Young chess players compete on international stage

TWO Shannon youngsters recently represented their country in chess.

James Danaher was on the Irish U-18 team who played against their counterparts from England, Scotland and Wales, while Kevin Singpurwala was on the U-14 side.

Stephen Danaher is chairman of Shannon Chess Club. He said the underage competition takes place each year.
“The competition is called the Glorney Cup and it’s been going on since 1948. It rotates between all the four countries. It was in Cardiff this year, next year it’s in Scotland and I think the year after, it’s back in Ireland.

“It was originally for the best players at U-18 but they have increased it over the last three or four years. There’s an U-18 team of five players, an U-14 team of six players and an U-12 team, also of six players.”
The Irish U-12 side were the winners of their section, while the other two Irish teams both finished third.

The Shannon club is active from September to May, playing every Friday evening in the Sean Lemass Library.
Stephen said the club has had some success over the last year or so. “We train kids to get them ready to play in competitions. There were a few teams in the national Community Games finals this year. The U-16s won and the U-12s came third,” he said.