Elm Mount Chess Club

The Elm Mount chess club meets every Monday night from 8 p.m. until late at the Ierne Sports and Social Club, Grace Park Road, Drumcondra, Dublin, Ireland. See directions including a map to help you find us. Drop in and play a few games upstairs in the club room or while enjoying a drink in the downstairs bar. The club has a friendly atmosphere and around 50 players at all playing levels, from beginners to experts, including a few young players in both categories. Currently we have 5 teams in the Leinster Chess League. Apart from league games we organise friendly tournaments from time to time, including blitz and handicap events as well as the club championships. We have many players from overseas including many different European countries.

There is a juniors/novices night every Wednesday from 7.30 pm to 9.00pm for Novices/Beginners of all ages. Both boys and girls are most welcome and expert coaching is provided !

Tá fáilte romhaibh go léir. Bienvenu, Bienvenuto, Bienvenida, Wilkommen etc.

Player of the Year
Pat Fitzsimons, player of the year 2011

Pat Fitzsimons, Elm Mount Player of the Year 2011 (right) receiving his award from Club President, Victor Murray
List of winners

Photos
Click here to see Elm Mount photos

Leagues

2009/10

Cup Competitions

2009/10

Club Championship

Chess Pieces
Click here to view stories, etc. contributed by club members

Links
LCU
LCU Blog
ICU
FIDE
Chessbase
Europe Échecs
Chess Vibes
Ulster Chess Union
Chess Paste Bin

Updates 15/5/2012
A victory for Elm Mount!
Elm Mount's junior players reached a new milestone on Saturday 12th May 2012 when they won their first team trophy by capturing the O' Connell Cup for the first time following 2 third placed finishes in recent seasons. The club's young tyros remained upbeaten with 5 wins and two drawn matches in the competition. They finished ahead of closest challengers Bray/Greystones and clinched victory in the competition with a round to spare.
Gavin Melaugh (left)

The winning team are pictured above:-
back row from left: Shane Melaugh (age 10), Liza Fitzsimons (age 13), Naoise MacGowan (age 12)
front row from left: Philip Grehan (age 7) and Gavin Melaugh (age 8).

Updates 28/4/2012
Oliver Dunne has submitted a new entry for 'Chess Pieces' - Learning Chess in World War II

Some of Elm Mount's youngest members recently took part in the Mick Germaine Cup competition on 21st April 2012. Photographed on the left (foreground Gavin Melaugh and Alex Goss). Also Donal Hanrahan pictured separately.
Gavin Melaugh (left)

The League season has finished - completed league tables can be seen here. Not a great year for Elm Mount!

The Knockout competitions have started - Elm Mount is trying to retain the Branagan Cup. This year there are preliminary groups rather than a straight knock-out. You can keep track of the competitions on the LCU site or through the following links:- Branagan Cup , Killane Shield, William Brennan Cup

Updates 20/2/2012
Prizes were presented on Monday 13th February for the 2011 Club Championships. Pictured below receiving their prizes are PJ Doyle, Lisa Fitzsimons, Naoise McGowan, Eugene McMorrow, William Ffrench, Andrew Peters, John Loughran, Sean Murphy, Pat Fitzsimons, Ciaran Quinn and David Fitzsimons:-

Pat Fitzsimons was awarded the Player of the Year title for 2011 and is shown here being presented with the trophy by club president Victor Murrray. Pat Fitzsimons, player of the year

Two more photos - the Fitszimons's with their trophies and the Branagan Cup trophy along with some of those who helped to win it:- Fitzsimons

Updates 1/2/2012
The annual Gonzaga Chess Classic tournament took place over the weekend of 27th - 29th January 2012. over 130 players participated which is a record entry for the event. Elm mount players featured amonsgt the prizes with Candidate Master, David Fitzsimons winning the Masters Section of the tournament for the 3rd year running with an unbeaten score of 4.5/5.

William Ffrench was also amonsgt the prizes finishing joint second in the majors section of the tournament on a score of 4.5/6.

The tournament also raised in the region of €2,500 for the Habitats for Humanity charity which builds houses in Zambia and is actively supported by the Gonzaga College

David Fitzsimons receiving his prize

Updates 20/12/2011
The Elm Mount Christmas Blitz was held on the 19th December. The tournament was held on the usual handicap system with the time limit varying from 5 minutes each to 2 minutes v 8 minutes where the rating difference was over 300 points. There were 23 participants in 3 all-play-all sections followed by a knock-out stage. PJ Doyle, Yann Salmon, Karl Vernor and Andrew Peters were defeated at the quarter-final stages.

The semi-final parings were Terry Creighton v Gedas Jakubauskas and Tomas Bajcar v David Fitzsimons
Terry Creighton (white) v Gedas Jakubauskas

Terry Creighton (white) v Gedas Jakubauskas

David and Terry won and played in the final while Gedas and Tomas played-off for 3rd place
Terry Creighton (white) v David Fitzsimons

Gedas Jakubauskas (white) v Tomas Bajcar

David beat Terry in the final and Gedas beat Tomas in the 3rd place play off.

Happy Christmas to all!

Updates 23/10/2011
The 2011-12 League season has begun. In the first round of the Armstrong Cup, Elm Mount A beat Elm Mount B 4.5 to 3.5
A new item has been added to Chess Pieces section here about the French chess player and artist Marcel Duchamp.

Updates 10/9/2011
The Club Championship tables have been updated here.
The leagues will be started soon - provisional teams have been circulated.
William Ffrench and Eugene McMorrow finished =1st with 5/6 in the City of Dublin Challengers tournament. John Loughran and Terry Creighton won grading prizes in the Major section.

Updates 18/8/2011

The Ierne Sports and Social Club is celebrating its centenary in 2011. To mark this occasion, Elm Mount Chess Club held a blitz tournament on 8th August 2011. The 8 prize winners in the event are pictured as follows:-

The 2011 Club Championships cross-tables have been updated here.
William Ffrench won a grading prize in the Dun Laoghaire Rapid.

Updates 5/8/2011

The 2011 Club Championships cross-tables have been updated here.

An unusual position from the game between Oliver Dunne and Pat Fitzsimons from the 2007 Armstrong Cup is featured on Edward Winter's prestigious chess history site: here. It is entered as Chess Note 7190. Seesaw/windmill manoeuvre.

Go here for older news

Elm Mount Chess Club is only 3 km North-East of O'Connell Street. The club is in the Ierne Sports and Social Club on Grace Park road. There is a large car park on the club grounds. To find the club by car, bike, bus or train, follow the directions below or the map. Directions and larger map from city centre.
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