“The 2003 Irish Championships was won by Stephen Brady on an impressive 8/9. This is his fourth Irish title [91-92-01 being the others] and his 2nd in three years. Leading from an early stage he was rarely in trouble and aside from draws with the number one and two seeds he won all his games with a good combination of experience and determination. He was a popular and most deserved winner too as he is one of the most active players in Ireland. He now has an automatic place on the Irish Olympiad team in 2004, but it remains to be seen if he accepts this place. He declined such an offer in 2002 and has preferred to play in other international events instead, narrowly missing an IM norm earlier this year in an open in Italy.”