City club making all the right moves

For many of us, the idea of spending an hour and a half in front of a chess board seems like a less than appealing prospect. Probably due to a lack of understanding of the game, we shudder at the thought of figuring out which move to make and which 'pawn’ to play. However, the members of the Galway Chess Club have a far more positive attitude to the game, which in recent years has seen them set up a chess tournament in the city, giving the public a chance to win one of many prizes totalling €4,000. “It started off very small,” says Ronan Duke, chairman of the Galway Chess Club, who set up the annual chess tournament with friend Pat Croke eight years ago.“The first year we ran it in the Galway Bridge Centre and we were expecting it to be all quiet and serious. Upstairs there was a gospel choir though so there was little chance of that.”The tournament has changed in the eight years since, however, with its peak coming in 2005. A prize fund of €10,000 was on offer then thanks to sponsorship from computer manufacturer Hewlett Packard, but, just like many of the big events taking place around the city this year, the recession has taken its toll on the tournament, with the Chess club now without a sponsor.“In previous years we had invited the top players and coaches to the tournament,” says Mr Duke. “They’d be happy if we just paid for their flights on Ryanair and their accommodation. “Even €500 would make a difference, but unfortunately we don’t even have that to spend.”Despite this setback, the Galway Chess tournament is still a fledgling one. According to Mr Duke it is the third biggest chess competition in the country, and is expected to attract players from as far as the UK and Slovakia.The Chess Club itself currently has 35 members, but the spread of the game among young people in other areas in Galway has seen it grow in popularity. “Around Galway it’s very strong underage. There are seven or eight kids from the county in the Irish team. There are also about 60 kids in Briarhill and 60 in Ballinasloe playing chess, and an awful lot of coaching going on.”While the tournament may be for big cash prizes, it is open to chess players of all abilities. The competition is divided into three categories and players are put into a category dependent on how many 'ratings’ they have earned due to winning previous games. Beginners enter the Minor section of the tournament, while intermediate players are entered into the Major section and the professionals enter the Masters section. However, Mr Duke admits that most players in the tournament would be of the lesser ability. “The average standard is very much like a pyramid. A bit like any kind of club, most members would be of a lower standard.”Despite this, the tournament has seen national success come to Galway chess players. Recently, NUI Galway student Yury Rochev won last year’s tournament, while the six-member Galway chess team finished third in the national championships, narrowly missing out on a place in the main European chess tournament, referred to by Mr Duke as the “Champions League” of chess.With these successes in mind, no doubt much will be expected of this year’s tournament. The competition is scheduled to take place from Friday, October 9, to Sunday, October 11, and whoever makes it to the final stages will have gone through a marathon weekend of chess. Playing begins for all tournament entrants in the Salthill Hotel at 8pm on Friday, with the games resuming at 10am the following morning and running, with breaks, until 9pm that night. The playing continues on Sunday until winner is announced at around 5.30pm. Even though the schedule seems gruelling, Mr Duke says it’s all treated as fun by many of the participants.”Most of the guys that come down from Dublin are there mainly for the beer. It’s a bit of a circuit for them.“In the middle of nowhere they can go and play chess and enjoy themselves for a weekend,” he adds.Entry fees for the tournament range from €45 for an adult to €35 for those under 16 years of age. But if playing isn’t for you, Mr Duke says that anyone is happy to come to view the games. “The time limit for each game is 90 minutes, so near the end it does get exciting,” he says. “With three or four minutes to go, each guy takes five or six seconds per move.”Further information on the Galway chess tournament and the chess club, including details on signing up for the competition, can be found on www.galwaychess.net.