Irish chess championships

[pineapple stu]

Any chess players out there at all?

The Irish Chess Championships started up yesterday in O'Connell Street (the Royal Dublin Hotel, I think). It's an open event this year, with players from abroad coming in to make it a full FIDE tournament, with the best rated Irish player also being awarded the title of Irish Champion and getting a place on next year's Olympiad team. There's four GMs (although not Ireland's GM, Alexander Baburin) and nine other titled players. Only one of the four GMs won today though, with Hebden and Rozentalis losing to Gerry O'Connell and John Redmond respectively and Simon Jeffares drawing with Stuart Conquest.

Chess players are rated under the Elo rating system. There's a website here (http://www.eloratings.net/) which rates international football teams the same way. The O'Connell-Hebden result equates to NI beating France, for example.

The ICU is providing running news (http://www.icu.ie/), as is the unofficial tournament site (http://www.irishchesschampionships.com/).

[OwlsFan]

I used to play chess and school and at Trinity and also played in a few tournaments but then discovered wine, women and computer games, not necessarily in that order.

[pineapple stu]

You can play chess on the computer.

You can drink rather a lot at chess tournaments (many played in hotels with residents' bars).

And at your age, you can use chess as an excuse to get away for a weekend. :p

[SeaniesRedArmy]

You can drink rather a lot at chess tournaments (many played in hotels with residents' bars).

:p

You can also drink at a pub and you arent surrounded by nerds

[OwlsFan]

You can also drink at a pub and you arent surrounded by nerds


Tsk tsk. Chess player does not = nerd, albeit some are(were). Mind you, I'd sooner be surrounded by nerds that some people I bump in to in pubs ;)