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Mc Cosker finishes 3rd in USA Masters Ty.

Congratulations to Shane Mc Cosker on finishing in third place in the US Masters Championship this week. The event was held at Plaza Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA from 23rd-27th July 2007. The event was run over three divisions of play. The Masters event was won by Lubabalo Kondlo (South Africa) ahead of John Webster (USA) and Shane Mc Cosker (N. Irl). In the Major division Tommy Canning (N. Irl) finished in a tie for 6th place. This was an outstanding performance for both players. Congratulations.

Results of top placed players. Masters: 1st L. Kondlo (SA), 2nd J. Webster (USA), 3rd S. Mc Cosker(NI), 4th G. Lindsay (USA), 5th R. Beckwith (USA), 6th J. Morrison(USA). Majors: 1st K.Burks (USA), 2nd J. O' Grady (USA), 3rd B. Murr (USA), 4th / 5th P. Lyons (USA), K. Shultz (USA), 6th / 7th T. Canning (NI), A. Darrow (USA). Minors: 1st Strange (USA), 2nd Cineros (Mexico), 3rd Larocca (USA). Wilma Wolverton is the new US National Womans Champion.

Mc Cosker wins American Youth Championship

Sion Mill's teenager Shane Mc Cosker has just won the Arthur Niederhoffer US National Youth Championship which was held over the week-end of July 21st - 22nd at the Plaza Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada. Shane is the current Northern Ireland Open Champion and is the highest rated teenage player worldwide. This event was played at under-21 years limit and attracted America's finish youth talent.

Shane is not resting on his laurels as he has now entered the USA National Championships at Master level this week. We have no doubts that he will do well here and bring further credit to the North West.

Scottish Open Championships 2007

The Scottish Open Championships were held at Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, from Mon 16th - Fri 20th July 2007. Results: 1st Tom Watson (Sct) 29pts, 2nd Jimmy Grant (Sct) 28pts, 3rd Frank Moran (Irl) 28pts, 4th Danny Oliphant (Sct) 23pts, 5th C. Young (Sct) 21pts, 6th Patricia Breen (Irl) 21pts. The first five in the Intermediate Division were; 1st Wm. Anderson (Sct) 28pts, 2nd Jack Coll (Sct) 26pts, Graham Young (Sct) 26pts, Con Boyle (Irl) 26pts, Hamish Budge (Sct) 26pts.

English Open Championships

The English Open Championships were held at the Strathmore Hotel, Morecambe, Lancashire, from Mon 14th - Fri 18th May 2007. This important event attracted an entry of 28 players. It was won by Scottish Grandmaster Jimmy Grant from Aberdeen, who won this title for the 1st time. Runner-up was Scottish Grandmaster Tom Watson (Glasgow), with Welsh International Master Lindus Edwards in third place. Northern Ireland's Francie Mc Nally (Toombridge) put in a tremendous performance to finish in 4th place. 5th place also went north of the border to Scotland's Danny Oliphant. Results: 1st J. Grant 32 pts, 2nd T. Watson 30 pts, 3rd L. Edwards 24pts.

New Zealand Nationals 2007

The New Zealand Championships were played at the end of March 07 as proved to be a great success. Results were: 1st Ivan Narbie 15 pts, 2nd Jan Mortimer 14 pts, 3rd Tie = Jack Niewkerk and Ralph Dixon 13pts, 5th John Guetta 12pts, 6th David Eades 10 pts, and 7th Des Eastwick 7pts.

Danish Open 2007

The Danish Open was held in Copenhagen on the Week-end of 28th - 29th April 2007 under the auspices of the Danish Draughts Federation. 1st prize went to Gene Lindsay (USA) on 17pts, followed by Danny Oliphant 12pts, Lian Stephens 12pts, G. Acclaro 11pts, John Reade 10pts, Ian Caws 10pts, Sune Thrane 10pts, John Morgan 10pts, Joan Caws 9pts, S. Clanevaert 0pts.

Bill Edwards Memorial 2007

The Bill Edwards tournament memorial ty was held at Knighton, Mid-Wales, during early April. Results were: 1st Dan Oliphant 2nd Haydn Parry 3rd Frank Bednall.

Inishowen Club host major events of 2007

The Inishowen Draughts Club will host a series of important world draughts events this October with the hosting of the Irish Open Championships, World Women's title Match, and host the General Assembly meeting of the World Checker Draughts Federation (WCDF). See the "Events" page for further details.

