Category Archives: Irish champions

Paddy Kennedy correspondence game

Posted on January 26, 2021 by David McAlister

We have previously posted about Patrick Brendan Kennedy’s victory in the 1949 Irish Championship. As that article pointed out, all seven of his games from that event are in the ICU database, but beyond those very few others appear to … Continue reading →

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Irish champions

Posted on August 9, 2019 by Sean Coffey

A new page listing all Irish champions, in descending order of number of championships won, has been added.

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P. B. Kennedy and the Irish Championship 1949

Posted on July 23, 2019 by Sean Coffey

The Irish Championship of 1949, held in Galway, ended 70 years ago today. The event was a 7-round Swiss—the first time the Swiss system was used for an Irish Championship–with 16 players. The field included the defending champion, Dónal J. … Continue reading →

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Philip Short 1960-2018

Posted on September 2, 2018 by Sean Coffey

Philip Short, August 2018 I’m reeling, as is anyone remotely linked with Irish chess, at the sudden and unexpected loss of Philip Short. He was Irish champion five times—1981 (joint), 1986 (j.), 1988, 2015 (j.), and 2017 (j.)—and finished joint … Continue reading →

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Mulcahy-Bouwmeester, Munich Zonal 1954

Posted on March 24, 2018 by Sean Coffey

Today, March 24, marks the 50th anniversary of the Viscount air disaster. One of the 61 people on board was Noel Mulcahy, one of Ireland’s strongest players. He was Irish champion in 1953, and equal second or better in five … Continue reading →

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O’Hanlon-Cox 1936 Challenge Match revisited

Posted on August 18, 2017 by David McAlister

In my article on the 1936 O’Hanlon-Cox Challenge Match I was able to present six of the seven games played in the match. I have now unearthed the game-score of Game 1, the one that had previously eluded me. It is … Continue reading →

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More on John Moles

Posted on January 14, 2016 by Sean Coffey

A long, detailed, and very interesting obituary of John Moles appeared in the December issue of Histos, an online academic journal co-founded by him, written by a close and long-time academic colleague who knew him over decades. I never met … Continue reading →

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John Moles 1949-2015

Posted on January 12, 2016 by Sean Coffey

I was very sorry to hear of the sudden death of John Moles, one of the most talented players Ireland has ever produced, on October 4. He was twice Irish champion and played in two Olympiads, and wrote an outstanding … Continue reading →

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From Irish champion to polar adventurer

Posted on October 29, 2015 by David McAlister

The format for the 1989 renewal of the Irish Championship provoked a bit of controversy at the time. The Irish Chess Union abandoned the usual formula of one-game a day over 9 rounds and compressed the Championship into 5 days. … Continue reading →

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Who did Dake play?

Posted on January 26, 2015 by David McAlister

In the comments to “The trials of Aibhistín de Búrca” Paul Brown raises the issue of which player played A. Dake at Warsaw (de Burca or Cranston). At IRLchess we have plumped for de Búrca. De Búrca, in his 1960 … Continue reading →

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