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O 
Pomar vs. O'Kelly, 1962 Olympiad  
Alberic O'Kelly de Galway
Number of games in database: 677
Years covered: 1934 to 1978
Overall record: +188 -138 =350 (53.7%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games
      Based on games in the database; may be incomplete.
      1 exhibition game, odds game, etc. is excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 King's Indian (54) 
    E67 E62 E60 E98 E69
 Sicilian (44) 
    B51 B73 B83 B81 B92
 Nimzo Indian (37) 
    E59 E20 E21 E33 E42
 Ruy Lopez (28) 
    C64 C99 C83 C89 C84
 English (20) 
    A10 A15 A17 A14 A16
 English, 1 c4 e5 (17) 
    A21 A25 A26 A20 A29
With the Black pieces:
 Nimzo Indian (52) 
    E54 E41 E26 E59 E32
 Ruy Lopez (51) 
    C64 C94 C95 C65 C89
 Sicilian (50) 
    B97 B28 B93 B92 B80
 Ruy Lopez, Closed (23) 
    C94 C95 C89 C91 C85
 Sicilian Najdorf (22) 
    B97 B93 B92 B90 B96
 Queen's Indian (21) 
    E14 E15 E12 E17 E13
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   O'Kelly vs Ahlbach, 1938 1-0
   O'Kelly vs J Penrose, 1962 1/2-1/2
   O'Kelly vs Denker, 1948 1-0
   C Poulsen vs O'Kelly, 1950 0-1
   O'Kelly vs Golombek, 1950 1-0
   P Trifunovic vs O'Kelly, 1947 1/2-1/2
   O'Kelly vs J H Donner, 1950 1-0
   O'Kelly vs Book, 1950 1-0

NOTABLE TOURNAMENTS: [what is this?]
   Groningen (1946)
   Amsterdam (1950)
   Budapest (1952)
   Bucharest (1954)
   Hastings 1956/57 (1956)
   3rd World Correspondence Chess Championship (1959)
   Havana (1965)

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   3rd World Correspondence Chess Championship by Benzol
   1962 Beverwijk Hoogovens by jww
   Hastings 1950/51 by suenteus po 147
   1952 Beverwijk Hoogovens by jww
   Hastings 1956/57 by suenteus po 147
   Hastings 1953/54 by suenteus po 147

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ALBERIC O'KELLY DE GALWAY
(born May-17-1911, died Oct-03-1980) Belgium

[what is this?]
Alberic O'Kelly de Galway was born on the 17th of May 1911 in Brussels, Belgium. Awarded the IM title in 1950, the GM title in 1956 and the GMC title in 1962 he won the 3rd World Correspondence Chess Championship (1959) - (1962). He won the Belgium championship 13 times (1937, 1938, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1946, 1947, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1957, 1959). The O'Kelly Variation in the Sicilian defence: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6 is named after him. He died of leukemia in Brussels in 1980.

 page 1 of 28; games 1-25 of 677  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves Year Event/LocaleOpening
1. Feuer vs O'Kelly 1-013 1934 Belgian ChampionshipC73 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense
2. C H Alexander vs O'Kelly  1-049 1937 7th olm finalC12 French, McCutcheon
3. Foltys vs O'Kelly  ½-½51 1937 7th olm finalD13 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, Exchange Variation
4. O'Kelly vs Jacobo Bolbochan  0-124 1937 7th olm finalE17 Queen's Indian
5. O'Kelly vs P Devos 0-127 1937 BelgiumA15 English
6. Szabo vs O'Kelly  1-047 1937 Stockholm ol ;HCL 44C12 French, McCutcheon
7. A Gulbrandsen vs O'Kelly  0-128 1937 7th olm finalD13 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, Exchange Variation
8. O'Kelly vs J Montgomerie  1-032 1937 7th olm finalA12 English with b3
9. O'Kelly vs Prins  ½-½57 1937 Stockholm ol (Men)A04 Reti Opening
10. O'Kelly vs Ahlbach 1-016 1938 CorrespondenceB54 Sicilian
11. O'Kelly vs L Engels  ½-½67 1939 StuttgartD35 Queen's Gambit Declined
12. T Hess vs O'Kelly  ½-½40 1939 StuttgartC01 French, Exchange
13. O'Kelly vs Kieninger  ½-½30 1939 StuttgartC66 Ruy Lopez
14. O'Kelly vs Grob  0-148 1939 StuttgartA37 English, Symmetrical
15. E Eliskases vs O'Kelly  ½-½38 1939 StuttgartE13 Queen's Indian, 4.Nc3, Main line
16. Bogoljubov vs O'Kelly  1-026 1939 StuttgartE14 Queen's Indian
17. O'Kelly vs Vidmar  ½-½22 1939 StuttgartD61 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox, Rubinstein Attack
18. O'Kelly vs Foltys  ½-½60 1939 StuttgartE37 Nimzo-Indian, Classical
19. O'Kelly vs Szily  1-036 1939 StuttgartB83 Sicilian
20. C Staldi vs O'Kelly  1-056 1939 StuttgartE34 Nimzo-Indian, Classical, Noa Variation
21. K Richter vs O'Kelly  0-137 1939 StuttgartC00 French Defense
22. O'Kelly vs Rubinstein 0-156 1945 Brussels, BelgiumC64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
23. O'Kelly vs Rubinstein  ½-½57 1945 Brussels, BelgiumC64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
24. Rubinstein vs O'Kelly  0-135 1945 Double-BlindE20 Nimzo-Indian
25. O'Kelly vs Stoltz 0-154 1946 GroningenB81 Sicilian, Scheveningen, Keres Attack
 page 1 of 28; games 1-25 of 677  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | O'Kelly wins | O'Kelly loses  
 

