Galway in Bunratty

The largest contingent of Galway players for some years headed down to Bunratty to play in the 2017 Bunratty Chess Festival.

The strongest two performances were by Galway residents Philip Short, who scored 3½ points out of 6 in the Masters section, which secured 15th place (one place ahead of Grand Master and previous world title contender John Speelman!), and Wade Courson, who is new to Galway and did us proud with 4/6 in the Challengers and eleventh place. Others in the Challengers section were club regulars Jason Rawlinson, Zalan Nemeth, and Denis Ruchko, who each scored 3 points, and David McCann and Pete Morriss, who both finished on 2½.

In the Major section, our best performer was Andrew Barber, with 4 points and 15th place. Paul Ward scored 3½, David Baird 3, Kevin Fitzpatrick 2, and Oisin Hodgins, playing in his first tournament, 1½.

In the Minor section, Alan Delahunty came seventh equal with 4½ points, with Kynesha Ryder close behind on 4 and Bill Delee just behind her with 3½.

Apologies to anybody who hasn’t been mentioned: get in touch and you will be added in!