Branagan 2013

EnPassant

Round 1: Elm Mount 6 Inchicore 0
Round 2: St. Benildus B -1 Elm Mount 6
Our next match is against Phibsboro on monday.

I had 2 very interesting games so far. In round 1 I managed to sacrifice my queen:-

Darragh Connolly (Inchicore) v Ciaran Quinn (Elm Mount). Black to move.

Black played 26. Q x g3.

If 27. h x g3 then 27 .. Rh8+ 28. Kg1 Bc5+ 29. Kf1 Rh1 mate.

White played 27. Rg1 but after 27 .. Qg2+ 28. R x g2 f x g2+. 29. Kg1 and white resigned before Black could play Bc5 mate.


In round 2 the game reached the following position with white to move:-

Ciaran Quinn (Elm Mount) v Kevin Burke (St Benildus . White to move.

White played 20. Bd7 threatening Be6 mate.

The game continued 20 .. B x c3 21. Be6+ Kh8 22. Bg7+ Bxg7 23. Qxa5 and here black blundered with g x f5 instead of Bc3+ winning back the queen, although the position is (I think) a bit better for white.

cdeb

I recognise that game!

I put it into Fritz to see what it'd think; it said taking the bishop instead of saccing the knight was just level (but no fun). But it gave some great nonchalant ways of ignoring my "attack". My favourite was going along with my plan - 20. PxN BxP 21. 0-0! BxQ 22. BxB QxBd2 - which is forced because taking the other bishop loses to mate in 4, culminating in an en passant discovered mate. The other line sees black "just" down two pieces for two pawns.

In other results, Balbriggan 4½-1½ St Benildus B

EnPassant

That's a really nice variation - I never saw the idea of castling and controlling the f-file during the game.

Another result: Balbriggan 5½-½ Inchicore

Sparks

cdeb wrote: »

I recognise that game!

The beautiful game that never was

cdeb

And in the other group -

St Benildus A 2½-3½ Rathmines
Bray/Greystones 3-3 St Benildus A
St Benildus A 4½-1½ Celbridge

All our results do be here on our site fairly soon after.

cdeb

St Benildus B ½-5½ Phibsboro.

Beat our expected score.

Gearoid MacGabhain

Balbriggan 5 Phibsboro 1

Latest Brannigan result

cdeb

Wow. That's quite a surprise! Even if Phibsboro aren't playing their full team.

So the table is what? -

Balbriggan - 3/15
Elm Mount - 2/12
Phibsboro - 3/11½
Inchicore - 3/1½
St Benildus B - 3/1

With the remaining fixtures being Inchicore v St Benildus B (next Thursday), Elm Mount v Phibsboro and Elm Mount v Balbriggan (one of which presumably has already taken place?)

Looks like Balbriggan and Elm Mount through to the semis.

EnPassant

Great result for Balbriggan.

We're playing Phibsboro tomorrow and Balbriggan next Saturday.

Edit: just realised that a 3-3 draw tomorrow means both Elm Mount and Balbriggan go though to the semis.

checknraise

Rathmines Results

St Benildus 3.5 - 2.5
Dun L 4.5 - 1.5
Bray 1.5 - 4.5
Celbridge 1.5 - 4.5

What does everybody think of the new format? Personally i preferred the knock out and the new format is too similar to the leagues.....

EnPassant

There is a motion for the LCU AGM to restrict the groups to a maximum of 4 teams so the Branagan will be discussed then.

Personally I don't have a strong preference - although I like the idea of groups of no more than 4 teams.

When I first played in it, it was an unrated knockout tournament. I think the reason it was unrated was that players might be forced to play based on the situation in the match, rather than based on the situation on the board. Subsequently it was played as a weekend Swiss tournament. It then went back to a rated knockout format and now to a "Champions League" style format.

Currently the Branagan is restricted to the 2 top divisions - I wonder whether teams from the lower divisions would like the opportunity to play the top teams - especially new clubs such as Round Tower, Skerries, etc.

PS. The LCU blog had an (extremely unscientific) poll on the Branagan format - 46% (of 35) voted for the group format, 23% for the knockout and 11% for the swiss.

cdeb

EnPassant wrote: »

There is a motion for the LCU AGM to restrict the groups to a maximum of 4 teams so the Branagan will be discussed then.

That's my motion; four or five games in as many weeks is too many, I think. (In exam time, it's madness, but that's a different matter). Last season, it was groups of four (one had five), and a week off between rounds. Not mad fussed if it doesn't pass, but I'd certainly consider not entering if it doesn't.

I did like the knock-out format (winning the Killane three years in a row may have me biased though!), though as a lower Branagan player, it's nice to get a pretty much guaranteed game against a top Armstrong team.

Actually, would it be an idea to start a thread on the LCU motions? Or would it distort the voting at the AGM?

Sparks

cdeb wrote: »

Or would it distort the voting at the AGM?

What, by allowing debate? I think there's a different word than "distort" for that

cdeb

Stranger things have happened. Have you not been reading the big thread?

Sparks

cdeb wrote: »

Stranger things have happened. Have you not been reading the big thread?

Yeah, but I was raised with a dictionary on the bookshelf so redefining words was never something I was terribly accepting of

EnPassant

cdeb wrote: »

Actually, would it be an idea to start a thread on the LCU motions? Or would it distort the voting at the AGM?

I think starting a thread is a good idea.

cdeb

Well, let's do it so.

EnPassant

Phibsboro 2 Elm Mount 4 - so Elm Mount and Balbriggan will qualify for the semis.

cdeb

checknraise wrote: »

Rathmines Results

St Benildus 3.5 - 2.5
Dun L 4.5 - 1.5
Bray 1.5 - 4.5
Celbridge 1.5 - 4.5

What does everybody think of the new format? Personally i preferred the knock out and the new format is too similar to the leagues.....

St Benildus -
2½-3½ v Rathmines
4½-1½ v Celbridge
3-3 v Bray
3-3 v Dún Laoghaire

I think Bray drew v Dún Laoghaire, and were 3-2 down against Celbridge last night with one game left when I left. I'm told also that Celbridge went into the game on 10 points, which would mean they beat Dún Laoghaire 4-2.

In that case, the table is -

St Benildus - 4/13
Celbridge - 3.83/13
Bray - 3.83/12.5
Rathmines - 4/11
Dun Laoghaire - 4/9.5

So If Bray won the last game (and I think they were 300 points higher-rated, though I didn't see the position), they're through along with St Benildus. if Celbridge won, they're through along with St Benildus. And if it was a draw, Celbridge win the group and Bray/St Benildus goes to tie-break. We drew 3-3, but we won on board 6, so Bray progress.

I think.

EnPassant

Elm Mount 4 Balbriggan 2

So Elm Mount finish 1st in the group with Balbriggan 2nd.

EnPassant

Elm Mount beat St Benildus 4.5 - 1.5 in the first semi-final last night.

EnPassant

Bray beat Balbriggan 5-1 in the other semi-final, so the final this week is Bray v Elm Mount.

EnPassant

Elm Mount beat Bray 4.5 -1.5 in the final.