Galway Junior Chess

Was held in Ennis this weekend .. the three Galway players enjoyed this event very much,  and they also played very ..Andrew Finnerty won the u-10 section on 6 out of 6.And Denis also won his section ( the U-14 ) with a perfect score of 5 out of 5,  Kynesha played very well to finish 3rd in the U-16 section.  Great venue and a very social event.

The Junior Chess club returns to the Galway tennis club in Salthill again this year (see  www.gltc.ie  for map etc.).  We start back on Wednesday 14th September with 2 groups,  first group from 7pm to 8pm and the older players start at 8pm until 9pm.

The fee for the first term is €70.00 , that will take us up to Wednesday 30th Nov .. more detail in “Club Calendar” above.  Look forward to seeing ye all again soon.

Also, the Munster Junior chess championships are being held in Ennis on w/e of 18th & 19th Sept., the full details are on ..  icu.ie

Exceptional Irish juniors retain the Glorney Cup in 2016 .. Galway boy Denis Ruchko (pictured with his team and friends) won the decisive match for Ireland to retain the Robinson Cup (u-14’s) which Ireland won for the first time last year!   Thanks to host nation, England for putting on a great event. England did retain the Gilbert cup (Girls u-18’s)  we were 2nd and France were winners in the u-12’s event (Stokes Cup)  we were 3rd.Proud Parents ..  every player put everything into their last round games, if they couldn’t win their division then they’d finish as close to first as possible in preparation for next time , .. Cardiff 2017.

The winners of the May 1 day event were , in the Advance section .. 1st – Callum Browne,  2nd – Kynesha Ryder  &  3rd – Christopher Burke.  And in the improvers section our winners were  ..  1st Gary Hickey ,  2nd – Sean O’laoi  &  3rd – Lorcan Small.

Thanks to everyone who took part and made it a good day’s chess .. and good luck to all those playing in Community Games tomorrow in Ballinasloe.

Saturday   –   May 21st   2016 ,   2pm – 5pm.

At the Bridge club, on St. Mary’s Road, Galway. Entry fee  € 10.   Prizes for Improvers & Advanced players.

Parents can stay to watch or return later for the prize giving.   Kids should bring a light lunch and a drink.

Register on the day.. email .. brendan @ chessOssity . com

Limerick’s Ard Scoil Ris hosted this year All-Ireland schools finals .. looking at the U-16’s trophy I was surprised that the 1987 winners were my old school (Portmarnock).This year the leinster champions , Gonzaga college , retained all 3 trophies. Connaught were represented by 3 Galway schools,.. Colaiste Bhaile Clare, Calasanctius college & The Bish. The Galway teams finished 3rd behind Leinster & Munster. Hopefully we’ll get some Galway names on these cups in the near future !!

Pictures of the winners from today’s Galway finals .. In the open section congratulations to our 2016 champions .. Brierhill ns !  ..,  in 2nd place Clairnbridge n.s., and  3rd Gealscoil Mhic Amhlaigh.In the Girls section we’d a record 7 teams .. and the Galway Champions are Scoil Ide of Salthill ,  in 2nd Clairnbridge n.s. and 3rd Brierhill n.s. ..There were 112 boys and girls competing at the bridge club, a record and double the number we usually run event for .. special thanks to the parents and teachers who helped with the running of the event !

Also, well done to the Jez and Killeeneen n.s. who were both playing in their first Galway chess finals.    And well done to all the players who behaved brilliantly and are a credit to their schools.

We may have to find a bigger venue for next year  :o)

Earlier this year (March)we in Connaught held our finals with the champions being Castlebar .. now the top 3 Connaught teams advance to the All-Ireland finals in Ard Scoil Ris, Limerick on Sat. 7th May.  Good luck to the Connaught players / schools.