Northern Ireland Open 2007

The Northern Ireland open Championships were held during Easter week Tue 10th - Thur 12th April inclusive. The venue was the beautiful Castlebay Centre, Mountjoy Road, Coalisland, Co. Tyrone. The competition attracted over 30 entries and was contested over nine rounds. Sion Mill’s teenager Shane Mc Cosker give a very convincing performance to easily win his first major “Masters” tournament with a total of five points ahead of his nearest rivals, winning seven of the nine rounds while drawing the other two. In the Junior event the competition remained close up to the final games when Dundalk’s veteran player Con Mc Carrick got the necessary extra point to win this event.

The top six players in each division was as follows;“Senior” Division: 1st Shane Mc Cosker (Sion Mills) 27pts, H. Devlin (Donegal) 22pts 3rd M. Hannigan (Strabane) 22pts, C. Young (Scotland) 21pts, G. Owens (Dundalk) 20pts, C. Mc Kenna (Maghera) 17pts. “Junior” Division: C. Mc Carrick (Dundalk) 25pts, P. Logue (Newtownbutler) 24pts, S. Mc Kenna (Newry) 24pts, B. Jackson (Ballinahinch) 22pts, W. R. Best (Ballygawley) 20pts, John Dolan (Fermanagh) 20pts.

Inishowen Club host major events of 2007

The Inishowen Draughts Club will host a series of important world draughts events this October with the hosting of the Irish Open Championships, World Women's title Match, and host the General Assembly meeting of the World Checker Draughts Federation (WCDF). See the "Events" page for further details.

Kildare Open Tournament 2007

The Kildare open was held on the week-end of 17th - 18th February 2007 at the Town House, Naas, Co. Kildare. This event attracted many of Ireland's top players and was a great success. The Masters division was keenly contested with Clare's Sean O' Driscoll emerging victorious, while Dundalk's Con Mc Carrick won the Senior title. Jim Somers (Wexford) who is better known for his organisational and refereeing skills won the Intermediate divisions. Over 30 players contested the event.

Full results: Masters Division; 1st Sean O' Driscoll (Clare), 2nd Garrett Owens (Dundalk), 3rd Shane Mc Cosker (Tyrone), 4th Sean Mc Kenna (Derry). Senior Division: 1st Con Mc Carrick (Dundalk). 2nd Bernard Coll (Bray), 3rd John Keenan (Dublin), 4th Con Boyle (Dublin/Donegal). Intermediate Division: 1st Jim Somers (Wexford), 2nd Nancy O' Reilly (Dublin), 3rd Paddy Beirne (Dublin), 4th Davis Fitzgerald (Wexford). Special thanks to Bill Dobbins who organised this event.

World GAYP Championship Match 2006

The World GAYP title match between defending champion Ron Suki King (Barbados) and challenger Jim Morrison (USA) was held at the "International Checker Hall of Fame" (ICHF), USA, from 4th - 9th December inclusive. The final result was a win for the defending champion 3-0 and 21 games drawn. Alan Millhone was the appointed referee and the main sponsors were the ICHF and the ACF.

Inishowen Open Championships

The Inishowen Open attracted an entry of 52 players during November & December 2006. Congratulations to the Inishowen Club on their smooth running of this annual event which attracts all the top players from throughout the North West. The results of the three divisions of play were: Masters Division: 1st Hugh Devlin Letterkenny), 2nd Francie Mc Nally (Toombridge), 3rd Charlie Mc Kenna (Maghera), 4th Shane Mc Cosker (Sion Mills). Senior Division (Callaghan Cup): 1st John Mc Elhone (Toombridge), 2nd Con Boyle (Dublin/Inver), 3rd Paddy Devlin (Clonmany), 4th Colm O’ Connor (buncrana). Intermediate Division: 1st Paddy Barr (Derry), Joint 2nd Joe Fullerton (Buncrana) & John Martin (Buncrana), 4th Neil Mc Laughlin Jr (Clonmany).

