Tom O’Gorman gave a simultaneous in the club on Wednesday 4 September last. The event was to celebrate his achievement in gaining the International Chess Master (IM) title and a gesture by Tom himself to thank the club for the support it had given him in his chess development.
In opening the event Paul Cassidy, the chairperson of the club, welcomed our two guests – Gerry Smith of the Balbriggan Chess Club and Kevin Burke, President of the Leinster Chess Union (LCU) who, together with his colleagues in the LCU, had done so much for the development of Leinster chess.
Paul then went on to congratulate Tom on the club’s behalf in gaining the IM title, only the eleventh player in the history of Irish chess to do so. He also listed Tom’s other major achievements:
- Irish champion 2020;
- twice selected on the Irish team for Chess Olympiads. In that connection, the club wished Tom andhis sister Alice the very best in the forthcoming Chess Olympiad in Budapest which starts on 10September;
- one of only 6 players who had scored full points from 4 games in the 142 matches played to datebetween Oxford and Cambridge and the only player to do so on Board 1.
These were tremendous achievements for somebody aged 21 and who was also pursuing challenging academic studies at Oxford University and planning his future personal development and career. The club was also very proud of the way Tom had handled his success. He was modest, level headed and self effacing, a tribute to his own character and to his upbringing by his parents Brian and Pippa who had put so much into his chess development.
The simultaneous then commenced and lasted over 3 hours. Tom did very well in winning 13, drawing 2 and losing 2 games against strong opposition. His losses came against Kevin Burke and our own Eddie Butler. He drew against Jason Duan and Khani Cole. Tom selected Jason Duan as the player who had played the best game against him.
Kevin Burke’s win meant that he has now scored full points in the three games he has played against Tom, the previous two being wins in the Kilkenny tournament in 2014 and in the Bray Rapid two years later. Even though Tom was very young at the time, this is an achievement to remember.
The evening finished on a high note in a fascinating ending between Tom and Kyrlyo Kholiacko. Kyrlyo gave Tom a great game and may possibly have been winning at one point but lost in the end. In this position (White King b6, pawns c5 and b7, Black King d7, pawn f6, Rf8) Black looked totally lost but Tom pointed out a remarkable draw for Black with Rc8!! A transcending move which I don’t think anybody else saw.
All in all, it was a tremendous evening of celebration, joy and some excellent chess.
