[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: Baburin, Greenfeld tie for first in the Irish Chess Championship, which Baburin won by two points

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
Baburin, Greenfeld tie for first in the Irish Chess Championship, which Baburin won by two points
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1215973302.shtml


   Confused? You won't be, after the next episode of...oh, never mind;
   that show hasn't been on the air for 27 years. So let's clear up the
   mystery now. The championship of (The Republic of) Ireland allowed
   foreigners to compete (to create norm possibilities, I presume), so
   although Alon Greenfeld of Israel (but [1]born in the U.S.A., which I
   didn't know until a moment ago) tied with Irishman (by way of Russia)
   Alex Baburin for first in the tournament with 8/9, he was not in the
   running for the championship title. The runner-up in that category was
   Stephen Jessel, who finished fourth overall with 6/9. (English GM Mark
   Hebden came in third with 6.5 points.)
   While Baburin had already clinched the national championship with a
   round to spare, the last round pairings were intriguing. Greenfeld's
   task was to play with the white pieces against a 2188 player (John
   Redmond), while Baburin had Black against GM Stuart Conquest.
   Greenfeld fulfilled his task with too much ease, winning in just nine
   moves, but Baburin won too, despite the triple disadvantage of a
   strong opponent, the black pieces, and his persistent use of the
   Alekhine Defense. (Ok, Carlsen uses it too from time to time, so maybe
   it's not that bad.) You can replay both games [2]here.
   So congrats to GM Baburin, Chess Today's El Jefe! Interested readers
   can find much more information on the tournament [3]here and [4]here.

References

   1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alon_Greenfeld
   2. http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/files/irish_ch_2008_rd9.htm
   3. http://www.icu.ie/articles/display.php?id=188
   4. http://www.irishchesschampionships.com/