The last 2 rounds on the Sunday was a disaster for the Frenchman leading the tournament with 4/4. Round 5 saw Mazé paired against Gawain where Mazé tried too hard to win and ended up losing meaning he played top seed Ivan Cheparinov in the last round. Round 6 saw Gawain paired with IM Sam Collins who previously won the tournament last year and finished 1st= alongside GM Ivan Cheparinov with a score of 5/6. More info here about the tournament as well as cross tables for all sections .
Done and dusted with the tournament it was time for the infamous Kilkenny Blitz. Gawain emerged champion though I didn’t see much form in his game and why would I after 5 or so pints due to the free bar. There were many sad faces around when the bar closed up! I played as well and even made it to the knock out stage much to the surprize of the guys I played (A very useful weapon being a woman). I even maybe was potentially winning being a piece up for a Queen although there was a pawn about to queen! That’s Crazy blitz for you.
Up we went to Dublin that Monday morning and boy was it a slow drive. If you’re in the UK or Ireland you will have felt the cold snap coming over the last few days . Kilkenny hit a record low of -9.2 degrees and the weather didn’t seem to ease up. My ferry crossing was cancelled to Holyhead which meant an extra night in Dun Laogahire. Gawain was up in Enniskillen visiting the parents so took the 3am bus down (along with a suitcase full of chess books)to Dublin so we could get back to London together.
The London Chess Classic starts on Wednesday the 8th at the Olympia Conference Centre in Kensington. I see Garry K is dropping by for a visit so check it out!
Btw Gawain has finished his book “How to beat the Sicilian” which will hopefully be in print sometime next year.