Elm Mount Chess Club has resumed normal club activities following the lifting of Covid 19 restrictions.

The club is open on monday nights and will be entering teams in the LCU Cup competitions which should be starting in a few weeks and which will see over-the-board matches against other clubs taking place again after a long gap.

On Monday, 14th March, Elm Mount held a blitz competition. There were 2 all-play-all sections and prizes were awarded to 1st, 2nd and 3rd in each section. The winners were presented with their prizes by club secretary, Pat Fitzsimons, who also came 2nd in his section.

The prizewinners David Fitzsimons, Nicu Boldjar, Pat Fitzsimons, Aodhaghan O Deasmhúnaigh, Ciaran Quinn and Donal Ó Danachair are pictured below receiving their prizes.

Elm Mount held a 5-minute blitz tournament to celebrate the re-opening of the club after the lifting of the Covid restrictions. 14 players took part, in 2 all-play-all sections. The winners of the 2 sections were Shane Melaugh and Nicu Boldijar. The runners-up in were Zygis Jakubauskas and Ciaran Barry. The prizewinners are pictured below with their prizes.

Congratulations to the prize-winners and to all those who took part and attempted to recover their rusty over-the board chess skills!

Elm Mount held an online Christmas Blitz this year. 11 players took part in a 5-minute Swiss tournament on lichess.

The winner of the tournament was Zygis Jakubauskas with 6.5/7.

Ciaran Quinn finished 2nd and Tomas Bajcar came 3rd.  Full details of the tournament can be seen here.

Hopefully next year’s blitz will be a more traditional over-the-board tournament!

Happy Christmas to all!

Elm Mount chess club reawakened on Monday 1st November for a friendly over-the-board blitz tournament. A 5-round swiss system competition was held. 20 players, old and new, took part in the event and some more came along to watch. Not a single game was drawn throughout the event and at the end, the winner was Shane Melaugh, with 5/5. 4 players finished with 4/5 – Zygis Jakubauskas, Stephen Rush, Gerard MacElligott and Eugene McMorrow. The cross table is shown below. Food was provided after the tournament and an enjoyable time was had by all.

Update at 16th March 2022: The Elm Mount Chess Club has resumed normal club activities following the lifting of Covid 19 Restrictions.

Below is the cross-table:-

A new entry, “The Virus Plays Chess“, has been added to the Chess Pieces section – very appropriate for the times we are in! The item was submitted by Oliver Dunne.

Hopefully we will overcome our current virus opponent and be back playing chess over the board soon!

The Elm Mount Christmas Blitz was held on Monday 16th December in the Ierne Club. There were 28 participants in 4 7-player all-play-all sections. The traditional time-handicap system was used. Below are photos of the competition:-

Food was supplied after the games, and then the prizes were presented by club secretary, Pat Fitzsimons, who also had to present a prize to himself. The winners of the 4 sections were Paul O’Neill, Adam Murphy, Luke Keenan and Nicu Boldijar.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!

The Leinster Christmas Blitz was held in the Ierne Club on Wednesday 11th December with Pat Fitzsimons being the controller. Over 40 players took part in a number of all-play-all sections. 

There were 11 players in the top section which was won by David Fitzsimons, who becomes the Leinster Blitz Chanpion for 2019.

Below are photos of the prizwinners being presented with their prizes by Pat Fitzsimons, including a number of Elm Mount players :-