The Irish Championship opened today in Dublin, at the Talbot Hotel Stillorgan.
The field of 55 is the largest ever for an Irish championship, eclipsing the previous record of 53 set two years ago at the same venue. There are four former champions: Kavin Venkatesan (defending), Colm Daly, Stephen Jessel, and Joe Ryan. Jessel is top seed, but it seems an unusually open championship, with a strong possibility of a new champion who has never won before, with Adam Collins, Jacob Flynn, Anuar Tureshbayev, and Patryk Brozynski all in the top six by FIDE rating.
It’s a very young field, with median age 19, and no fewer than four players who turn 11 this year. I can’t recall any player so young in any previous championship.
A preliminary report has been added to the Tournament pages here, covering the draw for round 1. It will be updated round by round as the event proceeds.
Update, August 1, 2026: The report has been updated with the round 1 results and available games (with 8 missing), plus the round 2 draw.