In pictures: Mayfield library hosts Cork city's third Festival of Chess competition

Cork City Libraries turned the Mayfield Library branch into a grandmaster’s arena for the city’s third annual Festival of Chess competition.

Festive jumpers were on display for the pre-Christmas tournament, as five-person teams came from across Cork city for the round robin tournament, overseen by Irish youth international, Mark McGrath.

Team formation was entirely random, apart from age consideration, and the teams were then given their pre-prepared names, the Pernickety Pawns, Catastrophic Castles, Knutty Knights, Blasphemous Bishops, Quacked Queens and Krazy Kings. Each team played three rounds with one point awarded for a team win.

The Krazy Kings, captained by Laura Winiarska, and including Yong Wen He, Paul McSweeny, Oscar Grahame and Anna Diachenko, emerged as the strongest force and eventual champions with 2.5 points thanks to the efforts of the team.

They were crowned champions and received the ‘Festival of Chess’ perpetual silver cup and €25 vouchers each.

Second and third positions couldn’t have been closer with the Blasphemous Bishops and Quacked Queens on two points each, the decision going to the Queens as they had defeated the Bishops in their pairing.

Henry Draper collected a €20 voucher for having the best Christmas jumper on the day, while James Donoghue received a €20 voucher for having the best Christmas accessory — reindeer antlers.

Exhibition

Mayfield Library’s January exhibition will see artist Tina Shee capture the humanity of help and connection in a collection of portraits of the characters in her life.

The portraits are predominantly of home support workers who assist Ms Shee in her daily life, as she navigates her world from her wheelchair, as well as portraits of friends and family, past and present.

Ms Shee explained that the main Irish home care agencies had struggled to find staff in her remote location.

“As I was coming to terms with going into a nursing home and losing my independence I was contacted by a new home care agency, TKY. They agreed to take me on and started sending carers twice a day, seven days a week.

“Most of the carers are African many from Zimbabwe and Nigeria. I’ve had many different people coming and going and they are all respectful, caring, efficient and fun. My life has been enriched beyond measure by knowing these people.”

Ms Shee attended the Cork Municipal College of Art and later painted and exhibited work, as well as working as a web designer. For the past 10 years she been confined to a wheelchair.

The exhibition will be open until the end of January. Ms Shee also takes commissions from reference photos and can be contacted at 086 1931189, 021 4832481, or tinashee@yahoo.co.uk.