Five complete games from five Ireland players trace a tournament that climbed sharply in Rounds 8-10 before a final-round loss to Canada.
Ireland Open entered Samarkand seeded 66 and finished 65th with 12 match points and 27 board points. Their match record was 5 wins, 2 draws and 4 losses. Official team record.
Ireland opened with a 4-0 win over Saint Lucia and then lost 0-4 to Poland. The next five rounds brought a win over Malawi, draws with Denmark and Jamaica, and losses to Brazil and Hong Kong, China. The tournament changed direction in Rounds 8-10: Ireland beat Burundi, Iraq and Yemen 3½-½ in succession and rose to 54th. Canada won the final match 2½-1½, leaving Ireland 65th from seed 66.
Five games from the campaign
These are editorial selections for what they show about the team campaign, not a computer ranking of the five objectively best games. Each squad member is represented once. The full move score, controls and White-perspective engine estimates remain available in every native replay.
Joseph Mwale–Tarun Kanyamarala, Round 3: the turning point in the Malawi clean sweep
Joseph Mwale's 30.Rd1 was the break in the game. There had been little in it; after that Tarun Kanyamarala had a clear advantage. Nd3 was the tougher defence. The verified replay opens near the selected passage: 29.f4 29...Bd6 30.Rd1 30...Ke7 31.e4 31...Bc5 32.exf5 32...Bc6+ 33.Kf1 33...Rxf5. Official Round 3 boards.
Rukundo Joe Stephane–Kavin Venkatesan, Round 8: converting against Burundi
Kavin Venkatesan took advantage of Joe Stéphane Rukundo’s early inaccuracies in a queen’s pawn opening. White’s 12.Qd4 made defence harder, and 18.Qb2 was the decisive concession. Venkatesan won to complete Ireland’s 3½-½ match. The verified replay opens near the selected passage: 10.c4 10...Bxe5 11.dxe5 11...Qg5 12.Qd4 12...Rd8 13.Nd2 13...Nc5 14.Qc3 14...Rd3. Official Round 8 boards.
Adam Collins–Mutabazi Hugues, Round 8: winning through a changeable game
Adam Collins made progress against Hugues Mutabazi, but neither player had a straightforward conversion. 34.Qc4+ and 38...hxg4 shifted the chances, and a late exchange of mistakes on move 46 kept the result in doubt. Collins eventually secured Ireland’s second full point. The verified replay opens near the selected passage: 32.Qe5 32...Qc7 33.Qe4 33...Rd8 34.Qc4+ 34...Qf7 35.Qe2 35...Nd4 36.Qb2 36...Qf6. Official Round 8 boards.
Ali Layth Ahmed Alothman–Alexander Baburin, Round 9: keeping the pressure on against Iraq
Baburin's game against Alothman lasted 57 moves. The study highlights White's 27.Rc8+ and later 36.h4 as costly decisions, though Black also let chances slip. Baburin kept pressing in the ending and won, one of Ireland's three decisive points. The verified replay opens near the selected passage: 25.gxf3 25...Bd4 26.Rfc1 26...Bxb2 27.Rc8+ 27...Nxc8 28.Rxc8+ 28...Rxc8 29.Bxc8 29...a5. Official Round 9 boards.
Tom O'Gorman–Razvan Preotu, Round 11: beating a grandmaster in the final round
O'Gorman beat grandmaster Razvan Preotu, rated 95 points higher. After 31...Rxh2, O'Gorman brought his king forward with 32.Kd4 and followed with 33.Be5+ and 34.Kxe4, taking Black's bishop. He then worked through a long ending with two bishops against a rook, winning on move 70. The verified replay opens near the selected passage: 29...h6 30.gxh6 30...Rg2+ 31.Kc3 31...Rxh2 32.Kd4 32...Rxh6 33.Be5+ 33...Kd7 34.Kxe4. Official Round 11 boards.
Individual contributions
| Player | Rating | Games | Score | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IM Tom O'Gorman | 2380 | 10 | 8 | 80.0% |
| IM Tarun Kanyamarala | 2417 | 9 | 5½ | 61.1% |
| FM Kavin Venkatesan | 2304 | 9 | 5 | 55.6% |
| FM Adam Collins | 2340 | 9 | 3½ | 38.9% |
| GM Alexander Baburin | 2344 | 7 | 5 | 71.4% |
Assessment (editorial judgement): Finishing one place above seed is modest on paper, but the late run was substantial. Three consecutive 3½-½ wins moved Ireland up the standings, and Tom O'Gorman's 8/10 was the strongest individual total in the team. His final-round win over GM Razvan Preotu also gave Ireland a high-quality result even in defeat.
Match by match
| Round | Opponent | Score | Match points after round |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saint Lucia | 4-0 | 2 |
| 2 | Poland | 0-4 | 2 |
| 3 | Malawi | 4-0 | 4 |
| 4 | Denmark | 2-2 | 5 |
| 5 | Brazil | 1½-2½ | 5 |
| 6 | Jamaica | 2-2 | 6 |
| 7 | Hong Kong, China | 1½-2½ | 6 |
| 8 | Burundi | 3½-½ | 8 |
| 9 | Iraq | 3½-½ | 10 |
| 10 | Yemen | 3½-½ | 12 |
| 11 | Canada | 1½-2½ | 12 |
Round numbers open the final official board records. Final Open standings.
Sources and game records
- Chess-Results: Ireland Open composition, player totals and eleven match scores.
- Chess-Results: final Open standings.
- Complete Ireland Open Lichess Study. The five selected games were legally replayed into native boards and independently checked against the stored final round records. Every position carries a genuine Stockfish 16 estimate at 50,000 nodes per position, White POV.