Mid-Ulster Draughts Tournament 2006

This year's Mid-Ulster draughts tournament was held during September - October at Mc Nally's Bar & Restaurant, Toombridge. It attracted 32 players who were divided into three divisions of play over the six weeks of competition. Prizes to the value of £1000 were given out on the final night of what proved to be a most enjoyable event. At the presentation ceremony Hugh Devlin (Vice President of NFD) paid tribute to the ongoing support of the Mc Nally family, for their use of the premises and nightly refreshments provided. Sean Donnelly made a presentation to Hugh Devlin on behalf of the Northern Federation of Draughts (NFD) in recognition of his contribution to the NFD. Prize-winners in the three divisions were as follows: Masters Division: 1st Charlie Mc Kenna 16pts, 2nd Paddy Havlin 15pts, 3rd Sean Mc Elkenny 15pts. Senior Division: 1st Ned Morgan 20pts, 2nd John Mc Elhone 17pts, 3rd Brendan Ellison 15pts. Intermediate Division: 1st John Martin 17pts, 2nd Colm O' Connor 16pts, 3rd Mervyn Moore 14pts, 4th Liam

Kelly (Sr) 14pts.

Irish Open Championships 2006.

The 2006 Irish Championships were held at the Dolmen Hotel, Carlow, from Saturday 28th Oct - Wednesday 1st November 2006. The entry of 50 players were divided into three sections. This event produced a really close contest in all divisions with the order of prize winners only emerging after the final round ended. The strong contingent of Northern Ireland players were to the fore this year, with Myles Hannigan (Strabane) becoming the first home-based Master's champion of this new millennium. Runner-up was Shane Mc Cosker (Strabane) who required only two drawn games in the last round to become the youngest ever winner of this event, but alas, that will have to wait for another year. However, Shane's tremendous performance did earn him a second International Master (IM) norm this year which should be confirmed in the new WCDF ratings list in the New Year. In third place was Charlie Mc Kenna (Derry) who is enjoying a great run of success this year, with the Northern Ireland Open champion Garrett Owens (Dundalk) in 4th place. In the Senior division Francie Mc Nally (Ardboe) played tremendous draughts over the last two rounds to come from behind and emerge as Senior Champion. Runner-up was Con Boyle from Dublin, but originally from Inver, Co. Donegal. Joe Maguire (Dublin) finished in 3rd place, followed by 4th John Morgan (Wales) and 5th Anthony Rose (Scotland) who added a strong overseas challenge. Tom Bryson from Carrigans, but now resident in Arklow, made a welcomed return to the game and finished in 6th place.

The Intermediate division was won by John Davis (Dublin) who just edged out Charlie Mc Elroy (Tyrone) for the 1st and 2nd position. Brendan Crowley (Dundalk) finished 3rd, with Vincent Beirne (Roscommon) finishing 4th. Buncrana's Colm O' Conner put in a tremendous performance in this his first national championship, to claim 5th place ahead of 6th placed Michael Igoe (England). Full results from the Irish Open 2006 were:

Masters Division: 1st Myles Hannigan 26pts, 2nd Shane Mc Cosker 24pts, 3rd Charles Mc Kenna 23pts, with Garret Owens, Sean Cronin, and Sean O' Driscoll all on 22pts each. Senior Division: 1st Francie Mc Nally 25pts, 2nd Con Boyle 25pts, 3rd Joe Maguire 24pts, 4th John Morgan 24pts, 5th Anthony Rose 23pts, 6th Tom Bryson 23pts.

Intermediate: 1st John Davis 23pts, 2nd Charlie Mc Elroy 23pts, 3rd Brendan Crowley 21pts, 4th Vincent Beirne 20pts, 5th Colm O' Conner 20pts, 6th Mike Igoe 20pts. Special thanks are due to P.J. Furey and Sean Phillips for making all arrangements with the venue and to Jim Somers and Peadar Sweeney for the running / controlling of the event.

Canadian Open Championship 2006

Congratulations to Alex Moiseyev for winning the 2006 Canadian Open Championship held 20th - 22nd October 2006. Runner-up was Dr. R. Beckwith (USA) with Earl Morrison (Quebec) in 3rd place. As Earl was the highest Canadian player he is now recognised as the Canadian Champion. Leroy Adams (Manitoba) has been elected as the new President of the Canadian Checkers Association (CCA) and already has plans to host the 2008 Canadian Open in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

British Open Championships 2006

The British Open Championships were held at Stonehaven Town Hall, Stonehaven, Scotland, from Monday 17th - Fri 21st July 2006. This event proved to be the strongest event held thus far in 2006 as it was held on the week preceeding the WCDF World Qualifying Tournament, and was used by many of those present as a warm-up event. The event was won by Mustafa Durdyev from Turkmenistan who played exceptionally well scoring six wins over his three brothers during the course of this event. Runner-up was the pre-tournament favourite - Ron King, and it now appears that this was the only major Championship that Ron has failed to win over the past two years. Perhaps the other talking point of this event was the tremendous performance of Shane Mc Cosker (Sion-Mills) who exceeded all expectation in finishing in 5th place in such a powerful event. This was without doubt the most outstanding result for an Irish player for many years, and will stand to him in future events.

