, the best Mr Keogh has managed (though deserved) was a single draw and a loss every other time (too many to recall exactly) he has played me. In fairness it is only human to think he might have some chance of getting a result against me when I was clearly playing so poorly throughout this event and maybe he really got his hopes up for this game? However avoiding a loss to me for Mr Keogh was always going to be a very long shot indeed. Still the great thing about chess is that strange things can sometimes happen and I have been known to be over cocky on occasions.

As for any perceived acrimony between us? Well naturally enough some people might think that there was some sort of mutual animosity but they would as usual be wrong, or at least inaccurate. When I had entered the tournament the arbiter even made a harmless joke about it, but as I said then, regardless of what personal feelings I might have towards Mr Keogh, or my view of his character (all pretty well documented by now) I always partly admired the fact that he turned up and was still keen to play chess and for that alone I respected him as a chess player and fellow competitor. I had no intention of being anything but civil to him and I even remarked that “I would do him no harm as a retort to the joke”

In other words, any problem Mr Keogh had with me personally was not a worry or of interest to me. I simply couldn’t be bothered having such a negative outlook or distraction, and was keen to just get on with things in a civil way. Any chance of him ever apologizing for the many wrongs I feel he has done to me personally and or Irish chess in general has long since past and I have been resigned to never receiving such an apology from Mr Keogh for a long time, and have moved well on.

Though in Irish chess, such is the dysfunction that it always pays to be at least mindful of the potential for further manufactured problems being created by malcontents, were none had existed previously. Such are the dangers that lurk in the darker and less well known crevices of Irish Chess.

I will of course make a formal complaint to the ICU (for all the good it might do?) and tournament arbiter in due course, even though I actually dont want to make a fuss or waste time and energy on this. If it was just some other old cranky guy I would frankly not be too bothered but this is someone who is a member of the ICU and quick to put himself forawrd as a major figure/personality within Irish chess.

However while I dont think (i'm not sure) there were any minors around when Mr Keogh told me to F OFF, in any case I think it is simpy not acceptable to have players abusing other players after losing to them. Especially with young players and or parents around to witness such offensive language. To be fair, I have never had such a problem with any Irish chess player like this before so its all a bit new. I can only hope Mr Keogh can see the error of his ways and leave this awful conduct behind.

Tournament Conclusions:

Well overall it is very hard to gauge the success or failure of this new experiment and the replacement of the Irish championships with this new Irish Open that incorporates the title of Irish Champion within it. I have an opinion of course but at this stage Id prefer to leave it to others to debate any of the issues involved. It seems to me there are many issued raised by what has been done and there is plenty of scope for valid views of many shades, both for and against the abandonment of the Irish championships.

It is just a pity that there was not a lot more honesty about what was being done and less of an attempt to hoodwink people by giving them such confusing information. I mean to say that if your going to scrap the Irish championships? Then just do it and standby such a choice? This pretence of changing virtually everything about the event, and making it patently not an Irish Championships, while still somehow claiming to be still upholding the basic ICU obligation to have an Irish Championships, is wrongheaded and misleading.

Any calm reading of the ICU constitution would show that at its most basic the text that says “To ensure that the Irish Chess Championship is held annually” and the specific objective contained therein, is not being upheld in either spirit or fact. Maybe that is a good thing? Maybe it’s a bad thing? But people should have considered it’s implications first and not presented this new Irish Open as an “either or scenario”. Why can there not be both this Irish Open and an actual Irish Ch proper?

Given my age and the fact that my best days are behind me, it simply suits me to be thankful that I have won a few Irish championships when it meant something and leave it to others to worry about the repercussions of their being no credible Irish Champion title now. I feel bad for the upcoming stars who are denied this unique right of passage to the top echelons of Irish chess, just as they might be concurrently starting to take some strides on the international scene, but perhaps Irish chess has simply arrived at this low point before it can get better? Maybe I am out of touch with what most Irish chess players want?

One thing I did notice and which I actually took great exception to was the comments on the ICU/Mark Orrs website where it was said that

“While it's a shame that Brian didn't make his GM norm on this occasion, it's great that he (and other Irish players) had the possibility to make norms as well as a shots against GM opposition (which several players made the most of). All this was made possible by the sponsor (thanks again!) and the adoption of a open format which we can all be grateful is planned to continue next year.”

Well for starters, I agree it is a pity that Brian didn’t, as it happens, make a GM norm, but it is hardly the purpose or function of national championships to arrange such possibilities for individuals, at least not as a primary priority? Though it is a bonus when such opportunities occur too.

