Category Archives: Irish championships

Richard Whieldon Barnett and the Irish Championship 1886

Posted on April 25, 2021 by Sean Coffey

The build-up for the 100th Irish championship is underway, and the ICU has had the nice idea of extending the now-usual profiles of the contestants to include all previous champions, over 100 days. As I write, the build-up includes the … Continue reading →

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Irish championship players, updated

Posted on April 12, 2021 by Sean Coffey

Preparations for the 100th Irish championship are gathering pace, and all looks set for an outstanding event, provided it is permitted to go ahead, of course. The

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Irish Championship 1949

Posted on January 30, 2021 by Sean Coffey

Following up on the last two posts, a full report on the Irish Championship 1949 has been added to the tournament sections here, including all 7 of Paddy Kennedy’s games. These games and the two in the previous posts make … Continue reading →

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Irish Championship 1995

Posted on December 22, 2020 by Sean Coffey

A report on the Irish Championship 1995 has been added to the tournament pages here. Brian Kelly became the youngest ever Irish champion, at about 16 years, 8 months, beating the previous record set by John Moles, who was 16 … Continue reading →

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Heidenfeld – Coldrick, Irish Championship 1973

Posted on November 14, 2020 by Sean Coffey

Andy Ansel has sent another game from the Irish Championship 1973, the round 4 encounter between Wolfgang Heidenfeld and Art Coldrick, which appeared in the South African Chessplayer, May 1974. Many thanks, Andy! Heidenfeld was defending champion, and was playing … Continue reading →

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Irish Championship 1980, contd.

Posted on November 8, 2020 by Sean Coffey

I’m delighted to report that David McAlister has found several more games from this event. Here’s an excerpt from his email explaining the background: “Opening some storage boxes in preparation for further organising my new study I came across my … Continue reading →

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Irish Championship 1980

Posted on September 28, 2020 by Sean Coffey

The Irish Championship in 1980 was held at the ‘North Mon’ in Cork, from July 12-20. The field of 24 players included top seed and newly minted national master Paul Delaney, second seed Eugene Curtin, former champions Alan Ludgate and … Continue reading →

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Irish Championship 1973, continued

Posted on August 27, 2020 by Sean Coffey

At the end of 2017, David McAlister posted here on his reconstruction of the 1973 Irish championship, held in Cork and won by Hugh MacGrillen. A total of 9 of the 81 games were available. I’m delighted to report that … Continue reading →

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Irish Championship 2020

Posted on August 1, 2020 by Sean Coffey

The Irish Championship 2020 begins today, thanks to heroic efforts by the ICU and by local organisers at Coláiste Éanna. Best of luck to all involved! A report has been added to the Irish championships page here, and will be … Continue reading →

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A game in a thousand

Posted on July 3, 2020 by Sean Coffey

The Irish Championship 1991 featured a spectacular game between the brothers Niall and Gerard McDonnell. Where the average interesting game might have one or two critical points of interest, this game had a dozen at the very least. It featured … Continue reading →

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