Results: 1st Mustafa Durdyev (Tur) 30pts, 2nd Ron King (Bar) 29pts 3rd Tom Watson (Sct) 24pts, 4th Bagtiyar Durdyev (Tur) 23pts, 5th Shane Mc Cosker (NIR) 22pts, 6th James Grant (Sct) 20pts, 7th Joe Sloan (Sct) 20pts, 8th Parahat Durdyev (Tur) 19pts, 9th Myles Hannigan (NIR) 19pts, 10th Colin Young (Sct) 18pts, 11th Bashim Durdyev (Tur) 18pts, 12th Danny Oliphant (Sct) 18pts, 13th Charles McKenna (NIR) 17pts, 14th Brian Lucas (Eng) 15pts, 15th Tommy Canning (NIR) 15pts, 16th Frank Bednall (Eng) 13pts.

WCDF General Assembly 2006

The General Assembly of the World Checkers & Draughts Federation (WCDF) was held at St. Leonard's Hotel, Stonehaven, Scotland, on Sunday 23rd July 2006. The new WCDF Executive Committee is as follows; President: Hugh Devlin (NWDF), Vice-President: Richard Beckwith (ACF), Secretary: John Reade (BIDS), Treasurer: Ian Caws (EDA), Competition Secretary: Sean Phillips (IDA).

World 3-Move Qualifying Tournament 2006

The World qualifying tournament designed to find the next official challenger to World 3-Move Champions Alex Moiseyev (USA) was held at St. Leonard's Hotel, Stonehaven, Scotland, from Monday 24th - Fri 28th July inclusive. The event attracted many of the World's top rated players and was won by Ron "Suki" King (Barbados) for the second time. Ron won by a clear four point margin, with his second round win over Scottish Grandmaster Wm. Docherty proving decisive. Both Wm Docherty and Bagtiyar Durdyev from Turkmenistan finished as joint second, with Bagtiyar having the better honour points for the runner up position. the NorthWest Draughts Federation was represented by both Myles Hannigan (Strabane) and Shane Mc Cosker (Sion Mills) who finished a creditable 7th & 8th position respectfully.

Results: 1st R. King (Barbados) 23pts, 2nd B. Durdyev (Turkmenistan) 19pts (274), 3rd W. Docherty (Scotland) 19pts (273), 4th J. Morrison (USA) 18pts (285), 5th M. Durdyev (Turkmenistan) 18pts (276), 6th R. Beckwith (USA) 17pts, 7th M. Hannigan (NWDF) 16pts, 8th S. McCosker (NWDF) 15pts, 9th C. Nash (USA) 14pts, 10th D. Oliphant (Scotland) 13pts, 11th C. Young (Scotland) 11pts, 12th F. Bednall (England) 9pts.

"Edward A. Bruch" ACF National Tournament 2006

This year's American Championships were held during the week beginning 19th June at the Traveller's Choice Hotel, Medina, OH. The event was named in honour of the 90 year old American player Ed Bruch of Buffalo, New York, who has competed in many American national championships since 1939! This event attracted 42 entrants and was won by Ron King (Barbados) GAYP World Champion, on honour points ahead of Alex Moiseyev (USA) and Richard Hallett (USA). Results: 1st R. King 24pts (142), 2nd A. Moiseyev 24pts (138), 3rd R. Hallett 24pts (132), 4th R. Beckwith 20pts, and in 5th place was 90 year old Ed Bruch on 18pts who rightly deserved a standing ovation!

Northern Ireland Open Championships 2006

This year's Northern Ireland Open championships were held at the "An Creagan" Visitors Centre, Cookstown Road, Omagh, from Tue.18th - Thur. 20th April. The event attracted entries from across Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, and Scotland. Garret Owens (Dundalk) won the Senior event ahead of defending champion Myles Hannigan (Strabane) after Garret scored a vital win during the last game on the "Skullcracker" Opening.

© NorthWest Draughts Federation 2002