Surely the primary point of any national championships is to produce a national champion? I am often asked by non chess players and chess players things like who is the Irish ch or who is the Russian, British, French champion etc etc. A national champ should be someone who can claim to have competed with and against his peers and the best the country has to throw at him and triumphed?

That might turn out to be a Greek guy living here for three years, or whatever the rules of eligibility for playing in the Irish Championships might be. It might be the best Irish player around, or the best Irish player who is eligible to compete and who has flown in to play etc. Alternatively it might a 1900 player who played in an Irish with no serious top players at all participating, but at least it could be held up as a mirror of what Irish chess is like at any given time.

By all means organise an international tournament with the idea of creating norm chances for Irish players, though in the case of Brian he is the only player actually chasing for the GM title, while there are many people chasing IM norms and who only require that the other top Irish players play in the same event!

Considering the sponsorship amounts I have heard being made available for this tournament (and they may not be exact for all I know) I find it incredible that so much more was not achieved in terms of either creating norm chances for Irish players or giving young players like Fitzsimons, Jeffares, Rhys Griffiths, Osborne and others, the kind of experience and exposure that would see them improve significantly?

Of course you cannot force players like S Collins, M Quinn, A Baburin and M Heidenfeld to play in a tournament, but can you imagine how much better and richer the tournament would have been if all of these players had played? With such good sponsorship money and plenty of forward planning couldn’t it have been arranged to attract these players one way or another. (Plenty of advance notice? Appearance fees? Expenses?) And it could have been kept as an Irish championships too?

However where I really disagree is when it is claimed that “the adoption of a open format which we can all be grateful is planned to continue next year. ” When first seeing that sentence you just know there is something very fishy/odd about it. Firstly, saying that it is merely an open format as though it was perfectly normal or standard is very glibe and does not do any justice to the vast history and traddtions of the event. Also, the thought jumps up at you- speak for yourself Mark! “we” ??? Where did that come from, "we" I dont think so. Point is, there are many who would not share such an outlook and no doubt many who would.

I talked to many different people and I heard many differing opinions. Some thought the event was a relative flop while others though it was great. The bogus assertion that the numbers were/are up on last year is very dishonest and misleading. For one thing, it was not open to players below 1900 in previous years and there is just no way that any comparing of like with like is possible here. Show me an internationa open with 5800 Euros in prize fund and Ill show you alot more than 52 players with a lot more IM's and GM's too.

There were various complaints and concerns expressed generally, but also much praise too. There was also more than a little unhappiness with the way 1000 Euros was wiped off the value of the prize fund. I feel free to mention this now because I was not even close to winning any prize so it has nothing to do with me as such.

To the astute observer it will be noted that the advertised prize fund was 6800 euros whereas apparently the amount of prizes given out was actually 5800 euros. Why? Well as was pointed out by a few people, the wording of the tournament flyer says the following: Best score by Irish players 500, 300, 200 according to placing. (These prizes will not be awarded should an Irish player qualify for any of the first four prizes above)

So most people I heard talking about this assumed this was just badly worded and didn’t literally mean that there would be no such prizes at all if an Irish player finished in the top four. Most people thought it was going to be the same as the likes of a grading prize or such like, then you cant win two prizes but you don’t just eliminate the prize altogether because someone has finished in one of the top places. I heard some of the prize winners actually say this with my own ears, and when I said that maybe it actually did mean that 1000 euros was being wiped out of the prize fund they thought I just had it wrong?

The upshot of all this was that the players who finished joint 3rd through to 6th all received 400 euros each. The funny/ironic part of which is that the two “Irish Champions” got nearly half as much as the Irish champion got last year. So at least now, in addition to the loss of prestige and worth of the title of Irish champion, we can quantify this as a cash amount. It seems that the title of Irish Champion is now worth slightly more than half of what it used to be worth?

The other dissenting voices I heard were saying that they found it incredible that such a well financed/sponsored event had such an awful venue and playing conditions. I have to confess I would be one of those who hated this playing venue. Not only because of the heat and leaking roof but also the sheer discomfort of having to fight your way to and from the board every time you were playing- It was that cramped. Hard to believe, but the playing conditions were actually better last year!

Still, there was much to be pleased about too, with a central location that made it easier for spectators, even if there were, relatively speaking, so few of these. The Hotel bar and restaurant did at least offer a pleasant means to socialize a little bit. No doubt valuable lessons were learned this year and it will be a much improved event next year? Either way, it is true that getting such generous sponsorship is a major achievement.

The games from this round are now publicly available for download as pgn files