Irish Championships 2011

As it happened, I managed to exceed my targeted performance in the Irish Chess Championship. I finished in second place, scored 7/9, and had a rating performance of 2397.

In the penultimate round, I was a little unlucky, when, in travelling to the venue, I was delayed by a double accident on the M50. This meant I got to the venue 35 minutes late and I didn't manage to win the game. I doubt it would have made any difference to the overall result, though, as Stephen Brady was simply playing too well.

I did particularly well with the Black pieces, scoring 4/4 (following 4/5 with Black last year). I even got away with playing the Nimzo-Indian, an opening I hadn't ventured for over twenty years.