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Mar-07-05  nikolaas: He did howeever win the belgian championship at least 5 times.
Mar-07-05  WTHarvey: Chessmetrics.com puts O'Kelly de Galway at #30 in the world in 1956 at the age of 45. Here are some critical positions from Alberic's games including a couple not given here: http://www.wtharvey.com/okel.html
Mar-07-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  Benzol: Are <WTHarvey> and <Lawrence> related? :)
Mar-08-05  Lawrence: I think we must be identical twins who were farmed out to different families.
Mar-08-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  TheAlchemist: <Sneaky> You should see this one with Nf5. Karstens vs Friesicke, 1937
Jul-08-05  BaranDuin: His family emigrated to Belgium In the 18th century.
Sep-26-05  nikolaas: Dear mister Keene. I know you played O'Kelly a few times. Do you still recall him? Have you ever spoken to him? I want to write a book about him, but I don't know if he was a nice guy :-(
May-17-06  BIDMONFA: Alberic O'Kelly de Galway

O'KELLY, Alberic
http://www.bidmonfa.com/o_kelly_de_... _

Apr-11-07  Stonewaller2: Sounds like here's another member of the Wild Geese of Chess, along with Paul Morphy whose uncle, born a Murphy, emigrated to Spain around the same time as O'Kelly's family moved to Belgium.
May-17-10  Cibator: O'Kelly was also an International Arbiter, and was in charge of the Petrosian-Spassky world championship matches in 1966 and 1969.
May-17-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  wordfunph: The Belgian master Count Alberic O'Kelly de Galway competed in the 1957, 1958, and 1959 Beverwijk international tournaments. His score over the 3 tournaments was an amazing +1 =25 -1.
May-17-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  DarthStapler: I think the biography should mention the opening named after him, 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6
May-17-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  Stonehenge: Done :)
May-17-12  LoveThatJoker: Esteemed Alberic O'Kelly de Galway, today you are remembered!

LTJ

Feb-09-13  Dezaxa: I still have his book: Improve Your Chess Fast (1978). The curious thing about it is that the diagrams were reproduced from correspondence course material created earlier by O'Kelly and follow the French custom of representing the bishops as jesters.
Feb-09-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  parisattack: Assess Your Chess Fast is the companion volume. Similar formatting, identical DJ except for color.

His Petrosian book is also excellent.

May-17-13  offramp: ...And today you are remembered as well. It happens every year.

Over the summer months I am intending to contact O'Kelly through a Ouija board used at midnight beneath a tree in the Warandepark.

If you want me to ask him anything please put your questions here.

May-17-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  Abdel Irada: Here's a link to O'Kelly de Galway's Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alb%C3....

I warn, however, that the information on this page is quite scant. And I still have no idea how he ended up with the "O'Kelly" in his name.

May-17-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  Benzol: Wasn't Ireland settled as part of the Norman conquest. I believe that O'Kelly is actually of French origin but many of the French invaders actually went to Ireland and went native becoming more Irish than the Irish.
May-17-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  Abdel Irada: The etymology of the name is a bit uncertain, but none the less intriguing for that:

<This interesting surname, with variant spellings Kelley and Kellie, has three distinct possible origins. Firstly, it is an Anglicized form of the great Old Gaelic name "O'Ceallaigh". The Gaelic prefix "O" indicates "male descendant of", plus the personal byname "Ceallach" meaning "strife" or "contention". The main (O')Kelly clan belonged to Ui Maine (mid Galway and South Roscommon), and the reigning chieftain, O'Ceallaigh (circa 1351), was a renowned patron of the arts. O'Kelly of Gallagh, whose claim to the designation chief of the name is officially recognised is entitled to be called the O'Kelly.>

http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/O'...

Two points about the above:

•As I understand it, the prefix "O'" specifically means "grandson of," while "Mac" or "Mc" means "son of."

•Fascinating that the geographic origin was partly in <Galway>. This may suggest that our protagonist's family at one time resided there before returning to the Continent.

May-17-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  Benzol: <Abdel> Thanks for the link. Most interesting.

:)

May-17-13  KlingonBorgTatar: Count Alberic O'Kelly de Galway belongs to the group of world class chess playing aristocrats which includes Sir George Thomas, Baron Tassilo Von Heydebrand und Von der Lasa and Mme Chantal Chaude de Silans. His book on Petrosian I believe is one of the best ever written as one could feel the deep strategies and maneuvering genius of Botvinnik's conqueror just by perusing it. The reader is not cluttered with variations. Instead, ideas are clearly elucidated such that only one or two variations would suffice. Each game is prefaced by a backgrounder which captures the drama and tension of the event and titled poetically. Andersen - Petrosian is titled "The Haunted House". On the 20th move Petrosian sacs his Kt and O'Kelly writes, " this magnificent sacrifice is made possible because White's pieces are scattered and his King's side is undeveloped. The ghosts enter the house ..."
May-17-13  Howard: O'Kelly, in fact, made the cover of the February, 1981 issue of Chess Life when he died. That's how I first heard of him.

He played Fischer at the famous 1965 Capablanca Memorial, in Havana. Their meeting wasn't exactly face-to-face though, as is well-known.

May-17-13  offramp: Isn't that the swimsuit issue?
May-17-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  brankat: R.I.P. GM O'Kelly.
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